Joseph Smith's Early Life
The rural New England childhood that shaped the future founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
- Born December 1805 in Vermont to a struggling farm family.
- Moved to western New York amid the Second Great Awakening.
- Worked clearing land and farming before age fourteen.
- Encountered competing religious revivals that prompted his questions.
Joseph Smith Jr. was born December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, the fifth of eleven children in a modest farming family led by Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith.
Family Circumstances
The Smiths faced repeated financial setbacks from crop failures and bad land deals. They relocated several times before settling near Palmyra, New York, in 1816, where Joseph helped clear heavily wooded acreage and worked as a day laborer.
Religious Upheaval
Western New York was experiencing intense revival meetings from competing Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist preachers. Young Joseph attended these gatherings, read the Bible, and grew confused over which denomination taught correct doctrine.
Daily Life Before 1820
His routine centered on farm chores, occasional schooling, and family religious discussions at home. These ordinary pressures set the stage for his decision to pray alone in a wooded area seeking divine guidance.
Knowing the details of Smith's youth explains the setting and personal stakes behind the First Vision and the later founding of a new religious movement.
