Our website would like to publish a series of stories based on the early days of the Church in Canada. We invite your contribution to make the series both inclusive and broad ranging. If you know of someone who has such a story either in their memory, from the research they have done or the records of their ancestors, please send us that story for consideration to canada@ldschurch.org. Make it under a thousand words and include any appropriate photos and references as to where the information was obtained.
Our website would like to publish a series of stories based on the early days of the Church in Canada. We invite your contribution to make the series both inclusive and broad ranging. If you know of someone who has such a story either in their memory, from the research they have done or the records of their ancestors, please send us that story for consideration to canada@ldschurch.org. Make it under a thousand words and include any appropriate photos and references as to where the information was obtained.
One of the earliest stories about the Church in Canada occurred in October, 1833, when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, in the company of Moses Nickerson and his wife, Nellie, arrived without prior announcement at the farm of Moses’ eldest son Freeman in Mount Pleasant, Ontario. Mount Pleasant is a village located near Brantford and, at the time, was an agricultural area, notable because it was on the corridor through which troops moved during the War of 1812.
Moses Nickerson had persuaded his friend, Sidney, to come to Canada to speak about the Church to his sons and their families. Joseph Smith decided to travel with them since he had intended to visit Brantford and Toronto. Over the next three days, the Nickerson family gathered to hear what Joseph and Sidney had to say. Rumours about a ‘Golden Bible’ had been circulating throughout the region for some years so there was much curiosity about the man who called himself a prophet of God. Some of their Mount Pleasant neighbours gathered to attend the meetings. Among them was a young woman named Lydia Goldthwaite, from New York State, who was living with the Nickersons, serving as a nanny and tutor to the children. She was one who was transformed by what Joseph and Sidney had to say and was anxious to read the Book of Mormon. The few copies available had to be shared and Lydia took advantage of the moments she had alone with the book. During the next week, after Joseph and Sidney had returned from their trip to Brantford, 17 people from the Nickerson family, along with some of their neighbours, were baptized by Joseph and Sidney.
Most of these converts, including Lydia, moved to Kirtland within a year of their conversion. Freeman Nickerson’s family moved to Springfield, Ohio where he ran a general store supplying Saints travelling from Kirtland to Missouri. Lydia Goldthwaite went to Kirtland and resided in the home of Vincent Knight. She is known to have given her last fifty dollars when funds were needed to bail the Prophet out of jail. Later she lived with Hyrum and Jerusha Smith and worked as a school teacher during the period the Kirtland Temple was being built. She met and married Newell Knight after his first wife had died. Lydia and Newell had several children in addition to the two born to his first marriage. They all went to Missouri and lived through the troubles in Clay County and the persecutions in Far West. They were among the saints who made their way back to Quincy and Illinois when they were driven from Missouri.
Lydia and Newell were active in the development of Nauvoo. She was the woman healed by Joseph’s blessing his handkerchief to give to her when he was too sick to bless her in person. On the way from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, Newell died after fighting a grass fire in Iowa. Lydia and her six children made their way to Winter Quarters, but were left on their own to raise the funds needed to provision their trek to the Salt Lake Valley. After two years of living in a hut built into the bank of a river and doing laundry for mine workers, she and her fourteen-year-old son were able to purchase a wagon and oxen to make the long journey across the plains and to settle in the Valley. One of her younger sons, Jesse, became the father of Raymond Knight who established the town of Raymond in southern Alberta.
Lydia and Newell were active in the development of Nauvoo. She was the woman healed by Joseph’s blessing his handkerchief to give to her when he was too sick to bless her in person. On the way from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, Newell died after fighting a grass fire in Iowa. Lydia and her six children made their way to Winter Quarters, but were left on their own to raise the funds needed to provision their trek to the Salt Lake Valley. After two years of living in a hut built into the bank of a river and doing laundry for mine workers, she and her fourteen-year-old son were able to purchase a wagon and oxen to make the long journey across the plains and to settle in the Valley. One of her younger sons, Jesse, became the father of Raymond Knight who established the town of Raymond in southern Alberta.
Source: Susa Young Gates, “Lydia Knight’s History”, [Booklet], Salt Lake City, 1883