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Knight Family Farm: Home of The Second Family of the Restoration

This family provided needed support and resources to assist in the translation of the Book of Mormon and, notwithstanding persecution and tribulation, remained faithful to the message of the Restoration to the end of their lives.

Knight Family Farm: Home of the Second Family of the Restoration

Video Transcript

Abstract

The Joseph Knight, Sr., family of old Colesville (present day Nineveh), New York were among the first to learn about the Book of Mormon plates from the Prophet Joseph Smith. This family provided needed support and resources to assist in the translation of the Book of Mormon and, notwithstanding persecution and tribulation, remained faithful to the message of the Restoration to the end of their lives.

Interesting Facts

  • In May 1829, Joseph Knight, Sr., was “very anxious to know his duty” regarding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the fullness of the gospel. At his request the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation from the Lord for him, which was later published in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord answered, “Now as you have asked, behold, I say unto you, keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion. Behold, I speak unto you, and also to all those who have desires to bring forth this work; and no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care” (D&C 12:6-8). Joseph Knight, Sr., hired the lawyers, James Davidson and John Reid, that defended the Prophet Joseph Smith at court trials held in South Bainbridge and Colesville, New York.(Dean Jesee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies, 17:1[Autumn 1976]:38.)
  • Polly Knight was the first member of the Church to die in and be buried in Jackson County, Missouri. Mother Knight “had been so sick on the trip from Ohio that [her son, Newel] bought lumber along the way for her coffin.”(William G. Hartley, Stand by My Servant Joseph: the Story of the Joseph Knight Family and the Restoration, (Provo, Utah: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2003), 135.) Her “greatest desire, was to set her feet upon the land of Zion and to have her body interred in that land.”(“Joseph Knight’s Incidents of History from 1827 to 1844,” 3; cited in Hartley, 135.)
  • The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke at Polly Knight’s funeral and the Lord referred to Sister Knight in revelation: “Behold, blessed, saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments. For those that live shall inherit the earth and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their work shall follow them; they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them” (D&C 59:1-2).
  • Not only did Joseph and Polly’s children and spouses accept the message of the restoration with them, but also several of their relatives, including Joseph and Polly’s brothers, sisters, spouses and children, more than sixty in all.(William G. Hartley, Stand by My Servant Joseph: the Story of the Joseph Knight Family and the Restoration, (Provo, Utah: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2003), 77-78, 98-99,106-109.
  • Many of the members of the Knight family journeyed westward not only to Ohio, but also to Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, and Utah. They remained steadfast and true to the faith to the end of their lives.
  • Polly Knight was the first member of the Church to die in and be buried in Jackson County, Missouri. Mother Knight “had been so sick on the trip from Ohio that [her son, Newel] bought lumber along the way for her coffin.”(William G. Hartley, Stand by My Servant Joseph: the Story of the Joseph Knight Family and the Restoration, (Provo, Utah: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History and Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 2003), 135.) Her “greatest desire, was to set her feet upon the land of Zion and to have her body interred in that land.”(“Joseph Knight’s Incidents of History from 1827 to 1844,” 3; cited in Hartley, 135.) The Prophet Joseph Smith spoke at Polly Knight’s funeral and the Lord referred to Sister Knight in revelation: “Behold, blessed, saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments. For those that live shall inherit the earth and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their work shall follow them; they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them” (D&C 59:1-2).

  • Joseph Knight, Sr., related that the provisions he provided for the Prophet Joseph Smith during the translation of the Book of Mormon included, a barrel of mackerel, some lined paper for writing, nine or ten bushels of grain, five or six bushels of taters [potatoes], and a pound of tea [before the Word of Wisdom was revealed].(Dean Jesee, “Joseph Knight’s Recollection of Early Mormon History,” BYU Studies, 17:1[Autumn 1976]:36.) • The Prophet Joseph Smith borrowed the Knight’s sleigh and horses to travel to Harmony, Pennsylvania while courting Emma Hale. • Joseph Knight, Sr., knew of the date when the Joseph Smith would receive the plates from the Hill Cumorah—September 22, 1827—and arranged to be in Manchester, New York, at the appointed time. The Prophet used Knight’s horse and wagon to travel to the hill and secure the plates.(Proctor, History of Joseph Smith, 137-139.)