Portraits of the past: Old Universalist church

This old building was once a meeting hall for members of the Universalist faith. Congregants included Joseph Knight and members of his family until they embraced the gospel restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, who had worked as a laborer on the Knight farm and became friends with the family. Joseph Knight later provided desperately needed supplies for Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery while they were translating the Book of Mormon. His son, Newel, was a trusted friend of the Prophet. The Knight family has left a remarkable legacy of faithful church service to this day. The old building is located in Afton, N.Y. (formerly South Bainbridge), just a block or two from the Chenango County fairgrounds, the site where Joseph and Emma Smith were married in 1827.

— Kenneth Mays