THE LATTER-DAY PROPHET is now sent forth, with the fervent prayer that it may create in the hearts of the children of Zion a greater love for the man who made of human life a thing so nearly divine, and help them to go bravely forward with the work he was chosen to begin.
THE AUTHOR.
THE LATTER-DAY PROPHET.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S
HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH.
CHAPTER I.
1805–20.
BIRTHPLACE OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH—HIS ANCESTOR—REMOVAL TO NEW YORK STATE—A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL.
It was two days before Christmas in the year eighteen hundred and five, and cold winter had already set in. The Green Mountains of Vermont were white with the snow that had fallen, and now it lay also in the valleys and upon the level land. It was the season when men celebrate the birth of our Savior, and they felt in their hearts the gladness and peace that come with Christmas tide.
Twenty miles east of the Green Mountains, on the White River, a branch of the Connecticut, lies the little town of Sharon. To a humble family living there, came additional joy that day. A son was born, and, though they knew it not, he was destined to be very great. He was not the first-born, two sons and a daughter had come before; but none the less did his parents welcome him. They gave him his father's name—Joseph Smith—a good name and never tarnished by an evil deed, but one to be known for both good and evil through all the world.
The boy came of goodly parentage. The Smiths, since Robert and Mary settled in Essex, Massachusetts, a century and a half before, had been honorable farmers. Lucy Mack, the mother, was also of a family of industrious land-owners. Members of both families had fought for their country. The father and mother of the boy, Joseph and Lucy, when they were married in 1796, and for a few years afterward, had been well-to-do, but had lost all in paying the debts brought upon them by the fraud of a trusted agent. They had left their home in Tunbridge, Vermont, and moved to Sharon in the adjoining county of Windsor. Here the father farmed in the summer and taught school in the winter. But little success came as the reward of his industry. He tried other places and at length, in the year 1815, he left the Green Mountain state entirely and moved his family to New York.
It seems as though the Lord must have had a hand in the misfortunes of Joseph Smith, Senior, and his wife Lucy. He was teaching them and their children humility. They all had their share of hard work and of the sacrifices that poverty brings. But hard work strengthened their bodies and sacrifice strengthened their souls. They had no time to dream away their lives. They were taught rather to be industrious and to do their duty.
The father was a large, vigorous man, and the younger Joseph and his brothers inherited his strength. They worked at his side in the fields and helped him provide for the family wants. He taught them while at work, and when at rest by the fireside, to be truthful, honest and virtuous, and to love God. He gave them also lessons in reading and writing, but they had no such chance to learn these things as have children now-a-days.
The Lord doubtless directed the family in their journey westward to New York. It was there that His latter-day work must begin. Joseph, the instrument of that work, was nine years old at the time. The family first came to Palmyra, Wayne County, a little town lying twelve miles south of Lake Ontario. Here for about four years they labored in clearing the land and making themselves a home. Then they moved a mile or two south to Manchester, Ontario County, and took up land for a farm. There were now eight children in the family: Alvin, Hyrum, Sophronia, Joseph, Samuel, William, Catherine and Don Carlos.
In the second year after they had come to Manchester the Methodists of that region began a religious revival. The Presbyterians and Baptists soon joined. A revival is caused by holding frequent meetings where those who attend preach, sing and pray, and try by all means to stir up religious enthusiasm. Sometimes they go to great extremes, and scream and groan and dance until nearly exhausted. These actions are of course not directed by the Spirit of the Lord. In Manchester there was great excitement and many were converted or at least joined themselves with one or other of the sects. As the people began to divide up, much strife arose, and so much bad feeling was shown that one could hardly believe they were true followers of Jesus.
CHAPTER II.
1820.
JOSEPH INCLINED TO THINK SERIOUSLY UPON RELIGION—UNDECIDED AS TO WHICH CHURCH TO JOIN—GETS LIGHT FROM THE BIBLE—HIS FIRST PRAYER—ANSWERED BY A GLORIOUS VISION.
Joseph was fourteen years old at the time of the revival. He was large for his age and inclined to be serious in his thoughts. With the other members of his family he took great interest in religion and felt it his duty to join some church and thereby be saved. But which church should he join? That was very hard for the boy to answer. The other members of the family decided that the Presbyterians were right, and the mother, with Hyrum, Samuel and Sophronia joined their church. This made Joseph very uneasy, because he was inclined to believe with the Methodists, and the feeling between these two sects was very bitter.
His mind became greatly excited sometimes, for he felt that he ought to do something to gain salvation, and yet he could not decide what was right to do. He felt sure that all the churches could not be true, for if they were they would unite to help each other instead of trying to do each other harm. He thought that he should not join any church until he knew the right one, and so he waited.
Joseph was only fourteen years old and did not have a good education, but he could read the Bible and could understand many of the truths written there. He made a practice of comparing the teachings of the ministers that were seeking to convert him with the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles. This made him all the more doubtful, for he saw that they did not entirely agree.
He was certainly in great difficulty, but he persevered and at last found a way out. In his Bible he came upon a passage that was written for him and for all who need light. It is in the first chapter of the Apostle James' epistle to the Saints, the fifth verse: "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." Those words sank deep into his heart. He thought them over again and again, and at length made up his mind to obey them and pray for wisdom. In the sixth and seventh verses James