Joseph Smith was born at Sharon, Vt., Dec. 23, 1805, from which place in 1815 his parents removed to N.Y. State, settling first near Palmyra and later at Manchester. Both his parents and grandparents were superstitious, neurotic, seers of visions, and believers in miraculous cures, heavenly voices and direct revelation. The boy's father was a digger for hidden treasure, and used a divining rod to find the proper place to dig wells. He taught his son crystal gazing and the use of the "peepstone" to discover hidden treasure. Young Joseph was good-natured and lazy. Early in life he began to have visions which were accompanied by epileptic "seizures." One night in 1823, according to his story, the angel Moroni appeared to him three times, and told him that the Bible of the western continent, the supplement to the New Testament, was buried on a hill called Cumorah, now commonly known as Mormon Hill. It was not until 1827, however, that he discovered this new Bible. Smith's story was that on the 22nd of September of that year, he dug up on the hill near Manchester a stone box in which was a volume 6 inches thick made of thin gold plates, 8 inches by 8 inches, fastened together by three gold rings. The plates were covered with small writing in characters of the "reformed Egyptian tongue." With the golden book Smith claimed he found a breastplate of gold and a pair of supernatural spectacles, consisting of two crystals set in a silver bow, by the aid of which he could read the mystic characters. Being himself unable to read or write fluently, Smith dictated a translation of the book from behind a screen. Soon afterwards, according to Smith, the plates were taken away by the angel Moroni. 370 M. ROCHESTER, Pop. 295,750. (Train 51 passes 4:05p; No. 3, 5:25p; No. 41, 9:56p; No. 25, 10:23p; No. 19, 2:11p. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 12:59a; No. 26, 1:51a; No. 16, 6:18a; No. 22, 8:47a.) Rochester is built around the Falls of the Genesee River, about 7 M. above the place where the river empties into Lake Ontario. [Illustration: Rochester in 1812 Settlers from New England made a clearing at the site of Rochester about 1810, but growth was slow until the railroad--now the New York Central--was built connecting it with Albany and Buffalo.]