Joseph, Hyrum, and the Book of Mormon
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| Joseph Smith. Artisit unknown. Oil on canvas. Museum of Church History and Art, Salt Lake City, Utah. | Hyrum Smith. Artisit unknown. Oil on canvas. Museum of Church Hisotry and Art, Salt Lake City, Utah. |
Hyrum Smith
Book of Mormon witness and martyr Hyrum Smith was born on 9 February 1800 at Tunbridge, Orange County, Vermont, second child of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. His younger brother Joseph was called by God to obtain, protect, translate, and publish the Book of Mormon. Sometime in May 1829, Hyrum went to visit Joseph who was living in Harmony, Pennsylvania. While Hyrum was there, he received a revelation through his brother that included the phrase "Behold thou art Hyrum, my son; seek the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added according to that which is just. Build upon my rock, which is my gospel" (Doctrine and Covenants 11:23–24). After this revelation, Hyrum became increasingly involved in his brother's mission and was baptized in early June 1829. Later in the month, he was chosen to be one of the Eight Witnesses. Along with his father and his brother Samuel, Hyrum saw the plates and provided his testimony, which is published in the Book of Mormon.
Hyrum was intimately involved in the publication of the Book of Mormon in March 1830 and in the organization of the Church in April 1830. He moved to Ohio in 1831 and helped establish the Church in Kirtland. He participated in the building of the Kirtland Temple as a member of the temple building committee and as a worker. Hyrum served as an Assistant Counselor to the First Presidency beginning on 3 September 1837; and in November of that same year, he was appointed Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
After the death of his wife, Jerusha Barden, Hyrum married Mary Fielding on 24 December 1837. He and his family moved to Missouri when the Church was forced from Kirtland in 1838. Their stay in Missouri was not long, as the Saints were again driven from their homes during the winter of 1838–39. This time, Hyrum, as well as other Church leaders, was unable to help his family seek a new place of asylum. He remained in Missouri and was eventually incarcerated in Liberty Jail. State officials later allowed Hyrum and those with him to escape on 16 April 1839. They traveled to Illinois, where their families and Church members had found refuge from the persecution in Missouri.
In January 1841, Hyrum was called to be the Church Patriarch, succeeding his father, who had died. Additionally, he was called as Assistant President of the Church (associated president or co-president), replacing Oliver Cowdery, who had left the Church (Doctrine and Covenants 124:91–95). During this period, Hyrum pronounced hundreds of patriarchal blessings upon the Saints in Nauvoo, acted as chairman of the Nauvoo Temple building committee, and served as one of Joseph's closest advisors. Hyrum also held various city government and social positions in Nauvoo.
Continued misunderstandings and suspicions, political and economic competition in the region, and religious intolerance brought the Saints and their neighbors once again into conflict. Often, this hostility was focused on Joseph and Hyrum as leaders of the Church. By June 1844, a conspiracy of the leading citizens in Hancock County and dissidents from the Church had planned to murder Joseph and Hyrum. Enemies of the Smith brothers used legal and extralegal means to place Joseph and Hyrum in a vulnerable position—beyond the protecting hands of friends and supporters. These enemies found an opportunity when the city council, which included Joseph and Hyrum, decided to suppress a Nauvoo dissident newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor, which they believed encouraged increased violence against the Latter-day Saints.
Joseph and Hyrum, as well as other city officials, were charged with riot and were ordered to appear at the Hancock County seat in Carthage. A few days before their murders, Hyrum read an excerpt from the Book of Mormon and turned down the leaf upon it: "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, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I . . . 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" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:5; italics in original; Ether 12:36–38).
As ordered by the Illinois state governor, Thomas Ford, Joseph and Hyrum traveled to Carthage to submit to arrest. After their arrival on 24 June 1844, the mood of the prisoners remained sober and foreboding. During the evening before their deaths, Hyrum, presumably trying to buoy up the feelings of the group, "read and commented upon extracts from the Book of Mormon, on the imprisonments and deliverance of the servants of God for the Gospel's sake" (Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, B. H. Roberts, ed., 2nd ed. rev. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932–51], 6:600).
On 27 June, "Hyrum bore a faithful testimony to the Latter-day work, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon" (Smith, History of the Church, 6:610). It proved to be his last because an armed mob rushed the jail; and, within a few minutes, Joseph and Hyrum lay dead in Carthage, both men martyred for their testimonies and religious beliefs.
John Taylor wrote, "To seal the testimony of [the Doctrine and Covenants] and the Book of Mormon, we announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum Smith the Patriarch" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). He added, "Like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, [Joseph] has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum." John Taylor concluded, "The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3, 5).
Joseph Smith Jr.
Joseph Smith Jr. is the translator of the Book of Mormon into English and the first Prophet-President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was foreordained to be the Lord's instrument in bringing forth the restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the full and final establishment of the kingdom of God on earth before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Cardinal events pertaining to the restoration of the ancient Church of Jesus Christ and its doctrines in their purity include the many revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the restoration of the priesthood, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith was born on 23 December 1805 in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, the son of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. After several financial setbacks in New England, the Smith family moved from Norwich, Vermont, to western New York in 1816 in search of a new beginning. In the Palmyra-Manchester area, many of the important founding events of the Restoration occurred as Joseph grew to maturity.
The visitation of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in the early spring of 1820, known as the First Vision, was the first of many spiritual experiences that eventually led to the publication of the Book of Mormon in March 1830 and to the establishment of the Church in April 1830. After the First Vision in 1820, Joseph received no further heavenly manifestations until the fall of 1823. The angel Moroni appeared to him in the family's log house in Palmyra Township on the night of 21 September 1823 and told him about a book containing the fulness of the gospel. Moroni told Joseph that the book was "written upon gold plates" (Joseph Smith—History 1:34) and was deposited in a nearby hill. When Joseph visited the hill on 22 September, he was informed by Moroni that the time had not yet come for Joseph to receive the plates. He visited the hill on the same date each year for the next four years (1824–27), where he was instructed by the same heavenly messenger.
On 18 January 1827, Joseph married Emma Hale of Harmony, Pennsylvania, at South Bainbridge, New York, and the couple took up residence in Manchester with Joseph's parents. Eight months later, on 22 September 1827, he received the plates from Moroni. Because of mounting persecution, Joseph and Emma moved from Manchester to Harmony, Pennsylvania, in December 1827. With divine assistance, Joseph began translating the Book of Mormon on 12 April 1828, Martin Harris acting as his scribe. In the course of three months, 116 manuscript pages were produced, but they were subsequently lost or stolen. Eventually, after a period of repentance because of the loss of the manuscript, Joseph began translating the plates with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe on 7 April 1829.
A necessary part of the restoration of the gospel was the restoration of the ancient priesthood with its authority to direct the affairs of the Church of Jesus Christ and to perform the necessary ordinances of salvation. On 15 May 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery "went into the woods" near Joseph's home in Harmony, Pennsylvania, "to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that [they] found mentioned in the translation of the plates" (Joseph Smith—History 1:68). In answer to their prayer, John the Baptist appeared and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood and instructed Joseph and Oliver to baptize each other and to confer upon each other the "same priesthood" (Joseph Smith—History 1:70–71). At this same time, they received a promise that they would receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in the future. Although the exact date of this event is unknown, sources indicate that they received the higher priesthood by angelic administration from Peter, James, and John along the banks of the Susquehanna River between Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Colesville, New York.
Joseph and Oliver moved to Peter and Mary Whitmer's farm in Fayette, New York, by 1 June 1829 because of increased persecution in the Harmony region. In Fayette, Joseph and Oliver completed the translation of the Book of Mormon in June 1829. During the next few months, Joseph made arrangements for E. B. Grandin to print the Book of Mormon with Martin Harris's guarantee of financial security. Oliver Cowdery and Hyrum Smith were eventually given supervisory capacity for the publication of the Book of Mormon during the late fall and winter of 1829–30. Meanwhile, the Prophet Joseph returned to his home in Harmony.
The Book of Mormon was published on 26 March 1830 in Palmyra, New York, and the Church was organized on 6 April 1830 in Fayette, New York. Joseph began working on the inspired translation of the Bible (Joseph Smith Translation, or JST) in June 1830. Six months later, in December 1830, the Lord commanded the Saints to gather in Ohio (Doctrine and Covenants 37:1; 38:31–32). Joseph and Emma were among the first members of the Church to move to the Kirtland, Ohio, area in early 1831.
As the Church continued to grow in Ohio, Joseph Smith and other leading elders traveled to Independence, Missouri, in June and July 1831. The Lord identified this area as the site of the New Jerusalem and the spot for a temple (Doctrine and Covenants 57:1–5). New converts began to make their way to Missouri; others continued to build up the Church center in Kirtland, Ohio, where a temple was built under Joseph's direction (1833–36).
Persecution eventually forced the Saints from Jackson County, Missouri, in 1833, but work continued in Ohio, where a second edition of the Book of Mormon was published, along with other LDS scriptures (for example, the Doctrine and Covenants, which contains many of the revelations given to Joseph Smith). On 27 March 1836, Joseph Smith presided at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (Doctrine and Covenants 109). While Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were in the temple on 3 April 1836, one week after the dedication, the Lord appeared to them, accepting "this house" as His own. Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared in succession, conferring priesthood keys (Doctrine and Covenants 110).
Joseph and the Saints enjoyed this temple only briefly. They were driven by persecution from Kirtland (1838), and they then moved to northwestern Missouri, where they joined the Saints who had been driven earlier from Jackson County, Missouri. In Far West, Missouri, Joseph settled with his family and continued to lead the Saints who were gathering to the region in large numbers. After only a brief respite from persecution, the Saints were again driven from their homes in the fall of 1838. Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were left behind, arrested, and imprisoned. While the Saints made their way to Iowa and Illinois to escape the "extermination order" issued by Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs, Joseph was imprisoned, first at Richmond and then finally in Liberty Jail, from 1 December 1838 to 6 April 1839. During a change of venue, guards permitted Joseph and other Church leaders to escape on 16 April, allowing them to reunite with their families and other Church members who had found refuge in western Illinois by 22 April 1839.
Joseph moved his family to Commerce, Illinois, a small village on a bend of the Mississippi River in Hancock County on 10 May 1839. By June, he was organizing and supervising the gathering of the Saints to their new home, which was later called Nauvoo.
Joseph was busily engaged in almost every aspect of life in Nauvoo: social, political, economic, and religious. During the building of the Nauvoo House, he placed the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon in the cornerstone on 2 October 1841. His activities during this period included correcting proofs for the third edition of the Book of Mormon in January 1842, organizing the Relief Society on 17 March 1842, and introducing the temple ordinances on 4 May 1842. Additionally, he was elected the mayor of Nauvoo on 19 May 1842.
During the last years of his life (1840–44), Joseph found numerous opportunities to teach the Saints and to reveal the word of the Lord to an ever-increasing number of members of the Church, including the doctrine of eternal marriage (Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–3).
Intolerance by some local citizens of Hancock County and dissent from some within the Church led to increasing confrontations between the Saints and their neighbors. This hostility generally focused on Joseph Smith, and in April 1844, his life was threatened by Church dissenters, who, with enemies outside the Church, became increasingly concerned about his growing influence and the distinctive religious beliefs he was teaching in Nauvoo. After the suppression of a libelous paper, the Nauvoo Expositor, which the city council believed would inflame the already tense situation, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum and other city officers were charged with riot for destroying the press. Eventually, they surrendered at the county seat in Carthage, at the behest of the Illinois governor, Thomas Ford. Though they answered the arrest warrant on the charge of riot and posted bail, they were rearrested on a false mittimus charging them with treason; and they were remanded to jail. Some of the leading citizens of Hancock County conspired to place Joseph and Hyrum in a relatively unprotected situation so they could kill them.
The evening before his murder, "Joseph bore a powerful testimony to the guards of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon" (Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, B. H. Roberts, ed., 2nd ed. rev. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932–51], 6:600). On the following day, 27 June 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, along with fellow Church leaders John Taylor and Willard Richards, remained in the Carthage Jail. About 10:00 a.m., "both Joseph and Hyrum bore a faithful testimony to the latter-day work, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon" (Smith, History of the Church, 6:610). Later in the afternoon, around 5:00 p.m., an armed mob of about two hundred persons rushed the county jail, and in "a few short minutes of scuffling, shouts, and shots the deed was done": Joseph and Hyrum were dead (Davis Bitton, The Martyrdom Remembered: A One-Hundred-Fifty-Year Perspective on the Assassination of Joseph Smith [Salt Lake City: Aspen Books, 1994], xvi).
An eyewitness to the events of that hot, muggy, overcast day on the western Illinois frontier, Elder John Taylor, wrote, "To seal the testimony of [the Doctrine and Covenants] and the Book of Mormon, we announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and Hyrum Smith the Patriarch" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1). He added, "Like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, [Joseph] has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum." He concluded, "The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3, 5).
Later, Brigham Young, second President of the Church, received a revelation explaining Joseph's death and reinforcing John Taylor's earlier statement: "Many have marveled because of his death; but it was needful that he should seal his testimony with his blood, that he might be honored and the wicked might be condemned. Have I not delivered you from your enemies, only in that I have left a witness of my name?" (Doctrine and Covenants 136:39–40).