History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Religion
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
7. There is no record in the Church annals of the time and place of the
birth of Joseph Knight, Sen. He was well advanced in life, however,
when the work of God in these last days began to come forth. From the
journal of his son, Newel Knight, it is learned that Joseph Knight,
Sen., married Polly Peck; that he moved into the state of New York and
settled on the Susquehanna river, near the great bend, in Chenango
county, in 1809. Two years later he removed to Colesville, Broome
county, New York, where he remained nineteen years. "My father," says
Newel Knight in his journal, "owned a farm, a grist mill and carding
machine. He was not rich, yet he possessed enough of this world's goods
to secure to himself and family, not only the necessaries, but also
the comforts of life. His family, consisting of my mother, three sons
and four daughters, he reared in a genteel and respectable manner,
and gave his children a good, common school education. My father was
a sober, honest man, generally respected and beloved by his neighbors
and acquaintances. He did not belong to any religious sect, but was a
believer in the Universalian doctrine." The business in which Joseph
Knight, Sen., engaged, made it necessary at times for him to hire men,
and the Prophet Joseph was occasionally employed by him. To the Knight
family, who were greatly attached to him, the young Prophet related
many of the things God had revealed respecting the Book of Mormon, then
as yet, to come forth. So far at least was the elder Knight taken into
the Prophet's confidence that he purposely so arranged his affairs as
to be at the Smith family residence, near Manchester, at the time the
plates of the Book of Mormon were given into Joseph's possession. Mr.
Knight had driven to the Smith residence with a horse and carriage,
and in this conveyance, according to the statement of both Lucy Smith,
mother of the Prophet, (See Lucy Smith's _History of the Prophet_, ch.
23), and Joseph Knight, Sen., Joseph, in company with his wife Emma,
drove away very early--before daylight--on the morning of September
the 22nd. It is presumed, of course, the Prophet drove to Cumorah, and
there received from Moroni the plates of the Book of Mormon, the Urim
and Thummim and Breastplate, which were, for some time--excepting the
Urim and Thummim--concealed in the woods. Mr. Knight remained at the
Smith residence several days, and was there the day Joseph brought
home the plates; and in company with Joseph Smith, Sen., and Mr.
Stoal--who was also present at the Smith residence in company with
Mr. Knight--went in search of those men who had assailed the Prophet
while on his way home with the plates, but they did not find them. From
Joseph's narrative in the text it will be seen that the senior Joseph
Knight's interest in the work continued.
8. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 12.
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