Thomas Rogers II, the second son of James Rogers and Cynthia Denison, was born on February 13, 1790 in Richmond, Washington County, Rhode Island. Thomas was the great uncle-in-law of E. B. Grandin, first publisher of the Book of Mormon. Harriet Holmes Rogers, wife of Thomas Rogers II, was the first cousin to the wife of E. B. Grandin and first cousin to the wife of Pomeroy Tucker, Lucy Rogers Tucker. Thus, Thomas Rogers II had family ties to two newspaper men in Palmyra—E. B. Grandin and Pomeroy Tucker.
In 1792, two year old Thomas II moved from Richmond, Rhode Island to Palmyra with his father James Rogers and his brother William. His family were among the earliest settlers in Palmyra. When Thomas II was ten-years old, he was listed in the US Federal Census as a resident of Palmyra. As he grew to manhood, his first civic responsibility came in 1807 when his name appeared on a jury list in Ontario County.[1]
Thomas II was one of fifty-seven men called from Palmyra to fight near the border of Canada in the War of 1812.[2] Following his brief military stint, in 1813 twenty-three year old Thomas II married Harriet Holmes, daughter of Peleg Holmes, of Warren, Connecticut. Harriet was three years his senior, being born in 1787. Before her marriage, Harriet resided with her family at the corner of Main and Clinton Streets in Palmyra in a home built in 1812. Her father was well-to-do and not only owned a home but also extensive property in Palmyra including Prospect Hill, later known as Mt. Holmes. Thomas II and his wife Harriet acquired much of the Holmes’ property including the family home. Thomas II added onto the home as did later owners. Through the years, the home has been used as a restaurant and a meetinghouse for the Canal Town Free Methodist Church.
In 1815, Thomas II registered an animal earmark with the village of Palmyra. The earmark was “a half-penny the underside of the right ear transferred from Azel Ensworth,” a Palmyra resident.[3] In 1818, Thomas II participated in a barn raising for Mr. Palmer on Vienna Street in Palmyra. Thomas II took charge of the ceremonies, naming the barn by breaking a bottle and calling out, “The Chief Depository of Aarondale.”[4]
Thomas II was indifferent to all religions until the “Great Awakening” in Palmyra. It was then he changed his views and joined the Western Presbyterian Church. When it was proposed that a new Western Presbyterian Church be built on the corner of Main and Church Streets, Thomas II eagerly wheeled the first wheelbarrow load of dirt.[5]
The Case of Joseph Smith Sr. versus Jeremiah Hurlbut
Thomas II served on the jury in the case of Joseph Smith Sr. versus Jeremiah Hurlbut. (There was a relationship between Jeremiah Hurlbut and Doctor Phineas Hurlbut, the man who gathered affidavits from Palmyra residents against Joseph Smith.)[6] Joseph Smith Sr. and his son Alvin initiated the lawsuit in January 1819 against Jeremiah Hurlbut for the sale of a pair of horses to the Smiths for $65. The Smiths worked for Jeremiah Hurlbut to pay down the $65 obligation and for other goods the summer of 1818.
Twelve witnesses were called to testify at the trial, including Hyrum Smith and Joseph Smith Jr. Under New York law, thirteen year old Joseph Smith’s testimony about the work he had performed for Jeremiah Hurlbut was admissible. The court record shows that every item Joseph testified of was included in damages awarded to the Smiths.[7] As a member of the jury, Thomas II voted in favor of the Smiths’ claim against Hurlbut. This is the only known Thomas II connection with the Smiths before 1828.
A Man of High Standing in Palmyra
Military. On March 17, 1821, Thomas II was named colonel of the 39th Regiment of Infantry in Ontario County, New York. Other Palmyra residents serving in that regiment were Nathaniel Beckwith, captain; Alexander McIntyre, surgeon’s mate; Durfee Chase, ensign; and George Beckwith, lieutenant.[8] On March 16, 1822, Thomas II was commissioned brigadier general of the 24th Brigade Infantry in Ontario County.[9] As commanding officer of the Infantry, his responsibility included ordering regiments and battalions to appear armed and equipped as the law directs for parading.[10] On August 23, 1823, from infantry headquarters in Geneva, New York, Thomas II issued “brigade orders,” directing commanding officers of regiments and battalions to appear at a specified time and place armed and equipped as the law directs for review and inspection.[11]
Civic. In the 1821 minutes of a Palmyra Village meeting, Thomas II was appointed a highway commissioner. As such, he certified highways leading in and out of the village and supervised the work done by overseers of highways like Martin Harris.
Erie Canal. Seymour Scovell built the packet boat “Myron Holley,” the first boat to launch from Palmyra on the Erie Canal. At 11 a.m. on November 21, 1821, a procession began at the Eagle Hotel in Palmyra led by Thomas II, who served as grand marshal for the celebration. Those invited to give toasts and speeches were seated in the boat. As the boat sailed away, there were three cheers, gun fire, and a cannon blast. After a short band concert, about a hundred spectators left the banks of the canal and went to the Eagle Hotel to partake of an elegant supper prepared by Major William Rogers, the brother of Thomas II.[12]
The launching of the “Myron Holley” and celebration surrounding the launch, linked Palmyra’s prosperity with the Erie Canal. Palmyra merchants became very wealthy due to the Canal. They built federal style homes which still stand today. An editorial in the Palmyra Herald of June 19, 1822 reads:
Our village has assumed an appearance which may be justly considered characteristic of the elevated rank to which it is destined. The canal crosses Main St. at the Eastern end where there is a large and commodious basin (Henry Jessup) and nearly opposite the center of the village, another basin (Thomas Rogers II) is now nearly completed plus at the west end of the Village is a third basin (David Aldrich) directly opposite to which there is an elegant dry dock.” (A basin was a cove dug out so that boats could float in from the main channel and be loaded or unloaded.)
All boats (packets) passing through Palmyra were expected to stop at a basin on the Canal. When a packet approached a basin, a trumpet blared to alert residents of Palmyra. Horses drew the boat to the landing. A toll was charged for using a basin. In Palmyra, the collector of tolls had his office at the Henry Jessup Basin. The office was later moved to the Thomas Rogers II Basin. Millions of bushels of grain were loaded on boats at this basin. In the year 1827 alone, the canal commission reported toll collected in Palmyra was $84,009.96. The collector’s salary was $1,000 annually. Numbered among the collectors at Thomas Rogers II Basin was John H. Gilbert, the typesetter and compositor of the Book of Mormon.
Palmyra Manufacturing Company. In March 1827, the Palmyra Manufacturing Company incorporated with $30,000 capital. Thomas Rogers II, George Palmer, and Joel McCullen were partners in the company. The partnership owned a steam flour mill. Flour from the mill was packed into barrels and sent to market on the Erie Canal.
The Year 1828
At the first Palmyra Village election held at the Lovell Hurd home on February 4, 1828, thirty-eight year old Thomas II was elected a town trustee. Being a trustee was more of an honorary position than a position of responsibility. Like previous years, in 1828 Thomas II bought and sold properties and leveraged his wealth. He was granted a deed from Asa Smith in 1828. (Asa was not a relative of the Joseph Smith Sr. family).[13]
On June 14, 1828, Martin Harris carried the 116 manuscript pages to Palmyra. He had the manuscript in his possession for three weeks or until about July 7, 1828. During those weeks, Martin showed the manuscript to any “prudent” person who called. Would thirty-eight year old Thomas Rogers II be considered a prudent person in 1828? Yes!
As to his stealing the 116 pages, we don’t think so. He had no criminal history. Could he have been handed the 116 pages by Flanders Dyke or another? Yes! He had the means to pay handsomely for the pages, but was he interested? We contend that he was more interested in wealth and status positions than what could be perceived as a threat to his religious leanings. We don’t see Thomas II joining a conspiracy unless he was persuaded to be the leader. Even then, it would be a stretch. He doesn’t take orders well.
Thomas II was in Palmyra during the weeks Martin Harris had the manuscript in his possession. On June 14, 1828, he shopped in the Gain Robinson drugstore.
On October 8, 1828, Thomas II was nominated a “presidential elector” for the 26th District of Ontario.[14] His election to office gave him the right to judge minor infractions in Ontario County. For example, on November 2, 1828 Thomas II ruled that a two year old steer “broke into the enclosure on October 28.” He ruled on the same day, “a two year old black heifer with a swallow tail on each ear” also broke into an enclosure.[15] The title “Presidential Elector” does not appear to match the work required.
Martin Harris and a Mr. Rogers in March 1829
In March 1829, following a court case brought against Joseph Smith by Lucy Harris charging him with deceiving her husband and trying to take his money, Martin Harris left Palmyra on a stagecoach with a traveling companion—Mr. Rogers.
Did Martin travel with Thomas Rogers II, a well-to-do Palmyra businessman? Was Thomas Rogers II a confidant of Lucy Harris? Martin named Mr. Rogers in his personal history dictated to Edward Stevenson on September 4, 1870 in Salt Lake City:
So I went from Waterloo 25 mls [miles] South East of Palmyra to Rogerses [in Seneca] Co[unty] NY. & Harmony Pennsylvania 125 [miles] & found Joseph [Smith]. Rogers unknown to me had agreed to give my wife [Lucy Harris] 100 Dollars if it [the reality of the gold plates] was not a Deseption[sic] & Whet his Nife [rubbed his Knife on a stone for the purpose of sharpening it] to cut the covering of the Plates as the Lord had forbid Joseph exhibiting them openly[.]
As implied in the dictated account, Mr. Rogers was prepared to rip the covering off the plates with his knife and examine the exposed contents. He was also financially prepared to give $100 to Lucy Harris if he saw gold plates. There is no record of Mr. Rogers giving Lucy Harris $100 or any untoward exposure of the wrapped plates.
The presence of Mr. Rogers on the northward bound stagecoach was affirmed by passenger, William S. Sayre, a lawyer from Bainbridge en route to Geneva, Ontario County, New York.
William Sayre remembered the stagecoach ride because of a conversation overheard between two passengers. However, he had trouble assigning correct names to the passengers. In answering an inquiry of James T. Cobb, a writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, Sayre said, “In the Spring 1829—I was travelling in the Stage between this place [Bainbridge] and Geneva.” Sayre then told of being in the stagecoach with Martin Harris, who had just seen Joseph Smith, the same Smith who had found a Gold Bible and stone that enabled him to translate ancient characters. Sayre wrote, “Harris read to him a good deal of the bible & he repeated to those in the Stage verse after verse of what Smith had read to him.” Sayre also wrote of Martin’s traveling companion, Mr. Rogers: “This gentleman said he did not believe that Jos[eph] was capable of composing anything, but that Jo’s father was a man of some education & cunning & shr[ewd], & thought he was at the bottom of the matter, and had made the bible.”[16]
The question arises—was Mr. Rogers—Thomas Rogers II, his brother William Rogers, or Joseph Rogers of Phelpstown, New York the traveling companion of Martin Harris. Let us exam the possibilities.
William H. Rogers (1754-1835) was age 75 in March 1829. Like Thomas Rogers, William was born in Richmond, Rhode Island. In 1829, he was the owner and proprietor of the Eagle Hotel in Palmyra and a trustee of the First Baptist Church of Palmyra. Would Martin Harris get on a stagecoach with seventy-five year old William Rogers as his traveling companion? Would William Rogers agree to give Lucy Harris 100 dollars “if it [the reality of the gold plates] was not a Deseption [sic] & Whet his Nife cut the covering of the Plates?” Would William Rogers be willing to leave his hotel in hopes of seeing the gold plates? Probably not! He is not that loose with his money or time. More than that, his health had failed him by 1829. On January 14, 1835, E. B. Grandin wrote in his diary: “At tannery in morning—in afternoon went down home and was present at the death of William Rogers senior, aged 82 years.”[17]
Joseph Rogers (1805-1870) was age twenty-three in March 1829, the same age as Joseph Smith. Would Martin Harris get on a stagecoach with twenty-three year old Joseph Rogers as his traveling companion? Joseph Rogers was from Phelpstown, a few miles south of Palmyra.[18] Would Joseph Rogers agree to give “Lucy Harris 100 Dollars if it [the reality of the gold plates] was not a Deseption [sic] & Whet his Nife cut the covering of the Plates?” Does Joseph Rogers have $100 to spare on such an adventure? He was a treasure hunter which suggests that money was not easy to come by. How would Lucy Harris have made the acquaintance of Joseph Rogers?
We are left with Thomas Rogers II as the companion of Martin Harris, although it still seems unlikely. He is a man of means. Why would he stoop to be part of a scheme with Lucy Harris?
Thomas Rogers and Henry Jessup
If we are looking for a conspiracy theory that involved Thomas Rogers II, a man to be included in the conspiracy was Palmyra resident Henry Jessup, who ran a tannery in Palmyra and was a deacon in the Western Presbyterian Church. Joseph Smith viewed Henry Jessup as a man without scruples. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph said of Henry Jessup, “You look at Deacon Jessup and you hear him talk very piously; well, you think he is a very good man—Now, suppose that one of his poor neighbors should owe him the value of a cow; and, that this poor man had eight <little> children, and he should be taken sick and die, leaving his wife with one cow but destitute of every other means of supporting herself and family— Now I tell you, that Deacon Jessup, religious as he is, would not scruple to take the last cow from the poor widow, in order to secure the debt; notwithstanding.”[19]
There are two recorded vignettes between Thomas Rogers II and Henry Jessup. One tells of Thomas II having purchased boots from Henry Jessup. Thomas II asked Jessup to grease the boots. Jessup charged him an extra sixpence for the grease. Thomas II paid the money, went down to Jessup’s cellar, turned on the faucet of oil, filled both boots to the top, and walked off.[20] Another vignette tells of Thomas II’s pigs strolling down to Deacon Jessup’s land. Jessup put the pigs in his pen and said nothing to Thomas II. The next day, Thomas II found the pigs in Jessup’s pen and went home and said nothing. In the winter, when it was time to kill the pigs, Thomas II asked Jessup to let him know when he planned to kill the pigs and he would come down and help him. When that time arrived, Thomas II came with his hired man and took his dressed pigs and went home.[21]
A Banker
In 1830, Thomas II was assessed taxes on Lot 57 in Manchester. That year, he was listed in the US Federal Census of Palmyra as having a household of one male age 10-15, two males ages 15-20, one male age 30-40, one male age 40-50, one male age 50-60, one male age 70-80, one female age 20-30, and two females age 50-60.
More important to our profile, the Wayne County Bank of Palmyra was organized in 1830 with Angus Strong as president.[22] Angus Strong was succeeded by Thomas Rogers II. On June 18, 1830, in addition to being bank president, Rogers was elected bank director.[23] On June 29, 1831, he was appointed bank director for another year.[24] The Wayne County Bank failed in 1840, years after Thomas Rogers II had relinquished his positions with the bank.
In 1832 Thomas Rogers II financially benefitted from the Contractual Arrangement between Martin Harris and E. B. Grandin
The contractual arrangement between Martin Harris and E. B. Grandin to publish the Book of Mormon is complicated but shows that Thomas Rogers II benefited financially from the contractual arrangement.[25] In June 1829, Joseph Smith met with Grandin to convince him to publish the Book of Mormon manuscript. After some delay, an agreement was reached. Grandin agreed to publish 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon for $3,000. Martin Harris acted as surety for the consignment with the mortgage agreement between himself and Grandin dated August 25, 1829.[26]
If Martin Harris defaulted on the mortgage, Grandin could legally sell the property (150 ¼ acres as agreed in the contractual arrangement) to obtain the $3,000. If the property sold for more than $3,000, Martin Harris would be legally entitled to the excess. Grandin sold the mortgage in October 1830 for $2,000 cash to Thomas Rogers II, a transaction that may have been part of a larger financial deal. Rogers collected the full $3,000 from the buyer, Thomas Lakey.[27]
Putting it another way, behind the scenes Thomas Rogers II on October 21, 1830 became the assignee for the mortgage by paying the holder, Egbert B. Grandin, $2,000. Thomas II received $3,000, the entire amount of the mortgage when Martin Harris sold the required acreage to cover the cost of printing the Book of Mormon. Martin sold 150 ¼ acres to Thomas Lakey, who paid Martin the specified $3,000 in a series of installments extending to October 1832. With the money, Martin settled his long-standing debt.[28] Note that the recipient of the $3,000 was not Egbert Grandin but Thomas Rogers II, the mortgage assignee since October 21, 1830.
Having received the agreed amount, Thomas appeared before Truman Heminway, a Commissioner of Deeds for Wayne County, and completed the process:
I Thomas Rogers 2nd assignee of an indenture of mortgage bearing date the twenty fifth day of August in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine, and made and executed by Martin Harris then of the town of Palmyra, county of Wayneandstate of New York to Egbert B. Grandin of the same place, and recorded September 11th 1829 in Liber 3 of mortgages at folio 325 in the office of the Clerk of said county, do certify, that said mortgage is redeemed paid off, satisfied and discharged. Given under my hand January 28th 1832. Executed in presence of T. Heminway Abner F. Lakey} Thomas Rogers 2nd State of New York Wayne County} On the twenty eighth day of January 1832 came before me Truman Heminway a commissioner of deeds for said county Thomas Rogers 2nd to me known to be the same person described in and who executed the above discharge and acknowledged that he executed the same, freely for the purposes therein expressed. Truman Heminway[29]
“Testimony of 51 Neighbors”
When Philastus Hurlbut came to Palmyra seeking affidavits against the Prophet Joseph Smith, Thomas Rogers II signed the “Testimony of 51 Neighbors” on December 4, 1833, later printed in Mormonism Unvailed.[30]The signed testimony indicates that the signees were acquainted with the Smith family for a number of years and “consider them destitute of that moral character, which ought to entitle them to the confidence of any community.” The testimony further tells of Joseph Smith Sr. and his son Joseph being “entirely destitute of moral character, and addicted to vicious habits” and ends with “we know not of a single individual in this vicinity that puts the least confidence in their pretended revelations.”[31]
Thomas II included his signature on December 4, 1833 to the statement, “We the undersigned, are personally acquainted with William Stafford, Willard Chase, and Peter Ingersoll, and believe them to be men of truth and veracity.”[32] All of the named men mentioned were treasure hunters in Palmyra,
Greater Prominence in Palmyra
Thomas Rogers II never moved out of the spotlight in Palmyra. Although he was a very plain business man in his dress—he wore a stovepipe hat that looked as though he had been to a brick-bat party, for it was so full of dents—he was financially a cut above most in Palmyra. It is no wonder that on April 27, 1833, George R. Smith, no relation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, launched the “General Rogers” at the Thomas Rogers Basin on the Erie Canal.
In 1836, Thomas II was a stockholder in a new Palmyra hotel. The estimated cost of the hotel was $12,000. More important, Thomas II again benefits from the sale of property that once belonged to Martin Harris. On February 10, 1836, there was a mortgage sale of “one quarter of an acre of land, it being the same place as heretofore conveyed by Martin Harris and Lucy his wife to Flanders Dyke, by deed bearing the date of thirtieth day of June, 1828.”
The said mortgage was recorded in the office of the Clerk of the County of Wayne, on the 13th day of February, 1836, At 2 o’clock PM in [liberty?] of mortgages, at folio [$7?], and there is claimed to be due thereon on the first publication of this notice, the sum of $230, with interest thereon from the 10th day of February, 1836, which said mortgage has been duly assigned from the mortgage to one Thomas Rogers, by said Thomas Rogers to one Robert Johnson, and by said Robert Johnson to Joseph Johnson, the present assignee. Now, therefore, default having been made in the condition of said mortgage. Notice is hereby given, that by virtue of a power of sale contained in said mortgage, the above described [promises] will be sold at public auction according to law, on Saturday, the 30th day of June [1836] next, at 10 o’clock in the forenoon, at the Palmyra Hotel, now kept by William P. Nottingham, in the village of Palmyra aforesaid—dated March 24th, 1836.
Joseph Johnson, Assignee
J. Peddix Attorney[33]
On April 6, 1836, Thomas II signed an indenture with his wife for $400 for a quick claim deed for property in Macedon. On May 30, 1840, E. B. Grandin wrote, “Assisting Th. Rogers washing sheep.”[34]
Thomas II was one of the organizers of the Palmyra Academy, “a seminary of learning for the education of youth of both sexes.”[35]
In Palmyra, Thomas II was known as General Thomas Rogers. As he walked down Main Street, he walked with two dogs—one a shepherd and the other a bull dog with his tail cut off, his ears cropped, and one eye out. The bull dog had a savage appearance. The young boys in town gave Thomas II a wide berth and were very careful not to trespass upon the rights of the General.
Through the years, Thomas II owned much of the town of Palmyra including land where the Palmyra City Cemetery was located. In 1843, the Village of Palmyra negotiated with Thomas II to purchase the land for a cemetery.[36] The Rogers Memorial Chapel was built in the cemetery in 1866 from a fund of $4,000 left for that purpose by Carlton H. Rogers, the only child of Thomas II.[37]
Thomas II was also involved in other property exchanges. On November 14, 1846. he wrote to William Steele,
Dear Sir: Enclosed is a draft for $70.00 to pay the interest on the Duggan Mortgage. I have been compelled to take the farm to secure liabilities incurred by me for the person who purchased the property of the M. Duggans and not prepared at this time to pay the principal. He will be prepared to secure $500 soon, I am somewhat [committed] in my means at this time and would prefer to pay it in two or three installments than to pay the whole at one time. An early answer to this will much oblige.
Yours Respectfully,
Thomas Rogers[38]
On April 19, 1849, Thomas Rogers II wrote to W. H. Seward recommending William M. Anderson as an applicant for the office of Post Master in the Palmyra village and said, “I earnestly solicit your action and influence in procuring his appointment.”[39]
Death of Thomas Rogers II
On October 5, 1853, Thomas Rogers II died in Palmyra at age sixty-three. At the time of his death, he owned “a good many farms as well as business places in the Palmyra village. He also had property in Arcadia, and Macedon, New York and a flour mill on the Erie Canal where wheat was ground and sent to market. Thomas II was buried in the Palmyra City Cemetery.[40] In the History of Wayne County (1877), it was said him:
The hardships and privations incident to pioneer life were familiar to General Rogers, and doubtless had their influence in forming his habits and character. He was a self-taught, self-sustained, and eminently practical man. In strength of mind, accuracy of judgment, and superior business qualifications, he had but few equals. His advice and opinion was sought by all classes, and not a few have attributed their success in life to his timely advice and assistance. In disposition he was social and free; in friendship, firm and abiding; to the worthy poor, kind and benevolent; and to striving merit, ever ready to lend a helping hand. While unambitious for political honors or popular applause, he did not shrink from the responsibilities of his position, but was foremost in projecting, prosecuting, and aiding all enterprises tending to the growth and prosperity of the place of his adoption, and probably did more for its advancement than any man in his time.
For a while, he was president of the Wayne County Bank; but the greater part of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, which seemed most congenial to him, and in which he had largely invested his means. Honored and esteemed in life, and mourned and lamented in death, General Rogers was one in which the elements were so mixed.[41]
His widow, Harriet Holmes Rogers, died on May 10, 1872 at age eighty-two. Their only child was Carlton Holmes Rogers.[42]
Child of Thomas and Harriet Rogers
1. Carlton Holmes Rogers (1815–August 18, 1884). He married Sarah Ann Perrine (1823–1879) on September 21, 1843 in Palmyra. Carlton inherited his father’s wealth. He was philanthropic with the wealth. For example, students studying for the Christian Ministry at Hamilton College could apply for the “Rogers Scholarship” of $1,000 donated by Carlton. When Palmyra men enlisted in the Union Army, Carlton wrote a letter on April 24, 1861 saying, “Put me down for $500” to help care for the wives of the soldiers.[43] He ran a dry goods store in Palmyra. On April 30, 1864, canal appraisers listened to his claims for damages caused by raising the level of the Erie Canal in Palmyra.[44]
[1] Jury List Ontario County to 1855.
[2] Betty Lewis, 1817 The Woman’s Society of the Western Presbyterian Church.
[3] Old Palmyra Town Record.
[4] “Historical Sketch,” in The Western Presbyterian Church of Palmyra New York.
[5] Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity, p. 250.
[6] Docket Entry, between circa 12 January and circa 6 February 1819 (Joseph Smith Sr. v. Jeremiah Hurlbut), in Joseph Smith Papers.
[7] Smith, History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, p. 139; Walker, United by Faith, p. 91; Jeffrey N. Walker, “Joseph Smith’s Introduction to the Law: The 1819 Hurlbut Case,” Mormon Historical Studies, pp. 129–130; Palmyra Road Tax List, 1817–1822.
[8] Discharge, Thomas Rogers II, January 28, 1832, Wayne Co., NY.
[9] Clark, Military History of Wayne County, N. Y., p. 166: “Military commissions for the following persons…,” Geneva Palladium, May 15, 1822.
[10] “Brigadier Orders,” Geneva Gazette, September 3, 1823.
[11] “Brigade Orders,” Geneva Palladium, August 23, 1823.
[12] “The Launch,” Western Farmer, November 21, 1821.
[13] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[14] “The Most Important Election,” Geneva Gazette and General Advertiser, October 8, 1828; “Jackson Electoral and Congressional Nominations,” Geneva Gazette and General Advertiser, October 8, 1828.
[15] Old Palmyra Town Record
[16] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 4:143–147; Larry E. Morris, “The Conversion of Oliver Cowdery,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16, no. 1 (2007), p. 15.
[17] Egbert B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[18] Joseph Rogers witnessed by Helen Rogers in Los Gatos, CA, May 16, 1887. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of May 1887 John F. Tobin, notary public.
[19] Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, p. 94. Joseph Smith Papers.
[20] Eaton, “The First Settlement and Early History of Palmyra,” 1858.
[21] Eaton, “The First Settlement and Early History of Palmyra,” 1858.
[22] Palmyra New York, Women Society of the Western Presbyterian Church, 1907.
[23] The Geneva Gazette and Mercantile Advertiser, June 23, 1830, p. 2; “Wayne County Bank,” Wayne Sentinel, June 18, 1830.
[24] The Geneva Gazette and Mercantile Advertiser, June 29, 1831, p. 3.
[25] MacKay and Dirkmatt, From Darkness unto Light, pp. 109, 187, 194; Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity, pp. 49, 89; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:53; Historical Introduction, “Revelation, circa Summer 1829 [D&C 19],” Joseph Smith Papers; see Cowles, Landmarks of Wayne County, New York.
[26] Wayne County Mortgages, Book 3:325, Lyons, NY.
[27] Martin Harris to Egbert B. Grandin, Wayne County Book of Mortgages, August 25, 1829, recorded September 11, 1829, Book 3:325–326, Lake County Courthouse, Painesville, OH.
[28] Egbert B. Grandin to Thomas Rogers II, Wayne County Book of Mortgages, October 21, 1830, recorded May 23, 1832, Book 5:363.
[29] Wayne County Book of Mortgages, January 28, 1832, Book 5:215; Transfer, Egbert B. Grandin to Thomas Rogers II, October 21, 1830, Wayne County, New York, Mortgage Records Book, 5:353, microfilm 479,557, US and Canada Record Collection, Family History Library; Mortgage Records, Book 5:215, microfilm 479,557, US and Canada Record Collection.
[30] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 366–367.
[31] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 366–367.
[32] Joseph Smith’s New York Reputation Reexamined, p. 146.
[33] Wayne Democratic Press, 1836–1858
[34] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[35] “An act to incorporate the Palmyra Academy” April 11, 1842, Laws of New York,p.232.
[36] Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity, p. 20.
[37] Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity, p. 264.
[38] Thomas Rogers II File, in Palmyra Community Library.
[39] Letter of Thomas Rogers to the Honorable W. H. Seward, April 19, 1849, Palmyra, NY.
[40] Wayne County, New York, Deed Records, 1823–1904, 10:515–516.
[41] History of Wayne County, New York, p. 141.
[42] “Died,” Durfee Scrapbook, No. 2, 1864–1875.
[43] Military History of Wayne County, p. 314
[44] “Chapter 428,” Yates County Chronicle, July 21, 1864: “Section 1,” New York Daily Reformer, August 23, 1864.