Uniycrsity of California • Berkeley 
 
 Gift of 
 FRANK S. RICHARDS 
 
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The Blood of The Prophets 
 
 BIOCRUHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 By Apostle MATTHIAS E. COWLEY 
 
 SELECTED FROM HIS WORK ENTITLED, 
 
 " PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS " 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 BEN. E. EICH, 
 
 CHATTANOOGA, TENN. 
 

 1844 
 
 JOSEPH SMITH HYKUM SMITH 
 
 Prophet and Patriaecii 
 
 (BROTHERS) 
 
 1901 
 
 JOSEPH P. SMITH 
 
 JOHN SMITH 
 
 Prophet and Patriarch 
 
 (BROTHERS) 
 
wh'iV^ 
 
 )\[)V\h^' ^^'^ 
 
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 
 
 HE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES comprised within 
 this little volume are selected from that very important book 
 reantly issued under the title of " Prophets and Patriarchs," 
 by Elder Matthias L. Cowley, himself an Apostle of the 
 Church, and faithful senunt of our Lord and Master. As 
 the publisher and^ present ivHterfelt a holy joy in the prepara- 
 tion and delivery, to the world, of Apostle Cowley's book, so he now feels, 
 in equal degree, a great happiness in presenting these annals of the 
 Pi'ophet and Patriarch, and the other noble men of their blood, ivho have 
 consecrated their lives to the Cause of Truth. Nor can the publisher fed 
 content to send the volume forth without calling attention to the significance 
 of this record. 
 
 At different times in the history of the Church, its persecutors and its 
 opponents have congratulated themselves that, either by slaughter or by perse- 
 secution, the race of the Inspired Founder of the Faith had been lost to its 
 membership here on earth. What a rebuke to their vain gloi'y, and what 
 a vindication of the integrity of the Prophet and Patriarch and their rela- 
 tives, is this little book.' Hundreds of the relatives of Joseph and Hyrum 
 have lived firm in the Faith, holding positions of power in the Priesthood; 
 and of the hundreds, nine, as shown by these biographical sketches, have 
 been called by the voice of God as Prophets and Patriarchs in His Churchy 
 The persecutors of the Prophet and Patriarch, in their vain folly, imagined 
 that the Church would perish with the death of Joseph and Hyrum, and 
 that the seed ff these noble men umUd be scattered, never more to have iden- 
 tification with God's work, restored to earth for the last time. And yet, in 
 the Lord's own rounding out time, another Joseph has been called to pre- 
 side as Prophet, Seer and, Revelator, and the Church multiplies in strength 
 and numbers, is established in such firm security thai the world, while btiil 
 opposing, has lost all hope of destroying. 
 
 To the Saints throughout the tarth,and particularly to all the men 
 and women in whose veins course the blood of the Prophet and Patriarch, 
 this book is offered as undying proof of the integrity of the Lord's Anointed 
 and their descendants. In an especial sense, the book is dedicated to 
 President Joseph Fielding Smith, uho now holds, on earth, the keys which 
 were delivered to his uncle, the Prophet, and his father, the Patriarch. 
 
 The Publisher. 
 
 Chattanooga, Tenn., 
 
 January, 1902. 
 
JOSEPH SMITH, Sr. 
 
 Among the commonality of the many respectable class of 
 faturdy Englifch who emigrated from the old to the now world, 
 was one Robert Smith, who, with his wife Mary, settled in 
 Essex, Mass., about the middle of the seventeenth century. 
 The posterity of these worthy people went through all the 
 training so necessary to qualify them for the great struggle for 
 liberty that was so soon to folloAV. Samuel, the son of Robert 
 and Mary, born January 26, 1666, married Rebecca Curtis 
 January 25, 1707. Their son, the second Samuel, was born 
 January 26, 1714; he wedded Priscilla Gould, and their son 
 Asael was born March 1, 1744. Asael Smith wooed and won a 
 typioal New England lass, Mary Duty, and on July 12. 1771, 
 was born the character of this brief biography, Joseph Smith, 
 the father of the prophet of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Born, as he was, while yet the dark, ominous clouds of war 
 hung heavily over the peaceful horizon of the embryonic re- 
 public, it is not unreasonable to suppose that his plastic mem- 
 ory retained many incidents of the long, weary years of that 
 unequal contest, and it is only natural to presume that some of 
 those memories were closely interwoven with his father's sol- 
 dier life. But it is not this period of his life that w^e will em- 
 phasize. Suffice it to say that he sprang from some of the old 
 revolutionary stock that has made it possible for its descend- 
 ants to become freemen in all the term implies. 
 
 On the 24th of January, 1796, Joseph married Lucy Mack at 
 Tunbridge, in the Stnte of Vermont. She was born July 8, 
 1776, just four days after the declaration of independence. 
 For many generations the men of these two families — Smith 
 and Mack — had been tillers of the soil, and it was only natural 
 after his marriage for Joseph and his young bride to settle on 
 their little farm at Tunbridge, and pursue the honorable av^oca- 
 tion of their ancestors. This they did for a few j^ears, and 
 their perseverance, industry and frugality surrounded them 
 with the comforts of life, placing them on an equal footing 
 with the well-to-do farmers in their vicinity. This prosperity, 
 
o PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 SO mucli to be desired, was of brief duration, for the dishonesty 
 of a trusted friend and agent, robbed them of their surplus sav- 
 ings and left them plunged in debt. It is too often the case, as 
 we journey along life's rugged highway, viewing the wrecked 
 fortunes of those we love, that we observe the hidden cause of 
 such disasters to be almost invariably misplaced confidence. 
 
 Possessing that higOi regard for honesty that so characterized 
 his ancestors, Joseph, together with his help^mate, sacrificed all 
 of money value and possessions, even the homestead, which had 
 endeared itself to them as Lucy's treasured dowry, and offset 
 every just claim that was held against them. During this 
 period of their early married life, God blessed them with three 
 children, namely: Alvin, born February 11, 1799; Hyrum, 
 born February 9, 1800, and Sophronia, born May 18, 1803. 
 Left entirely without means and home, Joseph rented his father- 
 in-law's farm, which was located at Sharon, Windsor county. 
 Here he moved his little family with the hope of retrieving that 
 which he had lost. By tilling the soil in summer, and teaching 
 the village school in winter, Joseph restored to his family, in a 
 measure, the home comforts they once enjoyed. But God's 
 ways are not man's ways. Joseph and Lucy, like their Elder 
 Brother, had to learn obedience by the things which they suf- 
 fered, that they might be all the more qualified for the import- 
 ant work that God would shortly require at their hands — even 
 that of bearing and rearing a prophet. Their son Joseph, the 
 Prophet, was born December 2.3, 1805. 
 
 While at Sharon, though diligent and industrious, Joseph and 
 his family were pursued by poverty and illness, so that those of 
 the family who were able had to work hard for a sustenance. 
 Being thus almost exclusively engaged in trying hard to repair 
 his shattered fortunes, Joseph found little time to pay attention 
 to the desire that lay nearest his heart, that of educating his 
 children and preparing them for life's battles and difficulties. 
 Afterward he moved from Sharon, and later, in 1815, left the 
 State of his nativity, that in so many ways had been so unkind 
 to him and his, and setting his face westward, he journeyed 
 into the wilds of New York, locating at Palmyra, Ontario 
 county. Here he engaged in clearing land and preparing a new 
 home for his family, who joined him four years later. At this 
 place, and in the adjoining town of Manchester, he dwelt for 
 
JOSEPH SMITH, SR. 9 
 
 several years. With the severest toil, assisted by his young 
 boys, he could only compass a frugal mode of life. Joseph 
 Smith was not a man to be ruled entirely by circumstances, 
 and occasionally we find him rising above them, devoting some 
 hours of each week to the careful development of the intellects 
 of the children that God had entrusted into his care. 
 
 In addition to those already named, the offspring of Joseph 
 and Lucy Smith are as follows: 
 
 Samuel, born March 13, 1808, at Tunbridge, Yt. 
 
 Ephraim, bom March 13, 1810, at Royalton, Vt. 
 
 William, born March 13, 1811, at Royalton, Vt. 
 
 Catherine, born July 8, 1812, at Lebanon, N, H. 
 
 Don Carlos, born March 25, 1816, probably at Palmyra, N. Y. 
 
 Lucy, bom July 18, 1821, probably at Palmyra, N. Y. 
 
 With such a large family to rear and educate. Father Smith's 
 time, was solely occupied. Little from this period until his 
 Prophet son stirred the whole religious world with a strange, 
 but not a new doctrine, is known of Joseph Smith, Sr. 
 
 During the eventful life of his sons Joseph and Hyrum, he 
 was ever their true friend, wise counselor and loving father. 
 When the shafts of persecution were hurled with cruel force 
 at his beloved sons, he too bared his breast to the poisoned 
 darts of bigotry, begotten of the adversary, and suffered in 
 common with them. His life's attitude toward the unpopular 
 cause that his son, the Prophet, represented, even in its tender 
 beginning, is evidence to the careful observer that he pos- 
 sessed deep down in his heart the God-given assurance that it 
 was of God. This testimony remained with him from the time 
 of that beautiful day in early springtime, when his 14-year-old 
 Joseph told him of what he had seen in answer to his prayer, 
 until the day of his death. 
 
 In the due course of time the Church was organized, and 
 Joseph Smith, Sr., became a member on the date of its organ- 
 ization — April 6, 1830 — and later became its first Patriarch. 
 
 As to his labors in the Church, and the closing scenes of his 
 rigorous and honest life, I prefer to close this brief sketcTi with 
 the words of his son, the Prophet: 
 
 "He was the first person who received my testimony after I 
 had seen the angel, and exhorted me to be faithful and diligent 
 to the message I had received. 
 
10 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 "In August, 1830, in company with my brother Don Carlos, 
 he took a mission to St. Lawrence, N. Y., touching on his route 
 at several Canadian ports, where he distributed a few copies of 
 the Book of Mormon, visited his father, brothers and sister, 
 residing in St. Lawrence county, and bore testimony to the 
 truth, which resulted eventually in all the family coming into 
 the Church except his brother Jesse and his sister Susan. 
 
 "He removed with his family to Kirtlaiid in 1831; Avas or- 
 dained Patriarch and President of the High Priesthood; was 
 a member of the first High Council, organized on the 17th of 
 February, 1884. 
 
 "In 1836 he traveled in company with his brother John 2400 
 miles in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and 
 Vermont, visiting the branches of the Church in those States, 
 and bestowing patriarchal blessings on hundreds of people, 
 preaching the gospel to all that would hear, and baptizing 
 many. 
 
 "During the persecutions in Kirtland in 1837 he was made a 
 prisoner, but fortunately he obtained his liberty, and after a 
 tedious journey in the spring and summer of 1888, he arrived 
 at Far West, Mo. From there he fled under the exterminating 
 order of Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs, and in the midwinter made his 
 way to Quincj'', 111., from whence he removed to Commerce 
 (afterward Nauvoo) in the spring of 1839. 
 
 "Through these exposures he contracted consumption, of 
 which he died on the 14th day of September, 1840. He was 
 six feet two inches high, was very straight, and remarkably 
 well proportioned. His ordinary weight was about two hun- 
 dred pounds, and he was very strong and a,ctive. In his young 
 days he was famed as a wrestler, and, Jacob-like, he never 
 wrestled with but one man whom he could not throw. He was 
 one of the most benevolent of men, opening his house to all who 
 were destitute. While at Quincy, 111., he fed hundreds of poor 
 Saints who were flying from Missouri pei-secutions, although he 
 had arrived there penniless himself." 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 
 
 Joseph Smith, the great Prophet of the nineteenth century, 
 was born in the little town of Sharon, Windsor county. 
 Vermont, Doc. 23rd, 1805. Like the parentage of the Messiah 
 and the ancient Prophets, his parents were poor in the riches 
 of the world, yet rich in the possession of those noble traits 
 of character which go to make men good and great in the 
 sight of Him, "who judgeth not by the seeing of the eye nor. 
 the bearing of the ear," but knows the hearts of all His child- 
 ren. 
 
 Joseph Smith was a descendant, on both sides of his house, of 
 the early founders of New England, and, indeed, of the gov- 
 ernment of the United States, He imbibed from his progeni- 
 tors a veneration for God, and love for human liberty. Dur- 
 ing his entire career, he upheld two great truths which strongly 
 characterized the Latter-day Saints. One was, that all man- 
 kind should have the privilege of worshiping Almighty God 
 according to the dictates of their own consciences, "let them 
 worship, how, where, or what they may;" the other was, that 
 the Constitution of the United States was framed by the in- 
 spiration of the Almighty that rested upon the patriots who 
 founded our government. Throughout life he maintained this 
 doctrine by precept and example, and impressed his people 
 so strongly with these views, that they have become the house- 
 hold teaching of parents to children in all the Stakes of Zion 
 and branches of the Church. 
 
 The example of the Prophet's parents taught him to be in- 
 dustrious, temperate, virtuous. God-fearing and honest in all 
 the transactions of life. Those who knew him intimately 
 from youth to the time of his martyrdom in 1844, testify that 
 these splendid qualities marked his life without variation from 
 childhood to the grave. He had five brothers and three sisters, 
 all well disposed, honest, industrious and upright people. 
 
 When Joseph was about ten years of age the family removed 
 to Palmyra, New- York, and four years later to Manchester 
 in the same county. He was then fourteen years of age ; old 
 
12 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 enough to think and reason for himself. It was a time of re- 
 lig-ious enthusiasm, and Joseph became greatly interested in 
 matters of religion. He began to Inquire relative to the sal- 
 vation of his soul. Jn this condition of mind he attended a 
 joint sectarian revival, held by Methodists, Baptists, Presbyte- 
 rians, etc. He listened attentively, with a prayerful heart, 
 the inclination to criticise being farthest from his thoughts. 
 During the proceedings of the revival, he jjecame keenly im- 
 pressed with two great facts. One was, that while the various 
 sects all professed Christ, they entertained conflicting views 
 relative to the doctrines which Jesus and His Apostles taught 
 as being essential to salvation. The other important lesson 
 he learned was, that the ministers of the denominations repre- 
 sented, were jealous and envious of each other in relation to 
 the converts v,^hich came forward and joined the respective 
 churches represented on that occasion. He concluded that God 
 was not the author of this confusion, and that he could come 
 to no certain knowledge of the truth from men preaching con- 
 flicting theories, yet each saying of his own denomination, 
 "This is the way, follow me." 
 
 Under these circumstances of uncertainty, Joseph betook 
 himself to a careful reading of the Scriptures. His heart 
 was prayerful. He was honest to God and man. He wanted 
 to know the truth. He knew, as all right thinking people 
 must know, that all conflicting creeds could not be acceptable 
 to God, for He is "not the author of confusion," but of peace 
 and perfect order. In his perusal of the New Testament, he 
 came to the first chapter and fifth verse of James, which reads 
 as follows: "If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, 
 that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall 
 be given him," etc. 
 
 Joseph was deeply impressed with this sacred promise. He 
 knew that he lacked wisdom. He could not obtain that wis- 
 dom from uninspired men, whose theories of God and the 
 plan of salvation were a plain contradiction in themselves. 
 He must therefore remain in darkness or take the advice of 
 the Apostle James and ask of God. He determined to pursue 
 the latter course. The following account of the exercise of his 
 faith is in his own language: 
 
 "It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in 
 
JOSEPH SMITH. 
 
14 phophets and patriarchs. 
 
 the spring of 1820. It was the first time in my life that I had 
 made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never 
 as yet made the attempt to pray vocally. After I had retired 
 into the place where I had previously designed to go, having 
 looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down, 
 and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I 
 had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by 
 some power which entirely overcame me, and had such aston- 
 ishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could 
 not speak. Thick darkness gathered around^ne, and it seemed 
 to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. 
 But exerdng all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out 
 of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at 
 the very moment when I was ready to sink into despnir, and 
 abandon mj'self to destruction, not to an imaginary ruin, but 
 to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, 
 who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in 
 any being. Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw u 
 pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the 
 sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no 
 sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy 
 which held me bound. When the light rested upon me, I saw 
 two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all descrip- 
 tion, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto 
 me, calling me by name, and said, (pointing to the other): 'This 
 is my beloved Son, hear Him.' " — Pearl of Great Price, pages 
 59 and 60. 
 
 As soon as Joseph recovered himself, he asked the personages 
 Avhich, of all the denominations, was right. The answer was 
 that none of them were right, and none of them had been 
 founded by the Almighty. He was commanded to join none 
 of them. "They teach for doctrine the commandments of men, 
 having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." 
 
 This was his first vision, and oh, how glorious! After cen- 
 turies of spiritual darkness, the heavens are again opened, 
 the Father and the Son make their appearance and give 
 commandments unto man. Soon after this glorious vision Jo- 
 seph related his experience to a preacher, when, to his great 
 surprise, tlie professed minister treated it with great con- 
 tempt, and like the Pharisees of old, said it was all of the 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 15 
 
 devil. But Joseph knew, like Paul, that he had seen a vision, 
 and he knew that God knew it, and that he must bear witness 
 of it to the world. From this time on, the youthful Prophet 
 became the subject of bitter persecution. Yet he wavered not, 
 but faithfully testified that he had seen a vision, and none could 
 truthfully deny it. 
 
 God has a right to show Himself to whomsoever and when 
 ever He pleases. Furthermore, Jesus Himself taught: "And no 
 m'an knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the 
 Father is but the Son. and he to whom the Son will reveal 
 Him." (Lukex:22.) Instead then of such a manifestation be- 
 ing unreasonable or unscriptural, it was an actual necessity in 
 the establishment of the "Dispensation of the Fullness of 
 Times." Joseph kept the commandment to join none of the 
 sects. He says: "I continued to pursue my common avocations 
 in life until the 21st of September, 1823, all the time suffering 
 severe persecution at the hands of all classes of men, both re- 
 ligious and irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had 
 seen a vision." — Pearl of Great Price, p. 61. Those who should 
 have been his friends if they believed him wrong, instead of 
 trying in kindness to show him his error, ridiculed him, and 
 without reason or charity, heaped upon him persecution in va- 
 rious forms. 
 
 After retiring to his bed, Sept. 21st, 1823, Joseph was calling 
 upon God in all humility for forgiveness of all his weaknesses 
 and imperfections, when suddenly the room was filled with 
 light, and in the light appeared a most glorious, heavenly being. 
 This personage, said his name was Moroni, and that he was 
 sent of God. The messenger proceeded to inform the young 
 man that he was chosen of God to accomplish a great work in 
 the interest of human redemption, and that his name should 
 be had for good and for evil among all nations. This prophecy 
 has been, and is being, remarkably fulfilled wherever the Gos- 
 pel in purity is preached, and the name of Joseph Smith is 
 known among the nations. His name is cast out as evil among 
 the wicked — those who "love darkness rather than light;" who 
 deny the revelations of God. But those who are honestly seek- 
 ing for truth, and investigating the calling of Joseph Smith, are 
 always led to hold his name for good, and hand it down to pos- 
 terity as the name of a great Prophet of the Most High. 
 
16 PfiOPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 The messenger quoted many passages of the Bible which he 
 said would be fulfilled in this dispensation, among them Joel, 
 chap, ii :28-29 ; Mai., chap, iii ; Acts, chap, iii :22-23 ; Isaiah, chap, 
 ii, and said they were about to be fulfilled. He also showed 
 Joseph where a book was deposited in a hill near by. It was 
 written upon gold plates, and gave an account of the ancient 
 inhabitants of America, their origin and destiny. It recorded 
 the fact that the Church of Christ had been established among 
 them, and that before and after Christ, many mighty Prophets 
 wrote and spoke upon this continent. Ilideed the ancients of 
 America were they of whom Jesus spoke to the Jewish Apostles 
 when He said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this 
 fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; 
 and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd." St. John x :16. 
 
 The angel Moroni appeared to the Prophet Joseph three 
 times the same night, repeating each of his preceding instruc- 
 tions, and adding to them, thus preparing the mind of the 
 youthful Prophet for the great work before him. These visions 
 occupied almost the entire night. 
 
 On September 22, 1823, Joseph visited tfhe hill where the 
 plates were deposited, and at once recognized the place as the 
 one shown him in vision the night before. He says: "On 
 the west side of the hill, not far from the top, under a stone 
 of considerable size, lay the plates deposited in a stone box. 
 The stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper 
 side, and thinner toward the edges, so that the middle part of 
 it was visible above the ground, but the edge all round was 
 covered with earth. Having removed the earth and obtained 
 a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with 
 a little exertion raised it up, I looked in, and there indeed, did 
 I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breast- 
 plate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay 
 was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. 
 In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the 
 box, and on these stones lay the plates and the things with 
 them. I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden 
 by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for 
 bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would it arrive 
 until four years from that time; but he told me that I should 
 come to that place precisely in one year from that time, and 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 17 
 
 that I should continue to do so, until the time should come for 
 obtaining the plates." — Pearl of Great Price, p. 66. 
 
 The Prophet obeyed this injunction, and each successive year, 
 on Sept. 22nd, met the angel Moroni on the sacred spot, and 
 received from him many preparatory instructions. The angel 
 had told him previously that because of his indigent circum- 
 stances, he might be tempted to obtain the plates for worldly 
 gain, but if he entertained such a thought he could not have 
 them. They were to be published to all the world for the sal- 
 vation of the human family and the glory of God. In the 
 meantime, Joseph and family being poor, he was obliged to 
 work with his hands at daily toil for a livelihood. He was 
 engaged by a Mr. Stoal, of Chenango county, New York, to la- 
 bor with other employes to develop a silver mine. From this cir- 
 cumstance arose the silly story that Joseph was a "money 
 digger." During his employment by Mr. Stoal, Emma Hale, 
 daiighter of Isaac Hale, was married to Joseph on Jan. 
 IS, 1827. On Sept. 22nd, 1827, he received the sacred plates 
 from which the Book of Mormon was translated. The reader 
 will find evidence that such a record was to come forth by 
 reading the Eighty-fifth Psalm, eleventh verse; Isa. chap, xxix: 
 9-12; and.Ezekiel chap. xxxvii:15-21. No sooner had it become 
 known that he had received these plates than persecution be- 
 came more intense. Several attempts were made to wrest 
 them from him. 
 
 On the 15th of April, 1829, Oliver Cowdery came to Joseph 
 Smith, having been led to him by the Spirit of the Lord. This 
 was their first meeting. On April 17, 1829, Joseph Smith com- 
 menced the translation of the Book of Mormon into the Eng- 
 lish language. Oliver Cowdery acted as scribe. Joseph trans- 
 lated by the gift and power of God, using the Urim and Thum- 
 mim, an instrument used by ancient seers to translate lan- 
 guages. The following month, while translating the plates, 
 Joseph and Oliver found mentioned the doctrine of baptism for 
 the remission of sins. They retired to the woods to inquire of 
 the Lord respecting this subject, when a messenger from heaven 
 appeared to them, laid his hands upon them and ordained 
 them as follows (May 15, 1829) : "Upon you, my fellow-serv- 
 ants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, 
 which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and the 
 2 
 
18 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 Gospel of repi-ntance, and baptism by immersion for the re- 
 mission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the 
 earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto 
 the Lord in righteousness." — Pearl of Great Price, p. 10. 
 
 This messenger was John the Baptist, the forerunner of the 
 Messiah in ancient times, the messenger before His face in 
 latter times. Read Malachi, chap, iii :l-4. He was the man who 
 held the keys of the Levitical Priesthood, the authority to ad- 
 minister in the outward ordinances of^'the G-ospel. He com- 
 manded them to baptize each other, and thus was established, 
 in the last days, the authority of God upon the earth to bap- 
 tize in water for the remission of sins. 
 
 The Prophet Joseph subsequently moved to Pennsylvania 
 and continued, as circumstances would permit, the transla- 
 tion of the Book of Mormon, until it was completed. The first 
 edition, consisting of five thousand copies, was published to 
 the world early in the year 1830. Since then the Book 
 of Mormon has been published in Danish, Italian, French, 
 German, Welsh, Swedish, Hawaiian and Spanish, and trans- 
 lated into other tongues, but not yet printed. The progress 
 in publishing this sacred volume in different tongues, points 
 to the fulfillment of prophecy that it should be read by 
 the people of every nation. During the translation Joseph 
 was assisted by Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, David 
 Whitmer, his wife, Emma Smith, and others. While engaged 
 in the work of translation, many important revelations were 
 given to the Prophet, and many important, yet trying events, 
 took place which served to test the faith, sincerity, devotion, 
 courage and integrity of this youthful Prophet of God. All 
 these manifestations and the great work accomplished up to 
 1830, took place before he was twenty-five years of age. In 
 the meantime, himself and Oliver Cowdery had been visited by 
 Peter, James and John, and received under their hands the 
 Melchisedek Priesthood, which holds the keys to open the door 
 of the Gospel to all nations and establish in fullness the Church 
 and kingdom of God upon the earth. 
 
 Before the Book of Mormon was translated, Martin Harris 
 took some characters copied from the plates to Prof. Anthon, 
 a learned linguist in New York. The learned man examined 
 the characters and gave a certificate to Martin Harris, certify- 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 19 
 
 ing that they were correct characters from the Egyptian, and 
 that the translation wds correct. He asked Mr. Harris where 
 Joseph obtained the phites. Upon being answered that an 
 angel of the Lord delivered them, Prof. Anthon asked for the 
 certificate which was handed him by Mr. Harris. Prof. An- 
 thon tore it up in anger, as he denounced the ministering of 
 angels in this age of the world. He told Mr. Harris to bring 
 hira the book and he would translate it. He was answered 
 that part of the plates were sealed. Upon receiving this infor- 
 mation the professor answered, "I cannot read a sealed book." 
 liittle did he think that in using these words he was fulfilling 
 the prophecy of Isaiah, chap, xxix, and thus presenting to the 
 Avorld a testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon. From 
 Prof. Anthon Mr. Harris went to Dr. Mitchell, who also pro- 
 nounced the characters true and the translation correct. 
 
 While translating, it was ascertained that three especial wit- 
 nesses were to be called by the Lord to witness the plates by 
 the gift and power of God. Accordingly, Oliver Cowdery, 
 David Whitmer and Martin Harris were chosen. They were 
 shown the plates by the same heavenly messenger, Moroni, and 
 they handled them with their hands. Their testimony, ex- 
 pressed in most solemn terms, is published to the world on 
 the fly leaf of each edition of the Book of Mormon. Notwith- 
 standing that these three men fell away from the Church 
 through transgression or neglect, they never, under any cir- 
 cumstances, denied their solemn testimony of the divine authen- 
 ticity of the Book of Mormon. On the contrary, they re- 
 peated their testimony time and again, and in their dying 
 hours, when soon to pass to the great beyond, they bore witness 
 that they had seen an angel and the plates from which the 
 Book of Mormon was translated. 
 
 In the spring of 1882, the writer of this letter, in company 
 with President John Morgan, visited David Whitmer at his 
 home in lliehmond. Mo., and found him firm and unflinching 
 respecting his published testimony concerning the Book of 
 Mormon. As showing how firmly riveted upon his memory 
 and how constant to this testimony this man was, an interest- 
 ing incident is related by President Ben E. Rich, of the 
 Southern States Mission. Elder Rich mailed his autograph 
 Album to David Whitmer and requested him to write therein. 
 
20 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 without the slightest suggestion as to what he should write. 
 To the joyful astonishment of Elder Rich, when the album was 
 returned, it contained these emphatic words : 
 
 "My testimony in the Book of Mormon is Truth." 
 
 "DAVID W'HITMER." 
 
 His associate witnesses, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, 
 were equally constant to their obligation, and bore witness 
 to tihe end of their days that they saw an angel and the plates. 
 "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be 
 established." 
 
 On Tuesday, the 6th day of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus 
 Christ of I^atter-day Saints was organized with six members 
 in the house of Peter Whitmer, Sr., Fayette, Seneca county. 
 New York. The six members were Josepli Smith, Oliver Cow- 
 dery, Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Samuel H. Smith 
 and David Whitmer. No church organization could exist under 
 the laws of New York "with a less membership than six. 
 Joseph Smith was the chosen head, the Prophet, Seer and 
 Revelator, and continued so when membership increased so 
 that the Presidency and Twelve Apostles could be organized 
 as in olden times, and subsequently Seventies, High Priests, 
 Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, after the an- 
 cient pattern. 
 
 The organization of the Church brought with it more per- 
 secution, and as it grew and prospered, Joseph's life was 
 many times endangered before it was finally taken. Healing 
 the sick, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and all the beautiful 
 gifts in the primitive Church, attended those who embraced 
 the restored Gospel then, as they do today, and always will, 
 and, as in ancient times, were attributed to Beelzebub, the 
 prince of devils. On one occasion, soon after the organ- 
 ization of the Church, a mob swore out a complaint against 
 the Prophet, charging him with being a disorderly person, 
 because, as alleged, he set the country in an uproar by 
 preaching the Book of Mormon, working miracles, etc. The 
 constable who served the warrant, was honest enough to inforin 
 Joseph that the mob designed to capture him when the constable, 
 with the prisoner, should pass near where the mob was con- 
 gregated. The constable, however, finding the Prophet to 
 be an honest, upright man, fled with him in his wagon, so that 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 21 
 
 the mob failed to secure their victim. Joseph underwent a trial 
 and was honorably acquitted, the evidence showing that he was 
 a peaceable, orderly citizen in all respects. 
 
 As it would be impossible, in a brief article, to give in any 
 detail an account of the mobbings, trials and persecutions 
 through which this great man of God passed, it may be well 
 to here remark, that no less than thirty-nine times was he 
 brought before courts on trumped-up charges, tried, and each 
 time honorably acquitted, but still threatened. How like the 
 experience of our Savior ! When Pilate found Him innocent, 
 the rabble clamored for His blood, crying out, "Crucify Him, 
 crucify Him, and let His blood be upon us and our children !" 
 How terribly their words have fallen upon them. And in like 
 manner the men who comprised the mob, and the conspirators 
 who brought about the assassination of the Prophet Joseph 
 Smith, have come to a miserable end, having suffered the wrath 
 o^God in the flesh. 
 
 At a conference of the Church, Sept. 1, 2 and 3, 1830, Joseph 
 received two revelations, found in Section 30 and 31, Doctrine 
 and Covenants. In one of these revelations, the Lord com- 
 manded the Prophet to open the door of the Gospel to the 
 Lamanites or American Indians, of whose forefathers the 
 Book of Mormon is a record. The brethren selected to perform 
 this great and important mission were, Oliver Cowdery, Par- 
 ley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson. Previous 
 to Eider Pratt's conversion to the Gospel, he was a Campbell- 
 ite preacher, associated with Sidney Rigdon and others who 
 had established a large following in and about Kirtland, Ohio. 
 En route to the west, where they were destined to deliver the 
 glorious message to the Indians, they visited Kirtland, and 
 presented the Book of Mormon and the mission of the Prophet 
 Joseph to Sidney Rigdon and his associates of the Campbellite 
 profession. Sidney Rigdon had never seen the Prophet Jo- 
 seph Smith, and never before heard the proclamation of "Mor- 
 monism." This fact is worthy of note, since the enemies of 
 the Saints have circulated the oft-repeated falsehood that the 
 Book of Mormon was the combined production of Joseph Smith 
 and Sidney Rigdon. It is also an interesting fact that the 
 Prophet predicted in the early opening of this dispensation, 
 thr.t if the people would not receive the revelations from God 
 
2t2 PIIOPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 through him, then Lucifer would give them revelations to their 
 heart's content. Strange to say what is now known as Spir- 
 itualism, was not known in the United States until after the 
 organization of this Ohurch, and then it commenced in the 
 state of New York. Today the spurious revelations of the ad- 
 versary are circulated broadcast through clairvoyants, medi- 
 ums, etc., giving no light, no knowledge of the great prin- 
 ciples of eternal life as enunciated by the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Well did Isaiah speak of these days, saving, "And when they 
 shall say unto you. Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, 
 and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter : should not a peo- 
 ple seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" Isa. viii :19. 
 In 1831 the Prophet removed to Kirtland, Ohio, which had 
 now become the headquarters of the Church. On the 6th of 
 June, in that year, the fourth general conference of the Church 
 was held at Kirtland. The Saints numbered about two thous- 
 and at that date, and were constantly increasing. At the con- 
 ference, many Elders were called by revelation to go forth, two 
 by two, to preach the Gospel and baptize as the Apostles did in 
 ancient times. They were to journey westward, preaching and 
 baptizing by the way, and all were to meet in Missouri, where 
 the next conference should be held, and where, if they were 
 faithful, the Lord would reveal to the Prophet the location of 
 their promised inheritance. 
 
 Conforming to revelations already given, Joseph the Prophet, 
 accompanied by several of the brethren, left Kirtland, June 
 19th, 1&31, on his first visit to Missouri. He reached Inde- 
 pendence, Missouri, July 15th, meeting the Elders who had 
 preceded him. Soon after Joseph's arrival at Independence, 
 the location of the city of Zion was made known to him by 
 revelation. Before his return to Kirtland, in August, 1831, 
 the foundation of the new city of Zion had been laid and the 
 site dedicated for a temple of the Lord. About this time, a 
 great stream of emigration started to the practically unexplored 
 regions of the west. 
 
 Soon after his return to Kirtland, the Prophet Joseph and 
 Sidney Rigdon retired to the quiet town of Hiram, Portage 
 county, Ohio, where they engaged in translating the Bible. 
 Besides this important labor, the Prophet was active in the min- 
 istry. He attended several conferences and was busy preach- 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 23 
 
 ing the Gospel in public and in private. Meantime persecution 
 did not abate, but was in active operation both in Missouri 
 and Ohio. March 25th, 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rig- 
 don were taken by a mob and treated in a most brutal manner, 
 ^he former was stripped, covered with tar and cruelly beaten, 
 and an attempt made to force a bottle of aqua fortis down his 
 throat. Notwithstanding this, the next day found the Prophet 
 declaring the Gospel to a public congregation. Sidney, how- 
 ever, was delirious for several days, as a result of the violent 
 treatment received at the hands of the mob. 
 
 In April, 1832, Joseph paid a second visit to Missouri and was 
 greatly pained to learn of the insults and injuries being heaped 
 upon the Saints, as hostilities had already begun of such in* 
 tensity and bitterness, as to soon result in their complete 
 expulsion from Jackson county. After administering words of 
 comfort and instructing the Saints, Joseph returned to Kirt- 
 l^nd In June. Nov. 3, 1832, the Prophet's oldest son, Joseph, 
 was born. 
 
 On Dec. 25th, 1832, Joseph Smith received the revelation 
 on war, pointing out the great rebellion, which occurred twenty- 
 eight years later. During the winter of 1832-33 Joseph, by 
 inspiration, organized what is known as the School of the 
 Prophets, in which the Elders of the Church were instructed and 
 edified in the things of God. Feb. 2, 1833, the Prophet com- 
 pleted the translation of the New Testament. July 23rd, 1833, 
 under commandment from the LK)rd, the Prophet and his asso- 
 ciates laid the foundation corner stones of a Temple of the 
 Lord, the first in this dispensation. 
 
 March 18, 1833, the presidency of the Church was first organ- 
 ized in this generation. It consisted of Joseph Smith, president, 
 Sidney Rigdon, first counselor, and Frederick G. Williams, 
 sjecond counselor. On Feb. 17, 1834, the High Council was 
 organized by the Prophet. It consisted of twelve High Priests, 
 presided over by the Presidency of the High Priesthood. This 
 High Council is a pattern of all High Councils in the Church, 
 one of which exists in every Stake of Zion, presided over by 
 the Presidency of the Stake. 
 
 On May 5th, 1834, Joseph Smith, with one hundred men, 
 started for Missouri. Their number was increased on the way 
 to two hundred five. This body of men is known in his- 
 
24 PHOPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 tory as Zion's Camp. They were called by revelation. The 
 purpose of their mission was to carry supplies and comfort 
 to the grief-stricken, mob-ridden Saints in Missouri, and if 
 possible, to influence the governor to restore to, and protect them 
 in their rights in the enjoyment of their hard-earned farm* 
 and homes. While en route, "Zion's Camp" encountered many 
 hardships, and some of the brethren, like Israel of old, mur- 
 mured against the Prophet of the Lord. Joseph reproved them 
 for their evil conduct, and prophesied ^tliat a scourge would 
 come upon the camp. .Tune 22, 1834, cholera broke out in the 
 camp ; six*ty-eight were attacked, thirteen died. Thus was 
 the word of the Lord through Joseph literally fulfilled. Arriv- 
 ing in Missouri, they organized a Stake, and returned to Kirt- 
 land July 9th, 1834. 
 
 In 1835 Joseph, who had a strong desire for education, es- 
 tablished a school in Kirtland and engaged Prof. Leixas to 
 conduct a class in Greek. Though Joseph, like the ancient 
 Prophets and Apostles, was unlearned when first called, at the 
 age of thirty he had acquired a marked proficiency in language, 
 philosophy and statesmanship. This desire for education and 
 great efforts to promote the same, have characterized the au- 
 thorities of the Church from that day until the present time. 
 
 On the return of Zion's Camp from Missouri, the work on the 
 temple, which had been retarded, was now prosecuted with 
 zeal and vigor until its completion. The building was con- 
 structed under very trying circumstances. Many were in pov- 
 erty. Persecution was in progress. The building cost $70,000, 
 and was supervised by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in addition 
 to all his other duties in public and private, at home and 
 abroad. It was three years in course of construction and was 
 the first temple of the Lord built in this dispensation. Since 
 then five others, more expensive, have been built by the Lat- 
 ter-day Saints, and others will be erected in these last days to 
 the honor and glory of God. 
 
 This temple was dedicated March 27th, 1836. The occasion 
 was a veritable pentecostal feast. Many enjoyed the gifts 
 of the Holy Ghost, and prophesied of things to come. Subse- 
 quently the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cow- 
 dery, also Moses, Elijah and other ancient Prophets came 
 in their order, as recorded in section 110 of the Doctrine 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 25 
 
 and Covenants. The Apostles, as of old, were endued with 
 power from on high, and went forth to the world with renewed 
 strength declaring the glad tidings of the restored Gospel. Fol- 
 lowing these remarkable manifestations, a wave of financial 
 inflation swept over Kirtland, and many of the Saints ran 
 wild in speculations. Many of the leaders became infatuated 
 with the false spirit, and when the panic of 1837 engulfed the 
 nation, disaster came to Kirtland. Many leading men apos- 
 tatized, and attributed to the Prophet Joseph Smith the very 
 evils which he had warned them against and sought by every 
 means in his power to avoid. 
 
 The Kirtland Safety Society Bank had been organized by 
 the Prophet Joseph, for the benefit of the Saints. This failed 
 through the swindling operations of subordinate officers, and 
 many of the people were financially ruined. Persecution be- 
 came violent. Many of the leading men became bitter ene- 
 mies "lo the Prophet of the Lord. Jan. 12th, 1838, Joseph 
 Smith and Sidney Rigdon were forced to flee from Kirt- 
 land, and an armed mob followed them for two hundred 
 miles, thirsting for their blood. Joseph with a body of 
 the Church, was now established in Missouri, the Saints, on 
 account of persecution, migrating thither from Ohio. The 
 Saints in Missouri numbered about 12,000 souls, and having 
 been expelled from their homes in Jackson county by furious 
 mobs, were located in Caldwell, Daviess and Carroll counties, 
 chiefly in Caldwell. 
 
 Tn the midst of perilous times, and being continually har- 
 assed by false bretbren, the life of the Prophet must have 
 been a trying one. Only men of unswerving integrity could 
 stand the chastening fire of persecution, and many fell by the 
 wayside, and joined in the cry against the Prophet and the 
 Saints. Joseph knew that the Church of which he had the 
 honor to be the earthly head, was the Church of God, and that 
 the Lord would preserve it to the end. He therefore had no 
 need to pander to the whims of men in order to retain their 
 friendship. This of itself, is no small evidence that Joseph 
 Smith was called of God. If he had been palming upon the 
 world a fraud, he would have feared the exposure of those 
 who became disaffected, and would have used politic methods 
 to retain their good will for him, rather than apply the law of 
 
26 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 justice and cast them out of the Church. The example of Jo- 
 seph Smith in dealing with apostates, no matter how high in 
 Church authority they stood, has been followed by his suc- 
 cessors until the present, and ever will be, for "God is no re- 
 spector of persons." 
 
 In Missouri, Joseph received important revelations on various 
 items, such as the building of a temple at Far West, the law 
 of tithing, the mission of the Apostles abroad; also that Amer- 
 ica was the land where Adam dwelt, acxTthat the Garden of 
 Bden was where Jackson county, Missouri, now is. July 4th, 
 1838, the Prophet caused to be laid the foundation stones of 
 a temple, which, however, has not been completed. About two 
 days after the Fourth of July celebration at Far West, lightning 
 struck the liberty pole and shivered it to pieces. This seemed 
 to be a warning that their own liberties were about to be 
 stricken down. It is said that on this occasion, Joseph prophe- 
 sied that the day would come, when the Constitution of the 
 United States would hang as if by a thread, and that the Latter- 
 day Saints would be prominent in saving that instrument from 
 utter destruction. 
 
 Persecution soon reasserted itself. The Latter-day Saints 
 in Missouri had a right to vote. Twelve of them attempted to 
 cast their votes at a state election in Gallatin, Daviess county, 
 Aug. Gth, 1838. A candidate for the legislature, William P. 
 Penistou, made an inflammatory speech against them, and 
 raised a tumult, in which several of the Saints and their 
 opponents were wounded. The report of this riot was great- 
 ly exaggerated and spread throughout the State. Mobocracy 
 followed in various places. October 25th, 1838, while de- 
 fending themselves against a mob on Crooked river. Apostle 
 David W. Patten and two other brethren, Gideon Carter and 
 Patrick O'Bannion, were killed. The power of the Saints, even 
 in a small degree to defend themselves, exasperated their ene- 
 mies, and on Oct. 27th, Maj.-Gen. Clark issued an order to the 
 state militia, to proceed with all has*te against the Mormons and 
 drive them from the state or to consummate their extermina- 
 tion. Oct. 30th, the frightful massacre of Haun's Mill occurred, 
 when about twenty of the Saints, men, women and children, were 
 killed and thrown in a heap into a well and buried. 
 
 About this time, Col. Hinkle betraj'ed the Prophet and sev- 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 27 
 
 eral of his associates into the hands of the enemy, by forming 
 a compact with the latter to give up the arms of the Saints 
 without the knowledge or consent of Joseph and his brethren. 
 Oct. 31st, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Ly- 
 man Wight, George W. Robinson, Hyrum Smith and Amasa 
 M. Lyman were taken and treated as prisoners of war. The 
 city was given into the hands of mauraders, who pillaged the 
 houses and grossly insulted defenseless women and children. 
 Joseph and his brethren were courtmartialed, and ordered to 
 be shot, but Gren. Doniphan, of the state militia, protested 
 against it as cold-blooded murder. Notwithstanding Gen. 
 Clark had told the Saints that they must never expect to see 
 their leaders again. Joseph prophesied to his associates that 
 their lives would be spared and they would return to the Saints, 
 which prediction was literally fulfilled. The prisoners were 
 paraded through the country with boastful glee on the part of 
 thgir captors. 
 
 On one occasion Joseph addressed a crowd of spectators, 
 many of whom were melted to tears. It became a settled con- 
 viction with his enemies, that if they allowed the Prophet to 
 address the public, he would never fail to make friends and 
 impress the honest that he was innocent. So, to avoid this 
 impression, the mob, or officers, who subsequently had him in 
 custody, would try to prevent him from speaking to the peo- 
 ple. Joseph and some of the brethren were confined in Liberty 
 jail. Clay county ; the remainder in Richmond, Ray county. 
 While in their dungeon cell, they were subjected to the taunts 
 and insults of guards and officers. One night, after bearing 
 all he could possibly endure of their filthy conversation, he 
 arose in chains, and with a voice of thunder rebuked the guards 
 in the name of the Lord. They cowered before him and asked 
 his pardon. So great was the power of God, they wilted before 
 Joseph as a blade of grass before a flame of fire. 
 
 Parley P. Pratt thus describes this scene commencing with the 
 words of the Prophet to the guards : "Silence, ye fiends of the 
 infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and 
 command you to be still : I will not live another minute and hear 
 such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die this instant!' 
 He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. 
 Chained and without a weapon, calm, unruffled and dignified 
 
28 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, whose weapons 
 were lowered or dropped on the ground; whose knees smote 
 together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his 
 feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of 
 guards. 1 have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in mag- 
 isterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life 
 was suspended on a breath in the courts of England; I have 
 witnessed a congress in solemn session to give law to nations; 
 I have tried to conceive of king, of roySI courts, of thrones 
 and crowns, and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of 
 kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it 
 stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon, in an obscure vil- 
 lage of Missouri."— Autobiography of P. P. Pratt, p 229-30. 
 
 The brethren in prison were charged with murder, treason, 
 arson and other crimes, all of which they were acquitted. 
 Joseph's enemies considered one evidence of treason was, the 
 belief the Prophet and his associates had in the prophecy of 
 Daniel, that God in the last days would set up His kingdom 
 which should "subdue all others." They were tried in the 
 court of Judge A. A. King. Gen. Doniphan, the attorney for 
 Joseph, told him to "offer no defense, for if a cohort of angels 
 should declare your innocence, it would be all the same. The 
 judge is determined to throw you into prison." 
 
 While in prison, Joseph received from the Lord the glorious 
 revelations and instructions found in sections 121, 122 and 123 
 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Mobocracy continued. Gov. 
 Boggs issued his infamous order to exterminate the "Mor- 
 mons" or drive them from the state. Joseph cheered the 
 Saints from his prison cell. He wrote: "Zion shall yet live 
 though she seemeth to be dead." 
 
 While Joseph was in prison, Brigham Young, President of the 
 Twelve, planned and carried into effect the gathering of the 
 Saints from Missouri to Illinois. He and his brethren made 
 a solemn covenant that they would never cease their efforts 
 until the Saints were gathered from Missouri. They kept their 
 pledge. It was a gigantic undertaking. Ten thousand Saints, 
 homeless and almost penniless, compelled to sign away their 
 property at the point of the bayonet, were to be gathered, or- 
 ganized in suitable companies, with proper arrangements and 
 remove to another state, where they hoped for better treat- 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 29 
 
 ment. The exodus was carried out. Early in 1839 found the 
 Saints in Iowa and Illinois. Thus was another prophetic ut- 
 terance finding fulfillment. 
 
 Joseph Smith once said that the Saints would have first a 
 county, then a state, and finally a nation against them. The 
 literal fulfillment of this prophecy is strikingly apparent to 
 those who know anything of the history of the Church. The 
 Saints were driven from Kirtlauu, Ohio, from county after 
 county in Missouri, and then from the state of Missouri in 
 which Gov. Boggs, the chief executive oflScer, took part by 
 issuing the infamous "exterminating order," virtually licensing 
 the wholesale pillaging and murder of hundreds of innocent 
 men, women and children. I^ater we see tne United States 
 government sending an army against the Saints to crush an 
 imaginary rebellion, and later still, as if to emphasue the words 
 of the Prophet, we behold the great government under which 
 we live, confiscate the property of the Church, and there ap- 
 pears on the supreme court calendar, the case of the "United 
 States of America vs. Church of Jesus Cnrist of i^atter-day 
 Saints." Surely no prophecy could more literally come true 
 — yea, it has been doubly fulfilled — than that relating to the 
 nation being against the Church. 
 
 April 22, 1839, Joseph and Hyrum Smith joined their families 
 at Quincy, 111., having escaped imprisonment a short time 
 previous. Soon after this, Commerce, afterwards named Nau- 
 voo, by the Prophet, was selected as a location for the Saints. 
 It was a beautiful site, being encircled on three sides by a 
 curve in the Mississippi river. The place was sickly and 
 many became prostrated with fever. It was on this occasion 
 that miraculous cases of healing occurred through the admin- 
 istration of the Prophet. He went from house to house, com- 
 manded the sick to arise and walk, and his words were fol- 
 lowed by instant healing. 
 
 The Twelve had been called on missions to Europe, and were 
 commanded to take their departure from the temple grounds 
 in Far West, April 26, 1839. Capt. Bogart, a leading mobo- 
 crat, heard of the prophecy and swore that it should never be 
 fulfilled. On the day named, however, at 1 a. m., the Twelve 
 met at the place appointed, held a conference, ordained Wilford 
 Woodruff and George A. Smith to the Apostleship, and departed 
 
30 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCH-:. 
 
 on their mission, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord through 
 the Prophet Joseph Smith. And here let it be said, that no 
 prediction of the Prophet Joseph Smith shall ever fall to the 
 ground unfulfilled. 
 
 Many converts were made in England, and in 1840, the first 
 company of Saints from the shores of Europe came to Nauvoo. 
 Joseph was diligent in helping the Saints to found themselves 
 in the new city. Having a little respite from persecution, 
 himself and Judge Elias Higbee went ttTWashington and laid 
 before the President, Martin Van Buren, a detailed statement, 
 with proof, of the outrages committed against the Saints in 
 Missouri. At first the President was averse to hearing them, 
 then expressed sympathy, and listened, as well as inviting the 
 Prophet to explain his views of the Gospel, which he did. At 
 a later visit, the President showed signs of political cowardice, 
 and after listening impatiently to the recital of their suffer- 
 ings, he made the reply, previously quoted in part : "Your cause 
 is just, but I can do nothing for you ; and if I take up for you I 
 shall lose the vote of Missouri." The Prophet concluded 
 promptly that President Van Buren was an "oflSce-seeker ; that 
 self-aggrandizement was his ruling passion, and that justice and 
 righteousness were no part of his composition." 
 
 Joseph remained in the east during the winter, making the 
 acquaintance of leading political men of the nation. He re- 
 cited to several the sufferings of the Saints. To this recital 
 John C. Calhoun said: "It involves a nice question — the ques- 
 tion of state's rights; it will not do to agitate it." Henry Clay 
 said: "You had better go to Oregon." Such answers were 
 too inconsistent and unreasonable ; too cowardly, to afford any 
 hope of redress from the hands of the men who made them. 
 The Prophet returned home to Nauvoo March 4, 1840. During 
 his absence he preached the Gospel to large audiences in Wash- 
 ington and in Chester county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Nauvoo had been growing under the direction of Hyrum 
 Smith, the ever-faithful brother to the Prophet. The popula- 
 tion numbered near three thousand and contained three ec- 
 clesiastical wards. The Latter-day Saints again asserted their 
 political rights, and with this came persecution as bitter as 
 heretofore. Gov. Boggs, of Missouri, demanded of Grov. Car- 
 lin. of Illinois, the arrest of the Prophet on the ground of his 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 31 
 
 being a fugitive from justice. The demand was rejected, but 
 this only exasperated the Missourians, who subsequently took 
 an active part in persecuting the Prophet and his associates. 
 In the winter of 1840-41, the Illinois legislature granted a very 
 liberal charter to the city of Nauvoo. Abraham Lincoln was a 
 member of the legislature which granted it. It included the 
 establishment of the Nauvoo Legion, a military body, and the 
 University of Nauvoo. Feb. 1, 1841, it went into effect, and 
 shortly thereafter Joseph became the lieutenant-general of the 
 Nauvoo Legion. 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1841, the comer stones of the Nauvoo 
 Temple were laid. Joseph called upon the Saints in the regions 
 round about to gather into Nauvoo and assist in the erection 
 of this sacred edifice. The Saints responded with great energy 
 to this call, and flocked into the city from all directions. Nau- 
 voo grew with almost magic speed. Brigham Young and the 
 TwLelve, on their return from England, greatly aided in its 
 growth. The population before the Prophet's martyrdom had 
 increased to 20,000. In 1842 prosperity abounded in Nauvoo. 
 This year the Prophet wrote for publication an account of the 
 •coming forth of this great work. This included the Articles 
 of Faith now printed upon cards and distributed by the Elders 
 among all nations where the Gospel is being preached. The 
 Church paper was edited by the Prophet, and was called the 
 Times and Seasons. Through this medium he published many 
 profound truths which the Lord had revealed to him. Many 
 embraced the Gospel. The population increased, and Nauvoo 
 was rapidly becoming a city of importance. 
 
 Notwithstanding this wonderful growth, and the peace en- 
 joyed, the Spirit of prophecy, ever alivo in this great Prophet, 
 gave him premonitions of the sore tribulations which Avere 
 soon to follow. March 17, 1842, Joseph organized the Relief 
 Society, now so famed in the Church as the organization 
 through which our devoted mothers administer so much com- 
 fort and help to the poor, the sick and the needy. At a funeral 
 sermon preached by the Prophet April 9th, 1842, Joseph fore- 
 shadowed his own death by saying, that he had now no prom- 
 ise of life and was subject to death. He said the Lord had 
 promised him life at different times until certain things should 
 
32 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 be accomplished. "But having now done these things, I have 
 no longer any lease of my life. I am as liable to die as other 
 men." 
 
 In 1842 Joseph uttered the following remarkable prophecy in 
 Montrose, Iowa, which he recorded as follows : "I prophesied, 
 that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction, 
 and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains. Many would 
 apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors, or 
 lose their lives in consequence of e:!^p0sure and disease; and 
 some would live to go and assist in making settlements and 
 building cities, and see the Saints become a mighty people in 
 the midst of the Rocky Mountains.'' Every provision of this 
 prophecy has been remarkably fulfilled. 
 
 Apostates began to plot the destruction of Joseph's life. John 
 C. Bennett, a vile man, possessing ability without character, 
 but whose perfidy was not detected until he had been crowned 
 with honor among the Saints, had rendered valuable service 
 in obtaining the Nauvoo charter. He was elected mayor of 
 Nauvoo, chosen chancellor of the university and major-general 
 of the Legion. He planned to have the Prophet iviiled in a 
 sham battle of the Nauvoo Legion, but failed. He uttered 
 many falsehoods against the Prophet, both to shield his own 
 iniquity and to encompass the death of the Prophet. He wrote 
 a vile ))ook against Joseph and the Saints, made up of gross 
 misstatements. This greatly increased the prejudices against the 
 Prophet among the thousands who did not wish to investigate 
 and know the truth. Elders were sent out to refute these slan- 
 ders, and accomplished much good among the honest at heart. 
 The old Missouri batred was still kept burning in that state. 
 Some one had attempted, it was claimed, to assassinate Gov. 
 Boggs at Independence. It was falsely laid to the "Mormons." 
 Grov. Boggs demanded of the governor of Illinois the person of 
 Joseph Smith on the charge of his being an accessory to the 
 attempted murder before the crime. He and O. P. Rockwell 
 were arrested Aug. 8th, 1842, but discharged after a hearing 
 before the municipal court of Nauvoo. Other attempts were 
 made to arrest him under false pretenses. He concluded to 
 go into hiding for a short time. While hidden, he wrote the 
 important letters to the Saints on the redemption of the dead, 
 found in sections 127 and 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants. 
 
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 33 
 
 Thomas Ford became governor of Illinois in December, 1842. 
 Joseph applied to him for a withdrawal of the writs issued 
 against him by Gov. Carlin. After a judicial investigation 
 this was done. 
 
 In February, 1843, the population of Nauvoo was again aug- 
 mented by a company of Saints from Europe, under the lead- 
 ership of Elders P. P. Pratt, Lorenzo Snow and Levi Richards. 
 In June, 1843, other attempts were made to drag the Prophet 
 back to Missouri. Dr. Bennett was the chief instigator of this 
 scheme. Politicians stirred up strife against the Saints, and 
 recommended the repeal or restriction of the Nauvoo charter. 
 They pretended to be alarmed at the increase of "Mormon" 
 power. Yet, strange to say, "Mormon" power, in politics or re- 
 ligion, has never been wielded to deprive or restrict any human 
 being of their rights in the least degree. "Mormons" elected 
 to oflice were threatened with mobocracy ^^hen attempting to 
 qualify, at the county seat, Carthage. Tho anti-"Mormon" 
 party renewed their pledges to fight the "Mormon'=?," and the mob 
 began to burn the homes and property of the Saints in outlying 
 districts of Nauvoo. When the governor was appealed to for 
 protection, his answer was an indication of his cowardice or 
 his sympathy with the mob element. He simply told the Saints 
 they must protect themselves. During these times of trouble 
 Joseph addressed letters to several prominent men in the na- 
 tion who had presidential aspirations. He propounded to them 
 this question: "What will be your rule of action relative to 
 us as a people, should fortune favor your ascension to the chief 
 magistracy?" Only two answered, as previously shown, 
 Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, and their answers 
 were so non - committal or evasive that Joseph considered 
 the writers cowardly, or lacking in moral force. Soon 
 after, strange and startling as it sounded then, Joseph Smitb 
 announced himself a candidate for the presidency of the United 
 States. He was nominated Jan. 29th, 1844, and duly sustained 
 at a state convention on the 17th of the following May. Soon 
 after this he published his views in plain terms, on the "Powers 
 and Policy of the Government of the United States." In this 
 document he defined his position on the live political questions 
 of the day. He favored abolition of slavery, the slave holders 
 to be paid for their slaves by the general government, the 
 3 
 
34 PROPHETS AND PAt^RIARCHS. 
 
 money to be raised by reducing the salary of congressmen 
 and by the sale of public lands; the abolition of imprisonment 
 for debt and for all crimes but murder; work on public enter- 
 prises to be the penalty for other crimes, and to make the pris- 
 ons schools of learning; the investment of power in the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to furnish troops for the suppression 
 of mobs; the extension of the United States from sea to sea, 
 with the consent of the Indians. 
 
 Many other excellent features apiJeared in his platform. 
 If his position on the slave question had been carried out, it 
 would have saved the nation a million lives, preserved thous- 
 ands from being crippled, and protected the happy homes of a 
 million people from widowhood, averted the cries of more than 
 a million fatherless children, and saved to the nation many 
 millions of treasure and property less valuable than human 
 life. Joseph prophesied of the war twenty-eight years before 
 it came, and that it should result in the death and misery of 
 many souls. That Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, is writ- 
 ten in letters of blood and by the tears of millions who suf- 
 fered from that fratricidal war. The Twelve and other lead- 
 ing Elders went to the eastern states to promulgate his views. 
 It is not probable for a moment, that the Prophet had any 
 faith in winning the presidential election. Neither had he 
 aspirations for the honors of men. Other considerations were 
 in view. His people had been traduced and misrepresented. 
 His candidacy furnished an opportunity to explain his views, 
 to enlighten the public mind respecting the Latter-day Saints, 
 and to leave on record, propositions to the nation which, if ac- 
 cepted, would save the nation life and treasure. He wrote at 
 that time : "I feel it to be my right and privilege to obtain what 
 influence and power I can lawfully in the United States for 
 the protection of injured innocence ; and if I lose my life in a 
 good cause, I am willing to be sacrificed on the altar of virtue, 
 righteousness and truth, in maintaining the laws and constitu- 
 tion of the United States, if need be, for the general good of 
 mankind." 
 
 Joseph, with a little band of pioneers, started on an expedi- 
 tion to explore the Rocky Mountains, to find a resting place 
 for the Saints, but was turned back. He was destined to seal 
 his testimony with his blood. On July 12th, 1843, Joseph bad 
 
TITE^ PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH. o5 
 
 recorded the revelation on celestial marriage, found in section 
 182, Doctrine and Covenants. In the spring of 1844 the situa- 
 tion in Nauvoo became very bitter. The Laws, Higbees and 
 Fosters plotted the overthrow of the Prophet. William Law 
 was his counselor, and of course knew of Joseph receiving and 
 privately teaching the doctrine of plural marriage. He had 
 Joseph arrested on a charge of polygamy, but failed to obtain a 
 conviction. The apostates then started a newspaper called the 
 Expositor, through which they circulated the basest false- 
 hoods imaginable, and thus inflamed still more intensely the 
 public mind. The city was shocked at the publication. The 
 city council was called together. Joseph Smith was the mayor. 
 The Expositor was declared a nuisance and was utterly de- 
 stroyed June 11th, 1844, by order of the mayor. The proprie 
 tors left the city and immediately planned the arrest of the 
 Prophet and others on a charge of riot. The latter had a 
 bearing and were acquitted. The mob was furious and gath- 
 ered in large numbers around Nauvoo, swearing vengeance on 
 the people and their leaders. Joseph, as mayor, declared the 
 city under martial law, and called out the Legion to defend 
 it. The governor, hearing of this and being weak and vacil- 
 lating, went at the head of the militia to Nauvoo, and demand- 
 ed that the Prophet come to Carthage for trial for the de- 
 struction cf the Expositor, and that martial law be abolished 
 in Nauvoo. His orders were strictly obeyed. The governoi 
 pledged, in a most solemn manner, his honor and the faith of 
 the state that the prisoners should be defended against mob 
 violence, and should have a fair and impartial trial. This 
 pledge was repeated, but never kept. Undoubtedly the Prophei 
 felt that his withdrawal from Nauvoo would be a safeguard 
 for the Saints, for he loved them more than life itself. He 
 remarked just before leaving Nauvoo: "I am going like a lamb 
 to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer morning. I have 
 a conscience void of ofi:'ense toward God and toward all men. 
 If they take my life I shall die an innocent man, and my blood 
 shall cry from the ground for vengeance, and it shall yet be 
 said of me, 'he was murdered in cold blood.' " His prophecj 
 has been literally fulfilled. 
 
 The Nauvoo Legion gave up their arms by command of Gov. 
 Ford, who again promised them protection. Joseph Smith, 
 
6b PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 Hyrum Smith, John Taylor and Willard Richards were con- 
 fined in Carthage jail, and on the fatal 27th day of June, 1844, 
 were placed in an upper room of that building. About 5 o'clock 
 in the afternoon an armed mob of the state militia, assisted 
 by other murderous fiends in human shape, in all about two. 
 hundred strong, burst in fury upon the jail and murdered in 
 cold blood, the Prophet and his brother Hyrum. Elder Taylor 
 was cruelly wounded with four bullets, while Elder Richards 
 escaped unharmed. While this inhuniair tragedy was being en- 
 acted, Gov. Ford was in Nauvoo, haranguing the peaceful, un- 
 armed Saints on the enormity of destroying the printing press 
 of the Expositor. The governor undoubtedly knew the inten- 
 tion of the mob, for he had heard their threats that the Prophet 
 should never escape alive. A day or two before his martyr- 
 dom, while being exhibited among the militia, as if he were 
 something monstrous, the Prophet asked one of the officers if 
 he could see anything bad in his countenance. The officer an- 
 swered: "No, Gen. Smith, but I cannot see what is in your 
 heart." The Prophet promptly retorted: "But I can see what 
 is in your heart, and if you are suffered to shed my blood you 
 will see bloodshed prevail in this land to your heart's content." 
 The testament of this great and last dispensation was sealed 
 by the blood of tlie testator, and is in force upon all the world. 
 When we review the life of Joseph Smith, w^e are compelled 
 to exclaim : In the hands of God he was a mighty man ! Next 
 to the Savior, Joseph Smith was as great a Prophet as ever 
 lived. At the age of fifteen he saw God the Father and our 
 Savior Jesus Ohrist. He beheld them face to face, and he 
 heard the voice of each. At the age of eighteen, he saw an 
 angel of the Lord on four different occasions. He saw the 
 ancient records of the people of God on the Western Hemis- 
 phere. When twenty-two years old he bad been visited by the 
 same angel-Prophet eight different times, and on each occa- 
 sion instructed by him. At this age also he received the golden 
 plates. In his twenty-fourth year he published this record 
 to the world, received a visitation from John the Baptist, and 
 obtained the Aaronic Priesthood under his hands. At the 
 same age Peter, James and John came and laid their hands 
 upon his head, bestowing the keys of the kingdom of God, 
 which they liad received from the Savior over eighteen hun- 
 dred years before. He also heard the voice of Michael. 
 
THE PBOPHET JOSEPH SMITH. 37 
 
 In his twenty-fifth year he organized the Church of Jesus 
 Christ of Latter-day Saints, and thus laid the foundation of a 
 work so great that it will yet fill the earth. When thirty-one 
 years old, he had founded and builded a temple to the Lord, 
 and in it, had seen th« Savior, Moses, Elijah and other 
 ancient Prophets of the living God. He selected the site of 
 four temples of the Lord, saw one completed and another well 
 on its way before his martyrdom. Before he was thirty-five 
 years of age, ha had been the prime mover in laying the foun- 
 dation and helping to build several important towns in the trav- 
 els of the Saints. At thirty-seven he organized a militia, of 
 which he was lieutenant-general ; established a university of 
 learning ; set on foot the gathering of Israel, and previous to 
 this and before his assassination, saw thousands gathered from 
 various States of the Union, Canada and Great Britain. The 
 Prophet Joseph Smith died a martyr at thirty-nine years of age, 
 iiavihg received in his life-time over one hundred twenty-five rev- 
 elations from God, which he caused to be written, besides the 
 volumes of unwritten inspiration which found their expression 
 in prophecy, healing the sick, casting out devils, interpreting 
 tongues and translating the Scriptures of divine truth. His 
 prophecies are many, both written and unwritten. Many have 
 been filled, none have failed, and when the wheels of time 
 shall bring the remainder due, every jot and tittle shall be ful 
 filled, for it was God who spake through the Prophet Joseph 
 Smith. He loved his God, his religion, his country and all 
 mankind. For them he lived and suffered; for them he died; 
 and future generations, when the cobwebs of sectarian ignor- 
 ance, bigotry and prejudice, with "the refuge of lies" shall 
 have been swept away, will do him ju^ice, and acknowledge 
 him as being a statesman, a philosopher, a philanthropist, 
 a colonizer, an educator, a pioneer, and indeed a mig'aty 
 Prophet of the living God. Well did Josiah Quincy, the his- 
 torian, a uon-"Mormon," say of the Prophet, whom he visited 
 at Nauvoo May 15th, 1844 : "It is by no means improbable 
 that some future text book, for the use of generations 
 yet unborn, will contain a question something like this : 
 'What historical American of the nineteenth century has 
 exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of 
 his countrymen?' and it is by no means impossible that the 
 answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: 'Joseph 
 Smith, the Mormon Prophet.' " 
 
PATRIARCH HYRUM SMITH. 
 
 This great and good man was born at Tunbridge, Vermont, 
 Feb. 9th, 1800. He was an elder brother of the Prophet, Jo- 
 seph Smith. He was a boy with a prayerful heart and later, a 
 man of God, as true as this generation or any other has pro- 
 duced. Like the rest of the family, he was inured to hard labor, 
 amid circumstances of privation with little opportunity for edu- 
 cation. He moved with his father and family to Western New 
 York, and when Joseph, his brother, announced his visions and 
 revelations to his father's family, Hyrum at once received his 
 testimony and espoused the cause with Joseph, becoming to him, 
 probably, the nearest, truest and best friend he had among 
 men. Not that scores of others lacked in their integrity and 
 love for the Prophet, for many would gladly have died for him 
 at any time, but Hyrum was a brother in the flesh, and 
 knew Joseph better from childhood to the hour of their 
 martyrdom than any other man and, consequently, under every 
 circumstance, was better qualified to sympathize and confer a 
 brother's love than other men. At the age of twenty- six 
 (Nov. 2, 1826), Hyrum married Jerusha Barden, who shared 
 with him his trials the remainder of her life, and bore to 
 him six children, Lovina, Mary, John, Hyrum, Jerusha and 
 Sarah. Most of them are now deceased, but his son John has 
 been for many years the Patriarch of the Church, and re- 
 sides in Salt Lake City. The office of Presiding Patriarch de- 
 scends to the first born of the family from father to son, pro- 
 vided always that the son is worthy to inherit this holy call- 
 ing, and let it here be said and remembered by all the Saints 
 in every generation, that no better, nobler, purer man than 
 Hyrum Smith, could have been chosen to receive this Holy 
 Patriarchal Priesthood. May the claim of his generations to 
 whom this office shall descend, never find within it a weak or 
 broken Tnk ! 
 
 In May, 1820, while the work of translating the Book 
 of Mormon was in process, while Hyrum Smith and 
 
HYRUM SMITH. 
 
40 
 
 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 several others were rejoicing in the dispensation opening to 
 the world, about the time that John the Baptist came and 
 restored the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, the Lord gave 
 a revelation through Joseph to Hj^rum Smith. In it he com- 
 manded Hyrum to "seek to bring forth and establish the cause . 
 of Zion. Seek not for riches, but for wisdom, and behold, the 
 mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall 
 you be made rich; behold, he that hath eternal life is rich. 
 * * * Yerily, verily, I say unto youf^will impart unto you 
 of My Spirit ; which shall enlighten your mind ; which shall 
 fill your soul -wnth joy. * * * Behold, I command you that 
 you need not suppose that you are called to preach until you 
 are called. * * * Seek not to declare My word, but first 
 seek to obtain My word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; 
 then if you desire, you shall have My Spirit and My word ; 
 yea, the jwwer of God unto the convincing of men." These 
 and many other glorious instructions are found given to Hyrum 
 in Section 11 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The truths, 
 admonitions, instructions, doctrines and promises therein re- 
 vealed, were accepted by Hyrum in all sincerity, and he was 
 guided by them and true to them to the last moment of his 
 earthly existence. His travels, labors and experiences in detail 
 scarcely need be related here, because they are so closely inter- 
 woven with the history of the Church and that of the Prophet 
 Joseph, as to be almost identical. On the 13th of Oct., 1837, his 
 wife, pJerusha, died. This was during the persecutions and 
 hardships entailed upon the Saints in Missouri. Subsequently 
 he married Mary Fielding, by whom he had two dhildren, 
 Joseph F. and Martha, the former being now the President of 
 the Church. 
 
 In June, 1829, Hyrum Smith was baptized by his brother 
 Joseph, in Seneca Lake. He was one of the eight witnesses 
 permitted to view the plates from which the Book of Mor- 
 mon was translated. He was also one of the six members 
 who went to constitute the organization of the Churdh, April 
 Gth, 1830. His name stands as a living witness of the exist- 
 ence of those sacred plates which give to the world the his- 
 tory of the Gospel upon the "Western Hemisphere. At a con- 
 ference assembled in Far West, Missouri, Hyrum was chosen 
 and sustained as second Counselor in the Presidency of the 
 
PATRIARCH HYRUM SMITH. 41 
 
 Church instead of Frederick G. Williams, who was rejected 
 on Jan. 19th, 1841. The Lord, through the Prophet Joseph, 
 then revealed the following Doctrine and Covenant, Section 
 124: "And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is My serv- 
 ant, Hyrum Smith, for I, the Lord, love him because of the 
 integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is 
 right before Me, saith the Lord." What greater blessing can 
 man attain to than to know that God loves him, not simply be- 
 cause of a Heavenly Father's love for all His offspring, but 
 because the individual is right in heart and works before the 
 Lord. Surely such approval in this life must be as Eternal 
 Life in the presence of the Lord hereafter. In the same revel- 
 ation, the Lord said : "That My Servant, Hyrum Smith, may 
 take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was ap- 
 pointed unto him by bis Father, by blessing and also by right. 
 That from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the Patriarchal 
 blessings - upon the heads of all My people, that whoever he 
 blesses shall be blessed, and whoever he curses shall be 
 cursed; that w^hatsoever he shall bind on earth ^hall be bound 
 in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be 
 loosed in heaven; and from this time forth I appoint unto 
 him that he may be a Prophet, and a Seer, and a Revelator unto 
 My Church, as well as My servant, Joseph ; that he may act 
 in concert also with My servant, Joseph, and that he shall 
 receive counsel from My servant, Joseph, who shall show unto 
 him the keys whereby he may ask and receive, and be crowned 
 with the same blessing and glory and honor and Priesthood 
 and gifts of the Priesthood, that once were put upon him 
 that was my servant, Oliver Cowdery ; that my servant Hy- 
 rum may bear record of all things which I shall show unto 
 him, that his name may be had in honorable remembrance 
 from generation to generation, forever and ever." Thus by 
 revelation direct from heaven were keys, powers and author- 
 ity, conferred upon Hyrum equal to which but few men in the 
 history of this world have ever enjoyed. He was a 
 man of exceeding great love, forbearance and kindness. He 
 was not hasty. No personal antipathy was ever allowed a 
 place in his heart toward any human being, nor even to the vil- 
 est thing that creepeth upon the earth. His power to bless 
 was never idle ; his authority to curse, he shuddered at th.? 
 
42 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 thought of exercising. When one of the brethren in the heat 
 of trouble in Missouri forsook the Prophet Joseph, and said 
 false things against him, whereby he forfeited his calling, 
 Hyrum Smith went to, and sought to turn the wayfaring man 
 from his error. Apostle John Taylor said that he (Elder 
 Taylor) had it in his heart to try to save the rebellious brother, 
 but said when he heard that Hyrum Smith had gone before him 
 on the same errand, it was useless for him to try if Brother 
 Hyrum should fail. When Sidney Rigdon failed in his love for 
 Joseph and devotion to the work of God, and Joseph felt to drop 
 him from the Presidency, Hyrum, in his great mercy and his 
 abhorrence at the thought of one making shipwreck of his faith, 
 pleaded with Joseph to bear longer with Sidney. Joseph said : 
 "If my brother Hyrum and the people want to carry Elder 
 Rigdon any longer they may, but I cannot." Hyrum's mercy 
 prevailed, although the Prophet was right in his judgment, 
 for Elder Rigdon was ungrateful for the mercy extended and 
 soon fell aside. During all the trials to which the Prophet 
 was subjected, his faithful brother Hyrum shared with him 
 therein. They were imprisoned together in Liberty jail, had 
 been courtmartialed and sentenced to be shot together by a mob 
 militia at Far West. Together they started on an exploration 
 tour to the west and when they returned, they went together 
 to Carthage jail to be offered as living witnesses that God had 
 restored the Gospel in these last days. , 
 
 At the time of his death he held various offices, military 
 and civil, and had always been useful on committees in build- 
 ing the Nauvoo house, Kirtland Temple, and in every way was 
 a most capable and public spirited man. He was for the 
 cause of Zion incessantly. It was his whole theme; his 
 thoughts by day and his dreams by night. In all respects 
 he was morally, intellectually, physically and spiritually a most 
 worthy and loving companion to his Prophet brother. As a 
 Patriarch, he is represented by his son, John. As a Prophet, 
 Seer and Revelator, he is represented by his son, President 
 Joseph F. Smith. 
 
 The circumstances of their Martyrdom have been relateii 
 elsewhere, and need not be repeated here only as relates directly 
 to Hyrum. Before the awful tragedy took place, Hyrum asked 
 Elder Taylor to sing a second time the hymn, "A Poor Way- 
 
PATRIARCH HYRUM SMITH. 43 
 
 faring Man of Grief." Elder Taylor felt too depressed to sing, 
 but sang again in compliance with Brother Hyrum's request. 
 Before leaving home, Hyrum read the words of Moroni to the 
 Gentiles from the 12th chapter of Ether, which are as follows : 
 "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that He 
 would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have 
 charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me if 
 they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast 
 been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made clean. 
 And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made 
 strong, oven unto the sitting down in the place which I have 
 prepared in the mansions of My Father. And now I, (Moroni) 
 bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren 
 whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment seat 
 of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are 
 not spotted with your blood." Soon after the singing of the 
 hymn by Elder Taylor, the mob rushed upon the jail and cruelly 
 murdered the brothers, first Hyrum, and then the Prophet 
 Joseph, and frightfully wounded Apostle John Taylor. Apostle 
 Willard Richards escaped injury although standing side by side 
 with his brethren when they fell. I will close this brief sketch 
 of one of the very greatest of men who ever lived, by quoting 
 the words of President John Taylor, who witnessed the martyr- 
 dom and offered his own life for his brethren: , 
 
 "These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my 
 mind. I thought. Why must the good perish, and the vir- 
 tuous bo destroyed? Why must God's nobility, the salt of the 
 earth, the most exalted of the human family, the most perfect 
 types of all excellence, fall victims to the cruel, fiendish hate 
 of incarnate devils? 
 
 "The poignancy of my grief, I presume, however, was some- 
 what allayed by the extreme suffering that I endured from my 
 wounds. 
 
 "Soon afterwards I was taken to the head of the stairs and 
 laid there, where I had a full view of our beloved and now 
 murdered brother, Hyrum. There he lay as I had left him ; he 
 had not moved a limb ; he lay placid and calm, a monument of 
 greatness even in death; but his noble spirit had left its 
 tenement, and was gone to dwell in regions more congenial to 
 its exalted nature. Poor Hyrum! he was a great and good 
 
44 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever there was 
 an exemplary, honest, and virtuous man, an embodiment of all 
 that is noble in the human form, Hyrum Smith was its repre- 
 sentative." 
 
JOHN SMITH 
 
 FOURTH PRESIDING PATRIARCH OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The brother of Joseph Smith, Sr., whose name stands at the 
 bead of this brief chapter, was born in Derrj'field (now Man- 
 chester), Rockingham county, New Hampshire, July 16th, 1781. 
 In 1815 he married Clarissa Lyman, by whom he had three chil- 
 dren, George Albert, Caroline and John Lyman. 
 
 The Gospel was introduced to John Smith by his brother 
 Joseph, father of the Prophet. He promptly obeyed the divine 
 message, and although very sick, he was led to the waters of 
 baptism in mid-winter, when the ice had to be cut, and received 
 the ordinance January 9th, 1832. He had been given up by the 
 doctors to die, but from the time of his baptism began to recovei . 
 He was also ordained an Elder soon after his baptism. 
 
 He moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1833, and five years later to 
 Far West, Missouri, where he underwent the persecutions inci- 
 dental to those trying times. From Far West he removed to 
 Adam-Ondi-Ahman, where he presided over the Church in 
 Daviess county. He with the Saints were expelled by the mob 
 in 1839, and in February of that year arrived in Illinois. He 
 located at Green Plains, where he planted a crop, split rails and 
 did other heavy manual labor, much unsuited to his age and 
 health. In June he loctaed in Nauvoo and thence went to Lee 
 county, Iowa, to preside over the Church in that State. 
 
 In October, 1843, he returned to Illinois, locating in Mace 
 donia, Hancock county. In that place he presided over the 
 Saints. In January, 1844, he was ordained to the patriarchal 
 office. In November of the same year he was driven by mobo- 
 crats from his home in Macedonia to Nauvoo, where he impartOil 
 many patriarchal blessings to the joy and comfort of the Saints, 
 until driven by mobocrats from the sovereign State of Illinois, 
 February 9th, 1846, to seek an asylum of peace beyond the 
 Rocky Mountains in the valleys of the unexplored west. He 
 crossed Iowa to Winter Quarters and spent a dreary winter on 
 the west bank of the Missouri river. On the 9th of June, l&iT, 
 
46 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 he commenced his weary march with ox teams across the great 
 plains 01 Nebraska, and arrived in Salt Lake valley September 
 23rd, 1847. While President Young and associates were attend 
 ing directly to the removal of the Saints from Winter Quarters 
 to Salt Lake Valley, Father John Smith presided over the. 
 Church in their gathered condition until January 1st, 1849, when 
 he was ordained presiding Patriarch of the Church under the 
 hands of Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. 
 
 The office of Presiding Patriarch is Jianded down from father 
 to son, the only hereditary office in the Church, but at this time 
 John Smith the eldest son of Hyrum was very young, and John, 
 the brother of the first Patriarch, was called to fill this office, 
 which he occupied during the remainder of his life. From the 
 Old Fcrt he moved to his city lot, which was the only spot he had 
 been left unmolested, to cultivate for the preceding twenty- three 
 years. Like his brother Joseph he was truly benevolent and 
 great hearted, a veritable friend to the poor, whom he blessed 
 in spirit and assisted to the temporal blessings of life. His 
 blessings were full of comfort, consolation and prophecy. The 
 father of the writer received under his hands a choice and 
 prophetic blessing, which we esteem as a sacred relic of the 
 Patriarch's inspired administrations among the people of God. 
 Father Smith gave during his labors in the Patriarchal office 
 5,560 patriarchal blessings, the contents of which are full of 
 comfort, consolation and inspired prophecies. They are recorded 
 in seven large volumes. He died in Salt Lake City, May 23rd, 
 1854, and will come forth among the very choicest fruits of the 
 morning of the first resurrection. He was a choice friend of 
 Col. Thos. L. Kane, and at whose hands Col. Kane received 
 blessings which were of lasting benefit in life, and will tend to 
 tlie latter's glory and exaltation in the life to come. Father 
 Smith was the father of Apostle and President George A. Smith, 
 grandfather of Apostle John Henry Smith, and the literal de- 
 scendants of this great and good man will be numbered with the 
 presiding authorities of the Church through all time to come, 
 and will be found among the foremost in the councils of 
 Heaven. 
 
JOHN SMITH. 
 
PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 
 
 For over twenty j-ears President Joseph P. Smith was Second 
 Counselor, in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus 
 Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is now^he President, the date 
 of the reorganization of the First Presidency, after the death of 
 President Snow, being October 17th, 1901. He was born 
 November l.3th, 1838, in Far Wes*t, Caldwell county, Missouri. 
 The period of his birth was a stormy one in the history of the 
 Church — the time when it was in its infancy. His father, 
 Hyrum Smrch, the Prophet's brother, was all and more to 
 Joseph than Jonathan was to David. In life they lived, laboicd 
 and suffered together, and when their time came, died together, 
 filling a martyr's grave for the salvation of mankind. Mary 
 Fielding, the mother of Joseph F., was a native of England, 
 and for energy, faith and determination, coupled with good 
 business abilities, was a most worthy and suitable companion 
 for her husband. 
 
 A few daj's previous to the birth of Joseph F., his father and 
 uncle, Joseph, with other brethren, were betrayed, through the 
 cruel treachery of George M. Hinkle, into the hands of armed 
 mobocrats. Being court martialed, they were sentenced to be 
 shot ; but this failed, by the interposition of Providence, through 
 Gen. A. W. Doniphan. They were then hustled off to prison, 
 but before starting were allowed a few minutes to bid farewell 
 to their families, being told they would never see them again. 
 
 With such scenes being enacted ; with mob rule holding sway ; 
 plunderings, drivings, imprisonment without trial or conviction ; 
 with poverty and distress — at such a time was Joseph F. Smith 
 brought into the world. His childhood days were spent amid 
 the scenes of persecution and hardship which resulted in the 
 martj-rdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. His mother left 
 Nauvoo in 1846, as an exile from her home and country, for no 
 other cause than that of worshiping God according to the dic- 
 .tates of her own conscience. Although at this time Joseph F. 
 was but a lad of eight years, he drove an ox team for his mothev 
 
JOSEPH F. SMITH. 
 
50 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 across the State of Iowa. During the sojourn of the family at 
 Winter Quarters, Joseph was occupied as a herd boy, in which 
 he took special pride, feeling that his mother's cattle were the 
 only means by which they were to make their way across the 
 great plains of the far west. Even after reaching the 
 valley Brother Smith was engaged in herding, and so close and 
 conscientious was his attention to duty that he never lost a 
 "hoof" through neglect or carelessness ; this attention and devo- 
 tion to respcnsibilities placed upon lvM7has always marked his 
 character and is seen in all the labors of his life. 
 
 During his trials at Winter Quarters, while herding cattle, he 
 passed through a thrilling exjierience with Indians, who sud- 
 denly came upon him and his companions for the purpose of driv- 
 ing off their herd. In the exciting chase, two Indians, one on 
 either side, rode up to him, and taking hold of his arms, lifted 
 him from the saddle, and probably would have killed him but 
 for the unexpected appearance of a number of men who were 
 going to the hay field. The Indians suddenly dropped him to the 
 ground, and thus by the aid of Providence his life was saved, 
 his bravery and fidelity to trust having saved the cattle. 
 Brother Smith was taught by the example and precept of his 
 faithful mother, that in the performance of all duties and labors 
 he should go to the Lord in prayer. As a striking illustration 
 of the faith with which he became imbued in his early boyhood, 
 by the example of his mother, we present the following incident 
 related by himself: 
 
 "In the spring of 1847 a portion of our family crossed the 
 plains, following the pioneers to the Valley of the Great Salt 
 Lake, the remainder of the family intending to proceed on their 
 journey to the west the following spring. In the fall of 1847 
 my mother and her brother, Joseph Fielding, made a trip down 
 the Missouri river to St. Joseph, Mo., about 150 miles, for the 
 purpose of obtaining provisions and clothing for the family for 
 the coming winter, and for the journey across the plains the 
 following spring. They took two wagons with two yoke of 
 oxen on each. I was almost nine years of age at this time, and 
 accompanied my mother and uncle on their journey as a team- 
 ster. The weather was unpropitious, the roads were bad, and it 
 rained a great deal during the journey, so that the trip was a 
 very hard, trying and unpleasant one. 
 
PRESIlyEKT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 51 
 
 "At St. Joseph we purchased our groceries and dry goods, 
 and at Savannah we laid in our store of flour, meal, corn, bacon 
 and other provisions. Returning to Winter Quarters, we camped 
 one evening in an open prairie on the Missouri river bottoms, 
 by the side of a small spring creek, which emptied into the river 
 about three-quarters of a mile from us. We were in plain 
 sight of the river, and could apparently see over every foot of the 
 little open priarie where we were camped, to the river on the 
 southwest, to the bluffs en the northeast, and to the timber which 
 skirted the prairie on the right and left. Camping near by, on 
 the other side of the creek, were some men with a herd of beoC 
 cattle, which they were driving to Savannah and St. Joseph 
 for market. We usually unyoked our oxen and turned 'them 
 loose to feed during our encampment at night, but this time, on 
 account of the proximity of this herd of cattle, fearing that 'they 
 might get mixed up and driven off with them, we turned our 
 oxen out to feed in their yokes. Next morning, when we came 
 to look them up, to our great disappointment our best yoke of 
 oxen was not to be found. Uncle Fielding and I spent all morn- 
 ing, well nigh until noon, hunting them, but without avail. The 
 grass was tall and in the morning was wet with heavy dew. 
 Tramping through this grass and through the woods and over 
 bluffs, we were soaked to the skin, fatigued, disheartened and al- 
 most exhausted. In this pitiable plight I was the first to return 
 to our wagons, and as I approached I saw my mother kneeling 
 down praying. I halted for a moment, and then gently drew 
 near enough to hear her pleading with the Lord not to suffer us 
 to be left in this helpless condition, but to lead us to recover 
 our lost team, that we might continue on our travels in safety. 
 When she arose from her knees I was S'tandiug near by. The 
 first expression I caught upon her precious face was a lovely 
 smile, which, discouraged as I was, gave me renewed hope and 
 an assurance I had not felt before. A few moments later Uncle 
 Fielding came to the camp, wet with the dews, faint, fatigued 
 and thoroughly disheartened. His first words were, 'Well, 
 Mary, the cattle are gone !' Mother replied in a voice which 
 fairly rang with cheerfulness, 'Never mind, your breakfast has 
 been waiting for hours, and now, while you and Joseph are 
 eating, I will take a walk out and see if I can find the cattle.' 
 
 "My uncle held up his hands in blank astonishment, and if 
 
62 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 the Missouri river had suddenly turned to run up stream, 
 neither of us could have been more surprised. 'Why, Mary,' he 
 exclaimed, 'what do you mean? We have been all over this 
 country, all through the timber and through the herd of cattle, 
 and our oxen are gone ; they are not to be found. I believe they 
 have been driven off, and it is useless for you to attempt to do 
 such a thing as hunt for them.' 
 
 " 'Never mind me,' said mother. 'Get your breakfast and I 
 will see,' and she started ioward the river, following down the 
 little stream. Before she had proceeded out of speaking dis- 
 tance the man in charge of the herd of beef cattle rode up from 
 the opposite side of the creek and called out : 'Madam, I saw 
 your oxen over in that direction this morning about daybreak,' 
 pointing in the opposite direction from that in which mother was 
 going. AVe heard plainly what he said, but mother went right 
 on, paid no attention to his remark, and did not even turn her 
 head to look at him. A moment later the man rode off rapidly 
 toward his herd, which had been gathered in the opening near 
 the edge of the woods, and they were soon under full drive for 
 the road leading towards Savannah and soon disappeared from 
 view. 
 
 ""My mother continued straight down the little stream of 
 water, until she stood almost on the balik of the river, and then 
 she beckoned to us. I was watching her every movement and 
 was determined that she should not get out of my sight. In- 
 stantly we rose from the 'mess-chest,' on which our breakfast had 
 been spread, and started toward her. Like John, who outran 
 the other disciple to the sepulcher, I outran my uncle and came 
 first to the spot where my mother stood. There I saw our 
 oxen fastened to a clump of willows growing in the bottom of 
 a deep gulch, which had been washed out of the sandy banks of 
 the river by. the little spring creek, perfectly concealed from 
 view. We were not long in releasing them from bondage and 
 getting back to our camp, where the other cattle had been fas- 
 tened to the wagon wheels all the morning, and we were soon 
 on our way homeward bound, rejoicing. 
 
 "This circumstance was one of the first practical and positive 
 demonstrations of the eflScacy of prayer I had ever witnessed. 
 It made an indelible impression upon my mind, and has been a 
 
PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 53 
 
 source of comfoi"t, assurance and guidance to me throughout 
 all my life." 
 
 The impression made upon Joseph's mind by this striking 
 answer to his mother's prayer, has never left him, but has 
 done much to encourage him in meeting every responsibility, 
 and causing him to realize that, no matter how arduous the 
 task, the Lord will not fail those who put their trust in Him. 
 
 Crossing the plains from Missouri river, to the Salt Lake 
 valley, Brother Smith (though less than ten years of age at that 
 tim«) drove two yoke of oxen attached to a heavily laden 
 wagon the entire distance of more than one thousand miles. 
 Reaching the valley of Salt Lake with his mother, September 
 23d, 1848, he continued in charge of the cattle as herd boy for 
 several years, and never loS'c an animal, notwithstanding the 
 great number of large wolves in the valley. This work of herd- 
 ing was interchanged with plowing, harvesting, canyon work, 
 etc.,- idleness having no part in his life. 
 
 The opportunities for education in those early days of trying 
 experiences of the Church were limited. Such learning as 
 Brother Joseph possessed he acquired chiefly from his mother. 
 She taught him to read the Bible during their pilgrimage across 
 the plains, in the tent and by the camp fire. Such facilities as 
 have been afforded him have not passed by unimproved. Being 
 fond of books, he reads extensively the best of them, always 
 with a purpose in view to learn lessons of worth for practical 
 use in life ; and it is safe to say that no man living applies them 
 better to himself and family than does President Smith. His 
 mother died Sept. 21st, 1852, leaving him an orphan at the age 
 of fourteen. When fifteen j^ears of age he was called on a mis 
 sion to the Sandwich Islands. He received his endowments in 
 the old Council House, and was set apart in the same building 
 by Apostle Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde. Brother Pratt, 
 who was spokesman in setting him apart, declared that he 
 should receive the knowledge of the Hawaiian language "by the 
 gift of God as well as by study." This prophecy was literally 
 fulfilled, for in less than four months from his arrival (two 
 weeks of this time was spent in severe sickness) he was able to 
 make a tour of the island of Maui, to preach, baptize and ad- 
 minister the sacrament, etc., all in the native language. He 
 left his mountain home to fulfill this mission on May 27th, 1854, 
 
54 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 in company with otlier missionaries. The southern route was 
 taken, as far as Cedar, with President Young and party who 
 were on their tour to the southern settlements. This little 
 band of missionaries was headed by Parley P. Pratt. In 
 crossing the desert country from southern Utah to California, 
 they were followed a long distance by numbers of Indians who 
 were almost famished for food. The only alternative was to 
 share food with them, which the company did to keep on friendly 
 terms. As a result the missionaries^?^ere compelled to subsist 
 on very short rations, consuming the last of their supplies the 
 day they reached Cajon Pass. 
 
 During the sojourn of Joseph F. in California, iie worked 
 hard for a livelihood and to earn means sufficient to pay his 
 passage across the Pacific to Honolulu, much of his time being 
 spent in the manufacture of cut shingles. He and his fellow 
 missionaries embarked upon the "Vaquero," and after a some- 
 what disagreeable voyage, they landed in Honolulu September 
 2Tth, 1854. After a few days there. Brother Joseph was as- 
 signed to the island of Maui, to labor in company with his 
 cousin Silas Smith, S. B. Thurston and Washington B. Rogers. 
 He was shortly afterwards prostrated for more than two weeks 
 with a severe fever. Upon his recovery he was assigned to 
 Kula, the place where President Cannon first introduced the 
 Gospel to the Hawaiian race. He pursued the study of the 
 language with much diligence and faith, soon being able to 
 bear witness that "by the gift of God, as well as by study," 
 the words of Brother Pratt concerning his acquisition of the 
 language, were verified. His experience brought him near to 
 the Lord. 
 
 Relative to the manifestations of the Spirit to him, Elder 
 Smith says : "Of the many gifts of the Spirit which were mani- 
 fest through my administration, next to my acquirement of the 
 language, the most prominent was perhaps the gift of healing 
 and the casting out of evil spirits, which frequently occurred." 
 One instance occurred at Wailuku, where he sojourned with 
 a native family, being engaged in the study of the language. 
 One night the woman was suddenly seized with evil spirits. 
 She went through all manner of hideous contortions. Her 
 husband was overcome with such fear that he trembled as a 
 leaf in the wind. Brother Joseph was also somewhat dis- 
 
PRESIDENT JOSEPH F, SMITH. 55 
 
 turbed at this new and unexpected demonstration, but suddenly 
 all fright left him ; the power of the Holy Ghost rested uix>n 
 him, and he stood upon his feet, facing the woman possessed 
 of demons. "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I rebuke 
 you," he said, when suddenly the woman fell limp to the floor 
 and became as one dead. The husband pronounced her dead 
 and then set up a hideous howl, which Joseph promptly rebuked, 
 after which quiet and peace were restored and the young mis- 
 sionary proceeded with his studies. 
 
 Brother Joseph labored upon the Island of Maui over eighteen 
 months, with great success. The readiness by which he ac- 
 quired and used the language astonished his brethren and 
 the natives. After President F. A. Hammond took his depart- 
 ure for his home in Utah, Brother Joseph presided over the 
 Maui Conference ; later he also presided over the Kobala Con- 
 ference for six months, and the island of Hawaii for the same 
 length of time. 
 
 * Brother Joseph was laboring upon the latter island at the 
 time of the great volcanic eruption of 1855. He says : "I ex- 
 perienced the tremendous shocks of earthquake which imme- 
 diately preceded the eruptions, and subsequently visited the 
 great lava How which issued from the crater. It was said that 
 this eruption, in the quantity of lava thrown out, has probably 
 never been surpassed during the residence of foreigners on 
 the islands. The flow continued for about thirteen months, 
 reaching to within six or seven miles of the city of Hilo, more 
 than sixty miles from the crater. The city and bay of Hilo 
 were in imminent danger of destruction for months. I have 
 seen it stated since, that the area covered by lava from this 
 eruption exceeded three hundred square miles, or about one- 
 thirteenth of the area of the island of Hawaii." 
 
 President Smith continued his labors upon the islands with 
 eflftciency, passing through many scenes which added strength 
 to his testimony of the Gospel and fitted him for the positions 
 of responsibility to which he has since been called. He has 
 sometimes said that he was never thankful but once that his 
 first mission was upon the Sandwich Islands, and that once 
 had been all the time, from the time of his mission to the 
 present date. 
 
 Owing to the approach of Johnson's army to Utah, President 
 
56 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 Young sent instructions that lie desired all Elders laboring in 
 foreign missions to return home. Accordingly President Smith 
 and other Elders took passage on the bark Yankee, October (Jch, 
 1855. Upon landing at San Francisco thej- reported to Presi- 
 dent George Q. Cannon, at the "Wiestern Standard" office. 
 Shortlj' after arriving on the coast Brother Smith journeyed 
 south to Santa Cruz, there joining a company. He next ar- 
 ranged to drive a team to Utah for George Crismon, arriving in 
 Great Salt Lake City February 24th, 1858, having been absent 
 four years. ■^'"^ 
 
 Immediately upon his return home, Joseph F. joined the 
 militia and started with an expedition to intercept the hostile 
 army which had been sent to Utah. He served under Col. 
 Thomas P. Callister, and later was chaplain of the regiment 
 under Col. Heber C. Kimball. He says, in speaking of his 
 enlistment and experiences in the Utah army : "The day 
 following my arrival home, I reported myself to Presi- 
 dent Young and immediately enlisted in the Legion to de- 
 fend ourselves against the encroachment of a hostile and 
 menacing army. From that time until the proclamation of 
 peace, and a free and full pardon by President Buchanan came, 
 I was constantly in my saddle, prospecting and exploring the 
 country between Great Salt Lake City and Fort Bridger, under 
 the command of Col. Thos. Callister and others. I was on 
 picket guard with a party of men under O. P. Rockwell when 
 Commissioners Powell and McCollough met us near the Weber 
 river, with the President's proclamation. Subsequently I wcs 
 on detail in the deserted city of Great ^Salt Lake until after the 
 army passed through and thence to Camp Floyd. After this 1 
 assisted my relatives to return to their homes, from which thoy 
 had fled. 
 
 At the session of the legislature held in the winter ^f 1858-9, 
 President Smith officiated as sergeant-at-arms in the Council, 
 and on March 29, 1858, he was ordained into the thirty-second 
 quorum of Seventies. He was married April 5, 1859, and on 
 October 16th of the same year was ordained a High Priest, also 
 being made a member of the High Council of the Salt Lake 
 Stake of Zion. At the April Conference, 1860, Brother Joseph 
 was called on a mission to Great Britain. He was in straitened 
 circumstances financially, and was almost obliged to discontinue 
 
PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 57 
 
 housekeeping and allow his wife to return to her mother's 
 home for the time being. He was soon on his way, iu company 
 with his cousin, Samuel B. Smith, each driving a four-mule team 
 to paj- their way across the plains. Tliey sailed for Liverpool 
 July 14, arriving in that port on the 27th of that month. Dur- 
 ing his mission in England President Smith traveled in various 
 conferences, and in all his ministrations among the Saints and 
 strangers loft an impression for good that can never be effaced. 
 President George Q. Cannon was also in Great Brtiain on a mis- 
 sion at the same time, and it was while there perhaps, more 
 than any other place, thej- learned to love and esteem each 
 other, where a friendship was established which grew stronger 
 as the years went by. 
 
 During his mission in Europe President Smith, with Presi- 
 dent Cannon, visited several of the conferences in Denmark, 
 and with Elder Brigham Young, Jr., and others, visited Paris, 
 France. Brother Joseph F. was released after filling a most 
 '^honorable and efficient mission, returning home in 1863. He 
 was in New York City at the time of the dreadful riots which 
 occurred in July of that year. Arriving home he found his wife 
 in a verj' poor state of health, which for some time grew 
 worse, but he waited upon her day and night with little or no 
 rest for many weeks, when she gradually recovered her health. 
 
 It was not in the providences of the Lord that Brother Joseph 
 F. should remain long at that i>eriod of his life to enjoy the 
 quiet and peace of home, for in March, 1864, he started on his 
 second mission to the Sandwich Islands. He went in company 
 with Apostles Lorenzo Snow and Ezra T. Benson, and Elders 
 William W. Guff and Alma L. Smith. The purpose of their mis- 
 sion was to regulate the affairs of the Church on the islands, 
 which had been greatly interfered with by one Walter M. 
 Gibson, who had presumptuously established himself as leader 
 of the Church upon the Islands. They labored faithfully to 
 convert 'Sir. Gibson from his wrong doing, but to no avail. 
 The man was not honest at heart, and they were obliged, for the 
 protection of the native Saints, to excommunicate him. This 
 trouble being settled, the Apostles soon returned to America, 
 leaving President Smith and other American Elders in charge 
 of the mission, from which he returned in the winter of 1861-5. 
 
 While upon this mission an incident occurred which is worthy 
 
58 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 of note. The ship ui)OTi which tiie brethren arrived wns 
 anchored in the channel, where the sea was usually very rough. 
 A breakwater had been constructed, and by the protection of it 
 the natives successfully ran their boats ashore. However, in 
 approaching it there was danger of disaster. It was proposed 
 to land the passengers in the ship's freight boat, which wa.i 
 unwieldy and not easily managed. President Smith at once 
 apprehended the danger, and stoutly protested against incurring 
 the great risk of capsizing the boat at the breakwater. He 
 refused to accompany them and tried to persuade his co- 
 laborers not to go. They were persistent, however, and made 
 the attempt, although Brother Joseph had offered to go alone 
 if necessary for a better boat. When they determined to go, he 
 persuaded them to permit him to remain on the anchored ship 
 and leave their clothing and valuable articles with him. They 
 consented to this reluctantly, and as they moved away from the 
 ship, Joseph stood upon the deck, gazing at his brethren with 
 awful anxiety. His fears were well grounded, for as their 
 boat struck the breakwater, a heavy wave dashed against 
 it and instantly capsized it, emptying its human cargo 
 into the surging billows. A boat manned by natives came to the 
 rescue and recovered all but Apostle Snow, when they started 
 for shore. Brother W. W. Cluflf demanded the return of the 
 boat, that they might secure Brother Snow, which was done, 
 and his body was recovered. To all appearance he was dead. 
 Through the mercies of the Lord, however, he was restored to 
 life. All this time Brother Joseph stood in awful suspense, a 
 helpless spectator, upon the anchored ship. This action of 
 President Smith indicates a trait which has been manifested 
 throughout his life — he has the courage of his convictions, and 
 is most vigorous and earnest in expressing them. 
 
 After Brother Smith returned home from this mission he 
 was variously employed. He was an active and eflBcient memb?r 
 of the city council for several terms ; the effects of his influence 
 in that municipal body are today monuments of worth to the 
 city of Salt Lake. The possession of Liberty Park by Salt 
 Lake City is due to his influence and determined convictions 
 more than to the labors of any other man. July 1st, 1866, he 
 was ordained an Apostle by President Brigham Young, and on 
 the 8th of October, 1867, was called to fill a vacancy in the 
 
PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 59 
 
 council of the T^^^elve. When President Young cho-e to have 
 more than two counselors, Brother Joseph P. was one of the 
 number selected. In 1868 he was called with Apostle Woodruff 
 and Elder A. O. Smoot, to go to Provo and labor for the up- 
 building of that city and Utah county. He served one term in 
 the Provo city council. By permission of President Young, in 
 1808-9, he moved his family back to Salt Lake City and resumed 
 his labors there. 
 
 On February 28th, 1874, Brother Joseph F. started on his 
 second mission to Great Britain, this time to preside over 
 the European mission. During his labors in Europe, Scan- 
 dinavia, Germany, Switzerland and France were Aisited, as 
 well as the several conferences of the British Isles. He proved 
 himself to be one of the very best men that has ever presided 
 over any mission, not only for his prompt and wise methods of 
 conducting affairs, but also his humility in obeying the prompt- 
 ings of the Spirit, for which he constantly lives. His personal 
 love and tender-hearted kindness to every Elder in the mis- 
 sion endeared him to the hearts of thousands. 
 
 Soon after the decease of President Geo. A. Smith, in the 
 falj of 1875, Brother Smith was released to return home, and 
 upon returning he was appointed to preside over the Saints in 
 Davis county, which at that time was not organized into a 
 Stake. He held this position until the spring of 1877, when lie 
 was called on his third mission to Great Britain. Before leav- 
 ng he witnessed the dedication of the St. George Temple, the 
 first completed in the Rocky Mountain country. 
 
 About the Is't of September he and Elder Orson Pratt re- 
 ceived the sad news of the death of President Brigham Young, 
 and were requested by the Council of the Apostles to imme- 
 diately return home. They reached Salt Lake City September 
 27, 1877, and the following year Brother Joseph was sent with 
 Elder Pratt on a short mission to the East. They visited noted 
 places in Church history, in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and New 
 York, calling upon David Whitmer, one of the three wiiness.'S 
 to the Book of Mormon. 
 
 In October, 1880, when the Presidency of the Church was 
 organized with President John Taylor at the head, Brother 
 Smith was chos-^n to be his Second Counselor. He was chosen 
 to the same position under President Woodruff and President 
 
60 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 Snow. He noAv occupies the great station of the presidency, 
 succeeding President Lorenzo Snow. During the presidency of 
 John Taylor, and under the trying scenes of the anti-"Mormon" 
 crusade, by direction of President Taylor, Brother Smith per- 
 formed another faithful nuission in the ^Sandwich Islands. 
 While there he obtained an exact copy of the old Spaulding 
 story, and by evidence incontrovertible showed that not the 
 slightest .resemblance existed between the Book of Mormon and 
 the ,?tory. _ 
 
 His labors in the city council, the legislature and other places 
 of civil and financial responsibilities, are too numerous to 
 mention in a brief sketch. He has filled every position of trust 
 assigned him with such unblemished honesty and fidelity 'that 
 no man can justly say aught against him. One of the grandest 
 traits of his character is impartial justice. The great system 
 of Patriarchal marriage, so well designed to prove the hearts of 
 men and women, and to develop in them the principles of pure 
 love, charity, justice and impartiality, has no better examples 
 among God's people than President Smith. Whatever obliga- 
 tion he is under to that sacred principle for his existence and 
 for the possession of his own posterity, he is meeting manfully, 
 with the record that his example shall exemplify the truth as 
 revealed to the Prophet Joseph. 
 
 As a fitting conclusion of this meagre sketch of a useful life, 
 we quote a pen sketch made in 1900, of President Smith from 
 Elder Edward H. Anderson : 
 
 "President Smith has been constantly in the service of the 
 public and by his straightforward course has won the love, confi- 
 dence and esteem of the whole community. He is a friend of 
 the people, is easily approached, a wise counselor, a man of 
 broad views, and, contrary to first impressions, is a man whose 
 sympathies are easily aroused. He is a reflex of the best 
 character of the '^lormon' i>eople — inured to hardships, patient 
 in trial, God-fearing, self-sacrificing, full of love for the human 
 race, powerful in moral, mental and physical strength. 
 
 "President Joseph F. Smith has an imposing physical appear- 
 pearance. Now completing his sixty-second year, he is tall, 
 erect, well-knit and symmetrical in build. He has a prominent 
 nose and features. When speaking he throws his full, clea'*, 
 brown eyes wide open on the listener, who may readily perceive 
 
PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. 61 
 
 from their penetrating glimpses the wonderful mental power 
 of the tall forehead above. His large head is crowned with an 
 abundant growth of hair, in his early years dark, but now, like 
 his full beard, tinged with a- liberal sprinkling of gray. In 
 conversation, one is forcibly impressed with the sudden change;^ 
 in appearance of his countenance under the different influences 
 of his mind ; now intensely pleasant with an enthusiastic and 
 childlike intereS't in immediate teubjects and surroundings ; 
 now absent, the mobility of his features set in that earnest, 
 almost stern, majesty of expression so characteristic of his por- 
 traits — so indicative of the severity of the conditions and en- 
 vironments of his early life. 
 
 "As a public speaker, his leading trait is an intense earnest- 
 ness. He impresses the hearer with his message more from 
 the sincerity of its delivery and the honest earnestness of his 
 manner, than from any learned exhibition of oratory or studied 
 display of logic. He touches the hearts of the people with the 
 "simple eloquence of one who is himself convicted of the truths 
 presented. He is a pillar of strength in the Church, thoroughly 
 imbued with the truths of the Gospel and the divine origin of 
 this work. His whole life and testimony are an inspiration to 
 the young. 
 
 "I said to him : 'You knew Joseph, the Prophet ; you are old 
 in the work of the Church ; what is your testimony to the youth 
 of Zion concerning these things?' And he replied slowly and 
 deliberately : 'I was acquainted with the Prophet Joseph in 
 my youth. I was familiar in his home, with his boys and with 
 his family. I have sat on his knee ; I have heard him preach ; 
 distinctly remember being present in the council with my father 
 and the Prophet Joseph Smith and others. From my childhood 
 to youth I believed him to be a Prophet of God. From my 
 youth until the present I have not believed that he was a 
 Prophet, for I have known that he was. In other words, my 
 knowledge has superseded my belief. I remember seeing him 
 dressed in military uniform at the head of the Nauvoo Legion. 
 I saw him when he crossed the river, returning from his in- 
 tended western trip into the Rocky Mountains, to go to his 
 martyrdom, and I saw his lifeless body, together with that of 
 my father, after they were murdered in Carthage jail and still 
 have the most palpable remembrance of the gloom and sorrow 
 
62 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 of those dreadful days. I believe in the divine mission of the 
 Prophet of the nineteenth century with all my heart, and in the 
 authenticity of the Book of Mormon and the inspiration of the 
 Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and hope to be faithful to God 
 and man, and not false to myself, to the end of my days." 
 
PATRIARCH JOHN SMITH. 
 
 John Smith is a name so exceedingly common that it is not 
 infrequently used by humorists and others for characterization 
 when a handier cognomen does not occur to them ; and indeed, 
 without some striking individuality or special means of identifi- 
 cation, the name may, and sometimes does produce confusion and 
 uncertainty. In Utah are many who bear it with an addition 
 before or after, and no doubt, as elsewhere, there are a few 
 who have the name in all its simplicity, undistinguished by any 
 other. Yet there is one among the Latter-day Saints who is so 
 named, and whose personality and pcsition are so striking that 
 ■^le is hardly ever taken for another or vice versa. This man. is 
 the one whose name and office appear at the heading of this 
 chapter. 
 
 John Smith, the presiding Patriarch of the Church, entered 
 upon this sphere of action seventy-three years ago, the exact 
 date of his birth being Sept. 22nd, 1832, and the place Kirtland, 
 Lake (then Geauga) county, Ohio. His father, Hyrum Smith, 
 was the Patriarch, who sealed his testimony with his blood along 
 with his brother Joseph ; the mother was Jerusha Barden Smith, 
 who died October 13th, 1837. The father was again married, 
 on December 24th, 1837, to Miss Mary Fielding, who bore him 
 a son and a daughter. Young John accompanied his father's 
 family to Far West, that place around whose name so many 
 painful recollections to the Saints center, early in 1838. Perse- 
 cution was rife. During that year his Patriarch father and 
 Prophet uncle were hounded in various ways by howling mobs 
 and finally lodged in Liberty county jail, but were subsequently 
 released. Expulsion from the community and the State are 
 also among the youthful recollections of the present Patriarch ; 
 these with many other tribulations for the Gospel's sake going 
 to make up a very turbulent commencement of a life's journey. 
 
 After varied experiences, all involving innumerable hardships, 
 the family at last reached Commerce, Illinois, the town which 
 
64 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 afterwards became world-renowned as Nauvoo. Young John 
 left his people and started with Heber C. Kimball's familj- for 
 the wild west in February, 1847. On this expedition his ex- 
 periences were numerous. He had to do all kinds of work and 
 endure all kinds of privations. During the early part of the 
 journey across the plains he became acquainted with Col. 
 Thomas L. Kane, whose name is held in high regard by the 
 Latter-day Saints, and became a nurse for that distinguished 
 gentleman when suffering from an aiiack of sickness. After 
 going back over a great portion of the journey traversed to 
 meet his relatives, whom he heard were coming, and returning 
 to Winter Quarters where an extended stay occurred, the party 
 at last were off for the "vast, booming, bounding West," com- 
 mencing the journey during the month of April, 1848. It proved 
 to be an unusually hard journey, filled with trials and perils, 
 but under the providence of the Lord it was finished in safety on 
 the 22nd of September, Brother Smith's sixteenth birthday. 
 As a sample of many occurrences of that trying trip, the fol- 
 lowing from the "Juvenile Instructor" is here given : 
 
 "On one occasion a circumstance occurred which he feels 
 he will never forget. At about sundown, while the party were 
 encamped on the Platte river, it was reported that a woman 
 was lost. Without ceremony he took his coat on his arm and 
 a piece of corn bread in his hand and started out up the road, 
 to follow a part of the company which had left at noon. He 
 had not gone far when he came up with a dead carcass, which 
 was covered with wolves fighting and howling. He walked 
 past as fast and as quietly as possible. He traveled six miles 
 before he came up with any wagons. During this distance he 
 passed about twenty such frightful scenes, but he got through 
 in safety, and he thinks he was unnoticed by the wolves. He 
 stopped for the balance of the night with an acquaintance, and 
 at daybreak proceeded on his journey and found the lost woman, 
 a little after sunrise, safe with her mother, six miles from where 
 he staj^ed for the night." 
 
 Brother Smith's career in Utah, like that of so many others 
 who came at or close to the beginning, has been exceedingly 
 varied. All kinds of service, public and private, military and 
 civil, religious and secular, have fallen to his lot and always has 
 it received proper attention and correct performance. He also 
 
JOHN SMITH. 
 
66 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 filled a successful mission to Scandinavia, on which be set out 
 in 'May, 1802 ; his experiences on this mission were at times 
 most trying, but be faltered not and came home at last with a 
 company of 972 Saints. On December 25tb, 1853, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Helen M. Fisher, who has borne him five sons and 
 four daughters. His ordination to the oflice of Patriarch was 
 in February, 1855, under tbe hands of Presidents Brigham 
 Young, Heber C. Kimball and Jedediah M. Grant ; and Apostles 
 Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith 
 and Lorenzo Snow. During his administration of this high 
 and holy office. Brother Smith has given 15,803 PatHarchal 
 blessings. Notwithstanding his years and the dazzling white- 
 ness of his hair and beard, he is as active and spry as many a 
 man of half his years. May he long continue so. The writer 
 received a Patriarchal blessing at the hands of Patriarch Smith, 
 when nineteen years of age. Many glorious promises therein 
 have been literally fulfilled. This may be said of the thousands 
 of blessings be has given, for he enjoys the spirit of his calling, 
 and his predictions will be fulfilled. Happy is the man who 
 receives a blessing from him who holds the keys of the office. 
 Brother Smith is kind, genial and fatherly, sociable with all and 
 unassuming in his disposition. May his life be preserved for 
 many years to bless the people of God. 
 
PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH. 
 
 George Albert Smith, who was one of the Twelve Apostles 
 and a First Counselor to President Brigham Young, was born 
 June 26th, 1817, in Potsdam, St, Lawrence county, New York. 
 He was the son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman Smith. 
 His father was a brother to Joseph Smith, Sr., the father of the 
 Prophet, George thus being a first cousin to the Prophet Joseph 
 Smith. The Smith family was a fine race of sturdy, honest, in- 
 dustrious men and women, typical Americans, who loved thoir 
 native soil and offered their lives at various times of emergency, 
 to establish and perpetuate the principles of human liberty in 
 the Uoited States. 
 
 When George A. was born he weighed four pounds ; when full 
 grown, about 250. He was dignified in his bearing, yet affable 
 and kind, without affectation, in all his deportment. He was 
 so conscientious that if he offended a little child he would ask 
 forgiveness. In other words, he possessed what few men can 
 claim — the moral courage to be humble and meek. 
 
 Among many other great qualities of George A. Smith were 
 two notable traits which characterized our Lord and Savior — 
 the courage of a lion and the meekness of a lamb. George A. 
 dared to do right, no matter what the consequences might be, 
 and would suffer a great wrong rather than to do the least 
 wrong himself. In boyhood he was trained in the tenets of 
 the Congregational church until fifteen years of age. While 
 attending school in Potsdam, a peculiar circumstance occurred 
 which exhibited his sense of honor and his sensitive nature. 
 He had grown very rapidly, in consequence of which he was 
 very awkward. To this inconvenience was added the misfor- 
 tune of being near-sighted. The boys of the school had a habit 
 of taunting and making fun of him. Being wrapped up in his 
 studies and contented with the company of the older and wiser 
 persons, he made no effort to curry sympathy and favor with 
 the boys of the school. They continued to ridicule him until 
 he felt thoroughly outraged and determined that longer for- 
 
68 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 bearance would not be a virtue. He therefore resolved to resent 
 this kind of treatment by whipping the perpetrators. He had 
 been very sick and was just recovering when these resolutions 
 were firmly es'tablished in his mind as the right thing to do. 
 He therefore waited patiently until sufficient strength was 
 regained, when he started in to thrashing the boys, and did not 
 refrain until he had soundly whipped every boy of his age and 
 size in school. It was a very practical lesson for his school- 
 mates, and it was effectual, for they never made fun of him 
 after that. 
 
 In the winter of 1828, George A.'s father received a letter 
 from the latter's nephew, Joseph Smith, Jr., in which he pre- 
 dicted that the judgments of God were coming upon the earth 
 because of wickedness and abominations which exist among 
 the people. This letter made a lasting impression upon the 
 young man's mind, and his father remarked that "Joseph writes 
 like a prophet." 
 
 In August, 1830, Joseph Smith, Sr., and his son Don Carlos 
 paid their relatives a visit in Potsdam. Thej' brought with 
 them the Book of Mormon and left it with father John Smith, 
 while they proceeded to visit other family relatives. George 
 A. and his mother immediately set about reading the strange 
 book. Neighbors came in and heard portions of it. They 
 ridiculed and raised objections to it. These objections young 
 Gteorge Albert found himself 'ti-ying to answer, and with 
 remarkable success, although but thirteen years old. The Spirit 
 of Light rested upon him to the discomfiture and defeat of his 
 opponents. They would leave the house with the remark to his 
 mother that her boy was a little too smart for them. George 
 A. himself thought he saw objections to the book. Upon the 
 return of his relatives he expressed these objections, when his 
 Uncle. Joseph took them up one by one, quoting the Bible to 
 show that such a work should come forth ; he was then thor- 
 oughly convinced and from this time he became a staunch 
 advocate and defender of the Book of Mormon as a divine record. 
 He was also convinced that some authorized system of religion 
 was essential to salvation. Soon after this he attended a Oon- 
 gregationtal revival, and while nearly every non-believer in the 
 audience was converted but himself, he sat day after day in 
 the gallery awaiting the sensation of religion. Finally the 
 
GEORGE A. SMITH. 
 
70 PROPHJiTS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 minis'ter gave him up as a reprobate and sealed him up to 
 eternal damnation, saying, "Tliy blood be upon thine own head." 
 Nine times he thus delivered this offensive but unsatisfied seeker 
 for religion to the buffet ings of Satan and the burning of an 
 endless hell. 
 
 IVo years later, September 10th, 1832, George A. Smith 
 embraced the Gospel of Christ, being baptized into the Church 
 by Elder Joseph H. Wakefield. May 1st, 1833, he left with his 
 parents for Kirtland, Ohio. They reached their destination 
 May 25th, and were warmly received by the Prophet Joseph. 
 George A. at once imbibed the spirit of the work, became 
 deeply interested in 'the affairs of the Church, and was de- 
 lighted with his cousin, Joseph the Prophet. This was their 
 first meeting. He was valiant for the cause to the fullest 
 extent. On hand for any duty required, he spent many nights 
 guarding his brethren, whose lives were in jeopardy from the 
 violence of mobs. In the summer he was occupied in quarrying 
 and hauling rock for the temple, and doing other manual labor 
 about the building. George A. and Harvey Stanley hauled the 
 first two loads of rock from Stanard's quarry to the temple 
 ground. He was one of that valiant band, Zion's Camp, leav- 
 ing Kirtland for Missouri in May, 1834. The camp had to 
 undergo many hardships, and as many in the camp of ancient 
 Israel murmured against the Prophet Moses, so did some in 
 Zion's Camp complain against the Propheft Joseph Smith. 
 George A. was not only free from the least disposition to 
 murmur, but was extremely cheerful, possessing a happy vein of 
 humor. On one occasion when sent to a house to obtain some 
 buttermilk, the lady of the house gave him the milk in a bucket 
 not very clean. Some of the brethren complained very severely, 
 when George A. remarked, laughingly, "If you had seen the 
 churn the buttermilk came from you'd never mention the 
 bucket." On his journey to and from Missouri he traveled on 
 foot two thousand miles. 
 
 March 1st, 1835, he w^as ordained a Seventy by Joseph 
 Smith, Sr., Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, the latter 
 being spokesman. George A. was the junior member of the 
 first quorum of Seventy, in this dispensation. 
 
 June 5th, 1835, with his second cousin, Lyman Smith, he 
 left for a mission to the East. They journeyed on foot, traveled 
 
PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH. 71 
 
 -without money and held about eighty meetings in Ohio, Pennsyl- 
 vania and New York. George A. returned to Kirtland October 
 5th, in 1835. He received his endowments in the Kirtland 
 Temple in the spring of 1836, and soon after performed a 
 mission in Ohio, traveling nearly 1,200 miles on foot. Early in 
 1837 he performed a mission in Ohio and Virginia, occupying 
 about one year, traveling 2,500 miles, half the distance on foot. 
 In 1838, he removed with his father's family from Ohio to 
 Daviess county, Missouri. June 28th, 1838, he was ordained a 
 High Priest, and the fall of the same year found him. a 
 missionary in Kentucky and Tennessee. He traveled 800 miles 
 on foot, 700 by water during his absence and accomplished a 
 good work. Subsequently he moved into Illinois with his 
 father's family and early in 1839 returned to Far West. 
 
 On the 2(3th day of April, 1839, G«o. A. Smith was ordained 
 one of the Twelve Apo^les of the Church, at the southeast 
 cornerstone of the temple which, through persecution, has not 
 ^een built. On September 21st, 1839, he started on his mission 
 to England, arriving in Liverpool on the 0th of April, 3840. He 
 was one of the best missionaries, always affable and jiind in his 
 manner and perfectly clear in his testimony and understanding 
 of the; Gospel. Tliese good qualities were so thoroughly 
 quickened by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Apostle 
 Smith, that he won the love and respect of the honest in heart 
 wherever he traveled, and was ins'trumental in bringing many 
 to a knowledge of the truth. He returned to Nauvoo July 5th, 
 1841. The 25th of the same month he received in marriage 
 Bathsheba W. Bigler. From this time until the martyrdom of 
 the Prophet and Patriarch of the Church, Elder Smith was 
 busy at home and abroad, building up the city and the temple 
 and spreading the Gospel throughout the land. He preached 
 in the principal cities of Illinois and performed another faithful 
 mission in the Middle and Eastern States. 
 
 When he learned of the death of his cousins, Joseph and 
 Hyrum, he was engaged as a missionary in the State of 
 Michigan. He returned at once to Xauvoo and actively partici- 
 pated in all the councils and deliberations for the well-being of 
 the Saints in those sad days of trials and tribulations. 
 
 In February, 1846, he crossed the Mississippi river with his 
 familj', an exile from home to find a place of rest and respite 
 
72 PKOPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 from the furious rage of religious bigots, who were mobocrats 
 while hypocritically professing Christianity. The ensuing 
 winter he lived at Winter Quarters, where the people suffered 
 much sickness. At this place his wife and four children died. 
 He visited all the camps of the Saints and urged the raising 
 and use of potatoes as a remedy for scurvy ; but little seed could 
 be obta'ined, yet from that little a marvelous yield was the 
 result. The next season in Pottawottamie county, Iowa, the 
 potato crop was a failure, and the sapng went out that it was 
 because Geo. A. Smith, "the Potato Saint," had gone to the 
 mountains. 
 
 In 1847 he was numbered with the 143 Pioneer company to 
 Salt Lake valley, arriving in the valley July 24th, 1847. He 
 walked much of the distance. In finding places for the location 
 of the Saints, Brother George A. was one of the foremost and 
 best explorers in the Church. He built a house for his father 
 in the Old Fort, and returned to Winter Quarters in the fall, 
 arriving there October 31st, the same year. He opened a 
 farm near Kanesville, had charge of the congregating Saints, 
 and with the last company of them left with his family for 
 the valley, July 4th, 1849. Their teams were overloaded and 
 progress was slow. They met with hail and rain storms. Tlieir 
 stock was stampeded, and at South Pass a cold, heavy storm 
 caused the death of seventy animals. They reached Salt Lake 
 valley October 27th, 1849. 
 
 Apostle Smith was a member of the senate in the provisional 
 State of Deseret. He presented a bill for the organization of 
 the judiciary. This was the first bill presented for the consid- 
 eration of the members. He also reported a bill relating to 
 the construction of a railroad across the continent. In Decem- 
 ber, 1850, he headed a company of volunteers to make explora- 
 tions in southern Utah. They determined the location of Paro- 
 wan and built a road six miles into the canyon. They hoisted 
 the American flag on a ninety-foot pole on the town site, and 
 dedicated the ground by prayer and supplication^ to the Lord. 
 He had been elected chief justice of the provisional State and 
 was empowered to complete the organization of Iron county. 
 An election being called, two associate justices, county recorder, 
 member of the house in the general assembly and all other oflicers 
 to make the organization of the county complete, were elected. 
 
PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH. 73 
 
 In the winter of 1850-51 the settlers erected a fort, in the en- 
 closure of which they built their homes, house of worship (the 
 latter being used for all public meetings), schools and a watch 
 tower to guard against hostile Indians. Tlie fort was built of 
 logs and shaped like a Greek cross. It was used for fifteen 
 years and then replaced by a suitable stone s^tructure. In the 
 winter Brother Smith taught school, with thirty-five pupils. 
 Around the camp-fire at night he gave them lectures on English 
 grammar. When the Territory of Utah held its first election, 
 Geo. A. Smith was elected a member of the council. In every 
 place he honored his calling and filled the office with great 
 ability. He was very efficient as a peace-maker among the 
 Indians, protecting the Saints by wise counsel and proper pre- 
 cautions from much trouble. Like President Young, he felt 
 it better to feed than to fight the Indians, and this has been 
 the principle of the Latter-day Saints from the beginning. In 
 1852, having been called by President Young to preside over 
 the affairs of the Church in Utah county, he left Iron county. 
 He traveletl much, especially where he had immediate over- 
 sight, encouraging the Saints in all their labors to promote the 
 growth of the Church and the State. 
 
 At the general conference in 1854 he was chosen and sustained 
 as Historian and general Church Recorder. President Willard 
 Richards was his predecessor in the office of Historian and had 
 written on some blanks he had prepared to be filled out, as if 
 with prophetic eye, "to be supplied by Geo. A. Smith.'' Presi- 
 dent Richards had well said, for after his decease George A. 
 was the man chosen to fill this important position. He was 
 well qualified for this particular work, for he was himself 
 a fund of history. 
 
 February 2d, 1855, he was admitted as a member of the bar 
 in the supreme court of Utah Territory, receiving his certificates 
 as an attorney, solicitor in chancery and counselor-at-law. He 
 was one of a committee in convention which drafted a constitu- 
 tion, was elected by the convention with Apostle John Taylor to 
 present the constitution to the President and Congress, asking 
 admission into the Union on the same footing with the original 
 States, performing his duty with ability and devotion as a 
 delegate. He also did good missionary work in New York, New 
 Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa 
 
74 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 and Missouri. He was absent about eleven months and this 
 was a pleasant respite from the close application of his labors 
 in the His"Corian's oflSce. April 11th, 1806, he was commissioned 
 by Gov. Durkee brigadier-general and appointed aide-de-camp 
 to the lieutenant-general of the Nauvoo Legion. 
 
 At the October conference in 18G8 he was sustained as First 
 Counselor to President Brigham Young, succeeding the late 
 President Heber C. Kimball. This grea'c station he filled with 
 wisdom, energy and efficiency during thej!fimainder of his natural 
 life. With his file, leader, fellow-counselofr and associate 
 Apostles, he met in all the important councils of the Church, 
 traveled throughout the Stakes of Zion, continued as Church 
 llis'torian, and filled places of responsibility and distinction in 
 a civil capacity. October 15th, 1872, he, with President Lorenzo 
 Snow and others, started on a mission to the Holy Land. En 
 route they visited many notable places and distinguished persons 
 in the nations of Etirope. They knelt upon the Mount of 
 Olives, where our Savior once stood, and where Apostle Hyde 
 had previously dedicated the land to the gathering of LsraeL 
 President Smith and companions also dedicated the land to ihe 
 return and possession of the house of Jacob. While absent he 
 was sustained as trustee in truS"c, which position he filled until 
 his decease. Upon his return he spent much of his time in St. 
 deorge, the chief city in Southern Utah and honored with his 
 name, giving much attention to the building of the temple. He 
 was an able advocate of the United Order, his discourses upon 
 that subject being mos*t impressive and characterizing him 
 as an inspired political and domestic economist. Soon after 
 his return to Salt Lake he was attacked with an intense cckV 
 which settled upon his lungs and terminated in his death on 
 September 1st, 1875. 
 
 Geo. A. Smith was one of nature's noblemen. Few, if any, 
 better types of pure, honest, manhood ever lived. More than 
 half of his entire life was spent as a minister of life and 
 salvation to a fallen world. In matters of civil government his 
 political career covered the entire history of his life in T'tah. 
 He held various positions of a civil and military nature. He 
 was a member of the Utah legislature in every session but one 
 (and then he was absent from the Territory), until 1870. the 
 last six years being President of the council. He was a wise 
 
PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SMITH. /O 
 
 counselor, a great preacher, a sound statesman, a pioneer 
 and colonizer of the highest abilitj% an able lawyer and an 
 efficient educator. 
 
 Several years before his decease he had traveled tens of 
 thousands of miles by land and sea, and preached over 3,800 
 discourses in/ various portions of the globe. He was recognized 
 as the father of the settlements in Southern Utah. He was 
 alwaj'S ready in public and private spealking. No one ever 
 Wearied of his preaching. He was brief, and interspersed his 
 doctrinal and historical remarks with anecdotes appropriate 
 and timely in their application. Short prayers, short blessings, 
 short sermons, full of spirit, were a happy distinction in the 
 ministry of Greo. A. Smith. He was humble and meek, yet full 
 of courage and unbounded energy in the cause of right. He 
 always had time to notice the jx)ung people and children and to 
 leave his eternal impress of love and kindness upon the tablet 
 of their hearts. I once gave President Geo. A. Smith a ride in 
 •a wagon from Draper to Lehi, and the tone of his conversation, 
 with the influence which he diffused, drew me to him like a 
 magnet draws the needle. I could never forget the impressions 
 of love and respect which I then formed of him. 
 
 President Brigham Young, on the morning of President 
 Smith's decease, said : "I have known Brother Geo. A. Smith 
 for forty-two years, have traveled and labored in the ministry 
 with him for many years, and have believed him to be as faithful 
 a boy and man as ever lived ; and, in mj' opinion, he has as good 
 a record on this and the other side of the veil as any man. 
 I never knew of his neglecting or overdoing a duty : he was 
 a man of sterling integrity, a cabinet of history, and always 
 true to his friends." 
 
APOSTLE JOHN HENRY SMITH. 
 
 John Henry Smith is the son of the late President George 
 A. Smith and his wife Sarah Ann Libby, and was bcrn at 
 Carbunce, Pottawattamie county, Iowa, September 18th, 1848. 
 When asked in later years by an-^^cquaintance where he 
 was born, he answered, "In the garden si)ot of the world." 
 So great was his admiration for the rich lands of his native 
 state that he esteemed it worthy of that title. 
 
 The time of his birth was that period of trial incident to the 
 exile from Nauvoo, and the pilgrimage of the Saints from 
 Illinois to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. His father had 
 gone to the valley with President Brigham Young in the 
 Pioneer band of 143, and shortly therafter had returned to 
 Winter Quarters, on the Missouri river, to assist in gathering 
 the Saints and to remove his family to Salt Lake valley. In 
 the summer of 1849 George A. Smith started across the plains 
 with his family. When they reached their destination the 
 subject of this sketch was one year old. In less than two 
 years from the time of their arrival his mother died, leaving 
 John Henry as their only child. He was immediately taken 
 by his aunt, Hannah M. Libby Smith, also a wife of his. father, 
 and under her kind watchcare was reared to manhood with 
 all the tenderness bestowed upon her own son. She also had 
 a son, Charles Warren, but a few months the junior of John 
 Henry. The two were reared together, and as they grew in 
 years they became more and more endeared to each other, 
 becoming to each other as David and Jonathan. Although in 
 later years conditions have thrown them apart, the attachment 
 of early youth remains bright and untarnished. 
 
 The family of George A. Smith being called to colonize 
 different places, became very much scattered, some residing 
 in Salt Lake City, some in Provo and others in Parowan, and 
 George A.'s many public duties rendered it impossible to devote 
 much personal afttention to his family. For this reason 
 Brother John Henry feels that much of his success in life is 
 due to the careful training afforded him by his devoted aunt 
 
JOHN HENRY SMITH. 
 
78 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 and step-mother. In 1852 his aunt removed to Provo, and 
 in that city he spent his early boyhood days. In expressing 
 his heartfelt sentiments of respect for the noble mother who 
 reared him, he but corroborates the heartfelt testimony of 
 thousands whose great attainments in life are largely due to the 
 example and teachings of a loving and devoted mother. 
 
 Like many other Pioneer boys of Utah, John Henry's occupa- 
 tion consisted of herding stock. This he did on the Provo 
 bench and along the shores of the Uta.^ lake. He is of large 
 staure, full of life and merriment, and^lways esteemed by his 
 associates as the very embodiment of good nature. 
 
 During the Indian troubles which occurred in Utah county 
 in its early history, John Henry, though very young, partici- 
 pated, and on one occasion was shot at, but escaped unharmed. 
 On another occasion, when but fourteen years of age, he came 
 near drowning in the Provo river, but the eye of the Lord 
 was upon him. His mission was to live and labor for man's 
 salvation. He was saved in a most marvelous manner. In 
 company with Thomas and Geo. M. Brown, he attempted to 
 cross the river in a small boat. This was June 8th, 1862, 
 when the water was high and the current swift. The boat 
 was capsized, and while the other boys made safely to shore, 
 John Henry became entangled in some driftwood and disap- 
 peared below the surface of the stream. He was under water 
 so long that his comrades on the bank lost hope of his being 
 saved from drowning, when, all of a sudden, with no apparent 
 effort, he was lifted to the bank of the stream and rescued. 
 Soon after this occurred it was learned that his father, who 
 was at the time in Salt Lake City, felt impressed by the 
 Spirit of the Lord that his son, John Henry, was in peril of his 
 life. He therefore, in prayer and supplication, sought the 
 Lord to save the boy, and his prayer was immediately answered 
 in the manner described above. 
 
 The facilites for education in those days were meager com- 
 pared with the present, but the best that could be had was 
 placed w^ithin the reach of Brother John Heni-y, and he 
 improved his time as opportunity would permit. Among the 
 numerous incidents of boyhood days which strongly impressed 
 the young man with a strong, earnest desire to live a righteous 
 life and be useful was a patriarchal blessing given him by 
 his grandfather, John Smith, the Patriarch to the Ohurch. 
 
APOSTLE JOHN HENBY SMITH. 79 
 
 In this prophetic blessing the young man's life was foretold. 
 It pointed cut to him glorious attainments on condition, as all 
 blessings are, of his devotion to the truth and his industry 
 in keeping the commandments of God. This blessing was ever 
 before him, an anchor to his soul in time of trouble, and a 
 motive power of action under every condition of life. While 
 still a youth, he called upon that distinguished man and 
 t?ver constant friend of the Latter-day Saints, Col. Thomas L. 
 Kane. Col. Kane, who knew the early leaders of ttie Church, 
 and who understood the sufferings through which the Saints 
 had passed for pure principle, Icoked John Henry square in 
 the face, and said in a most impressive way, "Young man, 
 I trust that you will ever remember that the best blood of 
 the nineteenth century flows in your veins." This was too 
 impressive to be forgotten, being an appeal to fidelitiy, not only 
 to his own kin, but to the nobility which is born in love 
 and unswerving integrity to the truth; which so thoroughly 
 cliaracterized all the faithful founders of God's work and 
 the commonwealth of Utah, that their descendants forever 
 should be loyal to their names and memory, and to the great 
 cause for which they lived and died. 
 
 .John Henry was wedded at the early age of eighteen, receiv- 
 ing in marriage Sarah, an estimable daughter of Elder Loren 
 Farr. of Ogden City, Utah, who has proved to be a true and 
 devoted companion in every sense of the word. Brother Smith 
 made his home in Provo, being employed as a telegraph 
 operator, and ecclesiastically, occupying the place of Counselor 
 to Bishop AY. A. Follett, of the Fourth Ward of that city. 
 Just prior to the completion of the Union and Central Pacific 
 railways, he left Provo and engaged with Messrs. Benson, 
 Farr and West in grading about two miles of the Central 
 Pacific. Subsequently Gov. Leland Stanford, of California, 
 offered him a lucrative position in Sacramento. This he 
 declined, his father desiring him to return to labor with him 
 in Salt Lake City and elsewhere. 
 
 During his early manhood days John Henry accompanied 
 his father, with President Brigham Young and party, in their 
 visits to the several settlements of the Saints. This brought 
 to him the society of the grandest men on earth. He studied 
 their characters, observed them closely, and sought to discover 
 
80 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 the secret of the great qualites which adorned them. His own 
 nobility and magnanimity of heart and mind proves that the 
 example of his father and other good men were not placed 
 before him in vain. He profited greatly by these opportunities. 
 
 In 1872 he was assistant clerk in the house of representatives 
 in the Utah legislature and held the same position in the 
 constitutional convention in 1872. In May, 1874, he was 
 called to fill his first mission in Europe, and was set apart for 
 that purpose by President John Tayjpr. He started on June 
 29th and reached New York July 4th ; but before sailing for 
 Europe he visited his mother's brothers in New Hampshire. 
 He reached Liverpool July 26th, and was soon assigned his 
 field of labor in the Birmingham conference, under the presi- 
 dency of Elder R. V. Morris. His kinsman, President Joseph 
 F. Smith, presided over the mission, and with him, Elder F. 
 M. Lyman and other Elders, made a tour of the mission, visit- 
 ing most of the British conferences, as well as Denmark, Ger- 
 many, Switzerland and France. 
 
 Owing to his father's sickness. Elder Smith was called home 
 one year after his arrival in England, reaching the beside of his 
 noble parent fifteen days before his decease, which occurred 
 September 1st, 1875. The improvement attained by Elder 
 Smith in the important matter of preaching the Gospel during 
 this short mission, was so pronounced that younger men looked 
 )upon him with wonder and admiration, feeling that only 
 God could so inspire humble and unlettered men to speak 
 with the power and inspiration which accompanied the remarks 
 and testimonies of Elder John Henry Smith. November 22d, 
 1875, he was called by President Young and ordained Bishop 
 of the Seventeenth Ward, Salt Lake City. This position 
 he filled with marked ability, receiving the love and confidence 
 of all the Saints in the Ward. While acting as Bishop he 
 worked for a livelihood in the freight department of the 
 Utah Central railway, keeping accounts and handling funds, 
 which work he did with accuracy and honesty of the strictest 
 character. 
 
 At the October conference of 1880, Bishop John Henry 
 Smith, with President Lyman, of the Tooele Stake, was called 
 to the quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In 1839 his father 
 and President Wilford Woodruff were ordained to the Apostle- 
 
APOSTLE JOHN HENRY SMITH. 81 
 
 ship at F"ar West, Mo. They two being associated together, 
 the desire entered Brother Smith's heart to have President 
 Woodruff, then President of the Twelve, ordain him. Silently 
 he offered a prayer that such might be the case, and he would 
 take it as a testimony that his call was from the Lord. 
 Elders Lyman and Smith were ordained to the Apostleship 
 October 27th, 1880, President Taylor ordained Elder Lyman 
 and then called on President Woodruff to ordain Elder Smith. 
 No one but John Henry Smith knew his heart's desire, and 
 yet it was answered by the Lord in prompting President John 
 l^aylor, the Prophet of the Lord, to so arrange it. This was 
 all the mere remarkable because of the custom that when 
 one is ordained to the Apostleship the President of the Church 
 officiates, and when two or more, his First Counselor next, 
 and then his Second Counselor : not that this is a law, but 
 the usual practice. In this instance, however, it was de- 
 parted from in answer to the silent prayer", 
 
 rS'ince his call to the Apostleship, El(|er Smith's Ikiborls 
 therein have been incessant, preaching at home and abroad, 
 and performing other labors, always in the interest of the 
 Church and humanity at large. Three successive times he 
 has been to Washington, D, C, to assist in allaying prejudice, 
 staving oft' inimical legislation, which was inspired by false 
 reports and misrepresentation, and in urging statehood for 
 Utah. The first time he went in company with Apostle Mcses 
 Thatcher, and subsequently with other brethren. In October, 
 1882, he was called to preside over the European mission. He 
 was absent twenty-nine months, looking with deep and impartial 
 interest to all conferences and departments of the mission. 
 His genial, loving interest in all the Elders and Saints won for 
 him their love, confidence and respect. In the meantime prose- 
 cutions under the nefarious Edmunds-Tucker act were being 
 vigorously urged. Upon his return he was arrested for the 
 prevailing charge — "unlawful cchabitation," but discharged for 
 lack cf evidence. In 187(3 he was elected to the city council of 
 Salt Lake City, and served with credit to the people for six suc- 
 cessive years. In 1881 and 1882 he was elected a member of 
 the Utah legislature, in whose deliberations he took an active 
 part, and when the State constitutional convention convened, 
 which framed the constitution upon which Utah was admitted 
 6 
 
82 PROPHETS AND PATRIARCHS. 
 
 into the Union as a sovereign State, Apostle John Henry Smith 
 presided over that important assembly. He takes an active 
 interest in the civil government of his State and country, as 
 a truly patriotic and full-fledged American, not in name only, 
 but in the deepest sincerity of spirit. His progenitors on both 
 sides of the house have been native-born Americans for many 
 generations, and all the patriotic qualities which distinguished 
 them are reflected with honor in Apostle John Henry Smith. 
 
 In the spring of 1899 he, accompanied by Elder Matthias 
 F. Cowley, attended a conference of the presidents of the 
 Southern States Mission, held in Chattanooga, Tenn., May, 1899. 
 While there they preached in the Opera House and were fa- 
 vorably reported by Mr. Adler in the Chattanooga Times. 
 They visited the old C'hickamauga battle ground, the National 
 cemetery, and from the summit of Lookout Mountain beheld 
 the battlefields where thousands cf human beings laid down 
 their lives in sanguinary strife. Several times he has been 
 a delegate from Utah to the Ti-ans-Mississippi Congiess. From 
 one which he attended, held in Houston, Tex., in 19C0, with 
 President George Q. Cannon, he paid a visit to the City of 
 Mexico. He was much impressed with what he witnessed 
 in the neighboring republic. 
 
 Among the many events of Providence which have favorel 
 the life of Apostle Smith and enabled his mission of salvation 
 to be more complete to the living and the dead, is a well-pre- 
 pared genealogy of his mother's kin, the Libby family, con- 
 taining on his mother's side the names of thousands of the'r 
 progenitors who have lived and died, and many who now live, 
 but who have not heard and embraced the Gospel. His rela- 
 tive who prepared this important record said to him in sub- 
 stance one day, "John, while prep'aring that work I cculd not 
 rest day or night, I was so intensely interested, searching tae 
 musty town records of the past, the names and tombstones, 
 anything and everything to get light on the subject. Now 
 it is done, I have no particular interest in it ; the dry facts of 
 births, marriages, deaths, and places — of what value are they, 
 and especially to anyone outside the family?" The author of 
 the book knew not that Gcd inspired him to the work, but the 
 Lord's humble Apostle, John Henry Smith, was aware of what 
 
APOSTLE JOHN HENKY SMITH. 83 
 
 it all meant, and thanks the Father for this volume of names 
 so sacred to himself and family. 
 
 In June, 11)01, accompanied bj- President A. W. Ivius of the 
 Juarez Stake, Counselor Eyering and Ammon Tenney, he paid 
 a visit to the City of Mexico as representative of the Mexican 
 Colonization Company. Their business brought them into the 
 society of Minister Fernandez, of Fomasito, and Jose Ives Le 
 Mantour. The relations at first were strained, but resulted 
 satisfactorily. They also enjoyed a most pleasant interveiw 
 with President Diaz, in whose commendation as a great minded 
 and large-hearted man Bro. Smith takes great delight. 
 
 Apostle Smith is now (1901) in his fifty-third year, hale and 
 hearty, ever active in the ministry and interested in his country. 
 He is loving and genial to all around him, frank and open in 
 his character, easy to understand, a worthy example for all to 
 follow. To know him is to love him. His disposition is a 
 happy one, his character and record without blemish. He 
 is'generous in his feelings for ethers, is not jealous or envious, 
 but quick to recognize and appreciate the good qualities and tal- 
 ents of others ; he is broad-minded in his ideas, just, merciful 
 and kind in all his administrations. May he live yet many 
 years to benefit and bless mankind, especially the Saints of God. 
 
APOSTLE HYRUM M. SMITH. 
 
 Hyrum Mack Smith, always known among his associates 
 as the "Peace-maker," was the first son of his parents — 
 Joseph F. and Edna Lambscn S^ith — and was born on the 
 21st day of March, 1872, in Salt Lake City. He was vei-y 
 carefully guarded by his mother, who was loath to let him out 
 of her sight, and who, in his younger days, would never permit 
 him or his brothers, to go beyond the confines of the garden 
 gate alone. He was safely tucked away in bed, long after 
 he reached the age of hundreds of the boys — and g'rls, too — 
 that we new see playing in the streets until late at night. 
 
 His mother, a woman of strong character and great faith, 
 often gathered her children, and many of the children of her 
 neighbors, round the hearthstone and spent hours relating to 
 her never-tiring listeners the stories of the Bible, Book of 
 Mormon, and of the history of the restoration of the Gospel 
 and early rise cf the Church. The lives of Joseph, Moses, 
 Samuel, David, our Savior, and His Apostles, were vividly con- 
 trasted with those of Pharaoh, Saul, Judas, Herod and Nero. 
 The great faith and cbedience of Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon 
 and Moroni were clearly portrajed to be vastlj' better and 
 more acceptable to the Lord than the doubt, wickedness and 
 murderous apostasy of Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, Korihor and 
 Gadianton. Tlie visions of Joseph Smith, his trials and 
 persecutions ; the rise of the Church ; the patient toilings of 
 the Saints in building a city and temple to the Lord, only 
 to be driven by a murderous mob of wicked men, beyond the 
 boundaries of civilization, there to build another city and 
 temple ; the final cruel murder of the Prophet Joseph and 
 his brother, "the grandfather of you children ;" the destruction 
 of, and expulsion from their beautiful city of Nauvoo ; the 
 long, weary march across the desolate plains, and the halt 
 upon the most desolate, forbidding spot of all, where their 
 prophet leader, striking his cane into the parched soil, ex- 
 claimed, "It is enough. This is the right place," were all 
 
lYRUM M. SMITH. 
 
86 PROPHETS AND PATRIABCHS. 
 
 most vividly described and indelibly impressed upon the 
 minds of tlie little ones. All these things Hyrum eagerly 
 drank in and pondered upon. His father, President Joseph 
 F. Smith, would also gather round him his boys and girls and 
 teach them to shun evil, to be honest and truthful, associate 
 with no bad companions, and, with picture and narrative, 
 show them the results of doing right and wrong. Thus 
 were Hyrum and the other children made the companions of 
 their parents, friends unto whom the^-^eould go at all times, 
 and pour out the inmost secrets of their hearts in full con- 
 fidence. He grew up, developing to a marked degree the 
 boundless love and impartial affection which he had been accus- 
 tomed to see his father and mother mete out to their chil- 
 dren, and his father to his wives. Until he left the, paternal 
 rcof of his parents he would be visited by that ever loving 
 father, who must still kiss him and tuck the covers snugly 
 around him. Even today, whenever father and son meet, in 
 the home, on the street, in the office, it matters not where, 
 they meet with an affectionate and holy kiss. I have heard 
 h'.s wife banter him and say, "Hyrum is the biggest baby I 
 ever saw ; I believe he would die if he could not go home 
 and see his mother every day." He was taught to love 
 his home, an(d there he could always be found when no 
 duty called him away. 
 
 He attended the public schools, and later the Latter-day 
 Saints College, from which he graduated in June, 1894. On 
 the 15th of November, 1895, he was married to Miss Ida 
 Bowman, of Ogden, and on the evening of the next day 
 he departed on a mission to' Great Britain. Upon arriving 
 at Liverpool he was appointed to labor in the Leeds con- 
 ference, where he engaged in regular missionary work. In 
 October, 189G, he was called to preside over the Newcastle 
 conference, which position he held until he was honorably 
 released to return home in February, 1898. 
 
 Upon arriving home he was at once set apart as a home 
 missionary. He also acted as assistant teacher and as cor- 
 responding secretary of the Twenty-fourth Quorum of Seventy ; 
 he was employed at Z. C. M. I, where he remained until 
 October 30th. 1901. 
 
 When the Salt Lake Stake was divided he became a 
 
APOSTLE HYRUM M. SMITH. 87 
 
 resident of Granite Stake. Here also he labored as a home 
 missionary, and later was called to act as stake secretary 
 of the Sunday schools, which oflSce he filled to the satisfac- 
 tion of the stake authorities. He was chosen to be one of 
 the Twelve Apostles, by the spirit of revelation, on October 
 24th, 1901, and ordained by his father on the same day. 
 
 He is a young man who has striven to profit by the excel- 
 lent teachings he has received from his parents. He gives 
 his parents and the Lord the credit for enabling him to say 
 that up Xo the present time he has never tasted tea, coffee, 
 tobacco nor intoxicating drinks of any kind ; that he has 
 never taken the name of God in vain, nor befouled his mouth 
 with profanity ; that he has never in his life spoken dis- 
 respectifully of his parents, but that he honors and loves them 
 with all his soul ; that he has always defended the princi- 
 ples of the Gospel and the servants of the Lord ; that he has a 
 testimony for himself that God lives, and tnat Joseph Smith 
 was the prophet through whom He restored the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ in these latter days, and that he hopes, by the 
 help of the Lord, to ever be found working diligently or tat- 
 tling, if need be, in defense of the truth. 
 
 We think it not saying too much, that no man has been 
 called to the Apostleship with a clearer, purer and better 
 record, and before whom there is a brighter prospect cf growth 
 in wisdom, knowledge and power. He will have the love 
 and approval of the I>ord and the cheerful support of all the 
 Saints. May his life be a long and useful one to tl^e 
 cause of Truth.