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Descendants Celebrate 200th Anniversary of Hyrum Smith’s Birth

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https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/06/news-of-the-church/descendants-celebrate-200th-anniversary-of-hyrum-smiths-birth?lang=eng

An estimated 3,200 descendants of Hyrum Smith gathered at Temple Square on 13 February to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth. Some 2,300 descendants and other participants squeezed into the Assembly Hall with overflow crowds in the Tabernacle and the North Visitors’ Center.

Hyrum, loyal older brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was born on 9 February 1800. Four of the children born to Hyrum’s first wife, Jerusha Barden, survived to adulthood. After Jerusha died in childbirth, Hyrum married Mary Fielding, to whom two children were born. There are an estimated 31,000 living descendants of Hyrum Smith today. Among Hyrum’s posterity were two prophets: President Joseph F. Smith, his son, and President Joseph Fielding Smith, Hyrum’s grandson.

President Gordon B. Hinckley was among those who honored the early Church leader. “I’m not a descendant of Hyrum Smith,” he said, “But I’m a great admirer and one who loves the name of Hyrum.” Then he gave a charge to Hyrum’s posterity: “There rests upon you a tremendous and abiding responsibility to walk in the ways that Hyrum walked, with faith in the divinity of this work of the Lord, with love for this great cause, with respect for those who established it, and with resolution to do your part to strengthen it in whatever capacity you may be called to serve.”

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Eldred G. Smith, emeritus Patriarch to the Church—both second-great-grandsons of Hyrum Smith—also spoke. After noting that an estimated 6,000 of Hyrum’s descendants have served full-time missions, Elder Ballard said, “So upon the family of Hyrum Smith has rested a great responsibility of the carrying on of this great work.”

Elder Smith quoted from Hyrum’s patriarchal blessing: “‘The righteous shall rise up, and also thy children after thee, and say thy memory is just, that thou wert a just man and perfect in thy day.’” Certainly this gathering of thousands of his descendants was one fulfillment of that promise.

Among the items on display, courtesy of Elder Eldred Smith, were the clothes Hyrum wore when he was martyred on 27 June 1844 and Alvin Smith’s toolbox, used by the Prophet to hide the gold plates.

The meeting was conducted by Craig R. Frogley, a fourth-great-grandson of Hyrum, who noted that on 9 February 2000, a wreath had been placed by family members on the Hyrum Smith pylon in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. (Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith are buried at the family homestead in Nauvoo, Illinois.)

Descendants Celebrate 200th Anniversary of Hyrum Smith’s Birth

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Ensign, June 2000

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/06/news-of-the-church/descendants-celebrate-200th-anniversary-of-hyrum-smiths-birth?lang=eng

An estimated 3,200 descendants of Hyrum Smith gathered at Temple Square on 13 February to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth. Some 2,300 descendants and other participants squeezed into the Assembly Hall with overflow crowds in the Tabernacle and the North Visitors’ Center.

Hyrum, loyal older brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was born on 9 February 1800. Four of the children born to Hyrum’s first wife, Jerusha Barden, survived to adulthood. After Jerusha died in childbirth, Hyrum married Mary Fielding, to whom two children were born. There are an estimated 31,000 living descendants of Hyrum Smith today. Among Hyrum’s posterity were two prophets: President Joseph F. Smith, his son, and President Joseph Fielding Smith, Hyrum’s grandson.

President Gordon B. Hinckley was among those who honored the early Church leader. “I’m not a descendant of Hyrum Smith,” he said, “But I’m a great admirer and one who loves the name of Hyrum.” Then he gave a charge to Hyrum’s posterity: “There rests upon you a tremendous and abiding responsibility to walk in the ways that Hyrum walked, with faith in the divinity of this work of the Lord, with love for this great cause, with respect for those who established it, and with resolution to do your part to strengthen it in whatever capacity you may be called to serve.”

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Eldred G. Smith, emeritus Patriarch to the Church—both second-great-grandsons of Hyrum Smith—also spoke. After noting that an estimated 6,000 of Hyrum’s descendants have served full-time missions, Elder Ballard said, “So upon the family of Hyrum Smith has rested a great responsibility of the carrying on of this great work.”

Elder Smith quoted from Hyrum’s patriarchal blessing: “‘The righteous shall rise up, and also thy children after thee, and say thy memory is just, that thou wert a just man and perfect in thy day.’” Certainly this gathering of thousands of his descendants was one fulfillment of that promise.

Among the items on display, courtesy of Elder Eldred Smith, were the clothes Hyrum wore when he was martyred on 27 June 1844 and Alvin Smith’s toolbox, used by the Prophet to hide the gold plates.

The meeting was conducted by Craig R. Frogley, a fourth-great-grandson of Hyrum, who noted that on 9 February 2000, a wreath had been placed by family members on the Hyrum Smith pylon in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. (Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith are buried at the family homestead in Nauvoo, Illinois.)

Hyrum Smith: The Mildness of a Lamb, the Integrity of Job

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On the 200th anniversary of the birth of Hyrum Smith, martyr and brother of the Prophet Joseph, we have the opportunity to look back at his life. In a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith on 19 January 1841 in Nauvoo, Illinois, Hyrum was promised that his name would be held “in honorable remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever.”1

Today more than 10 million Latter-day Saints hold his name in high esteem, but details of his personality and life of service are largely unknown. This is in part because of the way Hyrum selflessly supported the Prophet Joseph Smith, his younger brother. During his life Hyrum played a key role in the publication of the Book of Mormon and in the building of the Kirtland and Nauvoo Temples. He fulfilled a number of missions, and he shouldered administrative responsibilities. Moreover, he blessed the lives of others with his compassion and forgiveness. And in the end, when he sealed his testimony with his blood in Carthage, he served as the vital second witness of the Restoration.

What follows is a window on the life of Hyrum Smith to help us see the kind of man he was and understand what he represents for Latter-day Saints today.

A Relationship Forged in Childhood

Hyrum’s greatest contribution to the Restoration may have been his support of Joseph, which immeasurably aided the Prophet’s ability to carry out his work. Joseph counted on Hyrum in virtually every important endeavor.

Born at Tunbridge, Vermont, on 9 February 1800, Hyrum was the third of 11 children (the first of whom died at birth) of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith; Joseph Smith Jr. was the fifth. 2 For the most part, Hyrum and Joseph grew up the same as most farm boys during the early part of the 19th century. The relationship forged between them during their childhood proved to be great. Certainly there were many events that bonded Hyrum and Joseph together, but none stronger than one in 1812. When typhus fever swept the area, several members of the Smith familywere stricken, including seven-year-old Joseph.

“His leg soon began to swell and he continued to suffer the greatest agony for the space of two weeks,” his mother wrote. “Hyrum, who was rather remarkable for his tenderness and sympathy, now desired that he might take my place. As he was a good, trusty boy, we let him do so, and, in order to make the task as easy for him as possible, we laid Joseph upon a low bed and Hyrum sat beside him, almost day and night for some considerable length of time, holding the affected part of his leg in his hands and pressing it between them, so that his afflicted brother might be enabled to endure the pain.” 3 Surely Hyrum’s feelings of loyalty and guardianship toward Joseph were strengthened during this time.

In the fall of 1823, Hyrum’s feelings of responsibility toward his family intensified when Alvin, the eldest living child, died. As Alvin was dying, he said to 23-year-old Hyrum, the next to oldest, “I have done all I could to make our dear parents comfortable. I want you to finish the house and take care of them in their old age.” 4 Now Hyrum’s role in the family was firmly established.

On 9 December 1834, Joseph Smith Sr. underscored Hyrum’s success in this role in his patriarchal blessing: “Thou hast toiled hard and labored much for the good of thy father’s family: thou hast been a stay many times to them, and by thy diligence they have often been sustained.” 5

Thrusting in His Sickle, Facilitating the Restoration

In the aftermath of Alvin’s death, Hyrum finished building the white frame house for his parents and continued to assist Joseph. In 1820 Hyrum had been among the first who believed and supported Joseph after the First Vision. When Joseph received the golden plates, it was Hyrum who provided the wooden box for their storage and protection. In 1829 Hyrum became one of the Eight Witnesses, who, after leafing through the plates and seeing the engravings thereon, testified of their reality. 6

Once the plates were translated, the Prophet entrusted Hyrum with the printer’s copy of the manuscript. Throughout the publication process, it was Hyrum, usually accompanied by Oliver Cowdery, who delivered pages to the typesetter and retrieved them daily. This pattern of Hyrum’s serving as Joseph’s facilitator was repeated throughout their lives, providing example and leadership for those who carried out the daily tasks of building the kingdom.

In the midst of these events, Hyrum courted Jerusha Barden, whom Lucy Mack Smith described as “one of the most excellent of women.” 7 They married on 2 November 1826 in Manchester, New York. Although Hyrum had learned barrel making from his father, he supported his family as a farmer and laborer. He and Jerusha eventually became the parents of six children, two of whom died young.

When the Church was organized on 6 April 1830, Hyrum, at age 30, was the eldest of the six who signed the articles of incorporation. Soon after, Hyrum was sent to Colesville, New York, to preside over one of the first branches of the Church. He and Jerusha and their young family lived with the Newell Knight family, and according to Brother Knight, “most of [Hyrum’s] time, as also that of my own, was spent … preaching the gospel wherever we could find any who would listen.” 8

Hyrum was a persuasive missionary, often visiting communities near his home, but he also traveled to the eastern seaboard and to the South. In the summer of 1831, Hyrum and his companion John Murdock were two of more than a dozen pairs of missionaries called to travel, each by a different route to Missouri and back (nearly 1,000 miles each way), preaching along the way. 9

Early in June 1833, the First Presidency—Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams—saw the Kirtland Temple in vision. Its construction became a priority. 10 Hyrum set the work in motion by taking his scythe and clearing weeds from the temple site. Two days later he and Reynolds Cahoon began digging the foundation. As a member of the committee to oversee Kirtland Temple construction, Hyrum was involved at every stage of the building, dedication, and use of the first temple of this dispensation.

When Zion’s Camp was organized in 1834, Hyrum and Lyman Wight recruited and led a contingent of Saints from Michigan to Missouri. Then in December 1834 Hyrum became an Assistant President of the Church, serving under the direction of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. 11 Thereafter, he managed important administrative duties for the Church in Kirtland.

Ever a peacemaker, Hyrum, during this time period, counseled often with his volatile younger brother William, who struggled with his role in the Church and his relationship with Joseph. Unfortunately, William eventually left the Church in spite of Hyrum’s efforts.

1837: Challenge and Change

Hyrum became an active member of the First Presidency with Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in 1837, a time of dissension and apostasy in Kirtland. Serious economic problems following the fall of the Kirtland Safety Society, an unchartered bank, rocked the community. Most of the Saints had enough faith to weather this crisis, but a number of leaders did not. For them a central issue was not the bank failure but a broader question: Should a religious leader be involved in civic or economic affairs? To Protestant America of that day, the answer was a resounding no. But for those who desired Kirtland to become a different kind of community, the answer was a resounding yes. Confrontation between the two irreconcilable views was unavoidable.

At the darkest hour in summer 1837, some of the brethren met in the temple fasting and praying for the Prophet. Soon after, the Saints gathered and Hyrum conducted the Sunday meeting. “He asked us if we did not then feel as humble as little children,” wrote newly baptized Mary Fielding, who had recently arrived in Kirtland from Canada. “He assured us that he for one did. … He was then affected to tears and … had to sit down for a short time to give vent to his feelings, after which he again arose and begged the congregation to excuse his weakness. Before he concluded, he seemed to be filled with [the] Spirit and power of God.” 12

As he often did, Hyrum followed up Joseph’s pronouncements and helped bring them to pass. In mid-1837, Hyrum gave encouragement to Elder Heber C. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who felt inadequate and overwhelmed after the Prophet Joseph revealed that he should travel to England to open the work abroad. “Hyrum, … was continually blessing and encouraging me,” said Elder Kimball. “He said to me, ‘Go, and you shall prosper as not many have prospered.’” 13 Elder Kimball went to England, with wondrous results: he and his fellow missionaries baptized 1,500 people.

In September 1837 a special conference in Kirtland brought a spirit of repentance and a semblance of harmony among the Saints. With things improving, Joseph, Hyrum, and others headed for Far West, Missouri. Hyrum felt uneasy about leaving Jerusha, who was about to deliver their sixth baby, but he also felt he had to go. He arrived in Far West on 30 October 1837. Immediately, he and the others began the challenging work of preparing for Church expansion in Missouri. A few days after his arrival, Hyrum received a letter from his brother Samuel in Kirtland, dated 13 October, nearly a month earlier: “Dear Brother [Hyrum], Jerusha … died this evening about half past seven o’clock. She was delivered of a daughter on the first or second of this month. She has been very low ever since.” Samuel included part of a letter that his younger brother Don Carlos had penned on 9 October: “I called the family together. … [Jerusha] told the children to tell their father that the Lord had taken their mother and left them for you to take care of.” 14 Don Carlos added a postscript assuring Hyrum that he would care for the children until his return.

Hyrum was distraught. Jerusha had been his love, his helpmeet, his strength. With deep sadness, on 13 November, only two weeks after his arrival, Hyrum started home and arrived in Kirtland in early December.

Joseph, who returned from Missouri a few days after Hyrum, felt a personal urgency to rescue Hyrum from despondency and the additional family responsibilities thrust upon him by Jerusha’s death. Without relief, Hyrum would not be able to carry his portion of the burden of building up the kingdom. Hence, Joseph informed Hyrum that it was the Lord’s will that Hyrum should marry Mary Fielding, the English convert from Canada. Thus, just three weeks after his sad return from Missouri, Hyrum married Mary on 24 December 1837. 15 Later Hyrum said of this event, “It was not because I had less love or regard for Jerusha, that I married so soon, but it was for the sake of my children.” 16 In due time, two children were born to Hyrum and Mary: Joseph F. (13 November 1838) and Martha Ann (14 May 1841).

“Called to Pass through Tribulation”

In early March 1838, Hyrum and Mary, who had spent only a few weeks together as husband and wife caring for their large household, left Kirtland. Of the five living children, only Lovina, then 10, was old enough to help her new stepmother. John, oldest of the boys, was 5, Hyrum was 3, Jerusha 2, and Sarah only a few months old. In addition to the children, Hyrum’s household included “Aunty” Hannah Grinnals and a young girl, Clarissa.

After “many privations and much fatigue,” they reached Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, in late May. Hyrum “fondly hoped, and anticipated the pleasure of spending a season in peace.” 17 But by late summer trouble was again brewing between the Latter-day Saints and their Missouri foes. Once violence erupted, it mushroomed. By October there were mobbings, burnings, pitched battles, and finally Governor Lilburn W. Bogg’s “Extermination Order,” resulting in the massacre at Haun’s Mill and the siege of Far West. Some Church leaders were arrested. On 1 November 1838 a company of militia came for Hyrum. Mary, who was ill and only days away from delivering her first child, particularly needed him.

Hyrum told them the situation, but they said they did not care and said he must go. To other questions they gave no answer but, as Hyrum later testified before the Nauvoo Municipal Court, they “forced me along with the point of the bayonet into the camp, and put me under the same guard with my brother Joseph.” 18 Within a month of Hyrum’s arrest, Joseph F. Smith was born.

They were put in Liberty Jail without possibility of bail. On 1 December 1838 the door slammed shut on what would be their home for more than four months. Hyrum summed up the jail experience afterward by saying he had “endured almost everything but death, from the nauseous cell, and the wretched food.” 19 Their misery was mitigated by occasional visits of friends with words of comfort and bits of food, but Hyrum was able to see his new baby and Mary only once while he was in prison. Once Hyrum asked Mary to give Lovina and Clarissa each a copy of the Book of Mormon as a gift from him. He urged them to study it and wrote to the other children, “Little John, little Hyrum, little Jerusha and little Sarah, you must be good little children till father comes home.” 20 To Mary he noted that he had “sent several scraps of writing to you, but I do not know that you will ever get them. … Please excuse me for bad writing and bad spelling and also composition, for my confinement is so painful to me that I cannot write nor compose my mind. … Do not neglect to write to me on the receipt of this. Yours in the bonds of love.” 21

Confinement gave Hyrum and the others time for prayer and reflection, and with it the opportunity to develop inner strength. When the burden of uncertainty and grief seemed too heavy to bear, God provided solace. Even as circumstances tested Hyrum’s faith, they also increased his tenderness and understanding.

Out of this suffering came the moving epistle from the Prophet Joseph Smith containing the often-poetic revelations now in sections 121, 122, and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants: “My son, peace be unto thy soul. … If thou art called to pass through tribulation … , know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.”22 The inspiration that sustained Joseph was shared by his brother, even as they shared their confinement. They suffered and were seasoned alike.

On 6 April 1839 the prisoners left their dismal cell and worn-out straw beds and stepped into the bright light and fresh air of spring. Hyrum felt weak after months of confinement. Of the experience he wrote: “I thank God that I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had born testimony to.” 23

Hyrum continued on, typically seeking to heal wrongs and promote reconciliation. In 1839 Orson Hyde, who had suffered a period of estrangement from the Church, desired to come back. Of Hyrum Smith and Heber Kimball, he wrote that these “men of noted kindness of heart, spake to me words of encouragement and comfort in the hour of my greatest sorrow.” 24 Even former neighbors still living in Manchester, New York, who did not agree with the Smiths’ religious beliefs, remembered Hyrum’s kindness. Lorenzo Saunders noted, writing of his father’s death, “Hyrum Smith in particular … was at our house all the time … and he was attentive, … always ready to bestow anything.” 25 And among those who often sought help from Hyrum in their personal struggles were Sidney Rigdon and Emma Smith.

A Second Witness

For Hyrum and Joseph, the respite after Liberty Jail was brief. Almost immediately both leaders became fully engaged in mobilizing the Saints in Illinois to establish a new city and build another temple. However, the Missouri disaster had been so crushing that it was not until January 1841, nearly two years later, that the Saints regrouped enough to actually start work on the Nauvoo Temple. Here, as in Kirtland, Hyrum was a moving force in the early stages of the construction of the temple. Later, when the Prophet Joseph realized that he might not live long enough to see the temple finished, he would select a small group to receive the ordinances in the dedicated upper story of his red brick store on 4 May 1842. Hyrum would be among the first nine men to be endowed and later to officiate with those who would oversee future ordinance work in the completed temple.

On 19 January 1841 Hyrum became Patriarch to the Church in the place of his father, who had passed away four months earlier. 26 Following Oliver Cowdery’s departure from the Church in 1838, Hyrum was appointed Assistant President of the Church as a second witness of the Restoration in place of Oliver. This sacred responsibility placed Hyrum firmly on the road that would lead to Carthage, where he and his brother Joseph would seal their testimony with their blood. 27

To the end, Hyrum remained by Joseph’s side. When Joseph fled for his life on 22 June 1844, Hyrum was with him. On the western banks of the Mississippi River, when it became obvious that they had to decide whether to return to Nauvoo, it was Hyrum to whom the Prophet turned and said, “You are the oldest, what shall we do?”

“Let us go back and give ourselves up and see the thing out,” was Hyrum’s reply.

“If you go back, I will go with you, but we shall be butchered,” said Joseph.

“No, no; let us go back and put our trust in God and we shall not be harmed. The Lord is in it. If we have to die, we will be reconciled to our fate,” said Hyrum. 28

They returned and died at the hands of an angry mob on the hot afternoon of 27 June 1844 in the Carthage Jail. Truly, “in life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!” 29

Of Hyrum, Joseph had written in 1842 what may sum up his feelings, appreciation, and hopes for his dear brother: “Brother Hyrum, what a faithful heart you have got. Oh, may the eternal Jehovah crown eternal blessings upon your head, as a reward for the care you have had for my soul. Oh, how many are the sorrows we have shared together. … Hyrum, thy name shall be written in the Book of the Law of the Lord, for those who come after thee to look upon, that they may pattern after thy works.”30

Hyrum’s Living Legacy

Today we see the fulfillment of a promise given to Hyrum that “his children shall be many and his posterity numerous, and they shall rise up and call him blessed.” 31 Thousands of faithful Latter-day Saint men and women trace their lineage through the four children of Hyrum and Jerusha who grew to adulthood and through the two children of Hyrum and Mary. Premier among these descendants are two Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, son of Hyrum and Mary; and Joseph Fielding Smith, a grandson.

[illustration] Joseph, I Will Not Leave You, by Theodore Gorka

[illustration] Hyrum helped build this white frame home (above) on Stafford Road two miles south of Palmyra, New York. (Joseph Smith Sr. Home, by Al Rounds.) Then he and his parents, brothers, and sisters (right) moved into it from the log home across the road. (Painting by Dan Baxter.)

[illustration] A man of action, Hyrum (below) began clearing weeds with his scythe from the site for the Kirtland Temple (right, [photo]) as soon as it was announced. (Painting by Joseph Brickey.)

[illustrations] Above: A visit to Liberty Jail from Emma and Joseph III brought joy to Joseph and Hyrum. (Painting by Joseph Brickey.) Left: Loyal to the end, Hyrum refused to leave Joseph during those days in Carthage Jail. (Brothers, by Liz Lemon Swindle.)

[illustration] Hyrum was the first to die at Carthage after being hit by four bullets. Joseph sobbed, “Oh dear, brother Hyrum!” (History of the Church,6:618). (Oh, My Poor Dear Brother Hyrum, by Liz Lemon Swindle.)

Ronald K. Esplin is director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History and professor of Church history at Brigham Young University.

Notes

  1.   * The title of this article comes from the Prophet Joseph Smith’s description of Hyrum in History of the Church, 2:338. To improve the readability of quotations from handwritten documents, spelling and capitalization have been corrected, abbreviations expanded, and punctuation added. I acknowledge the research assistance of Quinn M. Robinson.

Notes

  1.   1. D&C 124:96.
  2.   2. For further information on each of these children, see Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (1901), 331–46. Researchers learned only recently that an unnamed son was born before Alvin Smith (see Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Papers of Joseph Smith, 2 vols. (1989–92), 1:xlv).
  3.   3. History of Joseph Smith, 55.
  4.   4. History of Joseph Smith, 87.
  5.   5. Blessing by Patriarch Joseph Smith Sr. on Hyrum Smith, 9 Dec. 1834, Patriarchal Blessing Book, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; hereafter cited as Church Archives.
  6.   6. See introduction to the Book of Mormon.
  7.   7. History of Joseph Smith, 94.
  8.   8. “Newell Knight’s Journal,” Classic Experiences and Adventures(1969), 46–104.
  9.   9. See D&C 52:8–10.
  10.   10. See D&C 95.
  11.   11. See Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (1992), 3:1330.
  12.   12. Mary Fielding to My Dearest Sister [Mercy Fielding Thompson], c. 15 June 1837, Church Archives.
  13.   13. Heber C. Kimball, “Journal Extracts (1801–38),” in Millennial Star,Sept. 1864, 598.
  14.   14. Samuel H. Smith and Don Carlos Smith to Hyrum Smith, 13 Oct. 1837, Church Archives.
  15.   15. Joseph Fielding Smith, The Life of Joseph F. Smith (1938), 120.
  16.   16. Quoted in Pearson H. Corbett, Hyrum Smith—Patriarch (1963), 164.
  17.   17. “Hyrum Smith to the Saints Scattered Abroad,” Times and Seasons,Dec. 1839, 21.
  18.   18. History of the Church, 3:414.
  19.   19. “Sufferings and Damages Sustained in Missouri and in Being Driven Therefrom,” updated statement by Hyrum Smith, Church Archives.
  20.   20. Hyrum Smith to Sister Grinnals [Hannah Grinnals], 16 Mar. 1839, Joseph Smith Sr. Family Papers, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Brigham Young University.
  21.   21. Hyrum Smith to Dear Companion, 23 Mar. 1839, Church Archives.
  22.   22. D&C 121:7; D&C 122:5, 7; see also History of the Church, 3:289–305.
  23.   23. Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 23.
  24.   24. “History of Orson Hyde [1805–1842],” Millennial Star, Dec. 1864, 792.
  25.   25. Lorenzo Saunders, 12 Nov. 1884, interviewed by E. L. Kelly; notes in RLDS Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri.
  26.   26. See D&C 124:91–92, 124.
  27.   27. See D&C 124:94–95.
  28.   28. See Hyrum Smith—Patriarch, 385–87.
  29.   29. D&C 135:3.
  30.   30. Papers of Joseph Smith, 2:416; grammar corrected.
  31.   31. Joseph Smith Jr. blessing on Hyrum Smith, 18 Dec. 1833, recorded by Oliver Cowdery, in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 40.

Hyrum Smith: “Firm As the Pillars of Heaven”

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M. RUSSELL BALLARD
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1995/10/hyrum-smith-firm-as-the-pillars-of-heaven?lang=eng

My dear brothers and sisters, I am grateful to be able to stand before you today. After undergoing heart-bypass surgery two months ago, I am grateful to be able to stand anywhere. I have felt the powerful faith and prayers of Church members exercised in my behalf these past months, for which I express my sincere appreciation. I have been greatly blessed and publicly express humble gratitude to my Heavenly Father.

During the early part of July, Sister Ballard and I had the opportunity to travel to Church historic sites in Palmyra, Kirtland, and Nauvoo with our seven children, their companions, and twenty of our grandchildren. Some people have suggested this may have contributed to my heart problems. I don’t know about that, but I do know that our tour of these locations filled our souls with an ever greater love and respect for the ProphetJoseph Smith, for his family, and for the stalwarts who first embraced the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What an extraordinary experience it was to teach my family from the Doctrine and Covenants while standing on the very ground where many of those revelations and instructions were received.

Visiting those inspirational sites and immersing ourselves as a family in the events of the Restoration reminded me again of the marvelous privilege we have to live in a day when we have such clear doctrinal understanding of our Heavenly Father’s plan for the salvation and exaltation of his children. The clarity of our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ and his restored church is precious, empowering knowledge for each one of us. I thank God that in these difficult days of moral decay and departure from sound values, we have no shortage of revealed truth to guide our lives.

During the past several weeks of physical recovery, I have found myself with more time on my hands than I am accustomed to, with an unscheduled opportunity to think, to ponder, and to pray. I do not recommend the course of action that brought this gift of time to me, but I believe all of us would benefit from time to ponder and meditate. In the quiet moments of personal introspection, the Spirit can teach us much.

The Spirit has confirmed to me the important responsibility we have to see that the legacy of faith of our pioneer forefathers is never lost. We can derive great strength, particularly our youth, from understanding our Church history. As a descendant of Hyrum Smith, I feel a solemn obligation to ensure that the Church never forgets the significant ministry of this great leader. Recognizing that no one save Jesus only excels the singular accomplishment of the Prophet Joseph, I am stirred within my soul to remember and respect the valiant life and remarkable contributions of his older brother, the patriarch Hyrum.

In September of 1840, Joseph Smith, Sr. gathered his family around him. This venerable patriarch was dying and wanted to leave his blessing on his beloved wife and children. Hyrum, the eldest living son, asked his father to intercede with heaven when he arrived there so the enemies of the Church “may not have so much power” over the Latter-day Saints. Father Smith then laid his hands upon Hyrum’s head and blessed him to have “peace … sufficient … to accomplish the work which God has given you to do.” Knowing of Hyrum’s lifelong faithfulness, he concluded this last blessing with the promise that Hyrum would “be as firm as the pillars of heaven unto the end of [his] days.” 1

This blessing identified Hyrum’s strongest characteristic. More than anything else, he was “firm as the pillars of heaven.” Throughout Hyrum’s life, the forces of evil combined against him in an attempt to defeat him or at least to prompt him to stray off course.

After his older brother Alvin’s death in 1823, Hyrum bore significant responsibility in the Smith family. At the same time, he assisted and served his brother, Joseph the Prophet, throughout the long and arduous process of the Restoration. Ultimately, he joined Joseph and other martyrs of past gospel dispensations. His blood was shed as his final testimony to the world.

Through it all, Hyrum stood firm. He knew the course his life would take, and he consciously chose to follow it. To Joseph, Hyrum became companion, protector, provider, confidant, and eventually joined him as a martyr. Unjust persecution engulfed them throughout their lives. Although he was older, Hyrum recognized his brother’s divine mantle. While he gave Joseph strong counsel on occasion, Hyrum always deferred to his younger brother.

Speaking to his brother, Joseph once said, “Brother Hyrum, what a faithful heart you have got! Oh may the Eternal Jehovah crown eternal blessings upon your head, as a reward for the care you have had for my soul! O how many are the sorrows we have shared together.” 2

On another occasion, Joseph referred to his brother with these profound and tender words: “I love him with that love that is stronger than death.” 3

Hyrum gave unfailing service to the Church. In 1829, he was among a handful of individuals who were allowed to view the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and for the rest of his life he testified to the divine nature of the Book of Mormon as one of the Eight Witnesses who “had seen the plates with his eyes and handled them with his hands.” 4 He was among the first to be baptized in this gospel dispensation. At age thirty, he was the oldest of the six men chosen in 1830 to formally organize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1831, he stood before the Ohio conference and pledged “that all he had was the Lord’s and he was ready to do his will continually.” 5 In 1833, when the Lord chastised the Church for delaying the start of the Kirtland Temple, Hyrum was the first to start digging its foundation. As chairman of the temple committee, Hyrum rallied the Church to perform the seemingly impossible task of building the Kirtland Temple when most Church members literally had nothing to give to the cause. A few years later he repeated this service with the building of the Nauvoo Temple.

Hyrum served in the Ohio bishopric, on the first high council, as Patriarch, counselor in the First Presidency, and finally as one of only two men ever to hold the office of Assistant President of the Church.

Hyrum served many missions for the Church. During one mission, traveling from Kirtland to Indiana, he endured one of his greatest trials when his first wife, Jerusha, died soon after giving birth to his sixth child. Hyrum’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, wrote that Jerusha’s death “wrung our hearts with more than common grief. … She was a woman whom everybody loved.” 6

Although Hyrum was grieved, his faith was unshaken; his determination to serve Heavenly Father and his church never faltered. I believe God rewarded his faithfulness by bringing into his life one of the great women of Church history, Mary Fielding, whom he subsequently married. Together they built an extraordinary legacy of love and discipleship.

Clearly, Hyrum Smith was one of the firm pillars of the Restoration. But sadly, many Church members know little about him except that he was martyred with his brother in Carthage Jail. That is significant, but he did far more. Indeed, Joseph Smith himself once suggested that his followers would do well to pattern their lives after Hyrum’s. 7 May I suggest a few examples from Hyrum’s life that we may wish to follow.

In 1829, when Joseph was finishing the translation of the Book of Mormon, Hyrum was anxious to begin spreading the gospel and building the Church. He asked Joseph to inquire of the Lord what he should do. In section 11 of the Doctrine and Covenants we read the Lord’s response: “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word. … Study my word which hath gone forth … , and also study my word … which is now translating.” 8

Hyrum’s life is a witness to his obedience to this instruction. To the very last day of his life, he devoted himself to obtaining the word through study of the scriptures. In Carthage Jail, he read and commented on extracts from the Book of Mormon. The scriptures were obviously part of Hyrum’s being, and he turned to them during times when he needed comfort and strength the most.

Just think of the spiritual strength we could gain in our lives and how much more effective we would be as teachers, missionaries, and friends if we studied the scriptures regularly. I am sure we, like Hyrum, will be able to endure our greatest trials if we search the word of God as he did.

The second great example from Hyrum’s life that we may wish to follow occurred very early in the Restoration. According to Lucy Mack Smith, when young Joseph first told the rest of the family about his experience in the Sacred Grove, Hyrum and all the others received the message “joyfully.” The family sat “in a circle, … giving the most profound attention to a boy … who had never read the Bible through in his life.” 9 In contrast to the reaction of Laman and Lemuel to their younger brother Nephi’s divine calling and to the jealousy of the older brothers of Joseph who was sold into Egypt, there was no jealousy or animosity in Hyrum Smith. Instead, real faith was born in him of the simple and joyful response he felt to the spiritual truth of his brother’s message. The Lord let him know in his heart what was right, and he followed Joseph—faithfully—for the rest of his life.

“I, the Lord, love [Hyrum],” the Savior revealed in section 124 of the Doctrine and Covenants, “because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me.” 10

Faithful Hyrum had a believing heart; he did not have to see everything Joseph saw. For him, hearing the truth from Joseph’s lips and feeling the spiritual promptings whispering that it was true were enough. Faith to believe was the source of Hyrum’s spiritual strength and is the source of the spiritual strength of faithful members of the Church then and today. We do not need more members who question every detail; we need members who have felt with their hearts, who live close to the Spirit, and who follow its promptings joyfully. We need seeking hearts and minds that welcome gospel truths without argument or complaint and without requiring miraculous manifestation. Oh, how we are blessed when members respond joyfully to counsel from their bishops, stake presidents, quorum or auxiliary leaders, some of whom might be younger than they and less experienced. What great blessings we receive when we follow “that which is right” joyfully and not grudgingly.

The third example from the life of Hyrum was his selfless service to others. His mother commented on this quality, saying that he was “rather remarkable for his tenderness and sympathy.” 11 When Joseph was afflicted with severe pain in his leg, Hyrum relieved his mother and sat beside Joseph almost twenty-four hours a day for more than a week.

Hyrum was the first to extend a hand of friendship to a visitor, the first to attempt to moderate a dispute, the first to forgive an enemy. The Prophet Joseph was known to say that “if Hyrum could not make peace between two who had fallen out, the angels themselves might not hope to accomplish the task.” 12

Do similar needs exist in the Church and in our families today? Are we sensitive to the concerns of those who need special attention? Are we aware of families who are struggling spiritually or emotionally and who need our love, encouragement, and support? Hyrum’s example of selfless service could be a powerful influence in the world today if enough of us choose to follow it.

Another great example comes to us from the dark dungeon of Liberty Jail. Here Hyrum, Joseph, and a few others suffered exposure to cold, hunger, inhumane treatment, and the loneliness of isolation from friends. In this schoolhouse jail, Hyrum learned the lesson of patience in adversity and affliction. In the midst of this most severe trial, his primary concern was not for himself and his companions but for his family. In a letter to his wife, Hyrum wrote that the “greatest part of my trouble” was wondering how she and the family were doing. “When I think of your trouble my heart is weighed down with sorrow. … But what can I do … thy will be done O Lord.” 13

As I travel throughout the Church, I see members being tried in the crucible of affliction. I see members suffering from debilitating health concerns. I see husbands, wives, and parents living in trying circumstances they cannot change regarding their spouses or their children. Every one of us is faced at times with unpleasant situations, adversity, and affliction that we cannot change. Many circumstances can only be addressed with time, tears, prayer, and faith. For us, like Hyrum, peace may only come when we bring ourselves to say, “but what can I do … thy will be done O Lord.”

Surely Joseph was inspired when he wrote of his brother Hyrum, “Thy name shall be written … for those who come after thee to look upon, that they may pattern after thy works.” 14 May we help keep the promise made to Hyrum in section 124 of the Doctrine and Covenants that his “name [shall] be had in honorable remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever.” 15 His name most certainly will be honorably revered as we follow his example and “pattern after [his] works.” May the memory of Hyrum Smith and all of our faithful forefathers never fade from our minds, I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Brothers Bound by Love and Faith

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https://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/09/brothers-bound-by-love-and-faith?lang=eng

BY ELDER M. RUSSELL BALLARD

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Carthage, Illinois, Satellite Broadcast Sunday evening, June 26, 1994

Elder M. Russell Ballard speaking at the evening program in Carthage.

I’m so appreciative of being invited by President Hunter and President Hinckley to join with you this evening. It is an overwhelming thing, my brothers and sisters, to stand on this hallowed ground on this most significant day. As a great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith, it is impossible for me to consider the traumatic events that took place here 150 years ago tomorrow and not be deeply touched in a personal, emotional way. And as a dedicated believer in the great and eternal principles for which Hyrum and his younger brother Joseph gave their lives, I am in awe of their courageous faith and inspired by the testimony of truth they sealed here with their blood.

There is a sweet and peaceful feeling here today, and that is just as it should be. These were men of peace, brothers who were bound by their love of God as well as their love for each other. Although Hyrum was six years older, he recognized Joseph’s sacred and holy calling, and he stood by his younger brother faithfully throughout his life—and death. “During the entire ministry of the Prophet,” one biographer noted, Hyrum and Joseph “were never separated from each other as much as six months at any given time.” 1

President Joseph Fielding Smith, a grandson, described the unique intimacy that existed between brothers Hyrum and Joseph as follows: “No man was ever more closely associated with the Prophet than was the Patriarch Hyrum; no man understood the Prophet better. They were together through most of the trials and difficulties that beset the Saints. Together they shared joy and sorrow, and side by side they stood in their unjust imprisonments, persecutions, and sentence of death.” 2

The two brothers sustained and supported each other through the cruelty to which they were subjected in jail at Richmond and the inhumane treatment in the dungeons of Liberty Jail. While marching with Zion’s Camp, both were stricken with cholera and were literally at death’s door. As they prayed with each other to be healed, Hyrum sprang to his feet, exclaiming, “I have had an open vision, in which I saw mother kneeling under an apple tree; and she is even now asking God, in tears, to spare our lives, that she may again behold us in the flesh. The Spirit testifies, that her prayers, united with ours, will be answered.” 3

As a result of such experiences, Joseph came to depend upon Hyrum just as Moses depended upon Aaron. Of Hyrum, Joseph said: “I could pray in my heart that all my brethren were like unto my beloved brother Hyrum, for truly he possesses the mildness of a Lamb, and the integrity of a Job; and in short the meek and quiet spirit, of Jesus Christ; and I love him with that love, that is stronger than death, for I never had occasion to rebuke him, nor he me.” 4

Brigham Young said that “Hyrum was as good a man as ever lived. … His integrity was of the highest order. … I used to think, and think now, that an angel dwelling in the presence of the Father and the Son possessed no more integrity in their hearts than did Hyrum Smith.” 5 John Taylor said that Hyrum was “a great and good man, and my soul was cemented to his. If ever there was an exemplary, honest, and virtuous man, an embodiment of all that is noble in the human form, Hyrum Smith was its representative.” 6

The Lord Himself, however, gave the greatest tribute to Hyrum when He said, “Blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.” 7

I wish time would permit us to fully explore the spiritual breadth of Hyrum’s testimony as reflected in his sermons and teachings. Perhaps this one quotation will suffice, especially when considered in light of the event we commemorate today. Said Hyrum: “I had been abused and thrust into a dungeon, and confined for months on account of my faith, and the ‘testimony of Jesus Christ.’ However I thank God that I felt a determination to die, rather than deny the things which my eyes had seen, which my hands had handled, and which I had borne testimony to, wherever my lot had been cast; and I can assure my beloved brethren that I was enabled to bear as strong a testimony, when nothing but death presented itself, as ever I did in my life.” 8

When death finally did present itself, Hyrum chose to accept it. Now, that may seem an odd choice of words, given the circumstances that confronted Joseph and Hyrum here at Carthage on 27 June 1844. But according to a First Presidency blessing given to him in 1835, Hyrum was promised power to escape his enemies if he so chose. Listen to the words of the blessing: “Thou shalt have power to escape the hand of thine enemies. Thy life shall be sought with untiring zeal, but thou shalt escape. If it please thee, and thou desirest, thou shalt have the power voluntarily to lay down thy life to glorify God.” 9

With perfect faith in the Lord’s promise, Hyrum was able to face mobs and persecutions, always knowing that he would eventually escape and return to his family. But at Carthage, the time had come to voluntarily lay down his life to glorify God and to “seal his testimony with his blood” 10 —together with his beloved brother Joseph. As Associate President of the Church, Hyrum served as “a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto [the] church, as well as … Joseph.” 11 In this capacity he held the keys of the kingdom in concert with his brother. 12 According to President Joseph Fielding Smith, “The sealing of the testimony through the shedding of blood would not have been complete in the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith alone; it required the death of Hyrum Smith who jointly held the keys of this dispensation.” 13

There is no doubt that Hyrum made a conscious decision to join his brother in martyrdom here at Carthage. He was warned at least four times that we know of not to come here. A week before the trip to Carthage, Joseph recorded that “I advised my brother Hyrum to take his family on the next steamboat and go to Cincinnati. Hyrum replied, ‘Joseph, I can’t leave you.’ Whereupon I said to the company present, ‘I wish I could get Hyrum out of the way, so that he may live to avenge my blood.’” 14

On June 24, three days before the Martyrdom, a messenger rode from Carthage to Nauvoo and reported: “Brother Hyrum, you are now clear, and if it was my duty to counsel you, I would say, do not go another foot, for they say they will kill you, if you go to Carthage.” 15 At first Joseph and Hyrum accepted that counsel and crossed to the Iowa side of the Mississippi River. Joseph believed that the Saints in Nauvoo would be safe from hostility because it was the Smith brothers that the mobs wanted. But then word came that some of the fainthearted Saints had called for Joseph’s return, some even accusing him of cowardice. Fittingly, Joseph turned to Hyrum and said, “Brother Hyrum, you are the oldest, what shall we do?” Hyrum responded, “Let us go back and give ourselves up, and see the thing out.” After a moment to assess the situation, Joseph responded, “If you go back I will go with you, but we shall be butchered.” Hyrum’s answer showed his great faith in the Lord and willingness to die for His cause: “Let us go back and put our trust in God,” Hyrum said, “and we shall not be harmed. The Lord is in it. If we live or have to die, we will be reconciled to our fate.” 16

And so Joseph and Hyrum spent the last few days of their mortal lives together as prisoners in Carthage, brothers to the very end. On June 26 Joseph told his brethren, “Could my brother, Hyrum but be liberated, it would not matter so much about me.” 17 Later that evening, as they both prepared for what they must have known was ahead, Hyrum “read … copious extracts from the Book of Mormon” and commented upon them. “Joseph bore a powerful testimony to the guards of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon … and that the Kingdom of God was again upon the earth.” 18

Late in the afternoon of 27 June 1844, a hate-driven mob burst up the stairs and into the room where Hyrum, ever the older brother, was holding the door in an attempt to protect the others. He became the first martyr that dark day, falling to the floor when he was shot, declaring, “I am a dead man!” Joseph’s thoughts went immediately to his brother. He exclaimed, “Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!” 19 John Taylor was the next prisoner to be shot, after which Joseph leapt to the window to draw the mob’s attention. As soon as he was shot and fell to the ground below, the mob rushed outside, leaving the wounded John Taylor to survey the gruesome scene in the room. He later recorded: “I had a full view of our beloved and now murdered brother, Hyrum. There he lay as I had left him; he had not moved a limb; he lay placid and calm, a monument of greatness even in death; but his noble spirit had left its tenement, and was gone to dwell in regions more congenial to its exalted nature.” 20

I think we can all understand the horrible shock and grief members of the Church must have felt as news of the Martyrdom spread to Nauvoo. Dan Jones, who spent the night before the Martyrdom in Carthage but who was not present at the time of the murders, gave this poignant description of what he encountered in Nauvoo upon the return of the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum:

“Oh, the sorrowful scene to be seen in Nauvoo that day! There has never been nor will there ever be anything like it; everyone sad along the streets, all the shops closed and every business forgotten. Onward I quickened my pace until I reached the house of the late Joseph Smith. I pushed my way through the sorrowful crowd until I reached the room where his body and that of his brother had been placed. … There they lay in their coffins side by side, majestic men as they suffered side by side from prison to prison for years, and they labored together, shoulder to shoulder, to build the kingdom of Immanuel; eternal love bound them steadfastly to each other and to their God until death; and now, my eyes beheld the blood of the two godly martyrs mingling in one pool in the middle of the floor, their elderly mother, godly and sorrowful, … a hand on each one of her sons … , her heart nearly broken by the excruciating agony and the indescribable grief. At the head of the deceased sat the dear wife of each one and around their father stood four of Joseph’s little children and six of Hyrum’s children crying out intermittently, ‘My dear father.’ … ‘Oh, my father.’ And from the hearts of the mothers, ‘My husband killed,’ and the grey-haired mother groaning pitifully, ‘Oh, my sons, my sons.’” 21

Still, Mother Lucy Mack reported that even in the midst of so much grief and despair, there was comfort and peace. As she cried in agony, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken this family!” she reported hearing a voice reply, “I have taken them to myself, that they might have rest.” Then, as she looked upon the mortal remains of her two sons, she said, “I seemed almost to hear them say, ‘Mother, weep not for us, we have overcome the world by love; we carried to them the gospel, that their souls might be saved; they slew us for our testimony, and thus placed us beyond their power; their ascendency is for a moment, ours is an eternal triumph.’” 22

I testify today, my brothers and sisters, that that is true. As John Taylor so fittingly observed, “In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

“… Their testament is in force.

“… Their innocent blood … is a broad seal affixed to ‘Mormonism’ that cannot be rejected by any court on earth.” 23

Of this I bear humble testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

  1.    The Life of Joseph F. Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1969), p. 39.
  2.    The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Apr. 1911, p. 61.
  3.    Leonard J. Arrington and Susan Arrington Madsen, Mothers of the Prophets (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987), p. 20.
  4.    The Papers of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1989–92), 1:168.
  5.    Address given by Brigham Young, Salt Lake City Bowery, 8 Oct. 1866, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City.
  6.    History of the Church, 7:107.
  7.    D&C 124:15.
  8.    “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter-day Saints in Missouri,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, p. 23.
  9.    Kirtland High Council Minutes, Dec. 1832–Nov. 1837, typescript, p. 186, LDS Church Archives.
  10.    D&C 136:39.
  11.    D&C 124:94.
  12.    D&C 124:95.
  13.    Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56), 1:219.
  14.    History of the Church, 6:520.
  15.    Ibid., 6:557–58.
  16.    Ibid., 6:549–50.
  17.    Ibid., 6:592.
  18.    Dan Jones manuscript, “The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith,” LDS Church Archives, p. 9.
  19.    History of the Church, 7:102.
  20.    Ibid., 7:107.
  21.    Dan Jones, “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum,” Brigham Young University Studies 24, no. 1 (Winter 1984): 93.
  22.    History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1958), pp. 324–25.
  23.    D&C 135:3, 5, 7.