Sunday, October 14, 2012

Walking Tour of Mormon history in Salem

Historic Salem sponsored a walking tour of Mormon history in Salem, MA on  September 9 and I tagged along. There was quite a large group of people, mostly people who were not Mormons but were interested in learning more about them because of the "Mormon Moment." 

Our guides: Debbie Benvie and Brother Chapman. Debbie is a convert to the church and became very interested in  the Mormon history about 10 years ago and found many documents in local libraries that people had forgotten about. Brother Chapman is from CES and the Boston LDS Institute.

We started out on the street where Joseph Smith came to stay after the operation on his leg when he was a young boy. They thought that the ocean air would be good for him. The house no longer stands, but the view is beautiful (I forgot to get a picture).

Years later, Joseph Smith came back to Salem to investigate a claim of wealth available to him, as well as to preach the gospel. While there, they stayed in this tenement. Doctrine & Covenants Section 111 was given to Joseph Smith while he was in Salem.
This is the Philip's Library. This is where many of the primary sources that Debbie found are located. I hear they have an amazing collection of historical and genealogical document. It's on my list of places to go.

This is the home of Nathan Felt, a Mormon in Salem in the 1840s. One of Brigham Young's daughters lived with them for a while because Salem was the only place that offered advanced schooling for girls.



2 comments:

Lorin and Marilyn said...

That's really interesting. I never knew there was so much Mormon HX in Salem. I thought it was interesting that Brigham sent his daughter for advanced schooling.

Lorin and Marilyn said...

That's really interesting. I never knew there was so much Mormon HX in Salem. I thought it was interesting that Brigham sent his daughter for advanced schooling.