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The Life and Contributions of Samuel Harrison Smith

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The Life and Contributions of Samuel Harrison Smith Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1961 The Life and Contributions of Samuel Harrison Smith Dean Jarman Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Jarman, Dean, "The Life and Contributions of Samuel Harrison Smith" (1961). Theses and Dissertations. 4821. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4821 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. sylt 37 rar7 THE LIFE AND contributions OF SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH A thesis submitted to the college of religious instruction brigham young university provo utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of science by dean jarman june 1961 ACKNOWLacknowledgmentsGMENTS the writer would like to gratefully acknowledge the willing assistance and helpful suggestions given by dr hyrum L andrus in the preparation of this manuscript and the encouragement and assistance rendered by dr Bbo west belnap and dr russell R rich gratitude is expressed to the staff at the brigham young univ- ersity library and to the church historians library church of jesus christ of latter day saints in salt lake city the writer also acknowledges a special appreciation to his wife donna for her encouragement and for her many hom of asiasitancasl tanctene in the preparation and correction of the manuscript iii TABLE orOF CONTENTS page ACKNOWIacknowledgments GS 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 ill chapter I1 introduction 1 statement of the problem justification of the problem analysis of the problem definition of terms methods ofor research and sources of data II11 THE ANMICAAMERICA orOF SAMUEL SMITHSMITHSt S DAY 6 illiliIII111 background AND EARLY LIFE orOF SAMUEL SMITH 16 ancestry of samuel smith history of the smith family 18041820180418201804 1820 religious background of samuel smith IV THE CONVERT AND EARLY missionary 26 the visions of joseph smithsmithpsmithy jr l820182018301830 reaction of the smith family to the early visions of joseph smithsmithy jr the baptism of samuel smith A faithful witness to the book of mormon samuel smith becomes a charter member of the church early missions of samuel thOsmithosmith1830smithaSmithSmi 1830 V SAMUEL SMITH THE missionary 40 the mission to missouri the eastern mission VI THE KTkirtlandRTLANDKIRTLANDKTRTLAND PERIODPEIRIOD 57 activities during 1833 the kirtland high council samuel smiths marriage special biesbleeBlesblessingssinas conferred upon samuel smith the end of the kirtland period iv vilVII A VICTIM OF persecution 73 the founding of far west A victim of persecution VIII A CITY FATHIMFATHER 85 quincequineyquincy illinois 1839 samuel smith comes to nauvoo civic responsibilities the religious and family life of samuel smith during the nauvoo period IX THE EXIT OF A WORTHY MAN 101 A heroic attempt the death of samuel H smith the just shall call him a perfect llanalanblanman X THE POSTERITY OF SAMUEL Hho SMITH 0 109log XI conclusion 113 SELECTED bibliography 115 v CHAPTER I1 introduction statement of the problem the purpose of this writing is to present a study of the life of samuel harrison smith in the context of the america of his day and the early history of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints to de- termine his lifeslifers activities his accomplishments and his contributions to the mormon movementmovementsmovementomovemento justification of the ststudy in the rise of any movement some men seem more prominent than others and often accounts of those who have made significant contribut- ions remain in the past almost forgottenforgotteno this statement applies equally well to the men associated with the rise of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints commonly called the mormon churchcharchochurcho samuel harrison smith was a younger brother of joseph smithsmithy jr founder and first prophet of the churchcharchochurcho from the age of eleven samuel grew up anticipating the or- ganization of the church after receiving a personal witness to the truth- fulness of joseph smiths work he cast his lot among the early followers being the third person baptized in this dispensationdispensationo his life was filled with countless sacrifices untiring devotion hard work pioneering on four frontiers missionary service and responsibilities of leadership in church and civic battersomattersmattersomatterso the history of his life though seems to be dimmed possibly because of the emphasis placed on his brother joseph smith jr 1 2 samaelsamuel smith had not been as widely publicized as otherslotheralothers but his role was an important one as a brother of the prophet a witness to the book of mor- mon and charter member of the churchchurche historians have done little to thor- oughly evaluate the individual lives of the brothers and sisters of joseph sinithysmith jrajrojro and their contributions to the church there is one short unpublished biography at the church historianhistorians librlibraryaislysry y salt lake city utah there have been several published extracts of his life and there has been one published work by ruby K smith which centers its attention on samuels first wife mary bailey 1 this is an attempt to write an account of his life from the sources available in the context of american and church history analysis of the problem the following are some specific areas that will be presented in this study of samuel Hho smith 1 the historical background of america during the first half of the nineteenth century and its influence on the life of samuel H smith 220 his ancestry and early life with an analysis of his educational and religious background 3 his experiences and those of the smith family which led to his baptism ii his role as a witness to the book of mormon a charter member of the church and an early missionary 5 his efforts and contributions as a missionary during his first two years in kirtlandKirtikirtiandoando 660 the kirtland period and his contributions as a high councilman aubybuby K mary co puby ko smith bailey salt lake city deseret book 11950549541 3 citizen and faithful member of the church during the trying times of apostasy 7 the foundingfoundling of far west missouri and the mormon expansion in that area the hardships endured by samuels family and his efforts to defend the saints against persecution 8 his contributions to the rise of nauvoo and his role as a father and provider 990 his activities at the time of the martyrdom of joseph and hyrum smith which resulted in his own deathdeathadeatho 10loo100 the posterity of samuel H smith and their relationship to the mormon movementmovementsmovemovementomento definition of terms the term church shall refer to the church of jesus christ of latter day saintssaintlosaintso the term saint shall refer to a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and the term gentile shall refer to someone who is not a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints the term stake shall refer to an ecclesiastical division of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and the term ward shall refer to an ecclesiastical division within the stake unless otherwise indicated the lermtermfcerm bishobishop refers to one who presides over a ward the term aaronic priesthood refers to offices in the priesthood which deal with temporal matters the term melchizedek priesthood refers to offices of the priesthood which deal with more spiritual matters the term elder is a general term referring to a person who holds the melchizedek priesthood although there is a specific office in that 4 priesthood entitled elder the term brother refers to a male member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints 0 the termberm prophet refers to the person who stands at the head of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and who receives revelation for the guidance of the entire churchcharchochurcho in this study the term prophet will be used in referring to joseph smithsmithpsmithy jr the term revelation as used by the latter day Sainsaintselntsaintasaintptp referstoreferrefersstoto the process by which goddirdctlyoodgod directly communicatescommunicatcs8 hisuillhis viiiwill to man upon the earthearthseartho methodsfigj1 of0 researchesbarcearc and sources of data the plan of research will be three foldfoidfolds to study the life of sam- uel H smithsmithy to study a general background of the america of samuelsamueltssamuells ts day and tottofcotco study the early history of the churchcharchochurcho the primary sources which have been studied in this research in- clude theme journal history of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints thethl H lsllolallohistoLSteotcolLo ofojltethe chacchjcchurchchJC of jesus christ of Jlatte aydayqy alsaissaintsQ 18 byy joseph smith jr the histoahistiahjstpry of josejogejoseph smith by lucy smithsmithy samuel smiths private bournajournajournal1 and the private journaljournaejourna2 of orson hyde letters and statements of mary Bbo nornormanman a daughter of samuel H smith have been studiedstudiedostudiedo A search has been made in the following newspapers the Messemessentermessenaermessengernaer jajidjabidand advocatadvocate the evening and morning star the elders bournajournajournal 9 the times and seaseasons the millennial star andg the propheteprophetoProppro
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