Joseph Smith, Sr. was the father of Joseph Smith, Jr., the first Mormon prophet and president. He was born July 12, 1771, in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts, to Asael Smith and Mary Duty. He was a member of the Congregational Church, but was only minimally involved in it. In personal belief, he was a Universalist, believing all would be saved, rather than the blessings of salvation being reserved for a chosen few. He had several visionary dreams relating to religious teachings, including one promising he would learn how to be saved. This final dream occurred shortly before his son Joseph had his own vision, which ultimately brought about what Joseph Smith, Sr. sought. In 1791, Joseph Sr. moved with his parents to Tunbridge, Vermont, where the family owned a large farm. Over the course of his life, he worked as a cooper, a farmer, a teacher, and a merchant. When schools were unavailable for his own children, he tought them the basics of literacy.
Joseph married Lucy Mack in 1796. They eventually had nine children, several of whom died at young ages and two that were murdered. Joseph Sr. and Lucy settled on a large farm. However, in 1796, Joseph decided to rent out the farm and open a mercantile business. He chose to export ginseng, which grew wild in Vermont, to China, where it was used as a medicine. Unfortunately, he was swindled by a shipmaster and agent, losing everything on the sale. He had to sell his farm to pay the debts he incurred from this event. This began a challenging series of years for him financially.
He and Lucy moved to Palmyra, New York, and purchased a farm. He lost it when he was unable to make the final payment. He moved first to Manchester, Ontario County, New York, and then to Kirtland, Ohio.
In 1823, his son Joseph Smith, Jr. was in bed when an angel appeared to him. Throughout the night the angel reappeared, teaching him the same information each time, with a little extra at the end each time. This was Joseph’s second encounter with spiritual manifestations, having seen a vision of God and Jesus when he was just fourteen. The next morning, Joseph was exhausted, but headed out to the fields to work. His older brother noticed he didn’t seem to feel well and Joseph’s father told him to return to the house.
As Joseph attempted to go over a fence, he fell to the ground. The angel who had visited him the night before, named Moroni, appeared to Joseph again. Joseph was instructed to tell his father about the visitations, which Joseph did. Joseph Smith, Sr. told his son to follow the instructions of the angel exactly. The visions Joseph Smith, Sr. had received prepared him to believe his son.
In time, Joseph Jr. would be led to records made by an ancient group of people who came to the Americas from Jerusalem. After Joseph Jr. translated this record through the power of God, it was published as the Book of Mormon. The Church, restored to its original New Testament form, would be established and named The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although some people refer to it as the “Mormon Church,” that is just a nickname and the church should be called by its proper name.
Prior to the organization of the Church, Joseph Smith, Jr., now a prophet, received a revelation concerning his father which outlined the qualifications for serving in the Church. Joseph Smith, Sr. was told that he was called to serve in the Church if he desired to accept the call.
God allowed Joseph Smith, Jr. to show the plates on which the Book of Mormon was originally written to two small groups of people. Joseph Smith Sr. was in the group of eight. They were allowed to feel the plates and to see the engravings. They wrote their testimony of this and it can be found in the Book of Mormon today. Read the Testimony of Eight Witnesses.
The Church of Jesus Christ was officially organized in 1830. The law required six official people to attend the organizational meeting. Joseph Smith, Sr. was not one of the six who signed the paperwork for the organization of the new church, but he did attend the meeting. Following the service there was a baptism and Joseph Smith, Sr. was baptized. He was given the priesthood at the first church conference, held June 9 in Fayette, New York. He would become known throughout the Church as Father Smith.
Joseph Sr. and his son Don Carlos left on a mission to Pottsdam, New York. While on this journey, they left a Book of Mormon at the home of George A. Smith, a cousin, and then went on to the home of Asael Smith, Joseph Smith, Sr.’s father. Both men became members of the church.
In 1831, Joseph Smith, Sr. was advanced to the office of a high priest, one of the first to receive that position. In 1833, he became a church patriarch and also became an assistant counselor to his son Joseph in the presidency. He was instrumental in the conversion of Lorenzo Snow, a future Mormon prophet. The following year he became a member of the first high council. The high council assists the presidency of a geographical region (similar to a diocese) in running the affairs of the region, which is known in The Church of Jesus Christ as a stake.
Joseph Sr. served a mission in eastern states covering 2,400 miles, preaching the gospel with his brother, John.
In 1837, some people who had left the church and formed a violent mob had Joseph Sr. arrested on false charges, a technique often used to remove Mormon leaders of influence in hopes of destroying the church. He was released in 1838 and traveled to Far West, Missouri. This same year, Governor Boggs of Missouri issued an extermination order, making it legal to kill Mormons without trial or cause. Two of Joseph Smith, Sr.’s sons, Joseph Smith, Jr. and older brother Hyrum, were jailed under this order. Joseph Smith, Sr. fled in the middle of winter with inadequate preparation and settled in Quincy, Illinois.
He then moved to Commerce and helped to found Nauvoo, Illinois for the Mormons. These midwinter exoduses and the strains of the persecutions caused him to develop consumption. He died the following year.
Sources:
Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007
Richard Lloyd Anderson, Joseph Smith, Sr., New Era, December 1973
Smith, Joseph Sr., The Joseph Smith Papers
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
Watch a video about the restoration of the gospel on lds.org