Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
| Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Susquehanna |
| Settled | 1789 |
| Incorporated | 1809 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Board of Supervisors |
| • Supervisor | Fred Jackson |
| • Supervisor | Darvin Green |
| • Supervisor | Oscar Miller |
| Area | |
| • Total | 31.6 sq mi (82.0 km2) |
| • Land | 31.4 sq mi (81.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.8 km2) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 558 |
| • Density | 17.8/sq mi (6.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 570 |
| Website | Harmony Township |
Harmony Township is a township in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 558 at the 2000 census.
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[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 31.6 square miles (82 km2), of which, 31.4 square miles (81 km2) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) of it (0.98%) is water.
[edit] History
Harmony, Pennsylvania, is an important historical site in the Latter Day Saint movement. Latter Day Saints believe that Joseph Smith, Jr. and Oliver Cowdery were visited by the angel of John the Baptist near Harmony in 1829, where he bestowed on Smith and Cowdery the Aaronic priesthood. Smith and Cowdery subsequently baptized one another in the Susquehanna River.
Other significant events occurred there during the periodic residence of Smith from 1825 to 1830. Harmony was the home of Isaac Hale, father of Smith's wife, Emma Hale. Smith and his father boarded with Isaac Hale in 1825 while working on Josiah Stowell's mining project. In December 1827, Smith and Emma moved to Harmony from Manchester, New York, to work on the translation of the golden plates of the Book of Mormon. Eventually they bought a small farm and house, where most of the Book of Mormon was translated between April 7 and early June 1829. The first convert baptism, that of Samuel H. Smith, took place there ten days after Smith and Cowdery had baptized each other. Somewhere between Harmony and Colesville, New York, Peter, James, and John bestowed upon Smith and Cowdery the Melchizedek priesthood. After the Church of Christ was organized by Smith in 1830, Smith and Emma returned to Harmony and lived there through that summer. Fifteen revelations now found in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in Harmony.
The Harmony in Latter Day Saint history refers to a township rather than the village of Harmony. The township boundary was changed in 1853, placing the Latter Day Saint sites in present-day Oakland Township. The site of the Hale residence lies about a mile and a half west of present-day Oakland, Pennsylvania, in Susquehanna County, along the north side of Route 171.
Today The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns about 288 acres at the Harmony location. On a small landscaped triangular plot located between the highway and a railroad right-of-way, a granite and bronze monument dedicated in 1960 commemorates the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood. The exact location of the restoration is not known.
The house owned by Joseph and Emma Smith burned in 1919. The buried foundation is just west of the monument. The graves of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale and of an infant son born to Joseph and Emma are close to Route 171, in a public cemetery located east of the Church property.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 558 people, 206 households, and 152 families residing in the township. The population density was 17.8 people per square mile (6.9/km²). There were 341 housing units at an average density of 10.9/sq mi (4.2/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.92% White, 0.90% Asian and 0.18% Pacific Islander. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.97% of the population.
There were 206 households out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the township the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $31,579, and the median income for a family was $33,250. Males had a median income of $31,023 versus $16,667 for females. The per capita income for the township was $15,351. About 11.0% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] References
- ^ Porter, Larry C. "A Study of the Origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, 1816-1831." Ph.D. diss., Brigham Young University, 1971. Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 2, Harmony, Pennsylvania
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
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