Category: Newsletter

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Sacred Ground: The Smith Family Cemetery in Old Nauvoo, Part II

By Julie Maddox, Joseph Sr & Lucy Mack Smith Family Association Newsletter Editor

For many years, the Smith Family Nauvoo Cemetery was almost forgotten. Few graves were marked, all Smith family was gone from Nauvoo by 1879, rising waters threatened to submerge gravesites,  and  communication between descendants had faded.

UNMARKED GRAVES

As family and close friends were buried in the Homestead yard beginning in 1844, “none of these graves were marked except by lilacs which Emma planted nearby.”1 Even the location of Father and Mother Smith became lost. Caring for the yard became challenging as Joseph III, Alexander, Julia, and David Hyrum moved from Nauvoo. In 1867 Emma wrote Joseph III:

Joseph, I should like if you are willing to extend that fence so as to enclose the graves of your two little brothers. I have got twenty five dollars that no one has any right to but myself…. I feel anxious to apply that money on that graveyard, after I have done that… I think I can ask our Smith relatives to help mark Fathers and Mothers graves if no more.

Although no action took place at this time, this letter became significant many years after Emma’s death. Joseph, Alexander, and Julia buried their beloved mother on May 2, 1879, and Joseph III erected a tombstone for Emma.

Lewis Bidamon was the last to be buried in the Homestead ground in 1891, and by 1900, tenants occupied the property. Four gravestones and a scraggly lilac bush were the only evidence of a graveyard.

Continue reading “Sacred Ground: The Smith Family Cemetery in Old Nauvoo, Part II”

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Walking in their Shoes

By Steve & Frances Orton and Joy Ercanbrack

We extend a heartfelt thank you to the many family members who went the extra mile to help make the 2014 Reunion such a great success! Please log on to the website to see pictures and read the full account of the reunion.

The family gained a deeper respect for our ancestors who lived in the Independence, Missouri area as we toured Far West, Adamondi-Ahman, and the sacred Liberty Jail. We learned that God does not abandon us, just as he did not abandon Joseph and Hyrum when they were unjustly imprisoned in the Liberty Jail. Truth does prevail and the mercies of God will be revealed.

The family met in the beautiful Community of Christ Stone Church and received gracious welcomes and family news, history, website, iDig info and news of upcoming events. Lach Mackay read a welcome letter to the family from Cousin Wallace B. Smith who was recovering from surgery.

Continue reading “Walking in their Shoes”

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Smith Family in the News and in Story

IDigNauvoo is in the news! Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk9_EqEhFtQ

This year IdigNauvoo volunteers are working at both the Joseph Sr. Homestead and the Samuel H. Smith home site.

Significant events at the IdigNauvoo site include the restoration of the stone steps on the east side of the Joseph Smith Sr. homestead, discovery of an 1835 half dime, and a bone bead that is 2000 years old. Recent finds have led archaeologist Paul DeBarthe to question whether the Smith homestead could have been an 1805 trading post.

The Dig is looking for participants and volunteer host couples.Learn more about the iDigNauvoo archaeological project by visiting their website www.idignauvoo.legacyshare.org.

Watch lectures on Mary Fielding Smith and “Letters from Joseph F Smith to his Sister Martha Ann” at this online site:
history.lds.org/article/men-women-faith-2014-schedule

See Reunion.JosephSmithSr.org to read Lachlan Mackay’s Stories About Joseph III from the Reunion. See http://reunion.josephsmithsr.org

CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS OF OUR UPCOMING 21 SEPTEMBER 2015 WEBINAR
Joseph’s Miracle Run Scholarship Presentation to Dartmouth

Many Smith family members contributed to the Sons of the Utah Pioneer tribute to Hyrum Smith. Cost is $5 per magazine. To purchase, visit www.sup1847.com or call 801.484.4441.

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Joseph Smith Sr. Genealogical Website

http://www.josephsmithsr.com

Take advantage of the Joseph Smith Sr. Genealogical Website’s many features! It can help you & us keep accurate information and extend that information more readily to your family and extended family. It can also help those who are related to many of the  family’s thousands of ancestors.

This site contains Joseph Sr and Lucy Mack Smith’s ancestry and posterity and Emma Hale Smith’s ancestry and posterity. To view the posterity information of the living, you must be a direct descendant and register on the website. That information will then be available to you.

All family branches are connected into the same database which provides statistical information, biographies, media images, geo locations synchronized with google maps, world history timelines and much more.

Please login to check your family for accuracy and contact us for any errors. We would appreciate any submissions of family stories, pictures, histories, etc.

Clicking any of the buttons takes you directly to the genealogical information of that branch of the family:

  1. Joseph – ancestors of Joseph Smith Sr.
  2. Lucy – ancestors of Lucy Mack Smith
  3. Any of the children – descendants of that branch of the family

Be sure to register on the site to take advantage of all the genealogical features. There is no cost to use this site. The Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society website is also interconnected with the genealogical information on this web site.

 

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Sacred Ground: The Smith Family Cemetery in Old Nauvoo, Part I

By Julie Maddox, Joseph Sr & Lucy Mack Smith Family Association Newsletter Editor

“The place where a man is buried is sacred to me.” Joseph Smith Jr.

I feel the full emotion of that statement, sitting here on the wooden bench in the Smith Family Cemetery in Nauvoo. Resting in the shade, I can see things just as Anina Luff has described them, and “watch white butterflies dance above the blue salvia,” especially picturesque at dusk as the sun sets on the Mississippi River.

Summer of 1991 found Anina MacKay Luff, great great-granddaughter of Joseph and Emma, and her son Lachlan MacKay, driving from Independence, MO, to the Family Cemetery at sunset. “The Mississippi River,” she said, “was mystical, beautiful.” Anina and her brother Daniel Larsen and their families were a significant part of preparations for the Aug. 4, 1991 formal cemetery dedication. They wanted a “beautiful serene place where people can sit and dream and ponder connections with loved ones passed on.” And each year since they have come to beautify and plant flowers in this sacred spot.

Continue reading “Sacred Ground: The Smith Family Cemetery in Old Nauvoo, Part I”

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Hyrum Turns 200 – Huge Celebration

By Eldred G. and Hortense Smith

VIDEO AVAILABLE

On February 15, 2000 an historical and significant gathering took place in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. More than 3,000 descendants of the great Patriarch Hyrum Smith came to praise and pay tribute in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of his February 9, 1800 birth. This in itself was historic, but also it was the largest gathering of Smith descendants in the history of the family. It was the first time Hyrum’s children have met together as a family in this Century.

Those entering the Assembly Hall or watching in the Tabernacle overflow were greeted with a huge screen projection of Hyrum and a display of precious articles belonging to him and the family, that were brought across the plains in the family wagons in 1848. The program followed:

CONDUCTING: Craig R. Frogley…………….4th great grandson
Trustee of the JS Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Foundation

PRAYER: Michael Nebeker ……………………5th great grandson

MUSICAL PORTRAYAL……………… Love is the Master Key
by Lorena Normandeau …….Grand Daughter of JS Jr.
Father Smith: Hulbert Keddington2nd ggrndson-in-law
Hyrum Smith: Scott Frogley ………. 4th great grandson
Joseph Smith Jr: Jason Woodland.. 4th great grandson
William Smith: Aaron David Lowe 4th great grandson
Accompanied by: Jenny Frogley ..4th ggdghter-in-law

HYRUM REMEMBERS
Portrayal by: Matthew D. Maddox 3rd ggrndson-in-law
Script by Vivian Adams……………2nd ggrand daughter

HYRUM’S CHARGE TO HIS POSTERITY:
Eldred G. Smith, President, Hyrum Smith Association

POSTERITY’S RESPONSE
LOVINA: Ronda Thompson4th great granddaughter
JOHN: E. Gary Smith ……………..3rd great grandson
JERUSHA: Pamela Alligood3rd great granddaughter
SARAH: Cherise Clayton ….4th great granddaughter
JOSEPH F: Russel Smith Walker 2nd great grandson
MARTHA ANN: Carole King2ndrd ggranddaughter

I LOVE HIM original music and words
by Noni Sorensen ……………. 2nd great granddaughter
Sung by: Kent Sorensen…………….3rd great grandson
Accompanied by: Lindsay Sorensen…4th ggdaughter

SPEAKER: M. Russell Ballard…………………2nd great grandson
Trustee of the JS Sr & LM Smith Foundation

SURPRISE TRIBUTE: President Gordon B. Hinckley-Prophet

THE LIGHT WILL NOT GO OUT original music-words
by Noni Sorensen ………….. 2nd great granddaughter
Sung by: Dan Sorensen…………….. 3rd great grandson
Accompanied by: Lindsay Sorensen…3rd ggdaughter

PRAYER: LaRene Gaunt ………………. 2nd great granddaughter

Patriarch Eldred G. Smith reminded the descendants of the promise given Hyrum’s patriarchal blessing -“that his name would not be blotted out, for his children would rise up after him to preserve his memory.” Elder Smith issued a charge to the children to fulfill that promise by being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ as Hyrum was.

Elder Russell M. Ballard of the Council of the Twelve charged the family using the words of Joseph F. Smith in a letter to one of his children: “…We are their children and they love us as we love one another. We should seek to honor them and follow in their footsteps. May the Lord bless us that we may bear the name of Hyrum Smith as his sons and daughters… with the same strength and courage in carrying forth this great work.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley honored the family with his attendance and said, “I am not a Smith, but I’m a great admirer and one who loves the name of Hyrum, the martyred brother of the Prophet Joseph.” He closed with this charge, “May we of this generation walk in the light of his strength and power and capacity.” His verbal charge was followed by a musical response, a stirring song ‘The Light Will Not Go Out’ that committed us as a family to keep the light burning.

Excitement, love and warmth permeated the atmosphere as a costumed family member presented a moving monologue portraying Hyrum. Many felt that he carried the appearance of the projected picture – as if he had come to life. The descendant responses were filled with moving accounts, deeply touching stories and powerful history of the lives of Hyrum and his children.

Members of the Hyrum Smith family left this great gathering with renewed appreciation and love for their progenitor, and a charge to respond with increased devotion and dedication to the truths espoused by him.

VIDEO AVAILABLE

All of this plus the cemetery wreath ceremony was captured on video and will be reproduced for the benefit of generations to come. The video can be obtained for a short time only for $10.00. Please fill out the order-registration card. You may include your dues payment of $15.00 with the video order. Please use the envelope and form to order. You may purchase as many as you would like for family gifts including those yet unborn.