Joseph Smith Sr.
| Joseph Smith Sr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1st Presiding Patriarch | |
| December 18, 1833 – September 14, 1840 | |
| Called by | Joseph Smith Jr. |
| Successor | Hyrum Smith |
| Assistant Counselor in the First Presidency | |
| September 3, 1837 – September 14, 1840 | |
| Called by | Joseph Smith Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 12, 1771 Topsfield, Province of Massachusetts Bay |
| Died | September 14, 1840 (aged 69) Nauvoo, Illinois, United States |
| Resting place | Smith Family Cemetery 40°32′25.98″N 91°23′31.06″W / 40.5405500°N 91.3919611°W |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy Mack |
| Children | 11, including: Alvin Smith Hyrum Smith Joseph Smith Jr. Samuel H. Smith William Smith Katharine Smith Don Carlos Smith |
Joseph Smith Sr. (July 12, 1771 – September 14, 1840) was the father of
Early life
Smith was born on July 12, 1771, in
Smith tried his hands at several occupations, including farmer, teacher, and shop-keeper, none of which proved very successful.
Work on a frame house at the farm was halted by the unexpected death of Smith's eldest son, Alvin, in 1823. Smith subsequently failed to make payments on the farm.[4] Lemuel Durfee purchased it as a favor to the family and allowed the Smiths to continue there as renters until 1830.
Though a spiritual man, Smith showed little interest in organized religion prior to his son Joseph reporting his visions to the family. He was content to allow his wife control over the religious upbringing of their children. This indifference bothered Lucy very much. After much prayer, she said she had received a divine witness that her husband would some day accept "the pure and undefiled Gospel of the Son of God."[8]
Smith professed that he had visionary dreams with highly symbolic content, perhaps related to his ambivalence about religious faith and sometimes presaging events to come. These dreams continued after the family's move to Palmyra until he had had seven in all; Lucy remembered five well enough to quote in detail.[9]
Book of Mormon
In the late 1820s, Smith's son, Joseph Jr., began to tell the family about golden plates, which he said contained a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. In September 1827, Joseph Jr. said he obtained the plates. In the following years, Joseph Jr. said he translated the plates into English through the use of a seer stone, which he found previously during a treasure digging expedition, as well as the Urim and Thummim, a device given to him by the angel Moroni. When the work was near completion, at the end of June 1829, Joseph Sr. and seven other men signed a joint statement, testifying that they had both lifted the plates and seen the engravings on the plates. Known as the "Testimony of the Eight Witnesses", this statement was published with the first edition of the Book of Mormon and has been a part of nearly all subsequent editions.
Smith was
Presiding Patriarch
In January 1831, Smith and his family moved to the church's new headquarters in
In reference to his father's role as patriarch of the church, Joseph Jr. likened his father to
As part of his new role, Smith presided in council meetings and administered
On September 3, 1837, Smith was also made an Assistant Counselor to his son in the First Presidency of the church.
Deathbed blessings
Smith moved with his family to Far West, Missouri, in 1838 and from there to the church's new headquarters at Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839. Old age and illnesses had taken their toll and by the end of summer 1840, Smith realized he was dying. He called his family around him to administer patriarchal blessings.
He blessed his wife: "Mother, do you not know that you are the mother of as great a family as ever lived upon the earth. ... They are raised up to do the Lord's work".
Smith died in Nauvoo on September 14, 1840.
Descendants
Notes
- Evening and Morning Star, vol. 2, no. 20, p. 160.
- ^ Manuscript History of the Church, LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) 1:302–03.
- ISBN 1-56085-108-2
- ^ ISBN 978-0028796055. Archived from the originalon October 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
- ^ Mays, Kenneth (July 17, 2019). "Picturing history: Robert Smith and Kirton, Lincolnshire, England". deseret. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ Mays, Kenneth (July 17, 2019). "Picturing history: Robert Smith and Kirton, Lincolnshire, England". deseret. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ Dan Vogel, "The Location of Joseph Smith's Early Treasure Quests", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 27(3) (1994): 197–231.
- ^ Smith, 56.
- ^ Smith
- ^ Bushman, 110.
- ^ Bates and Smith, p. 34.
- ^ Smith, chap. 52
References
- Bates, Irene M.; Smith, E. Gary (2003) [1996]. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. Urbana, Illinois: OCLC 53077386. Archived from the originalon June 9, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-7753-3.
- Skinner, Earnest M. (2002) [1958]. Joseph Smith, Sr, First Patriarch of the LDS Church. Mesa, Arizona: Palmyra Publishing Company. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2020. ASINB000M7VGQ8
- ISBN 1-56085-137-6. Archived from the originalon October 21, 2006.
| Three Witnesses |  | |
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| Eight Witnesses | ||
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