In 1972, the Smith Family came from the west and midwest and met for the first time in over a century in Nauvoo, Illinois.
Lynn Smith, a Patriarch in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and reunion participant, spoke during this first meeting. He said, “I want you to know that I am a preacher (first) and a historian (second). I am interested in people, and families and in the dynamics of life and environment that enable an individual to more adequately achieve the potential resident within him. I hope that I will be able to help you become more aware of the devine and spiritual forces at work in the lives of those we honor this day.”
Richard Lloyd Anderson gave a talk called, Joseph Smith Sr.: Family and Church Patriarch. He said, “The industry of Asael and his oldest sons, one of which was Joseph Smith, Sr., brought a resonable prosperity in Vermont. But he considered his most valuable assest the wisdom of a well-spent life, and he gave this possession in equal shares to his wife and children–and all descendants after them.” Richard Anderson continued on about Joseph Sr.’s father, Asael, “Speaking to his own sons and daughters about their children, he emphasized: “Make it your chiefest work to bring them up in the ways of virtue, that they may be useful in their generation.”
Explore memories from the first Smith Reunion: