Joseph and Emma Slept Here: Colesville, New York and Harmony, Pennsylvania

Thanks to Jerry’s connections, we have had the most marvelous experience!  We spent two nights in the home where Joseph and Emma stayed right after they were married.

The Josiah Stowell home is near former Colesville, New York.  Josiah Stowell believed that there was some Spanish treasure buried near Harmony, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles south.  When he heard about Joseph Smith’s visions, he decided that Joseph might be able to find the treasure, so he hired him and his father Joseph Smith Sr. to come and dig. 

A statue of Joseph Smith as a laborer in front of the Josiah Stowell home

While Joseph worked for Mr. Stowell in Harmony, he boarded with the Isaac Hale family, which is where he met the beautiful Emma Hale, one year his senior. 

He spent a winter working for Josiah Stowell, and in January Mr. Stowell invited Emma to come stay with his girls at his home.  She arrived, and by the end of the day, Joseph had convinced her to “run away” to the local justice of the peace, Squire Tarbell, and marry him.  The record states that they immediately went to live in Manchester, New York.  However, it is unlikely that they left that very day, so the assumption is that they stayed in the Stowell home until they left for Manchester. 

Of this time, Emma said, “I was married at South Bainbridge, New York; at the house of Squire Tarbell, by him, when I was in my 22nd or 23rd year. My certificate of marriage was lost many years ago, in some of the marches we were forced to make. I was visiting at Mr. Stowell's who lived in Bainbridge, and saw your father there. I had no intention of marrying when I left home; but, during my visit at Mr. Stowell's, your father visited me there. My folks were bitterly opposed to him; and, being importuned by your father, sided by Mr. Stowell, who urged me to marry him, and preferring to marry him [than] to any other man I knew, I consented. We went to Squire Tarbell's and were married.”

I have to say that when we arrived at the home, I could feel that hush, that emanation of warmth, and that press of history that I often feel in church history sites.  Four bedrooms make up the second floor, and we were able to choose the one we wanted to sleep in.  Rachel and Jerry chose the front one on the east side of the house, and we chose the front one on the west.  It just felt right to me.

 

Our room in the Josiah Stowell home

The house has been somewhat restored, though modern conveniences such as bathrooms and a kitchen have been added.  It belonged to a local family for many years until a consortium of members approached them and offered to buy it.   These members have slowly restored the home, while keeping it livable for 21^st century folk, like us.

We loved wandering around the house looking at things that should be original—the wood floor with twelve-inch wide planks and square-headed nails, the molding around doorways, the banister.  

Original banister in the Josiah Stowell home

Looking down the stairs from the second floor

Original floorboards

The owners have also filled the house with some historical objects—a first edition, cover only, of the Book of Mormon, copies of Joseph and Hyrum’s death masks, the fireplace mantle from Squire Tarbell’s home. 

A facsimile of the golden plates and a first edition (cover) of the Book of Mormon

Title page from a first edition of the Book of Mormon

We also visited Joseph Knight, Senior’s home. The kitchen, family room, bedrooms, and other rooms are restored to what they might have looked like at that time, with lovely period furniture, books, linens, and other items.  These rooms resembled what the Church does when restoring historic sites.  This is where the famed and faithful Colesville Branch met, and the baptisms were performed in a dammed stream nearby.

 

Home of Joseph Knight, Senior, and the Colesville Branch

Joseph Knight's home, lovingly restored

A beautifully turned period bed in the Joseph Knight home

One can almost imagine life at that time, a meal being prepared...

Kyle and Mary at the Joseph Knight home in Colesville, New York

Nearby stream where members of the Colesville Branch were baptized

We visited the site of Squire Tarbell’s house, since torn down.  There is an erroneous sign, posted in 1932, that says, “Mormon House:  Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church was married in this house January 18, 1827 to Emily Hale.”  Oh well.  Most of it is right. 

We also visited the Church’s Priesthood Restoration Site, now under construction.  When completed, it will provide visitors with access to the place where the Aaronic Priesthood was restored and rebuilt versions of Joseph and Emma’s first home and the Hale home.  Nearby is the cemetery where Joseph and Emma’s baby son is buried. 

Aerial view of Church historic site in Harmony, Pennsylvania, then under construction

Artist's rendering of the Hale home in Harmony

Artist's rendering of Joseph and Emma's home in Harmony

Foundation stones unearthed from Joseph and Emma's home and the Hales' home, waiting to be reset

Headstone of Joseph and Emma's baby in Harmony, Pennsylvania

 This area is where most of the Book of Mormon was translated, as well as where many revelations included in the Doctrine and Covenants were received, including Section Four.

We walked down to the banks of the Susquehanna River, where Joseph and Oliver baptized one another.  Such a beautiful and tranquil spot.  We stood there a long time, conversing, listening to the flowing water, and thinking about the momentous events that occurred in that area.  

Kyle and Mary on the banks of the Susquehanna River

Kyle, Jerry, and Rachel converse on the banks of the Susquehanna

The Susquehanna flows peacefully

Wildflowers growing along the banks of the Susquehanna River

What a blessing that we were able to visit!  Thanks, Jerry, for making it possible!

Mary, Kyle, Jerry, and Rachel on the porch of the Josiah Stowell home