By Joy Ercanbrack
Two hundred and four Smith descendants retraced family footprints through historic Kirtland, worshipped in the Kirtland temple, and participated in a family service project. Two highlights were the Kirtland Temple Dedication Reenactment and the family service project.
Kirtland Temple Dedication Reenactment
Karl Anderson told of the original dedicatory proceedings. A choir performed music from the 1836 dedication, with the congregation joining the singing. The family sang “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning,†and the words described the amazing scene as we met in that beautiful place for our family meeting and reenactment of the Temple dedication. Cousins sat in the benches where original Smith family members would have been and read words from the Smith family. Dan Larsen represented Father Smith and spoke of the Prophet Joseph as the prophet of the Restoration. We treasured the powerful music and spirit of those we honored.
Stone Markers and Lilacs
At the girls’ camp near the John Johnson home in Hiram, OH, the Smith family provided beautiful stone markers identifying significant women who lived in Hiram in the 1800s, including Emma, her daughter Julia, and Jerusha Barden Smith. Cousins also planted lilacs that descend from original Smith lilac bushes in the 1800s. A lilac bush first grew at the home of Hyrum and Jerusha in Kirtland, OH. Lilacs were taken by Jerusha to Kirtland, and lilacs were then takent to Missouri, and Nauvoo. Mary Bailey Smith wrote “Joseph, Hyrum, and Samuel put the lilac bush that Father Smith loved so well at the head of his grave.†Samuel and Mary Bailey Smith graves were placed at the two smaller lilac bushes. Also, Mary Fielding Smith took lilac cuttings to the Salt Lake Valley.
This summer, cousins took lilacs from Salt Lake, from the Smith Family Cemetery in Nauvoo, and from Gilda Sundeen in Michigan and planted bushes at the Smith family marker at the Kirtland Temple Cemetery, the girls camp in Hiram, OH, and at the Mormon Trail Center looking toward the Winters Quarters Nebraska Temple and pioneer cemetery.
Frances Orton taught in her closing message, “By our roots we know each other. Nurturing tender roots of the lilac bush is symbolic of nurturing one another in the Smith Family.â€