Joseph Smith
Oakland Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The founder of Mormonism lived in this vicinity about 1825-29. His infant son is buried in this cemetery. Much of the translation of the "Golden Plates" for the Book of Mormon was done at a house nearby.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the late 1820s a young Joseph Smith lived in this stretch of the Susquehanna valley, where his wife Emma's family had roots. Here, at a house nearby, he carried out much of the work he described as translating the golden plates into the Book of Mormon, the founding scripture of the movement he would lead. An infant son of his is buried in this cemetery.
Why it matters
This quiet valley witnessed the origins of the Latter-day Saint movement, one of the most distinctly American religious traditions and a story that would later reshape the settlement of the West.
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Related people
- · Joseph Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Joseph Smith
Great Bend Township, PA · est. 1947
In the years before 1830, the young Joseph Smith spent time in this part of the Susquehanna Valley, where — according to Latter-day Saint tradition — much of the translation work that produced the Book of Mormon was carried out. The site, a few miles from this marker, became one of the formative locations in the origins of a distinctly American religious movement. The land is preserved by the church that grew from Smith's work.
Galusha Grow
Harford Township, PA · est. 1947
This marker honors Galusha A. Grow near his final resting place in Harford, the community where he was schooled at Franklin Academy before entering public life. Known as the "Father of the Homestead Act," Grow spent his career advancing the principle that western public lands should be opened to free settlement, a cause realized in 1862. He served as Speaker of the House in the first years of the Civil War and returned to Congress near the turn of the century.
Galusha Grow
Harford Township, PA · est. 1947
Galusha A. Grow rose from this rural corner of northeastern Pennsylvania to become one of the most consequential legislators of the mid-19th century. As a champion of "free soil," he spent years pushing the idea that a settler willing to work unclaimed federal land should be able to own it, a fight that finally succeeded with the Homestead Act of 1862. He presided over the U.S. House as Speaker during the opening years of the Civil War before returning to Congress decades later.
Susquehanna County
Montrose, PA · est. 1982
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