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Personal Accounts Articles
This third-person account from Oliver Cowdery of Joseph Smith’s experience when he prayed in his home and received a vision of the angel Moroni is a very special one. It had been three years since Joseph’s vision of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joseph felt he needed more guidance, and thus prayed for more. While Joseph shares a record of this experience in his own words in Joseph Smith—History 1:29–47, the emotions he obviously conveyed to Oliver are depicted more vividly in this account, as published in Messenger and Advocate, Volume 1, No. 5, (February 1835), 79.
On the evening of the 21st of September, 1823, previous to retiring to rest, our brother’s mind was unusually wrought up on the subject which had so long agitated his mind—his heart was drawn out in fervent prayer, and his whole soul was so lost to every thing of a temporal nature, that earth, to him had lost its charms, and all he desired was to be prepared in heart... Read the rest of this article »
Mark L. McConkie, a professor in the school of public affairs at the University of Colorado, compiled hundreds of eye witness accounts of Joseph Smith to create his book Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith. Below are three separate records from Oliver Huntington recalling prophecies of Joseph Smith which he also saw come to pass.
Joseph Prepared a Route for the Saints to Take across the Rocky Mountains
Monday Sept. 27th [1897] . . . I met that day, at the Hall of Relicks, Hopkins G. Pendar an old Nauvoo Mormon, and from him learned that Joseph Smith just before he was killed, made a sketch of the future home of the saints in the Rocky Mountains, and their route or road to that country as he had seen in vision; a map or drawing of it.
(Oliver B. Huntington, “History of the Life of Oliver B. Huntington, Written by Himself 1878–1990,” typescript copy, BYU Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,... Read the rest of this article »
Mark L. McConkie, a professor at the University of Colorado, has recently published a book entitled Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith. Below is an excerpt from this book, a recollection of Mary Adams, regarding a specific incidence of Joseph’s kindness while he upheld his position of authority in the town over which he was mayor.
While he [Joseph Smith] was acting as mayor of the city, a colored man called Anthony was arrested for selling liquor on Sunday, contrary to law. He pleaded that the reason he had done so was that he might raise the money to purchase the freedom of a dear child held as a slave in a southern state. He had been able to purchase the liberty of himself and wife and now wished to bring his little child to their new home. Joseph said, “I am sorry, Anthony, but the law must be observed, and we will have to impose a fine.”
The next day Brother Joseph presented Anthony... Read the rest of this article »
Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith, a new publication by Mark L. McConkie, shares several personal stories of people who had the opportunity to interact with Joseph Smith. Benjamin Brown shared his experience of receiving a healing blessing from Joseph Smith when Benjamin was very sick.
My family, with myself, was also taken sick, and I laid so for two or three weeks. I was so far gone that I was quite senseless, and all thought I was dying. Doubtless I should have died, but one day Joseph Smith was passing by my door, for I had managed to procure a house, and was called in, and, as I was afterwards informed, laid his hands upon me, and commanded me to rise and walk in the name of the Lord.
The first thing I knew was that I found myself walking on the floor, perfectly well, and within ten minutes afterwards I was out of the house visiting my daughter, whom I had not seen for nearly a month. I felt so... Read the rest of this article »
A recent publication by Mark L. McConkie, Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith, is a wonderful collection of memories and impressions of the remarkable man Joseph Smith was. Below is a personal account from William Taylor about time he spent with the Prophet.
Late in the night the Prophet had gone to my brother John’s house in Nauvoo and said to him: “I want you to go with me to your father’s.” My brother said: “But I can’t go, Brother Joseph; I am sick in bed!” The Prophet replied: “I’ll come in and help you dress, and you’ll find no inconvenience from going out.”
So Brother John got up, dressed and started out with him, and by the time they reached our home, none of us could tell that he had been the least sick. The four stayed at our house a few days and then the Prophet sent the other three back to Nauvoo to see if anything was going wrong at that place. In a few days they returned.... Read the rest of this article »
Mark L. McConkie, a professor in the school of public affairs at the University of Colorado, has recently published Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith. This is an excerpt from that book and is the recollection of Jesse W. Crosby.
Brother Jesse W. Crosby, a prominent man in early Dixie and an early preacher of the Gospel lived a close neighbor to the Prophet [Joseph Smith] in Nauvoo. Being a very observing man he learned much of that great man’s home life, and he used to tell us many interesting things about it.
He said the Prophet had great ability as a financier, and that had his enemies left him he would have become one of the wealthiest men in America. Everything his hand touched seemed to prosper. His fields were always in good condition and yielded well.
When people came to see him, and he had many visitors, their teams were fed the best of hay and his barn was full. No other orchard had as fine... Read the rest of this article »
In the 1970s, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons, wanted to build a center in Jerusalem where students at church-owned colleges could study. However, it was extremely difficult to obtain land and permission to do so unless you were part of the special five churches that had official recognition. The Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, Armani, Baha’i, and the Anglican Church had all been in existence there prior to the formation of the State of Israel. They were told they needed to prove an official existence in the country before 1948.
The situation seemed hopeless. There had been a mission home (the official headquarters for a mission area) in Haifa before 1948, but they could not find any records showing the Church had actually owned the property outright. Then two gravesites were discovered. The graves belonged to John A. Clark of Utah and Adolf Haag of Germany. Both tombstones... Read the rest of this article »
By Doris
Jeremiah Morgan was raised by a loving, single mother, in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS). This group broke off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often misnamed the “Mormon Church”) in 1860, after many of the Saints had trekked west to the Salt Lake Valley. It is now called the Community of Christ.
Jeremiah’s mother was very devout and taught him that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was inspired scripture. She read Jeremiah the Book of Mormon every morning and, when he was in high school, took him (albeit reluctantly on his part) on a Church history tour, where they entered the Sacred Grove (the location of Joseph Smith’s First Vision). Here, he had a spiritual experience which testified to him of the reality that Joseph Smith was a true prophet.
Jeremiah Morgan’s mother is the descendant of a convert baptized by Oliver Cowdery in 1831 in Lexington, Missouri,... Read the rest of this article »
Though this is not a personal account of Mary Fielding Smith, it is a testament to her enduring faith. She went West with the Saints after her husband, Hyrum Smith, had been martyred at Carthage Jail with his brother Joseph Smith. This is part of her story:
Mary Fielding Smith, a faithful Latter-day Saint woman, was left with several young children while her husband was in Liberty Jail during the winter of 1838–39. Mobs raided her home, and her son was nearly killed as a result of the attack. As the wife of Hyrum Smith, Mary was left a widow when her husband was assassinated at Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. She and Emma Smith endured many trials along with their husbands, Hyrum and Joseph Smith. Today, Mary is admired as one of the most stalwart pioneers of the early Church.
Mary married Hyrum Smith on December 24, 1837. Hyrum’s first wife, Jerusha, had died in childbirth, and Mary cared for Hyrum’s small children as her own. Hyrum and Mary also... Read the rest of this article »
Many descendants of Joseph and Emma Smith have been unaware of the significance of their ancestry for a good part of their lives. Dawn Schmith is a third-great granddaughter of Joseph and Emma who recently joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church that Joseph organized and gave his life as a testimony of its truthfulness.
Dawn Schmith was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia to religious parents. Though her paternal grandmother was the granddaughter of Joseph Smith, Jr., by his son Alexander Hale Smith, Dawn was raised in the Catholic faith. She actively participated in the religion her whole life and raised her two daughters in the faith. The first time Dawn heard about her ancestry was when she was 12 years old, but it was not discussed. Immediately, she wanted to learn more, but her paternal grandmother died around the same time, and she was never able to ask her any questions regarding that history.
Dawn... Read the rest of this article »
