Brigham Young felt that Joseph Smith would “unite heaven with earth.” [1] Part of that heaven as described by the Prophet Joseph was to put in place the family organization established by our Father in Heaven for His children. Joseph was a prophet, seer, and revelator. He was also a father, husband, and patriarch of a family unit. In all these roles he was exemplary. Professors Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter concur: “Those things done behind closed doors and unknown to the masses must be considered if one is to get a true picture of Joseph Smith, the man of God. . . . The Prophet Joseph understood well his exemplary role in a family unit. A busy life did not excuse him from a divine appointment, because he understood that the home is the basis of a righteous life and that it was the Lord’s will for him to be an exemplary child, brother, husband, and father.” [2]

By studying the life and teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, we can see that he exemplified principles declared one hundred fiftyone years after his death in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” [3] Joseph told the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.” [4] Joseph Smith’s prophetic legacy blessed all humanity as he restored doctrine regarding the roles of husband and father that are also reflected in the proclamation.

As a Husband, Joseph Smith Treated His Wife as an Equal Partner and Fulfilled His Solemn Responsibility to Love and Care for Her.

Joseph restored the correct pattern of marriage taught anciently by the Apostle Paul. This pattern of equal partnership and a husband’s responsibility to love and care for a spouse are outlined in Colossians and Ephesians. These verses were repeated by Joseph in the November 1835 edition of the Messenger and Advocate, wherein he signed his epistle “In the bonds of the New and Everlasting Covenant” [5]:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands, in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, so ought men to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church, for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. . . .” (Ephesians 5:22–31.)

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”(Colossians 3: 18–22.)

Joseph not only taught husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the Church, but he also exemplified it in his own marriage. He called Emma Hale his “choice in preference to any other woman [he had] ever seen,” [6] and his marriage to her on January 18, 1827, was the beginning of an affectionate relationship of equal partners. Joseph learned early that the Lord valued Emma’s “divine nature and destiny.” [7] Emma was willing to marry Joseph at a time of persecution in his life persecution and hardship that never ceased. Joseph learned early that the Lord valued not only Emma’s role as a wife but also her role in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Early in their marriage, it was a blessing for Joseph to have the support, assistance, and strength of a wife while translating the Book of Mormon. The story is told of Joseph’s trying to translate the Book of Mormon one morning after having a disagreement with Emma. “Going into the Whitmer orchard where he could be alone, Joseph spent an hour in supplication with the Lord. When he returned to the house, he asked Emma’s forgiveness. He was then in the proper spiritual position to continue the translation.” [8] Joseph learned through this experience and others that the Lord felt it was a solemn responsibility to be a husband. Things had to be right with him as a spouse before things were right with him as a prophet.

Entries in the Prophet’s journal reveal that his and Emma’s lives became completely entwined as they helped one another. [9] Joseph looked to her as a valued voice. In 1832, Joseph confided to Emma, “I should like [to] . . . converse with you on all the subjects which concern us, things . . . [that are] not prudent for me to write. I omit all the important things which, could I see you, I could make you acquainted with.” [10] Joseph valued Emma’s opinion, and conversing with her increased his joy and sustained him through his trials.

During 1838, Joseph faced severe trials as he was arrested and incarcerated in Missouri. Letters back and forth reveal the Smiths’ equal partnership as Joseph expressed trust in Emma’s ability to make good decisions as a mother in his absence. [11] In a letter on November 12, 1838, the Prophet wrote, “Act according to your own feelings and best judgment.” [12] In another letter on April 4, 1839, he complimented Emma on her actions in his absence, saying, “I find no fault with you at all, I know nothing but what you have done the best you could.” After spending five months in prison, he divulged, “The contemplations of the mind under these circumstances defies the pen, or tongue, or Angels to describe or paint to the human being, who never experienced what we experience.” [13] In this communication he crossed out “I” and replaced it with “we,” showing that Joseph was mindful of Emma’s suffering in his persecutions. [14] Joseph seems to have been consistently cognizant of Emma’s contribution. For instance, Jesse S. Crosby observed Joseph doing what he called “women’s work” and concluded that Joseph was “mismanag[ing] Emma.” Crosby argued, “Brother Joseph, my wife does much more hard work than does your wife.” The Prophet gave Crosby a “terrible reproof,” saying that “if a man cannot learn in this life to appreciate a wife and do his duty by her, in properly taking care of her, he need not expect to be given one in the hereafter.” Crosby said, “After that I tried to do better by the good wife I had and tried to lighten her labors.” [15] Such instances of Joseph’s publicly honoring his wife were common. On one occasion, while having dinner at the Nauvoo Mansion House, Joseph remarked to W. W. Phelps that Emma was “a kind, provident wife,” and if he just “wanted a little bread and milk, she would load the table with so many good things, it would destroy [his] appetite.” Emma walked in on the conversation as Phelps replied, “You must do as Bonaparte did—have a little table, just large enough for the victuals you want yourself.” Emma quipped, “Mr. Smith is a bigger man than Bonaparte: he can never eat without his friends.” Joseph, complimenting his wife, responded, “That is the wisest thing I ever heard you say.” [16] In similar fashion, on a Sunday morning while sitting with Benjamin Johnson in the mansion dining room, two of the Prophet’s children came to Joseph just after Emma had changed their clothes. Joseph turned to his visitor and asked, “Benjamin, look at these children. How could I help loving their mother?” [17]

Joseph expressed such love for his wife constantly, addressing her as “My dear and beloved companion,” “Dear and Affectionate Wife,” and simply “My beloved Emma.” [18] This sentiment written in 1839 would make any wife’s heart tender: “If you want to know how much I want to see you . . . I would gladly walk from here to you barefoot, and bareheaded, and half-naked, to see you and think it great pleasure, and never count it toil.” [19] Joseph felt that his heart was entwined around Emma’s. [20] Such tender feelings were also expressed through physical affection. In another letter dated November 12, 1838, he wrote of pressing his wife and children to his bosom and kissing their lovely cheeks. [21] Exemplifying his solemn responsibility of lovingly caring for his wife and children when denied this opportunity in prison, he expressed, “If God will spare my life once more to have the privilege of taking care of you, I will ease your care and endeavor to comfort your heart.” [22] And in 1842, thinking back on his marital experiences, Joseph recalled, “Again she is here, even in the seventh trouble undaunted, firm and unwavering—unchangeable, affectionate Emma.” [23] Expressing admiration for Emma, Joseph emulated those principles espoused in the proclamation.

When Joseph was with Emma, his consideration for her was noticed by others. Mercy Rachel Thompson observed the Prophet “exhibiting all the solicitude and sympathy possible for the tenderest of hearts and the most affectionate of natures to feel” toward his wife. [24] During 1842, the Prophet’s journal reports much concern over Emma’s impending childbirth though the Prophet was not feeling well. As Emma became ill with a fever, the Prophet stayed by her bedside for several days. She worsened, and his extreme concern becomes evident in his journal:

Wednesday, 5.—My dear Emma was worse. Many fears were entertained that she would not recover. . . . I was unwell, and much troubled on account of Emma’s sickness.

Thursday, 6.—Emma is better; . . . she appears considerably easier. May the Lord speedily raise her to the bosom of her family, that the heart of His servant may be comforted again. Amen. My health is comfortable.

Friday, 7.—. . . Emma is somewhat better. I am cheerful and well.

Monday, 10.—. . . Emma gaining slowly. My health and spirits are good.

Thursday, Nov. 1, 1842.—I rode with Emma to the Temple for the benefit of her health. She is rapidly gaining. [25]

Later, one day after Christmas, Emma gave birth to a son who did not survive, and, as on many occasions, Joseph and Emma wept together. Though Emma recovered physically, Joseph continued to be concerned for her emotional well-being. Margarette Burgess tells of Joseph’s coming to her mother and asking if he could borrow one of her twin girls to comfort Emma. Mrs. Burgess agreed, providing he would bring the child home each night. He punctually came for the twin every morning and returned the baby each night. After Emma became more emotionally stable, he stopped taking the baby, but he often visited the Burgesses to caress the baby and play with her. [26] Such actions reveal that Joseph fulfilled his solemn responsibility to love and care for his wife as outlined in the proclamation.

Joseph Smith Presided over His Family in Love and Righteousness and Tried to Provide the Necessities of Life Along with Protection.

Presiding. John Taylor remembered Joseph’s teaching him the following doctrine about a father’s responsibility to preside: “It is right for heads of families to get their families together every morning and evening, and pray with them.” [27] Joseph practiced what he preached and was seen by others as the head of his household. Orson Pratt witnessed the Prophet leading his family in morning and evening devotionals, where “the words of eternal life flow[ed] from [the Prophet’s] lips,” words that were “nourishing and soothing and comforting [to] his family.” [28] Another visitor to the Smith home, William H. Walker, arrived at the Prophet’s house at nine o’clock in the evening to observe Joseph’s family singing before evening prayer with Emma leading the music. [29] William F. Cahoon was assigned to be a ward (home) teacher to visit the Smiths when he was just seventeen years old. When Cahoon knocked, the Prophet came to the door and invited Cahoon in. Cahoon relates:

They soon came in and took their seats. He [Joseph Smith] then said, “Brother William, I submit myself and family into your hands,” and took his seat. “Now, Brother William,” said he “ask all the questions you feel like.”

By this time all my fears and trembling had ceased, and I said, “Brother Joseph, are you trying to live your religion?”

He answered “Yes.”

I then said “Do you pray in your family?”

He said “Yes.”

“Do you teach your family the principles of the gospel?”

He replied “Yes, I am trying to do it.”

“Do you ask a blessing on your food?”

He answered “Yes.”

“Are you trying to live in peace and harmony with all your family?”

He said that he was.

. . . I then turned to Joseph and said, “I am through with my questions as a teacher; and now if you have any instructions to give, I shall be happy to receive them.” [30]

Joseph also encouraged wives to treat their husbands with respect, thus facilitating their husbands’ ability to preside in the home. In remarks given to the first Relief Society on April 28, 1842, he taught wives to be more careful in their conversations. He urged, “You need not be teasing your husbands because of their deeds, but let the weight of your innocence, kindness, and affection be felt, which is more mighty than a millstone hung about the neck; not war, not jangle, not contradiction, or dispute, but meekness, love, purity—these are the things that should magnify you in the eyes of all good men. . . . When you go home, never give a cross or unkind word to your husbands, but let kindness, charity and love crown your works henceforward.” [31] As counseled above, Joseph Smith’s mission to restore the gospel in its purity included restoring the principle of wives showing deference in their marital discussions. Such consideration encourages the placement of the husband as the head of the household. As the prophet of the Restoration, Joseph offered the glad tiding that husbands had the right and responsibility to preside in the homes they provided.

Providing. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. tell us that the Smiths had little formal education because they all had to work just to stay alive. Joseph was known throughout his entire life as a hard worker. [32] Because Joseph was constantly moving and was also busy with preaching the gospel, it was difficult for him to do the work of the Lord and simultaneously provide for his family. Joseph was told in July 1830 that “in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for this is not thy calling” (D&C 24:9). Particularly after the organization of the Church in 1830, the Prophet’s lifestyle necessarily shifted from that of an independent farmer to businessman and Church administrator. With this shift in responsibility, Emma was told in a revelation contained in the Book of Commandments, “Thy husband will support thee from the Church.” [33] Later the word “from” was replaced with “in.” Emma surely expected that their family would be supported by the Church. With Joseph’s full-time Church calling, he was to receive full-time pay; however, when Joseph tried to obtain financial support from believers, more times than not it was withheld. He was constantly in need of aid, whether it was to publish the Book of Mormon or to supply his family’s needs in Missouri. Records from Far West show Joseph not only being denied financial support but also being chastised for asking for it. During an 1840 high council meeting, Alma Babbitt accused Joseph of being extravagant for merely buying Emma a dress. [34]

During the years the Smiths spent in Nauvoo, between 1839 and 1844, Joseph had the opportunity to more fully provide for his family than he had previously done by becoming the trustee in trust of the Church and opening a store. “Of the thirty-five general stores in Nauvoo, the most important, if not the most profitable, was the Joseph Smith Red Brick Store.” [35] Joseph opened the building in December 1841. A store daybook was kept from June 1842 to June 1844 showing that a wide variety of goods was sold. However, prophetically, Joseph proved to be unsuccessful in temporal concerns. Historian George W. Givens tells us, “A well-stocked store, a good location, a steady supply of customers, and a congenial proprietor would usually mean success in any store, but within months Joseph had turned his store over to others.” [36] Church educator William E. Berrett explains: “The Prophet Joseph was in debt. . . . There were no funds to support the Presidency of the Church. The members of the Church were taking advantage of him. They were getting goods on credit and not paying their debts, knowing the Prophet would hardly sue them.” [37] Joseph’s tender heart may have always been at odds with his satisfactorily providing for his family.

Few would doubt that Joseph desired to provide for his family, but circumstances and situations precluded him from fulfilling that desire. Though he was often unable to personally provide for his own family because of his high calling, he offered solace to women, for through him the Lord decreed, “Women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance” (D&C 83:2). Reflecting this gospel principle, the Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, gave this personal commandment to Brigham Young at Far West on April 17, 1838: “Let my servant Brigham Young go unto the place which he has bought, on Mill Creek, and there provide for his family until an effectual door is opened for the support of his family, until I shall command him to go hence, and not to leave his family until they are amply provided for.” [38] As seen in the examples above, Joseph Smith reinstated a doctrine repeated in “The Proclamation”: Husbands are to provide food, clothing, and shelter for their wives and children.

Protecting. Providing physical protection for his family was also difficult, though Joseph felt it was a God-given responsibility, a doctrine that is reiterated in the proclamation. Joseph expressed, “There is one principle which is eternal; it is the duty of all men to protect their lives and the lives of the household, whenever necessity requires, and no power has a right to forbid it.” [39] In his journal in November 1839, Joseph describes his wish to protect his family in Far West:

Who can realize my feelings which I experienced at that time; to be torn from my companion, and leaving her surrounded with monsters in the shape of men, and my children too, not knowing how their wants would be supplied; to be taken far from them in order that my enemies might destroy me when they thought proper to do so. My partner wept, my children clung to me and were only thrust from me by the swords of the guard who guarded me. I felt overwhelmed while I witnessed the scene, and could only recommend them to the care of that God, whose kindness had followed me to the present time; and who alone could protect them and deliver me from the hands of my enemies and restore me to my family. [40]

Joseph’s desire to protect his family was constant, but drastic situations such as the one listed above denied him the privilege.

Joseph Smith Exemplified a Father’s Sacred Duty by Teaching His Children in Love and Righteousness.

The Prophet and his wife had eleven children, nine natural and two adopted; six of these children did not survive infancy. [41] Joseph can be viewed as a hands-on father. John M. Bernhisel observed Joseph participating in “the gentle charities of domestic life, as the tender and affectionate . . . parent,” and he said that Joseph’s heart was “felt to be keenly alive to the kindest and softest emotions of which human nature is susceptible.” [42] As recorded in his journal, Joseph chose to spend time with his children. [43] In these entries Joseph displays himself as “devoted to his family and they to him.” [44] He developed relationships in activities such as carriage rides, spending holidays together, singing together, teaching his children grammar, reading to his children, or sliding with them on the ice. Lucy Meserve Smith observed that little children, including his own, “were very much attached to the Prophet,” since he played with them as if they were his equals. [45] Joseph clearly advocated recreational activities with his family, as does “The Proclamation,” recognizing that physical activity “benefited the mind and spirit as well as the body.” [46] John Hess and Enoch E. Dodge both recall the Prophet playing with his children in their games. [47] As he participated in domestic activities, Joseph often commented that his family brought him “great joy.” [48]

Joseph also encouraged his growing family. In one letter he told his wife, “Tell the children that I am alive and trust I shall come and see them before long. Comfort their hearts all you can, and try to be comforted yourself.” [49] The tenderness of a father’s heart is expressed in this letter written November 9, 1839, from Springfield, Illinois: “I shall be filled with constant anxiety about you and the children until I hear from you and in a particular manner little Frederick. It was so painful to leave him sick. I hope you will watch over those tender offspring in a manner that is becoming a mother and a saint.” Always teaching, the Prophet went on, “Cultivate their minds and learn them to read and be sober. Do not let them be exposed to the weather to take cold, and try to get all the rest you can.” [50]

Right before he was martyred, Joseph was very concerned that his children continue to grow and progress. In 1842, the Smith’s adopted daughter Julia told Lucy Meserve Smith that “her papa talked to her before he left, and told her to be a good girl; and he particularly enjoined it upon her to never mistreat any of her playmates, and then he should be happy to meet her again. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘how bad I should feel if I thought I should not be prepared to meet my dear papa!’” [51] Edwin Rushton remembers Joseph asking his wife the following when he was on his way to Carthage: “Emma, can you train my sons to walk in their father’s footsteps?” She answered, “Oh, Joseph, you are coming back.” Joseph repeated the question three times, reiterating its importance. [52]

Even in his last moments, Joseph was concerned about his sacred responsibility to teach his children.

Latter-day Saints owe a debt of gratitude to Joseph Smith, who reinstated the sacred responsibility of fathers to teach their children in love and righteousness. At the funeral of Judge Higbee, Joseph stressed the importance of this principle when he promised family members, “Do as the husband and the father would instruct and you shall be reunited.” [53] As professed by the Prophet and in the proclamation, fathers who fulfill their sacred duty of loving and teaching children unite their families both in mortality and eternity.

Joseph Smith Restored the Doctrine That the Family Is Ordained Of God and Central to the Creator’s Plan.

Most Latter-day Saints are familiar with a statement Joseph made to a man who asked him, “How do you govern such a vast people as this?” “Oh,” said Joseph, “it is very easy. . . . I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” Brigham Young added, “And if correct principles will do this in one family they will in ten, in a hundred, and in ten hundred thousand.” [54] Prophetically, the correct principles Joseph taught about marriage and families continue to govern thousands of Latter-day Saint families today.

One Latter-day Saint who was personally taught these restored doctrines about the family was Parley P. Pratt. In 1839, Joseph Smith defined for Pratt the eternal gender roles that are now repeated in “The Proclamation.” Joseph revealed “a heavenly order of eternity” that consisted of an “eternal family organization, and the eternal union of the sexes.” Before this, Pratt had esteemed “kindred affections and sympathies as appertaining solely to [mortality].” As Joseph revealed, “The true dignity and destiny of a son of God, [is to be] clothed with an eternal priesthood, as the patriarch and sovereign of his countless offspring. . . . The highest dignity of womanhood [is], to stand as a queen and priestess to her husband, and to reign for ever and ever as the queen mother of her numerous and still increasing offspring.” In addition, these teachings revolutionized Pratt’s feelings for his wife. He explained, “I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved—with a pureness and intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this groveling sphere and expand it as the ocean. I felt that . . . the wife of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion; a kind of ministering angel, given to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory for ever and ever. In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also.” [55] As Joseph revealed such principles, it elevated both men and women in marriage, defining the family as central to the Father’s plan.

Joseph Received the Keys that Restored Sacred Ordinances Uniting Families Eternally.

Sealing ordinances are of utmost significance in the plan of salvation as restored by the Prophet. These ordinances were also of great importance to him personally, as he often spoke of his family relationships existing beyond mortality. In 1838, he expressed to his wife, “If I do not meet you again in this life may God grant that we may meet in heaven. . . . I am yours forever.” [56] In April 1836, Joseph received the keys of the sealing ordinances in the Kirtland Temple that made his desires possible. Placing the sealing of husbands and wives as the pinnacle of priesthood ordinances, Joseph revealed, “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]” (D&C 131:1–2).

Telestial words are inadequate to describe the celestial blessings Joseph Smith brought back to the earth. As he received priesthood keys from Elijah, generations were, as Joseph put it, rescued. [57] These restored covenants not only turn our hearts to one another, but, as Joseph explained, they also seal them eternally, creating a “chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers.” As Joseph defined it, this doctrine “is one of the greatest and most important subjects that God has revealed.” [58] Joseph described a blessing of this knowledge as follows: “When we lie down we contemplate how we may rise in the morning; and it is pleasing for friends to lie down together, locked in the arms of love, to sleep and wake in each other’s embrace.” [59] One of the great blessings of restoring the sealing ordinances is the knowledge that “when we depart, we shall hail our mothers, fathers, friends, and all whom we love, who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” [60]

As brought to light by the Prophet, the blessings associated with keeping the covenants of this ordinance astound the human mind. Faithful Latter-day Saints are promised thrones, kingdoms, principalities, powers, dominions, all heights and depths, exaltation and glory in all things, and a continuation of seed forever (see D&C 132:19).

Conclusion

With such glorious promises looming, one understands why John Taylor wrote that Joseph Smith “left a fame and name that cannot be slain” (D&C 135:3). John Taylor saw the Prophet in various circumstances and testified that “he was a good, honorable, and virtuous man, that his private and public character was irreproachable, and that he lived and died a man of God.” [61] Joseph Smith was an exemplary husband and father. Those ideas taught by him about families and exemplified during his life have now been declared in “The Proclamation” through his successor President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Joseph Smith’s God-given principles about eternal families are filled with hope. The doctrines Joseph taught and the Church organization he perfected welds people of all nations into family units where love and happiness can bind those on the earth into eternity.

Notes

[1] Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, comp. and ed. John A. Widtsoe (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1966), 459.

[2] Larry C. Porter and Susan Easton Black, eds., The Prophet Joseph: Essays on the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988), 46–47.

[3] “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, November 1995, 102.

[4] Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976), 174.

[5] Smith, Teachings, 88–89.

[6] Mark L. McConkie, Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003), 304.

[7] “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” 102.

[8] Porter and Black, The Prophet Joseph, 43.

[9] “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”

[10] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, June 6, 1832, in The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, comp. and ed. Dean C. Jessee (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), 239.

[11] “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” 102.

[12] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, November 12, 1838, in Personal Writings (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), 368–69.

[13] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, April 4, 1839, in Personal Writings, 427, 425.

[14] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, in Personal Writings, November 12, 1838, 368–69.

[15] Jesse S. Crosby in Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999), 145; and W. Jeffrey Marsh, “Dealing with Personal Injustices: Lessons from the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Religious Educator 4, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 109–10.

[16] Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978), 6:165–66.

[17] Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 88.

[18] Porter and Black, The Prophet Joseph, 44.

[19] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, April 4, 1839, in Personal Writings (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), 426.

[20] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, January 20, 1840, in Personal Writings, 454.

[21] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, in Personal Writings, 368.

[22] Church News, April 27, 1968, 3.

[23] Smith, History of the Church, 5:107.

[24] McConkie, Remembering Joseph, 58; Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 120; Porter and Black, The Prophet Joseph, 43, and “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, July 1, 1892, 399.

[25] Smith, History of the Church, 5:167–69; 182.

[26] McConkie, Remembering Joseph, 71.

[27] John Taylor, in Journal of Discourses (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854–86), 26:112.

[28] Ezra C. Dalby, “Joseph Smith, Prophet of God,” manuscript of talk delivered December 12, 1926, Salt Lake City, 14, as cited in Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Lengthened Shadow of the Hand of God,” Ensign, May 1987, 52.

[29] McConkie, Remembering Joseph, 98.

[30] “William Cahoon Autobiography,” in Stella Shurtleff and Brent Farrington Cahoon, eds., Reynolds Cahoon and His Stalwart Sons (Salt Lake City: Paragon Press, 1960), 80; see also William Cahoon, “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, August 15, 1892, 492–93.

[31] Smith, Teachings, 227.

[32] Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 169.

[33] Book of Commandments 26:8 or Doctrine and Covenants 25:9. The Doctrine and Covenants says “in,” but the Book of Commandments says “from.”

[34] Smith, History of the Church, 4:187.

[35] George W. Givens, in Old Nauvoo: Everyday Life in the City of Joseph (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1990), 82.

[36] Givens, Old Nauvoo, 84.

[37] William E. Berrett, “The Life and Character of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” BYU Speeches of the Year, 1963–64 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1964).

[38] Smith, Teachings, 118.

[39] Smith, Teachings, 391.

[40] Joseph Smith Journal Extract, November 1839, in Personal Writings, 439.

[41] Joseph and Emma Hale Smith’s children: Alvin Smith, born June 15, 1828, died same day; Thaddeus Smith, born April 30, 1831, died same day (twin); Louisa Smith, born April 30, 1831, died same day (twin); Julia Murdock Smith, adopted daughter, born April 30, 1831 (twin), died 1880; Joseph Murdock Smith, adopted son, born April 30, 1831 (twin), died March 30, 1832, from exposure caused by the mob at Hiram, Ohio; Joseph Smith III, born November 6, 1832, died December 10, 1914; Frederick G. W. Smith, born June 20, 1836, died April 13, 1862; Alexander H. Smith, born June 2, 1838, died August 2, 1909; Don Carlos Smith, born June 13, 1840, died August 15, 1841; stillborn son, born 1842; David Hyrum Smith, born November 17, 1844, died August 29, 1904.

[42] Letter of John M. Bernhisel to Governor Thomas Ford, June 14, 1844, Church Historian’s Library, Salt Lake City; Washington Franklin Anderson, “Reminiscences of John M. Bernhisel,” typewritten manuscript, Church Historian’s Library, Salt Lake City, 1–4, as cited in Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 177.

[43] Joseph Smith Diary, October 1835–March 1836, Personal Writings, 64, 66, 73, 161–62, 169–71.

[44] Porter and Black, The Prophet Joseph, 36.

[45] McConkie, Remembering Joseph, 23, 98, 73; and Porter and Black, The Prophet Joseph, 45–47.

[46] “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, August 1, 1892, 302, as cited in Black and Tate, Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man, 143.

[47] “Joseph Smith, The Prophet,” Young Woman’s Journal, December 1906, 544, as cited in Black and Tate, Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man, 144.

[48] History of the Church, 2:45, and Joseph Smith Diary, March 28–29, 1834, in Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 31.

[49] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, November 12, 1838, Community of Christ Library Archives, as cited in Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 76.

[50] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, November 9, 1839, in Personal Writings, 448.

[51] McConkie, Remembering Joseph, 73.

[52] McConkie, Remembering Joseph, 410–11; “Edwin Rushton (Related by his Son),” in Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 171.

[53] Smith, Teachings, 321.

[54] Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 10:57–58; see also Erastus Snow, in Journal of Discourses, 24:159.

[55] Pratt, Autobiography, 260.

[56] Joseph Smith to Emma Smith, November 4, 1838, in Personal Writings, 362–63.

[57] See Smith, Teachings, 323.

[58] Smith, Teachings, 337.

[59] Smith, Teachings, 295.

[60] Smith, Teachings, 359–60.

[61] Dalby, “Joseph Smith, Prophet of God,” as cited in Hinckley, “The Lengthened Shadow of the Hand of God,” 52.