Fayette, New York
A rural town in Seneca County, western New York. Joseph Smith’s manuscript history places the organizing of his church on 6 April 1830 at the house of Peter Whitmer here.
Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York. Joseph Smith’s manuscript history says that six men met at the house of Peter Whitmer on 6 April 1830 to organize a church, and heads the revelation received at that meeting “Given at Fayette, Seneca Co N Y” (Joseph Smith, History, vol. A-1, p. 37). His printed sketch of 1842 places the same event in the town of Manchester, in Ontario County (Joseph Smith, Church History (1842), p. 708). The coordinates given are those of the town, not of the Whitmer farm. See Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints.
What happened here
- 6 April 1830, firm dateJoseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints
On 6 April 1830, the year the Book of Mormon is printed, Joseph Smith and five others organize a church in western New York. Its leaders declare it to be Christ’s church restored. The Catholic Church and some other churches do not accept its baptism.
Primary sources
History of Joseph Smith (begun 1838)
- Joseph Smith, History, vol. A-1, p. 37josephsmithpapers.org
Church History (the Wentworth letter)
- Joseph Smith, Church History (1842), p. 708josephsmithpapers.org