A brief immersion in my family’s history

My wife and I spent a significant portion of the day at the Joseph Sr. and Polly Knight 2016 Family Reunion, which is being held at the LDS Institute on the campus of Utah Valley University (within long-walking distance of my home).

The opening speaker was Paul Edwards, the editor of the Deseret News.  I was very pleased to learn that he, too, is a member of the Knight family.  And, by the way, he gave a very interesting and thoughtful presentation.

We were also able to watch a video about the origins of the Knight family in Romsey, Hampshire, England, with some speculation about their history prior to 1490, when the first attested presence of a man bearing the name Knight occurs.

In the evening, we attended a fireside put on by the people who have restored the original Joseph Knight Sr. farmhouse in Colesville (now Nineveh), New York:

http://www.colesville-restoration.com

The restoration work is an entirely private labor of love, unconnected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  And it’s a story that should be much more widely known.

When I first began to visit the area, years ago — I’m not counting a teenage trip with my parents — I was concerned that the Josiah Stowell home belonged to people who probably didn’t know its historical significance and who might, someday, decide to tear it down.  (Why not?)  And the Joseph Knight property was in pretty rough shape, and also owned by (friendly) non-Mormons.

Now, though, Latter-day Saints have bought them and have been restoring them, and I’m very, very pleased.  I was really surprised when I first saw the change a few years ago.  I honor the people who have done this.

I regard historic preservation as an extraordinarily important cause.  Historical places are irreplaceable teaching tools, but there is an important spiritual dimension to them, as well.  Here’s a really fine organization that specializes in acquiring, saving, and conserving properties that are significant in the story of the Latter-day Saints:

http://mormonhistoricsites.org

Such efforts deserve encouragement and support.