Hathaway Brook

Hathaway brook is brook that plays a quiet supporting role in the history of the church. The brook runs through Manchester and Palmyra townships in New York state. Like many northwest communities, farms were cut out of the thick forests, with the low areas, namely the creeks and brooks left uncleared. Hathaway brook follows a curving path around the Hill Cumorah and then north along the west side of the the Smith family farm. When the Smiths cleared the land, they left an area around the brook uncleared. This area was where Joseph Smith would go to pray and receive revelation, and would subsequently called the Sacred Grove. The brook is also noted as a place where many prominent early members of the church were baptized.