William and his wife, Joanna Cowdery, were the parents of three children, Nathaniel, Mathias and Bethia. Nathaniel, whose date and place of birth are unknown was married to Elizabeth ....................and they were the parents of two children, Samuel and Elizabeth. Samuel was born May 16, 1675 and lived his entire life in Reading. He was married to Elizabeth (Parker) 3 and they were the parents of Nathaniel Cowdery, born November 21, 1691. He married Mehitabel Damon, daughter of Thomas and Lucy Ann (Emerson) Damon; Lucy Ann was the granddaughter of Reverend Joseph Emerson, of the same family as the poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is interesting to .note that Nathaniel Jr., son of Nathaniel and Mehitabel was married to Mary Gates—this being Mary Gates, cousin of Lydia Gates who was the mother of Lucy Mack, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

. . .

Rebecca Fuller was the great-granddaughter of John Fuller and Mehitabel Rowley, who were also the second-great-grandparents of Lucy Mack, mother of Joseph Smith. So it was that there was a family relationship between Oliver and Joseph, although it is doubtful that Oliver realized it.

. . .

During the fourteen years following his birth, at which time the Cowdery family resided in. Poultney, Vermont, Oliver received a fair educational training. No doubt his school work consisted of mastering orthography, reading, writing and the primary rules of arithmetic as well as a thorough "acquaintance with the higher divisions contained in the ordinary works of arithmetic". These educational requirements appear very meager when compared with the present day standards of our educational system-but they were adequate schooling in these frontier times.

. . .

Several of the elder Cowdery brothers had found business opportunities in Vermont limited, and they had moved to Western New York. In 1825, Oliver followed. It is thought that he resided with his brothers during the following three years, since he was employed as a clerk in the village general store, as well as being engaged in blacksmithing and farming. But in 1828-29 his real opportunity came—an opportunity to enter the teaching profession, for there was a vacancy in the village school at Manchester, Ontario County; New York.

The school was to continue for sixteen weeks and was to be held in the log school house which was a mile east of the old Joseph Smith Sr. home on the old "Plank Road" where the little cobble rock Armington school now stands.

. . .

It was in this capacity that Oliver became acquainted with Joseph Smith Sr., father of the Prophet. Previous to his coming to the Smith home, Oliver had heard much gossip floating about concerning the Smiths, gossip that was on every tongue. It concerned one named Joseph, now in Harmony, Pennsylvania, who reportedly received visions and who had come into possession of some wondrous gold plates. Oliver was immediately favorably impressed with the sincerity of the Smith family, and bit by bit drew from them information concerning the work Joseph was doing. The Smiths were reluctant to divulge any information to those asking out of idle curiosity, but it appeared to them that Oliver was asking with an intense desire for enlightenment.