By Jessica Nelson, Volume Editor
In spring 1844, a young woman named Barbara Matilda Neff traveled from Strasburg, Pennsylvania, to Nauvoo, Illinois, with her parents. While they were there, Neff’s parents purchased property for a new family home. Hyrum Smith gave Barbara’s mother, Mary Neff, a patriarchal blessing. For her part, Barbara brought along an autograph book containing signatures from her friends and a poem that Wilford Woodruff had written when he visited the Neff home the previous fall. Woodruff wrote an acrostic poem with the first letter of each line spelling out Neff’s full name vertically. Neff added to her autograph collection by gathering signatures of prominent church members in Nauvoo, including Eliza R. Snow, John and Leonora Taylor, Sidney Rigdon, and William W. Phelps. When Joseph Smith signed the book, he included a poem as well. This document will appear in Documents, Volume 14 of The Joseph Smith Papers, to be released in spring 2023. The document is also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Joseph Smith’s poem to Neff is a delightful document, not only because it was inscribed in a book that features so many notable signatures but also because it demonstrates how texts themselves illuminate much more of a story than a transcript can represent. At the top of the page appears a poem by William W. Phelps, “Two things will beautify a youth. / That is: Let virtue decorate the truth. / And so you know; every little helps / Yours—W. W. Phelps.” Smith’s verse appears to play off Phelps’s rhymes: “The truth and virtue both are good / when rightly understood / But Charity is better Miss / That takes us home to bliss / and so forthwith / remember Joseph Smith.” The book was closed before the ink spelling the last few letters of “Smith” dried, transferring some of the ink to the previous page. This paints an image of Joseph Smith signing the book and closing it quickly, perhaps handing it off to Neff so that he could attend to another task.
Because the signatures from Joseph Smith and Phelps are undated, we do not know when they signed Neff’s book. However, other Nauvoo signees dated their signatures, indicating that Smith likely signed the book between 6 and 13 May 1844. Entries from Smith’s journal during this time do not provide further clues to the dating, though it is possible that the Neff family attended the same performance of Damon and Pythias as Smith on 9 May or that Barbara was able to grab a quick signature from Smith after he delivered a Sunday sermon on 12 May.
Although we do not know more about the setting in which Joseph Smith signed Neff’s autograph book, the document created a lasting record of this exchange. It may have only been a passing moment in Smith’s day, but it certainly meant a lot to young Neff. Joseph Smith had ordinary interactions with many people in his life—certainly more than are in the documentary record. Documents like this poem to Barbara Matilda Neff fill in the gaps and create a more complete picture of Joseph Smith as a real historical figure.