Joseph Smith, Sr.

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Joseph Smith, Sr.

Joseph Smith, Sr. ( July 12, 1771 - September 14, 1840 ) was the father of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith . He was also one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon . Mormons believe that his son translated this from gold plates . In 1833 Joseph Smith, Sr. was named Supreme Patriarch of the Church of Christ . Joseph Sr. was also a member of the First Presidency of the Church and a member of Canandaigua 23rd Masonic Lodge .

Early life

Smith was born on July 12, 1771 in Topsfield, Province of Massachusetts Bay . His parents were Asael Smith and Mary Duty. He married Lucy Mack on January 26, 1796 in Tunbridge . He had eleven children with her.

Smith tried his hand at various professions. These were farmers, teachers and shopkeepers. In none of these professions was he very successful. He moved with his family to Palmyra, New York, in 1816. There he lived on a farm near Manchester, which he paid for in installments. He was promoted to Master Freemason on May 7, 1818 in his box. In the neighborhood where he lived, Smith and his sons were involved in a number of treasure hunts in the 1820s. Construction of a timber frame house on the farm had to be abandoned when his eldest son suddenly died in 1823. This was the son named Alvin. Smith subsequently failed to pay off the farm. Lemuel Durfee bought the farm and allowed the Smith family to rent it until 1830.

Although Smith was a spiritual man, he allowed his wife to take over the religious upbringing of the children. This indifference bothered Lucy very much. After much prayer, she said that she had a testimony about it. Her husband will one day accept the "pure and immaculate gospel of the Son of God".

Smith testified that he had visionary dreams with very symbolic content. This was likely to be explained by his religious ambivalence and predictions of future events. These dreams continued even after the family moved to Palmyra. Of the seven dreams, his wife was able to tell five very precisely.

Book of Mormon

In the late 1820s, his son Joseph Jr. began telling the family the gold plate story. He said it was a report from the ancient people of America. In September 1827, Joseph Jr. claimed he had received the plates. In the following years Joseph Jr. translated the contents of the plates with the Urim and Thummim into the English language. These were sacred devices that the angel Moroni had given him. When the work was almost done, in late June 1829, Joseph Sr. and seven other men signed a joint statement. In this it is written that they held the gold plates in their hands and saw the inscriptions on them. This declaration became known as the Testimony of the Eight Witnesses and has appeared in every edition of the Book of Mormon since the first edition .

Smith was baptized into the Church of Christ on the day it was organized. This is April 6, 1830. When Joseph Jr. saw this, he is reported to have wept and said, "Oh! My God, I saw my own father being baptized into the true Church of Christ."

Supreme Patriarch

In January 1831, Smith and his family moved to the new church headquarters in Kirtland . He was ordained the first Supreme Patriarch on December 18, 1833. As a reference to his father's role as Patriarch of the Church, compared in Joseph Jr. to Adam . This was the first biblical patriarch: "So it should be with my father. He should be called a prince over his descendants. He holds the keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of Latter-day Saints."

As part of his new calling, Smith chaired quorum meetings and distributed patriarchal blessings.

On September 3, 1837, Smith became an additional counselor to his son in the First Presidency .

Blessings on the deathbed

Grave of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith

Smith moved with his family to Missouri in 1838 and from there to Nauvoo in 1839. Old age and disease had drawn him, and in the summer of 1840 he realized that he was about to die. He brought his family to give them the patriarchal blessing.

He blessed his wife: "Mother, don't you know that you are the mother of a family that is as great as a family that has never lived before. ... They grew up to do the work of the Lord." He blessed and ordained his eldest son, Hyrum, to become the next Supreme Patriarch of the Church. Hyrum did so with the right of the bloodline.

Smith died in Nauvoo on September 14, 1840.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Minutes of a Conference," Evening and Morning Star , vol. 2, no.20 , p. 160.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters (1994). Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books) p. 160.
  4. ↑ a b c A. Gary Anderson: Encyclopedia of Mormonism: Smith, Joseph Sr. , 1st Edition, Macmillan Publishing Company; 1st edition (1992), 1992, ISBN 978-0028796055 (Retrieved August 22, 2016).
  5. ↑ Dan Vogel , "The Location of Joseph Smith's Early Treasure Quest" , Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 27 (3) (1994): 197-231.
  6. ^ Smith: Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir. 2001, p. 56.
  7. ^ Smith: Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir. 2001
  8. ↑ Introduction to the Book of Mormon with Testimonies
  9. ↑ Bushman: Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. 2002, p. 110.
  10. ^ Bates and Smith: Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. 2003, p. 34.
  11. ^ Smith: Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir. 2001. Chapter 52

credentials

Further literature

personal data
SURNAME Smith, Joseph, Sr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Father of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1771
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1840