Newel Knight (1800

Mormon History: 1830 to 1839

Newel Knight (1800–1847)

Early Colesville convert, friend of Joseph, leader of Colesville church on journey to Ohio and Missouri, high council in Missouri and Nauvoo.

Born	September 13, 1800 in Marlborough, Windham, Vermont
Died	January 11, 1847 at the Ponca encampment, Indian territory (in what is now Knox County, Nebraska)	Biographical Encyclopedia Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson. 4 vols (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co. and Andrew Jenson Memorial Association, 1901-1936; Western Epics, 1971). , 2:775. At or near what had been the Ponca Indian Fort, about a mile from the Missouri River and six miles upstream from the mouth of the Niobrara River.
Father	Joseph Knight Sr.
Mother	Polly Peck
South Bainbridge	1809 family moves to South Bainbridge, New York.
Colesville	1811 family moves to Colesville, New York.
Marries	June 7, 1825 marries Sally Colburn.
Universalist	Characterized as a "staunch Universalist" by his sister-in-law, Emily Colburn Austin.	Life among the Mormons Mormonism; or, Life among the Mormons, Emily M. Austin (pen name for Emily Colburn, sister of Sally Colburn who married Newel Knight), (Madison, Wisconsin: M. J. Cantwell, 1882). , 30 // Early documents Early Mormon Documents, compiled and edited by Dan Vogel. 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002). 4:164–165.
Skepticism	[November] 1826 Joseph works for Newel's father Joseph Knight Sr. Newel doesn't believe the account of the angel and the gold plates.	Joseph Knight [Jr.], Incidents of History from 1827 to 1844, comp. by Thomas Bullock in They are my friends They Are My Friends: A History of the Joseph Knight Family, 1825-1850, William G. Hartley (Provo: Grandin Book Co.), 1986. , 214.
Possession, exorcism, vision	April 1830 The devil takes possession of him and Joseph casts him out. Newel has a vision of eternity and levitates.	Exorcisms
Possession, exorcism	April 1830 "In ~~June~~ <April>" Joseph speaks at Knight home in Colesville, Pennsylvania. Unable to pray in public, Newel is troubled, then possessed. His body is contorted, then tossed about in the air. Joseph casts out the devil.	Exorcisms
Baptized	Late May, Newel is baptized in Fayette by David Whitmer.	in Early documents Early Mormon Documents, compiled and edited by Dan Vogel. 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002). 1:105–106.
Exorcism, vision	Unable to pray in public, the devil takes possession of Newel and Joseph Smith casts him out. Newel has a vision of Jesus Christ and is assured of eternal life.	Minutes of June 1, 1830
Testifies for Joseph	June 29, 1830 prosecution witnesses testify against Joseph at a trial in Colesville. Newel testifies on his behalf about exorcism.	EMS The Evening and the Morning Star 1, no. 11 (Apr. 2 1833): {4}; See History: draft History [1839 draft], Joseph Smith, James Mulholland scribe. LDS Church Archives. Transcript in Papers 1:231-264. Early Mormon Documents 1:76-135 compares this document to the first section of the final (complete) [Manuscript] History of the Church. in Early documents Early Mormon Documents, compiled and edited by Dan Vogel. 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002). 1:121–122.
Joseph prevented from returning	August 21, 1830 mob prevents Joseph from returning to Colesville.	Newel Knight autobiography in Early documents Early Mormon Documents, compiled and edited by Dan Vogel. 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002). 1:11.
Joseph returns	August 29, 1830 Joseph returns to Colesville with Hyrum, David and John Whitmer to confirm those baptized June 28.	Newel Knight autobiography in Early documents Early Mormon Documents, compiled and edited by Dan Vogel. 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002). 1:11.
Priest	September 26, 1830 Oliver ordains Newel a priest at the conference in Fayette.	Minutes of September 26, 1830
Exorcism	October 14, 1830 Newel casts Satan out of his aunt, Martha Long Peck.	¶ Exorcisms
Sells land	March 9, 1831 sells sixty acres preparatory to leaving for Ohio.	Early documents Early Mormon Documents, compiled and edited by Dan Vogel. 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002). 4:25.
Leads Colesville church	March 1831 Hyrum transfers leadership of Colesville church to Newel before leaving for Ohio.	Inventing Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record, H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters (Salt Lake City: Smith Research Associates, 1994). , 138.
To Kirtland	April Colesville church leaves for Kirtland in several groups throughout the month. They traveled overland to Ithaca at the south end of Cayuga Lake, up the lake to the Seneca Canal and Erie Canal system to Buffalo, arriving in May 1, 1831. Wind had blown ice into the harbor, so the party was delayed two weeks. Mary Smith arrived with eighty members from Waterloo. During a brief break in the weather, she and her party were able to slip out while the Colesville group remained stranded. Jared Carter took a group of twelve or thirteen brethren overland to Dunkirk, where they caught a steamboat to Fairport, Ohio, then to Kirtland. The main body of of the Colesville church departed on a schooner on May 11, 1831, reaching Fairport on May 14.	Study of origins Study of the Origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816-1831, Larry C. Porter (Provo: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History and BYU Studies, 2000). , 121, 122; JS beginnings Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, Richard Bushman (Urbana: University of Illinois Press), 1984. , 176.
Ohio	May 1831 moves Colesville church sixteen miles northeast from Kirtland to the Leman Copley farm in Thompson, Ohio.
First conference in Ohio	June [4], 6, 1831 attends first Kirtland conference as an elder, called on mission to Missouri.	Minutes of June [4], 1831 ¶ D&C 52:32 D&C 54:2
Jackson County	July 25, 1831 arrives in Jackson County with about 60 members of the Colesville church.	Revelations Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith: A Historical and Biographical Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants, Lyndon Cook (Provo: Seventy�s Mission Bookstore, 1981). , 85.
Loses license	October 21, 1831 loses privilege of acting as an elder until he can see that he has not had the proper spirit (charge brought by Emily Colburn and Elizabeth Gilbert).	Minutes of October 21, 1831
Expelled	December 1833 expelled from Jackson County.
Kirtland endowment	June 23, 1834 among the first elders called to receive the Kirtland endowment.	Minutes of June 23, 1834
Clay County high council	July 3, 1834 called to the high council in Clay County.	TS Times and Seasons 6, no. 22 (Feb. 1, 1846), 1109.
Marries Sally Colburn	June 7, 1835 marries Sally Colburn.
Sally dies	September 1834 Sally dies.

Far West high council	November 7, 1837 elected to high council of Zion.	Minutes of November 7, 1837
Danite	1838 signs warning for dissenters to leave the, member of the Danites	Origins Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, D. Michael Quinn (Salt Lake City: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, 1994). , 482.
Nauvoo high council	October 5, 1839 called to high council in Nauvoo.	TS Times and Seasons 1 no. 2 (Dec. 1839): 30.
Joseph and Newel Knight's names in the Book of the Law of the Lord	[August 23, 1842] While I contemplate the virtues and the good qualifications and characteristics of the faithful few, which I am now recording in the Book of the Law of the Lord, … my aged and beloved brother Joseph Knight, Senr.… and it shall be said of him, by the sons of Zion, while there is one of them remaining; that this man, was a faithful man in Israel; therefore his name shall never be forgotten. There are his son[s] Newel Knight and Joseph Knight whose names I record in the Book of the Law of the Lord, with unspeakable delight, for they are my friends.	JS personal Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 1st ed., compiled and edited by Dean C. Jessee (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1984). , 534.
"Loose conduct"	[June 23, 1843] This A.M. President Joseph took me and conversed considerable concerning some delicate matters. Said [Emma] wanted to lay a snare for me. He told me last night of this and said he had felt troubled. He said [Emma] had treated him coldly and badly since I came … and he knew she was disposed to be revenged on him for some things. She thought that if he would indulge himself she would too. He cautioned me very kindly for which I felt thankful. He said [Robert] Thompson professed great friendship for him but he gave away to temptation and he had to die. Also Brother [Newel] Knight he gave him one but he went to loose conduct and he could not save him. Also B[righam] Y[oung] had transgressed his covenant and he pled with the Lord to spare him this end and he did so, otherwise he would have died.	William Clayton journals (Smith) Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton, edited by George D. Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, 1991, 2d ed., 1995). , 108.
	Winter 1846–1847 dies in Winter Quarters, as does his brother, Joseph Jr.

	Families
Wife	Sally Colburn, b. 1804 in Guilford, Chenango, New York md. June 7, 1825 d. September 15, 1834 in Turnhanis Landing, Gallatin, Missouri
Children	Stillborn baby ( 1826 in Colesville, Broome, New York)
	Samuel (b. October 14, 1832 in Kaw township, Jackson, Missouri; d. February 11, 1910 in Bunkerville, Clark, Nevada)
	Eli (b. September 13, 1834 in Gallatin Township, Clay, Missouri; d. same year)
Wife	Lydia Goldthwait Bailey, b. June 9, 1812 in Sutton, Worcester, Massachusetts md. by Joseph Smith, November 24, 1835 in Kirtland, Geauga, Ohio d. April 3, 1884 in St. George, Washington, Utah
Children	Sally (December 1, 1836 in Gallatin, Daviess, Missouri; d. October 1, 1916 in Orderville, Kane, Utah)
	James Philander (b. April 29, 1838 in Far West, Caldwell, Missouri; d. June 15, 1909 in Delta, Millard, Utah)
	Joseph Ether (b. October 18, 1840 in Nauvoo, d. June 28, 1878 in Sunset, Yavapai, Arizona)
	Lydia (b. June 6, 1844 in Nauvoo; d. May 8, 1905 in Dublan, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico)
	Jesse (b. September 6, 1845 in Nauvoo; d. March 14, 1921 in Provo, Utah, Utah)
	Hyrum (b. August 26, 1847 in Winter Quarters, Douglas, Nebraska; d. July 8, 1880). Twin, no death date.
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