The Story of Polly Knight

Polly and Joseph Knight and their family lived in Colesville, New York. Joseph Smith met them when he was working in Harmony, Pennsylvania. They listened to him and believed him. It was their carriage that Joseph borrowed so he could pick up the plates from Moroni. They moved from Colesville to Thompson, Ohio when the Lord commanded his people to gather in Ohio. After a short time in Thompson, the Lord told the Colesville saints to move to Jackson County Missouri.

This journey was almost 900 miles and Polly Knight was already in poor health. The company traveled mostly by river. Her family tried to convince her to stop and rest with friends along the way. She was determined to obey the Lord and gather to Zion. She became so ill that along the way her son Newel left the boat to buy wood to build a coffin.

Her son Newel wrote, "Her only, or her greatest desire, was to set her feet upon the land of Zion, and to have her body interred in that land." Polly lived to see Zion. She died within two weeks of her arrival and was the first Latter-Day Saint to be buried in Missouri.

The Lord give these consoling words on the day of her funeral, "Those that live shall inherit the earth, and those that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them; and they shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father, which I have prepared for them."--Doctrine and Covenants 59:2.

I am always amazed and impressed with the faith and determination of the early saints. They determined to obey God at all costs. Their example inspires me to follow the Lord's commandments as they did.