As we give honor to the life and legacy of President M. Russell Ballard, our thoughts turn to his love of family, ancestors, and the younger generations of Smiths. In addition to focusing on beautifying the Family Cemetery, he was the driving force behind gathering our family. He was especially intent on seeing that the Family Association focuses on having the younger generations get to know their ancestors and their sacrifices to establish the latter-day dispensation. This is evident in efforts such as student scholarships, reunion activities and online programs. We propose that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association.
Mail: c/o Frances Orton 381 W 3700 N Provo UT 84604
From an article in the Smith Family Newsletter May 1996 we have a little background on the resting place for Solomon Mack:
“Solomon Mack’s headstone is broken beyond repair!” This was the message transmitted to our family last year. The Centennial Cemetery in Gilsum, New Hampshire, is the final resting place of Solomon Mack, Lucy Mack Smith’s father. Many other Mack family headstones stand there in a row. Unfortunately, the years have taken their toll on Solomon’s headstone. Years ago, it was cracked in half. Someone repaired it by bolting iron supports together which have over the years expanded and intensified the damage. Two years ago a visitor to the cemetery unintentionally leaned against the headstone and provided further breakage.”
Solomon Mack by Alchetron
“The headstone of Betsy A. Mack, sister-in-law to Lucy Mack Smith was also broken and not repairable. Through a miraculous set of events, a monument maker and friend of the Smith family, Monte Hendrickson, happened to hear about the damage and volunteered to take additional time on a trip to Vermont to assess what needed to be done. Monte and his wife, Betty, found the cemetery and concluded that no further repair was possible. They removed the portion of Solomon’s headstone with the old engraving on it. They have inset the old engraving into a new headstone which will be erected on Solomon’s grave in June. They have also made a new headstone for Betsy Mack. Monte and Betty have generously contributed labor, materials and significant time to honor Solomon and Betsy. Thank you Monte and Betty for your love of the Smith family and for your selfless service!”
Solomon’s self-published history, “Narrative of the Life of Solomon Mack”, sharing his conversion to Christianity
“My friends when you read this journal remember your unfortunate friend Solomon Mack, who worried and toiled until an old age, to try to lay up treasures in this world, but the Lord would not suffer me to have it, but now I trust I have treasures laid up that no man can take away, but by the goodness of God through the blood of a bleeding Saviour.”
“Although I am a poor cripple unable to walk much, or even to mount or dismount my horse I hope to serve my God by his assistance to [divine] acceptance, that I may at last leap for joy [to] see his face and hold him fast in my embrace.”
This Spring (2023), Phase II of the creation of the Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Garden has begun. Seedlings of heirloom flowers and vegetables have been chosen and germinated. Volunteers will begin planting as the temperature warms. Plants will be arranged using the three-sister gardening method developed in the 1800s. Some of the garden beds will use a rain garden elevation landscape. Vegetables were chosen based upon what was historically used by the early settlers of Nauvoo, Illinois.
Upon completion, the garden will be something that would make “Mother Smith” and all of the founding women of Nauvoo proud.
PHASE I
In August of 2022, with the combined efforts of many volunteers — most of which were attendees of the Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion — Phase I was completed.
The construction process included building a spilt-log fence, and staining a picket fence that was then installed around the hotel wing of the Joseph and Emma Smith Mansion House.
PURPOSE
The garden is a tribute to the founding family of the restoration — Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith and their children. They, with many stalwart families transformed a swamp land into a city that was more like a “garden of gardens.”
The founding settlers loved this bustling haven and worked together to make it beautiful. They planted gardens and shared in its bounty.
Joseph Smith Senior emphasized the importance of sustaining “family and friends.” It was a favorite motto of his. The purpose for building this garden is to promote that legacy of strengthening family, friends, and community.
DONATIONS
Through the ANS Legacy Foundation, donations can be made toward the Smith Family Gardens. The ANS Legacy foundation is a 501(3)(c) operational non-profit organization, and 100% of all donations go toward the project.
You can choose specific items to donate. There are also opportunities to volunteer at various times of the year. To learn how you can help with this project, click on our donations or volunteer link.
Father and Mother Smith knew as well as anyone what it meant to be refugees. But their trials had also allowed them to glimpse eternity. They saw their heavenly home and what their family could be, and this knowledge, like that of the saints before, gave them the strength to endure, to continue to dream of their heavenly home.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Father and Mother Smith being driven from their home, and having to rebuild once again, in a tiny log cabin in Palmyra, New York. Here they would find a short refuge until they would be forced again to leave. Here Father and Mother Smith read the Bible to their children and plead for divine protection. Here, Joseph Sr. told his children of his remarkable dreams of the restoration. Here Lucy would tell her children how God answered her desperate prayers in a grove of trees. Here Joseph would read the invitation of the Apostle James and determine to ask of God
what he should do. Here the heavens would rend and the Angel Moroni would descend to reveal a mighty work and a wonder. Here, the family gathered nightly to hear Joseph recount his remarkable visions of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. Here the Smith boys and girls grew
strong in faith and work, believing that God was watching over their family. This place, more than any other, symbolized what can be ours – no matter the coming persecution, trials and difficulties – when we dream of our heavenly home.
On this 200th anniversary, the Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith descendants have the opportunity to gather in Salt Lake and help current refugees who
have been driven from their homes and lost their worldly possessions. We will be building bunk beds for refugee children and their families. We would like them to know that God is aware of them, that our family understands to some degree what it means to be refugees, and now with this gift, perhaps they too can dream of a heavenly home.
Join with your Smith Cousins in Salt Lake City
August 2 – 5, 2018!
On August 2-5 we will gather to celebrate our heritage and help current refugees that have been driven from their homes and lost all of their worldly possessions. We will be building bunk beds for refugee children and their families. We are working with Sleep In Heavenly Peace for our summer’s service project. Their mission is to ensure that no child in their town ever has to sleep on the floor.
We would like to give each refugee family a history of the Smith Family so they might know that God is aware of them and that our family understands to some degree what it means to be refugees. With this gift, perhaps they too can dream of a heavenly home.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace was featured on a program called Returning The Favor in February 2018. Join host Mike Rowe (Discovery Channel Series Dirty Jobs) and see why their team stopped into Twin Falls, Idaho, to meet SHP founder Luke Mickelson.
Any donation helps. You can sponsor:
Whole bunk bed $300
Single bed $150
One mattress $50
Comforter $25
Sheet set $15
Pillow $10
You can also contribute by mail with checks or money orders to:
Joseph Smith Sr. Family Association
c/o Frances Orton
381 W 3700 N
Provo, UT 84604
Make a notation on the check: Sleep In Heavenly Peace.
Independence, Missouri was chosen for the reunion this summer to celebrate important anniversaries in our family history; the dedication of the temple lot as well as one of the original Smith reunion held in Independence more than forty years ago. Our theme “Walking in their Shoes” will help us remember our Smith ancestors who lived in Missouri, their efforts to build Zion, and courage as they faced great trials.
Our Grandmother Lucy Mack wrote that while living in Missouri the Smith family numbered about 24. (Several of the Smith women were expecting babies.) Included in the group were eleven children eight years old and under.
Persecutions the family faced are difficult to imagine. Agnes Smith, wife of Don Carlos, waded the Grand River with her babies in arm after the mob burned their home to the ground. Within days of giving birth to a son, Samuel’s wife, Mary, was told she had to move immediately to Far West traveling alone in the rain in an open lumber wagon. These are just two examples illustrating their plight.
For some Missouri may be remembered as a place of sadness, in contrast, scriptures revealed to Joseph in Liberty Jail are a source of hope. We wish to share this hope through our family service project of collecting shoes for a women and children’s shelter in the Independence area. Your donation of new shoes or small contribution of cash will purchase shoes for young children and mothers in need, who have left their homes with little in hand, much like our Smith ancestors had to do.
As we serve together our family bond is strengthened and we become part of a greater purpose to ensure the Smith name is known for good. Donations can be made now. We’ll also have a collection shoe box at the reunion.
Thank you for your kindness,
Steve and Frances Orton
Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Reunion Committee
