Category: News

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Reunion News – February 8, 2016

All Aboard–25th Anniversary of the Smith Family Cemetery Dedication

We will not have two separate tours, but rather we will have one Train/Bus tour. We have filled all of our original reserved spots on the train, but we have secured a second contract with Amtrak. We are very excited about the number of reservations we have received. There’s still time to join us on the Train/Bus trip to Nauvoo. We will take reservations until it fills. We already have 75 commitments and only 35 more spots available.
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2016 Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion in Nauvoo

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Train Up a Child
And Yourself to the 2016 Reunion
The 2016 Smith Family Reunion will be held in Nauvoo, Illinois on August 4-7. We are presenting a new travel alternative. Travel by train from Utah to Iowa, be picked up by a chartered bus and join the rest of the group in Nauvoo. Stay three nights in comfortable hotel accommodations. Return to Utah leaving Iowa by train late Sunday afternoon.
Train
We hope to fill a train-car with the Smith Family and friends. Here are the dates for traveling by train for the family reunion:
TrainTravelSchedule
There is no charge for infants, ages two and under. A child must be accompanied by an adult. Here is the pricing per person:
TrainTourPricing
Traveling by train saves you a couple of travel days when compared with bus travel. Train seating is more spacious and more comfortable than airline seating. You will spend a night on the train each direction. Consider these tips for traveling in coach class on the train and these tips for first-time train-travelers.
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Family News – September 27, 2015

http://josephsmithsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/9_27_15_EmailNews.pdf

The First Smith Family Podcast Is Here

A great time to sit and watch the Smith Family Podcast would be during family night or General Conference weekend.

Joseph Smith Sr. Family Association members along with Dr. LeRoy Wirthlin and his wife, Mary, at the Smith home in Norwich, Vermont. Left to right: Daniel & LuAnn Adams, Steve & Frances Orton, Mary & LeRoy Wirthlin, Rosemarie & Dan Larsen, Michael Kennedy, Joyce & Karl Anderson, Julie Maddox, and Laura & Don Blanchard. Picture by Elder Michael Lantz
Joseph Smith Sr. Family Association members along with Dr. LeRoy Wirthlin
and his wife, Mary, at the Smith home in Norwich, Vermont. Left to right:
Daniel & LuAnn Adams, Steve & Frances Orton, Mary & LeRoy Wirthlin,
Rosemarie & Dan Larsen, Michael Kennedy, Joyce & Karl Anderson, Julie
Maddox, and Laura & Don Blanchard. Picture by Elder Michael Lantz

Elder M. Russell Ballard and Wallace B. Smith, Co-Chairs of the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association desire that the younger generation know the faith-promoting stories of their ancestors.

The Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Family Association presents this podcast to the family and ask you to watch this short ten-minute video during a family night to help build faith in the work of our ancestors and recognize the sacrifices and commitment that fill our heritage.

Share the podcasts with your friends. Use social media to promote these wonderful stories. Our family and friends need to see these messages of faith and determination.

https://youtu.be/WevN2InOI7s.

raceJoseph Smith Miracle Scholarship

Since the last email newsletter, the Smith family’s efforts have been featured on the Church News and Events page of LDS.org.

Please encourage your friends and neighbors to view this article and others described below. It is our hope that this can be a perpetual scholarship. You can donate here:

donate-here

Our roots come from New England and what a wonderful way to promote Joseph’s name for good in New England.

To read more about this see the, Deseret News article written by Smith descendant, Julie Maddox.

Check out the Valley News report, Gift Honors Surgery That Saved Religious Leader’s Leg. The Geisel News Center issued a press release that explained, “Descendants of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, have created a scholarship at the Geisel School of Medicine to honor and give thanks for a pioneering surgery that Dartmouth’s Dr. Nathan Smith performed on young Joseph.” To read the full press release.

Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family
c/o Steve and Frances Orton
381 W 3700 N, Provo UT 84604
Phone: (801) 226‐6054 Fax: (801) 452‐6567
Email: ortonfrances@gmail.com
Website: http://josephsmithsr.org/

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Family News – September 19, 2015

http://josephsmithsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/9_19_15_EmailNews.pdf

You Made It Happen

The Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association awarded a $25,000 scholarship to the Geisel School of Medicine to honor the work of Dr. Nathan Smith and have Joseph’s name known for good on Friday, September 11, 2015.

scholarship_creation
Richard C. Peck, Director of Gift Planning and G. Dino Koff, Director of Financial Aid and Assistant Dean of Student Services at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth accept the check from Dan Larsen, Trustee, Steve and Frances Orton, Chairs of the Joseph Smith Sr. Family Association and Trustee, and Karl Anderson, Trustee and Executive Secretary for the Association. Picture by Angela Hughes.

Smiths travelled from surrounding areas to join in the celebrations and participate in a fireside. Students from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth joined the Smith Family to hear about the work of Dr. Nathan Smith and the surgery performed on young Joseph Smith.

Dr. Wirthlin is an expert on Joseph’s leg surgery, Dr. Wirthlin explained that “the surgery was done in an unsterile environment, using unsterile instruments, and it worked.”

To read more about this see the Deseret News article written by Smith descendant, Julie Maddox. Check out the Valley News report, Gift Honors Surgery That Saved Religious Leader’s Leg.

The Geisel News Center issued a press release that explained, “Descendants of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, have created a scholarship at the Geisel School of Medicine to honor and give thanks for a pioneering surgery that Dartmouth’s Dr. Nathan Smith performed on young Joseph.” To read the full press release.

Smith Family Night Podcast

Our first Smith Family Podcast, The Connecticut Covenant, is still in production. Daniel Adams tells us about the Smith Family living in the Connecticut River Valley.

Daniel Adams sharing some stories from the Smith family for the upcoming podcast. Picture from Michael Lantz.
Daniel Adams sharing some stories from the Smith family for the upcoming podcast.
Picture from Michael Lantz.

He said, “In 1811, Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack moved to the Connecticut River Valley. They had all the world’s goods they needed, a good home, business and money. Within five years, they had lost everything—all their worldly goods. But what they gained in return was priceless; the sure knowledge that God had heard their prayers and had delivered them. They had been purified in the fire of affliction, and they knew that wherever they would go, He would be leading them.“

“And that is what a covenant really is. It is the price we pay to come to know our God. When we know with surety that He loves us, we are willing to do anything He requires, because suddenly the cares of this world are swallowed up in the hope and knowledge of a better one with Him.“

“That is what the Smith family gained in the Connecticut River Valley—a covenant so great that it would sustain them through the greater trials they would shortly have to face.”

Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family
c/o Steve and Frances Orton
381 W 3700 N, Provo UT 84604
Phone: (801) 226‐6054 Fax: (801) 452‐6567
Email: ortonfrances@gmail.com
Website: http://reunion.josephsmithsr.org/

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Family News – August 16, 2015

http://josephsmithsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/8_17_15_EmailNews.pdf

Help Celebrate the Success of Joseph’s Miracle Run

A Smith Family Fireside will be held on Friday, September 11, 2015, 7:00 pm at the Hanover & Lebanon New Hampshire Wards building, 667 Dartmouth College Highway, Lebanon, NH 03766‐2044. Dr. Wirthlin will be giving a presentation on the miracle of Joseph’s surgery and the leg saving work of Dr. Nathan Smith. Dr. LeRoy Wirthlin is a former professor at Harvard Medical School and later a practicing surgeon who researched Joseph’s leg operation and Dr. Nathan Smith and has published articles in BYU Studies and the Ensign magazines.

This is an opportunity to hear the story while in the area it took place. Please let us know if you are living in or travelling in this area and plan on attending this activity and respond to ortonfrances@gmail.com.

SpringMPS05-010-1024x682

The run was held on August 3, 2013 at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. 1017 people attended and participated throughout the four days events.

 

Dr. Nathan Smith

Pictures below used with permission from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Dr_Nathan_Smith

Nathan Smith (1762‐1828), Founder of Dartmouth Medical School Credit: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; gift of Edmund Randolph Peaslee, Class of 1836

 

Nathan Smith_Dykstra_Dwaihy

Riding with Nathan Smith, 2004, Oil on Canvas, 72″ x 96″ by Sara Dykstra and Joseph Dwaihy (DMS ’06)

DSC_8526elderballard

Smith’s came from the following states to take part in the reunion and/or the race: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Family also came from Canada and as far away as Romania.

Longcopes_at_race

Dr. Nathan Smith descendants (Stephanie & Dr. David Longcope) participating in Joseph’s Miracle Run, August 3, 2013.

 

Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family
c/o Steve and Frances Orton
381 W 3700 N, Provo UT 84604
Phone: (801) 226‐6054 Fax: (801) 452‐6567
Email: ortonfrances@gmail.com
Website: http://reunion.josephsmithsr.org/

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2014 Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion in Independence, Missouri

2014 Joseph Smith Sr. Reunion Registration
or
2014 Joseph Smith Sr. Reunion Online Agenda

The Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman
The Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman

Steve & Frances Orton
Joseph Sr. & Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion Co-Chairs
Home: 801-226-6054, Fax: 801-452-6567
Steve: ortonio@digis.net, mobile: 801-787-8172
Frances: ortonfrances@gmail.com, mobile: 801-310-8686

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2013 – The Largest Family Reunion Ever

If you have not registered yet, please register in person, at the reunion.

Detailed schedule

August 1 – 4, 2013, Salt Lake City, Utah
Help our family set a world record!

  • This is the Place Heritage Park.
  • Historic buildings to explore.
  • Youth & Children’s activities:
    panning for gold, pony rides, petting, corral, train rides, etc.
  • Admission to the park included with reunion registration.

Continue reading “2013 – The Largest Family Reunion Ever”