Joseph F. Smith, ca. 1858. Later Sixth President of the LDS Church
Joseph F. Smith, Sixth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "was born near the Far West Burial Ground location, "near the schoolhouse lot in the northeast corner of the southwest quarter of Section 9, Mirabile Township (Township 56 North, Range 29), Caldwell County, Missouri." Alvin Dyer provided the following directions, "One will reach the school lot by going north a half mile from the Temple Lot at Far West and then west one mile." - [Alvin Dyer, The Refiner's Fire, 230.]
Wednesday evening, 31 October 1838, Joseph, Sidney Rigdon, Parley Pratt, Lyman Wight, and George Robinson were ransomed to avoid what promised to be a one-sided battle during the siege of Far West. Hyrum Smith remained in Far West in order to care for his sick wife. Hyrum recorded, about twelve o'clock the next day [Thursday, 1 November], "Colonel Hinkle came to my house with an armed force, opened the door, and called me out of doors and delivered me up as a prisoner unto that force." Amasa Lyman was also taken with Hyrum to the militia encampment. Shortly after Hyrum's arrest, his wife Mary delivered a son, Joseph F. Smith. Tradition suggests Joseph F. was born one mile northwest of the town square near the burial ground in southwest quarter of Section 9, perhaps safe at the home of a relative or friend of the family. Mary's sister lived in Far West. [Mary's sister, Mercy Thompson (married to Robert Blashel Thompson, 4 June 1837), and family apparently lived with the Smith's and Mercy provided needed care for her sister after Hyrum's arrest. [Dyer, The Refiner's Fire, 230; Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT): 47:435].
Hyrum and his brother Joseph "were to be taken prisoners, and confined in jail, and perhaps shot. On the following day, these betrayed leaders were given a few moments to bid farewell to their families. Under a strong guard of militia mobocrats, Hyrum was marched to his home in Far West, and, at the point of the bayonet, with oaths and curses, was ordered to take his last farewell of his wife; for his "doom was sealed" and he was told that he would never see her again." [Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 666-667.]
Joseph F. Smith as a young man, ca. 1860s
Parly P. Pratt recalled, "I went to my house, being guarded by two or three soldiers, the cold rain was pouring down without, and on entering my little cottage, there lay my wife sick of a fever, with which she had been for some time confined. . . . As I returned from my house towards the troops in the square, I halted with the guard at the door of Hyrum Smith, and heard the sobs and groans of his wife, at his parting words. She was then near confinement; and needed more than ever the comfort and consolation of a husband's presence. As we returned to the wagon we saw Sidney Rigdon taking leave of his wife and daughters, who stood at a little distance, in tears of anguish indescribable. In the wagon sat Joseph Smith, while his aged father and venerable mother came up overwhelmed with tears, and took each of the prisoners by the hand with a silence of grief too great for utterance. In the meantime hundreds of the brethren crowded around us, anxious to take a parting look, or a silent shake of the hand; for feelings were too intense to allow of speech. In the midst of these scenes orders were given and we moved slowly away, under the conduct of General Wilson and his whole brigade."--[Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, 207, 208].
Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith
"After they had bid their families goodbye, they got into a wagon. Joseph and Hyrum having returned and being in the wagon, General Lucas gave the order to march and they all went away. We suppose it was the last time we should ever see them. They were taken to Clay County in Missouri and again court-martialed and again sentenced to be shot, but what prevented [it] I never knew." [Joseph Smith III, Dialogue, Vol.1, No. 4, 36.]
Taken to Independence for Trial
Hyrum was in jail at Richmond, Missouri, when Joseph F. was born. A mob ransacked their Far West home looking for papers. The following items were removed from his property and ended up in the hands of John Skidmore: one hourse, one table, one wash stand and one bedstead. [A Dayly [sic] Record of H. Smith, typescript, P7, f1, Community of Christ Archives, Independence, Missouri].
During the mêlée, a mattress was thrown over the infant Joseph and he nearly suffocated. Hyrum did not get to see the newborn Joseph ntil several months later, when Hyrum was transferred to Liberty Jail. In February 1839, while Joseph and Hyrum Smith, with four other brethren, were incarcerated in Liberty Jail. Mercy Thompson wrote, "I accompanied my sister Mary from Far West, to visit them. It would be beyond my power to describe my feelings when we were admitted into the jail by the keeper and the door was locked behind us. We could not help feeling a sense of horror on realizing that we were locked up in that dark and dismal den, fit only for criminals of the deepest dye; but there we beheld Joseph, the Prophet, the man chosen of God, in the dispensation of the fullness of time to hold the keys of His kingdom on the earth, with power to bind and to loose as God should direct, confined in a loathsome prison for no other cause or reason than that he claimed to be inspired of God to establish His church among men. There also we found his noble brother, Hyrum, who, I believe was not charged with any other crime than that of being a friend to his brother Joseph. There also were four other brethren whose offenses were similar to that of Hyrum's. The night was spent in fearful forebodings, owing to a false rumor having gone out that the prisoners contemplated making an attempt to escape, which greatly enraged the jailor and the guards.
Under these circumstances we were constrained to bid adieu to the Prophet and his brethren, and hasten our departure from Liberty. My sister was in very delicate health, having with her her babe only three months old, whom his father then saw for the first time." [Mercy R. Thompson, Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 398.]
Joseph F. Smith, his sister Martha Ann, Aunt Mercy (Fielding) Thompson, and her daughter Mary Jane, ca. 1865
- forwarded by Scott Jacob