Upstate New York was the cradle of Mormonism. Joseph Smith, Sen., moved to Upstate New York in 1816, and the rest of the Smith family joined him soon after.  According to Joseph Smith, Jun.'s, personal account, as well as research done by Milton Backman, there was a considerable religious revival during 1819 and 1820 (see Joseph Smith's First Vision [Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1980]). The young Joseph Smith, who had earlier sympathized with the Methodist Church, announced to his family in 1820 that he had had a vision in which he was instructed to join none of the existing Churches, for they were not recognized by God as His. This experience, which was later termed "the first vision," became the foundation upon which Mormonism would be built. 

The chronology of Mormonism in New York:

• Spring 1820: the first vision
• September 1823: Moroni tells Joseph Smith about the plates of gold
• September 1827: Joseph Smith received the plates
• 1828 and 1829: Joseph Smith moved to Pennsylvania to translate the plates
• March 1830: the Book of Mormon is published at the Grandin Press at Palmyra, New York
• 6 April 1830: the Church of Christ is founded at the Peter Whitmer home, Fayette, New York
• 1831: members of the Church move to Ohio, the new headquarters of the fledgeling faith

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