Western New York began to see white settlers in the late 1700s. The area around Palmyra, New York was first recorded to have settlers in 1789.1 Palmyra was named after an ancient port city in Syria.2 The population grew to around three thousand seven hundred by 1820.3 In 1825 the Erie Canal (which connected Lake Erie with the Hudson River) was finished.4 Palmyra's location within the vicinity of Palmyra opened up new economic opportunities for the city's residents. Upstate New York was part of the area known as the Burnt Over District which saw a series of religious revivals through the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century.5
In the winter of 1816-1817 the Smith family moved to Palmyra in order to start over. In 1818 they bought 100 acres of land between Palmyra and Manchester, and they began clearing the trees on the land in order to farm.6
