Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Organization

http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/13036

By Ruth White

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s leg operation with a 5K run this weekend, August 3, at This is the Place Heritage Park. Details here. www.JosephsMiracleRun.com

“I will, mom! I’ll be your trainer.” My young son is the one lone voice that stands out among my unenthused family at my request for support in getting fit for the 5K, “Joseph’s Miracle Run”. The run commemorates the boy Joseph Smith’s miraculous leg surgery performed by Dr. Nathan Smith of Dartmouth Medical School 200 years ago. The surgery which saved Joseph’s leg and his life was before its time and not accepted as standard procedure for another 100 years.

So when my little Nathaniel offers his support a vision unfolds of our training. What this means is, that I will run down the road behind Nathaniel as I push his wheelchair. It is somehow very appropriate that Nathaniel and I join forces for the 5K to raise money for a scholarship as a gift of thanks for Dartmouth Medical School on behalf of Dr. Nathan Smith.

When I consider all that I have now as a result of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel, my faith, my ability to see the “big picture”, I am determined to overcome my own personal weakness and run. But with Nathaniel on my team the significance is greater. Not only did Dr. Nathan Smith found Dartmouth Medical School, but he also co-founded Yale Medical School, where Nathaniel’s life was saved when he was born there nearly 200 years after its founding.

This is my little Nathaniel—so full of personality; a joker, a tease, a notorious flirt since birth.

Ten years of age and my gift. Dr. Nathan Smith has affected my life in many ways and consequently, the “gift of gratitude” towards a scholarship has many layers of meaning for us. Nathaniel, who has been through so much physical adversity since his birth, and I, who have been with him through surgeries, therapy, pain and tears, train as I envisioned: me running and pushing, and Nathaniel waving to all he passes.

He shouts to the neighbors working in their gardens, “I’m training my mom!” It is definitely more difficult to run behind the wheelchair and I wonder if I can really do this for the race. But this has a lot of meaning for my little guy. He so wants to run. As we push forward together, I reflect on the greater journey of the miracle of Nathaniel’s life—the tenuous circumstances around his birth, a tracheostomy, ventilators, numerous surgeries—and in many ways I connect personally with Joseph Smith’s story.

My feet plod against the pavement rhythmically as I think back to a recent surgery on Nathaniel’s jaw which left screws in the bone. As parents, it was our responsibility to turn the screws which separated the bone fragments, forcing new bone growth. Nathaniel screams as I rotate the device which turns the screw in his jaw. He clenches, writhes, then sobs. But this is just one turn on the left side of his jaw. I must repeat it for the other side. “Are you ready for the next one?” I ask. “Just a minute” he pants, “Give me a minute to calm down.”

The tears stream down his face and run over the screws emerging at his ears, trickling down to the scars under his jawline. Finally, his breathing slows and willingly he submits to the ordeal again. Every day, twice a day, the routine lasts a month. My mind turns to young Joseph‘s surgery and while his agony was assuredly more intense, there is a certain similarity in the scenario. Joseph who willingly submits to the physical ordeal of surgery without anesthesia, as long as his father held him and my son willingly submitting to the agony inflicted at the hands of his parents. The shared experience of the pure and virtuous trust of the little child is heartbreaking to both parents. Nathaniel’s screams are searing. I can’t stop my ears because I must turn the screw, but in my mind I run to the same field beyond the cabin where Mother Smith has run to stop her ears from the same searing screams. We meet here. She knows the pain of my child’s piercing scream.

The road stretches on and Nathaniel points out that I have slowed down. I have to pick up my pace. He loves to feel the swift movement and the air passing his face—sensations he seldom experiences. Nathaniel has some mobility and can use a walker, but it’s not like the other boys. “I want to run. I want to jump!” he says often and sometimes in frustration, sometimes in longing. Again my mind turns to Joseph, recovering from the surgery that removed major portions of diseased bone from his leg. It would be years before he regained the ability to walk, or run, or jump.

Nathaniel sees the other boys and tries to join in their basketball games. They’re good kids and help him throw the ball. He leans on his walker and swings his legs attempting to gain speed. He struggles to keep up but, at best, he trails behind them. I see the image of Brother Joseph running, as he so often did, with the boys for sport, fun, competition—all the things that Nathaniel has a desire for. Joseph turns and kneels on one knee beckoning to the young straggler who clambers on his back. Then they’re up and off again as Joseph runs with his little friend mounted behind. But in this day, it’s my little guy who wants to be with the boys, who wants to run, to keep up, to be with the group. If Joseph were here, it’d be Nathaniel he’d hoist on his back, to feel the thrill of the race, the camaraderie of the pack and the joy of the finish.

Nathaniel and I continue our run. Cars pass, drivers wave. Cyclists give thumbs up. Pedestrians cheer. At first I believe all this commendation is for Nathaniel, who represents faith, miracles, strength in adversity. But suddenly, I realize it is for both of us, to keep it up, keep going, to keep on the journey. Truly he has been training me in more ways than he realizes. We may be slow but we press on together. I still wonder if I can push him for the entire 5k. But as I run along behind my son, we look with gratitude to those who came before. Thank you, Dr. Nathan Smith, your works have followed you and live in my son. Mother Smith, thank you for the times in the field. Thank you, Brother Joseph, for your enduring strength which shouldered the Restoration and gave me the faith to run my journey. And one last favor. When, we come to the race, carry my son. He so wants to run.

To run with Joseph, volunteer, or to help with the Gift of Gratitude for Dr. Smith, please visit:

www.JosephsMiracleRun.com

Or contact Vivian Adams
801-763-5612

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/highland/joseph-smith-run-connects-years-of-miracles/article_72e79d24-743e-568f-90ee-a7b6db5a2814.html

GENELLE PUGMIRE – DAILY HERALD
HIGHLAND — Every other day, 10 year-old Nathaniel White takes time away from his computer games, movies and other electronic devices, to take on his new role as coach for his mother — Ruth White plans to run while pushing her son in his wheelchair. White considers this one of the most important runs of her life — a run that connects 200 years of miracles.
On Aug. 3 descendants of the Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family will hold Joseph’s Miracle Run Bicentennial 5K at This is the Place Heritage Park. This year marks the 200th anniversary of young 7-year-old Joseph Smith Jr.’s successful experimental leg surgery performed by Dr. Nathan Smith, founder of Dartmouth Medical School. He also co-founded Yale Medical School and the New Haven Children’s Hospital, where Ruth White was sent during her complicated pregnancy with Nathaniel.
“I felt a personal connection to Dr. Nathan Smith,” Ruth White said. “He was in the right place at the right time for Joseph. We were in the right place with Nathaniel. For us there is a spiritual connection with Dr. Smith and our family.”
The White family, who are direct descendants from Hyrum Smith, Joseph Jr.’s brother, aren’t the only ones with that spiritual connect. In the last two centuries, thousands of young LDS children have heard the story of the young boy Joseph, who would become the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have been taught about the miracle of Dr. Smith, but many may not know much of Dr. Smith, or what makes Joseph Sr.’s descendants connect across time.
Joseph’s miracle
A typhoid epidemic had cut a swath of disease and death across New England in 1812-13. All seven of Joseph Smith, Sr.’s children fell ill with it. Joseph Jr. suffered the greatest. A large sore was detected between Joseph’s breast and shoulder. When the doctor lanced it, it was recorded that “a full quart of matter” was discharge from it. Immediately, Joseph felt pain drive down his side and rest in the bone marrow in his leg. The bacteria had invaded the leg and Joseph could barely handle the pain.
After three weeks of unbelievable pain, a swollen leg and fever, the attending doctor made an incision in the leg hoping to provide some relief. This did not happen. Instead of healing, it got worse. The fever and bacteria became osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone.
A group of surgeons were summoned from Dartmouth Medical College just a few miles from the Smith family home. Dr. Nathan Smith was one of the surgeons. After examining the leg, it was determined amputation would be the only recourse. Joseph Jr. and his mother refused the amputation. However, there was one possibility. Dr. Nathan Smith, a young doctor, had developed an experimental surgery where he would cut through new bone growth and extract the infected bone. It was decided to try the procedure. During the surgery, nine large pieces of bone were extracted.
According to Ruth White, as she tells the family story, “after his surgery, the more painful part was the recovery, when shards of bone would work itself out of the leg,” White said. White noted there were 14 other pieces of infected bone that were worked out of the leg by members of the family taking turns massaging young Joseph’s leg. He was on crutches and could barely walk for nearly three years.
The removal of diseased bone rather than amputation was unheard of. It wasn’t until after World War I, more than a century later, that Dr. Smith’s surgical method was adopted as a medical procedure. The Smith family descendants consider this the first miracle of the Restoration.
Nathaniel’s miracle
“It is somehow very appropriate that Nathaniel and I join forces for the 5K to raise money for a scholarship as a gift of thanks for Dartmouth Medical School on behalf of Dr. Nathan Smith,” Ruth White said. “Not only did Dr. Nathan Smith found Dartmouth Medical School, but he also co-founded Yale Medical School, where Nathaniel’s life was saved when he was born there.”
In some written thoughts on her blog, Ruth White adds, “Nathaniel has been through so much physical adversity since his birth. It is definitely more difficult to run behind a wheelchair and I wonder if I can really do this for the race. He so wants to run. As we push forward together, I reflect on the greater journey of the miracle of Nathaniel’s life, the tenuous circumstances around his birth, a tracheostomy, ventilators, numerous surgeries, and in many ways, I connect personally with Joseph Smith’s story.”
As Ruth and Nathaniel White plod along the pavement, she thinks back to a recent surgery on Nathaniel’s jaw, which left screws in the bone.
“As parents, it was our responsibility to turn the screws which separated the bone fragments, forcing new bone growth,” she said.
She remembers in her blog, “Nathaniel screams as I rotate the device, which turns the screw in his jaw. He clenches, writhes, then sobs. But this is just one turn on the left side of his jaw. I must repeat it for the other side.”
Ruth White had to do this every day, twice a day for a month. “My mind turns to young Joseph’s surgery and while his agony was assuredly more intense, there is a certain similarity in the scenario.”
She adds in her notes, “Joseph, who willingly submits to the physical ordeal of surgery without anesthesia, as long as his father held him — and my son willingly submitting to the agony inflicted at the hands of his parents — that shared experience is heartbreaking. Nathaniel’s screams are searing. I can’t stop my ears because I must turn the screw, but in my mind I run to the same field beyond the cabin where Mother Smith had run to stop her ears from the same searing screams. We meet here. She knows the pain of my child’s piercing scream.”
The Miracle Run
Cars pass, drivers wave, cyclists give thumbs up and pedestrians cheer as Ruth and Nathaniel White continue their training for the Aug. 3 event. They, like approximately 40,000 descendants of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, understand the passion behind the run to honor Dr. Nathan Smith. According to Ruth White, the Guinness Book of World Records will be there to record the world’s largest family reunion. While only a tenth of the descendants may be there, it doesn’t diminish the devotion they have for the good doctor.
“We are very excited about this run,” said Frances Orton, president of the family organization. “As part of this opening 5K run, the organization is seeking to raise enough funds to provide a gift of gratitude to assist an aspiring medical student at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in Joseph’s name. The annual scholarship will be a reminder of the charitable contributions of Dr. Nathan Smith.”
Members of the public are invited to join in the 5K, contribute to the scholarship fund, and enjoy the festivities at This is the Place Heritage Park. Admission is free. To register, volunteer or donate visit www.JosephsMiracleRun.com.

Bicentennial of Joseph Smith surgery celebrated with 5K run

By Mike Carpenter

If you had told someone in 1813 that a surgery would be celebrated 200 years later, they probably wouldn’t have believed you. But on Aug. 3, that is precisely what runners will do as they run to celebrate the bicentennial of a surgery that may have saved the life of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association will host the run on Aug. 3 at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. The organization of the run started from a desire to express gratitude for the surgery and the great work of the surgeon, Dr. Nathan Smith. Many members of the association believe the surgery was a miracle.

“The surgery that saved 7-year-old Joseph’s leg, and possibly his life…might be considered the first miracle of the Restoration,” said Frances Orton, president of The Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Association.

A board member of the association, Dan Adams, also believes that events surrounding the surgery were too ideal to be just good fortune.

“We commemorate the leg surgery on 7-year-old Joseph as (a miracle) because it was incredible,” said Adams. “It just so happened that the only surgeon in America who could save Joseph’s leg, Dr. Nathan Smith, was just a few miles away at the time and he had been developing an experimental surgery so advanced that it took another 100 years before it became accepted as standard practice.”

The race includes a 5K run, as well as a children’s run. Elder M Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will personally hand out medals after the children’s run.

Proceeds from the run will fund a scholarship in Joseph Smith’s name for an aspiring medical student at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, which was founded by Dr. Nathan Smith.

More information about the event is available at www.JosephsMiracleRun.com.

About the Author

Mike Carpenter is a senior studying public relations. He enjoys milkshakes and four-player fighting style video games that feature characters from multiple popular franchises.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865583381/Record-breaking-reunion-planned-for-Joseph-Smith-Sr-family.html

By Joseph Walker , Deseret News
Published: Friday, July 19 2013 6:13 p.m. MDT

In conjunction with the reunion, family representatives have organized Joseph’s Miracle Run, a 5K run that will also be held at This is the Place Heritage Park on Aug. 3. (From Joseph’s Miracle Run YouTube video) In conjunction with the reunion, family representatives have organized Joseph’s Miracle Run, a 5K run that will also be held at This is the Place Heritage Park on Aug. 3. (From Joseph’s Miracle Run YouTube video)
SALT LAKE CITY — A possible world-record-breaking gathering of the descendants of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith will celebrate what they are calling “the first miracle of the Restoration” during the Smith Family Reunion at This is the Place Heritage Park on Aug. 3.

Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith were the parents of Joseph Smith Jr., founder and first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jared Glade, a Smith descendant and family genealogist, says there are more than 40,000 family members now, with many of them living in Utah.

“The trouble is,” Glade said, “we only have accurate information on about 10 percent of our family. That’s important because there are some huge family events that are happening that only come around once in a lifetime, and our family needs to know about them so they can participate.”

Included among those events is the upcoming reunion Aug. 3.

“We’ve had some big reunions in the past,” said Frances Orton, president of the Smith Family Association. “But this year the reunion is in Utah, and with so many Utah descendants, we think it could be huge.”

So huge that reunion organizers have applied to Guinness World Records officials for certification as the world’s largest family reunion.

“That’s another reason we’re so excited,” Orton said. “But we really need the family to know about it and respond.”

In conjunction with the reunion, family representatives have organized Joseph’s Miracle Run, a 5K run that will also be held at This is the Place Heritage Park on Aug. 3. The run is dedicated to the memory of what Smith descendant Dan Adams calls “the first miracle of the Restoration.”

“Although we don’t know a specific date, we assume it was right around this time that 7-year-old Joseph Smith Jr.’s leg — and, most likely, his life — was saved through a chain of circumstances and events that can only be seen as miraculous,” Adams said.

In a moving video on a website dedicated to Joseph’s Miracle Run, venerable LDS historian Dr. Richard L. Bushman explains that the incident occurred at a time when there was a typhoid epidemic in the eastern United States.

“The Smith family was hit very hard,” Bushman said. “They thought they were going to lose their daughter (Sophronia), but she was revived, Joseph (Jr.) became very ill. He also revived. But as happens with typhoid, you can have afterwards a salmonella organism which can infect in very serious ways.”

The salmonella infection settled in young Joseph’s left shin. Over time the salmonella infection became so severe that doctors recommended his left leg be amputated. Otherwise, they said, the infection will likely spread throughout the boy’s body and result in his death.

One of the nearby physicians who ministered to young Joseph was Dr. Nathan Smith, who Bushman said “was working on the foundation of the Dartmouth medical school and would later move to the Yale medical school.” Dr. Smith convinced the Smith family to allow him to perform a surgery that he was confident would save the boy’s leg.

“So far as we can tell,” Bushman said, “(Dr. Smith) invented (the surgery) because it was not even known until the end of the century and not used commonly until World War I. Until that time, bone infection led almost inevitably to amputation, or an infection that would kill you.”

So the surgery, miraculously cutting-edge for its time, was performed.

“This little boy lay there in his father’s arms — his mother had been sent out into the field,” Bushman said. “With no anesthesia his leg was opened up, his bone was exposed, three pairs of holes were bored into his little shin bone … and they pulled off that exterior bone to show the infection underneath and to clean that out, and then sew him back up.”

Afterwards, Bushman continued, “there were 14 pieces of bone scraps that came working their way to the surface … It was a horrible experience for the young man.”

Horrible though it may have been, including three years of painful recovery, many Smith family members, including Elder M. Russell Ballard of the LDS Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, are convinced that it was nonetheless miraculous.

“This surgery was truly miraculous,” said Elder Ballard, a direct descendant of young Joseph’s elder brother, Hyrum, in a letter inviting Smith family members to participate in the 5K. “The surgery on young Joseph’s leg saved his life and gave him the fortitude to endure the unbelievably difficult trials and challenges of the Restoration. That work would have been insurmountable had Joseph lost his leg.”

Elder Ballard will be present at Joseph’s Miracle Run to give medals to all who participate. Proceeds from the run will go to provide a “gift of gratitude” to assist an aspiring medical student at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in Joseph Smith’s name and in memory of Dr. Smith.

For more information on the race please go to www.JosephsMiracleRun.com. For more information on the reunion please go to www.josephsmithsr.org.

Email: jwalker@desnews.com

http://ldsmag.com/article/1/12965

By Meridian Magazine

On August 3, the Joseph Smith Sr. Family Association will celebrate the 1st miracle of the restoration with Joseph’s Miracle Run; a 5K run at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. The public is invited to run or donate. Proceeds will fund a scholarship in Joseph’s name to Dartmouth Medical School, founded by Dr. Nathan Smith. For more info visit: www.JosephsMiracleRun.com

Are you a long-lost Smith, or do you know any descendants of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith? The Smith family has grown to over 40,000 descendants and family members with most living in Utah, so there’s a good chance you may be related or know someone who is.

“The trouble is,” says Jared Glade, family data steward, “We only have accurate information on about 10% of our family. That’s important, because there are some huge family events are happening that only come around once in a life-time, and our family needs to know about them so they can participate.”

For instance, this is the 200th anniversary of the miraculous surgery that saved 7-year-old Joseph’s Smith’s leg, and quite possibly his life. In that era, Joseph could not have done what he did otherwise. To commemorate this great event, The Joseph Smith Sr. Family is hosting the Joseph’s Miracle Run, a 5K family run at This is The Place Heritage Park on August 3.

“We really need to get the word out to our family,” agrees Frances Orton, president of the Smith Family Association. “It would be such a tragedy if our own family didn’t know about it, because it is a great opportunity reach out to our extended family and remember the great work our family has done over the years.”

The proceeds from the run will establish a scholarship in Joseph’s name to honor Dr. Nathan Smith, founder of Dartmouth Medical School, and the surgeon who performed the surgery. This scholarship will be granted to a deserving surgical student at Dartmouth, and will be a reminder of the great good that charitable contributions like Dr. Smith’s can be in the community.

Joseph’s Miracle Run is also coinciding with the Smith Family Reunion at This is the Place Heritage Park on August 3 2013. “That’s another reason we’re so excited,” says Frances. “We’ve applied for a World Record for the largest family reunion. We’ve had some big reunions in the past, but this year the reunion is in Utah. With this many local descendants, we could easily hit that goal, but we really need the family to know about it and respond.”

So if you’re a Smith, make sure you don’t miss out on a truly once in a lifetime opportunity. If you know any Smiths, let them know what is happening. And if you’re not a Smith, but would love to join in the Joseph Smith Miracle Run, we would love to have you participate. For more information, call Frances Orton at 801.226.6054 or visit us at:

For race information: www.JosephsMiracleRun.com

For reunion information: www.josephsmithsr.org

August 1-4, 2013 will be our next Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family Reunion. The goal is to have the largest family reunion possible. Our family can do it. This reunion will be held in Salt Lake City with the highlight being our opportunity to give back and participate through a fun family experience to honor the work Dr. Nathan Smith. Dr. Smith’s work not only blessed Joseph Smith Jr. but his entire family and the world. For more information about the reunion please click here. To register for the reunion click here.

This is why we’re celebrating that miracle with the Joseph’s Miracle Run; to remember Joseph and the great legacy he began. Joseph’s Miracle Run is a 5K race that will be held August 3, 2013, 7:00 am at This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.

We invite you to join us in supporting this remarkable event. Come run, volunteer, or lend your financial support. If you believe in miracles, if you have been changed because of this young boy, show your appreciation by supporting Joseph’s Miracle Run.

The fundraising will be used to establish an endowment at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, which was founded by Nathan Smith. This “Gift of Gratitude” will be made in the name of Joseph Smith, Jr.

If you are interested in volunteering, donating, or want more information , please go to: http://josephsmiraclerun.com.