PALMYRA, N.Y. — With a new barn, fencing and a restored frame home, the facilities in historic Palmyra are now "as close as we know" to the days when Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith Sr. raised their family on this farm, said Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve during dedicatory services Sept. 9.
"I'm sure some of the Smiths are looking in on us and are pleased that this restoration effort has been made."
About 200 members, missionaries and civic leaders gathered under a canopy set between the newly restored frame home and newly built barn to hear Elder Ballard, the great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, dedicate the new and restored facilities. Another 1,000 listened to proceedings by audio broadcast to meetinghouses in Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Canandaigua.
"You're not tired. You're just melting," Elder Ballard said in jest referring to the heat and humidity of the day.
Before offering the dedicatory prayer, Elder Ballard and the other speakers expressed gratitude and adoration in a spirit of celebration for the family that was central to the restoration of the gospel.
"Do you know that you are mother of the greatest family that has ever lived on earth?" said Elder Ballard, quoting the senior Joseph Smith's question to his wife, Lucy.
"They were truly great people with a great mission," he said.
Highlighting one poignant moment in the life of the Smiths, Elder Ballard described the morning that Hyrum lifted his youngest son, Joseph Fielding Smith, from the ground while he was seated in the saddle of his horse and gently hugged and kissed his 5-year-old for the last time. He then gently placed him on the ground, leaving him to watch as his father and uncle rode to Carthage.
Years later, when Joseph Fielding became president of the Church, he spoke of ancestors in his 1916 general conference address. " 'We live in their presence. They see us. . . . They love us now more than ever for they see more clearly the dangers that beset us,' " Elder Ballard said, quoting President Joseph F. Smith.
Elder Ballard also expressed his gratitude for the restorationists who uncovered the boards and paint of the original frame home that was begun by Alvin Smith. "Boards put up by the hands of Joseph Sr., Hyrum, Alvin and, I suppose, Joseph," he said.
Accompanying Elder Ballard and his wife, Barbara, was Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Seventy and president of North America Northeast Area, and his wife, Jan.
In his remarks, Elder Zwick looked a short distance down Stafford Road to the replica of the Smith's first home, a log-hewn home, and noted how the Smith family was unified by living in a humble cabin, then they were able to settle [in the frame home] in more spacious circumstances.
"I draw this conclusion," said Elder Zwick, "the Lord allows families to progress and somehow through sacrifice and pain and some sorrow they unify and become strong.
"Having never met the [Prophet Joseph], I await the chance to embrace him," he said. Elder Zwick then recounted his experience of walking along the rock border of the 100-acre Smith farm that winds up the hill where the Palmyra temple is built and receiving the feeling that "this sacred site is the Lord's, and is part of His plan."
According to the 1820-1830 tax records, the Smith farm was numbered among the better farms of the day and had a reputation "for good order and industry," wrote Lucy Mack Smith.
The dedication of the facilities in Palmyra comes as a culmination of years of research and construction by the Church to recreate the farm as the Smiths would have known it.
Earlier improvements included the creation of a replica log home that was first inhabited by the Smiths as they cleared the land for farming. This was the home where the young Joseph lived when he entered the Sacred Grove. The replica log home was dedicated in 1998 by President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Since then, other key improvements at the historic site include:
Restoration of the frame home begun by Alvin Smith. An estimated 85 percent of the original home still remains, including the heavy timber frame, door, flooring and paint. This is the last home built by the Smiths that is still in the Church's possession. It was here that Joseph hid the plates in the fireplace hearth. This home was awarded the 2001 "Project Excellence Award" by the Preservation League of New York State.
Relocation and renovation of a barn from the John Young farm in Mendon, N.Y., to the Smith farm.
Construction of a cooper shed near the barn and frame home where father Smith built barrels for water.
A 36-tree apple orchard.
Worm and rail fencing that, according to property records of the day, would have been approximately a half-mile in length around fields and property.
New and extended visitor pathways leading to and through the Sacred Grove, as well as near the temple. Paths are lined with bark to be more conducive to the quiet, serene, contemplative setting.
Planting of grains and crops that the Smiths would have harvested.
"These renovations remind us of the remarkable family utilized by the Lord," said President David Cook of the Rochester New York Palmyra Stake.
Other improvements currently underway in Palmyra include the groundbreaking for a new visitors center and construction of a new stake center near the temple. The former Palmyra Ward meetinghouse now houses Palmyra City offices.
