Monday, November 15, 2010

#2 The Smith Frame Home

Next we went to the Smith Frame Home, which is just down the road a bit and across the street. This is the home that Alvin started building for his parents. Alvin became ill and while on his death bed asked the family to finish building the home for his parents. This the family did. Joseph really loved Alvin. Alvin was a special person. Joseph was told to take Alvin with him to receive the gold plates. But because of the death of Alvin, Joseph was told to take his wife Emma to receive the gold plates.

While living in this home, Joseph had the gold plates and was busy translating them. Joseph hid them for a while under the brick stones in the hearth. There was a small room upstairs where the two young sisters shared the same bed. One night the plates were hidden from a mob by placing the plates in bed, in between the girls. The Smith family lived in the home for only three of fours years. Because of financial difficulties, they had to move back into the old log home.

Right across the street from the Smith frame home there is a nice barn where they put their animals and farm equipment. Joseph hid the plates up in the rafters of the barn one night and the mob couldn’t find them.

The main street to Palmyra used to be the street where the Smiths farm is. The log home was on one side of the busy street and the new Frame home was on the other side of the street. We learned from Newell, that when the Church purchased the Smith Farm Homes and the Sacred Grove, they asked the City of Palmyra if they would move the road to the east so that the old existing road could be used as a walking path by the visitors that would come to see the farm and the Sacred Grove.



An agreement was finally made with the city that they would move the road if the Church would give them their Stake Center. The City wanted it so they could use it as a City Hall. The Church agreed and we have pictures of the old Stake Center – New Palmyra City Hall. It is just to the northeast of the Smith farm. If you look a map of the Palmyra area you can see how the new bends out away from the Smith farm for short ways and then back again to bypass the Smith Farms.

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