Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 December 1834
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Source Note
, Blessing, to JS and , , Geauga Co., OH, 9 Dec. 1834. Featured version copied [between 14 and 28 Sept. 1835] in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, pp. 3–5; handwriting of ; CHL., Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, [Dec. 1834–ca. Spring 1868]; handwriting of , , , , , , , Robert L. Campbell, John L. Smith, Richard Bentley, and James C. Snow; 144 pages, plus 52 pages of index; Patriarchal Blessings, CHL. Includes tipped in documents, redactions, use marks, and archival marking.Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 is a commercially produced ledger measuring 17 × 10⅞ × 1¼ inches (43 × 28 × 3 cm) with tan leather-covered boards. The volume contains ninety-eight leaves measuring 16⅜ × 10½ inches (42 × 27 cm).The ledger’s front page contains the title “The Book of Patriarchal Blessings 1834.” Robert L. Campbell recorded in the front of the volume “A History of this Record,” which was written in 1859 by church historians and . That history explains the provenance of the ledger, which was stolen on a couple of occasions, before obtained it and delivered it to in January 1859. The ledger was re-bound at least once. In a 7 October 1835 notation in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, indicated that it would be impossible to collect all blessings given by Joseph Smith Sr., leaving the volume incomplete.The first patriarchal blessings recorded in the ledger are those gave to his children and their spouses on 9 December 1834 at a special feast. began serving as the primary scribe for Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 probably sometime in September 1835 when he was appointed church recorder, and he likely recorded these blessings around that same time. served as the primary scribe for Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 until April 1836 when his brother , the assistant recorder, took over scribal duties. A variety of clerks inscribed the text of loose blessings into the ledger in and after 1837; active recording of ’s blessings to individuals continued until April 1868.
Footnotes
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1
Patriarchal Blessings, 1:16; Cowdery, “Account Book of Writing,” 1; Minutes, 14 Sept. 1835.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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2
See Historical Introduction to Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 Dec. 1834.
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Historical Introduction
On 6 December 1834, JS and the other members of the to the offices of and assistant president of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Three days later, Joseph Smith Sr. called his family together at JS’s home and served them a large feast. On that occasion, he arranged his children according to age and bestowed patriarchal, or father’s, blessings upon each of them and their spouses, including JS and .The office of church patriarch was not clearly defined at this time. In September 1835, , who served as a clerk and recorder for patriarchal blessings, recorded the earliest history of the office of patriarch in ’s patriarchal blessing book. He stated that JS, “the first ,” was the “first patriarch of the church.” In fact, JS did give blessings prior to 9 December 1834, though he did not necessarily connect them to the office of church patriarch. Joseph Smith Sr. also gave father’s blessings prior to his formal ordination. For example, on 22 January 1833, Joseph Smith Sr. laid his hands on JS’s head and gave him a blessing. On 19 February 1834, he blessed his sons JS and . After JS ordained to the office of high counselor on 24 September 1834, Joseph Smith Sr. “proceeded to bless him [Hyrum] also in the name of the Lord.”Some historians have suggested that JS called and ordained his father to the office of church patriarch on 18 December 1833. This supposition is based on ’s 1835 account of blessings that JS gave to his family and other church leaders in December 1833. Although contemporaneous versions of the December 1833 blessings appear in JS’s 1832–1834 journal, in September 1835 Cowdery wrote expanded versions of the blessings in the patriarchal blessing book. According to the 1835 versions, was to “be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth.” He was also to “sit in the general assembly of patriarchs, even in council with the Ancient of Days when he shall sit and all the patriarchs with him and shall enjoy his right and authority under the direction of the Ancient of Days.” This information, however, was not included in the blessing as recorded in JS’s 1832–1834 journal. Furthermore, in his brief history of the office of patriarch, Cowdery wrote that Joseph Smith Sr. was ordained to the authority of “president and patriarch, under the hands of his son Joseph, myself, , and , presidents of the church.” Joseph Smith Sr.’s ordination as a president of the high priesthood occurred on 6 December 1834. The record of this meeting does not specify that the ordination to patriarch occurred at the same time, but Cowdery’s implication was that the two ordinations happened on the same occasion. Therefore, it is almost certain that Joseph Smith Sr.’s ordination to the office of patriarch occurred in December 1834.The recording of blessings given on 9 December 1834 suggests that considered the blessings of husband and wife to be one. Rather than separating the blessings from each other, he recorded them together, signing and dating them as the clerk and recorder before moving to the next couple’s blessings. Further evidence that these husband-and-wife blessings were intertwined comes from the recording of the blessing of , JS’s younger brother. When originally blessed in December 1834, Don Carlos was not married. Upon Don Carlos’s marriage to in September 1835, gave him another blessing and blessed Agnes as well. Before recording these blessings in the patriarchal blessing book, Cowdery wrote, “The next in order is Don Carlos Smith, the youngest son of president Joseph Smith, sen. he was blessed at the time [9 December 1834], but in consequence of these blessings not being recorded until after this young man was married, it was though[t] best to lay hands upon him again, with his wife, and record both blessings together.” Since these blessings were recorded for the married couples and not simply for the individuals, the featured text includes ’s blessing with JS’s blessing. These blessings were the longest of all the blessings Joseph Smith Sr. gave to his children and their spouses on 9 December 1834. Full of scriptural allusions and references to his son’s prophetic calling and to Emma’s faithfulness under duress, the blessings refer to past events in JS’s and Emma’s lives and reflect aspirations and promises for them individually and as a couple.did not record JS’s and ’s blessings in the patriarchal blessing book until September 1835. It is unclear whether Cowdery copied from an earlier version when recording the blessings or whether he simply worked with notes. In an 1835 letter, wrote about the recording of his own patriarchal blessing from Partridge noted that the blessing was not “delivered and written sentence by sentence” but that Smith “delivered them as fast as he naturaly speaks.” “In the mean time,” Partridge continued, “the heads were sketched down and they had to be filled out from memory.” This blessing and the others given on 9 December 1834 represent some of the few early blessings from Joseph Smith Sr. for which a record exists. According to an 1859 history of the patriarchal blessing book, “a considerable number of blessings which were given by that Patriarch, were not recorded, through the negligence of the Scribes.”
Footnotes
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1
Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834; Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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2
Patriarchal Blessings, 1:1–8.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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3
See Bates and Smith, Lost Legacy, 29–58.
Bates, Irene M., and E. Gary Smith. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
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In that record, Cowdery wrote, “For although his father [Joseph Smith Sr.] laid hands upon, and blessed the fatherless, thereby securing the blessings of the Lord unto them and their posterity, he was not the first elder, because God called upon his son Joseph and ordained him to this power and delivered to him the Keys of the kingdom, that is, of authority and spiritual blessings upon the Church.” (Patriarchal Blessings, 1:8.)
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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5
JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1833.
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8
Minutes, 24 Sept. 1834. In a later account, Benjamin F. Johnson wrote that Joseph Smith Sr. also visited families in summer 1834 to give them patriarchal blessings. (Johnson, My Life’s Review, 11.)
Johnson, Benjamin Franklin. My Life’s Review: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Johnson. Independence, MO: Zion’s Printing and Publishing Company, [1947].
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See, for example, Bates and Smith, Lost Legacy, 5.
Bates, Irene M., and E. Gary Smith. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
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10
JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1833.
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11
Blessing to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, between ca. 15 and 28 Sept. 1835.
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12
Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834.
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13
Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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14
Patriarchal Blessings, 1:7.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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15
Partridge, Genealogical Record, 25.
Partridge, Edward, Jr. Genealogical Record. 1878. CHL. MS 1271.
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16
George A. Smith and Wilford Woodruff, Statement, 1859, CHL.
Smith, George Albert, and Wilford Woodruff. Statement, 1859. CHL. MS 4159.
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Document Transcript
Footnotes
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This was likely not part of the blessing but something added by Cowdery when he recorded it. Similar information precedes all the other blessings given that day.
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Concerning his interest in religion at an early age, JS wrote in 1832, “At about the age of twelve years my mind became seriously imprest with regard to the all importent concerns for the wellfare of my immortal Soul which led me to searching the scriptures believeing as I was taught, that they contained the word of God.” (JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 1–2.)
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Joseph Smith Sr. lost his farm in New York in 1825 and struggled to support his family thereafter. Prior to bestowing blessings on his children on 9 December 1834, he stated, “My frame is feeble because of the many trials and fateagues which I have endured in this life.” He further stated that he had often not been faithful to the Lord, and “I have not always set that example before my family that I ought: I have not been diligent in teaching them the commandments of the Lord. . . . Notwithstanding all this my folly, which has been a cause of grief to my family, the Lord has often visited me in visions and in dreams, and has brought me, with my family, through many offlictions, and I this day thank his holy name.” In his 1832 history, JS said, “I fell into transgressions and sinned in many things which brought a wound upon my soul and there were many things which transpired that cannot be writen and my Fathers family have suffered many persicutions and afflictions.” (Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, 66–68; Patriarchal Blessings, 1:1; JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 4.)
Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984.
Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.
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5
See Genesis 9:20–23.
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6
See Isaiah 29:11–14; Revelation, Feb. 1829 [D&C 4:1]; Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 111 [2 Nephi 27:26]; JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 5; and “The Book of Mormon,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1833, [1]–[3].
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
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See Isaiah 49:6; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 54 [1 Nephi 21:6].
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8
See Revelation, ca. Aug. 1835 [D&C 27:9–10].
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9
See Genesis 49:22, 26.
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10
See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 66–67 [2 Nephi 3:6–7, 15, 18]. “Seer” was one of JS’s ecclesiastical titles, suggesting that he is the one referred to here. (Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21:1]; Revelation, 11 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 107:92].)
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11
See Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832 [D&C 85:7].
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12
See Isaiah 11:5; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 98 [2 Nephi 21:5].
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13
See Mark 4:8, 20.
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14
This refers to Joseph the patriarch, son of Jacob, and suggests the same blessings for JS.
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15
See Revelation, 8 Mar. 1833 [D&C 90:2–3]; and Historical Introduction to Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834.
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16
See Revelation, 20 May 1831 [D&C 51:4]; and Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57].
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17
See James 5:7.
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18
See Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:69–70]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:20–25].
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19
See Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49:23–24].
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20
See Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:26–32].
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See Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:96–98]; and 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17.
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22
An 1830 revelation directed Emma to be a “comfort unto my Servent Joseph thy husband in his afflictions with consoleing words in the spirit of meekness.” JS had experienced much affliction from antagonists, sometimes with direct repercussions for Emma. For example, on the night of 24–25 March 1832 in Hiram, Ohio, a group of men dragged JS from his bed, attempted to force aqua fortis, a highly corrosive solution of nitric acid and water, into his mouth, and then tarred and feathered him. After dragging JS from the house, the door was left open, exposing JS’s and Emma’s infant son Joseph Murdock, already sick with the measles, to the cold night air. This apparently exacerbated his illness, and he soon died from complications, further grieving JS and Emma. In August 1833 and again in the early months of 1834, JS wrote that church members in Kirtland, Ohio, suffered “great persicution on account of” Doctor Philastus Hurlbut, who lied in an attempt to “b[r]ake down mormanism” and who “saught the distruction” of the church, JS, and his family. (Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25:5]; JS History, vol. A-1, 205–209; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833; JS, Journal, 28 Jan. 1834; see also “Mormon Trial,” Chardon [OH] Spectator and Geauga Gazette, 12 Apr. 1834, [4].)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Chardon Spectator and Geauga Gazette. Chardon, OH. 1833–1835.
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Isaac Hale, Emma’s father, was opposed to the marriage of JS and Emma in 1827. Although Hale did take in JS and Emma and sold them part of his property and the home where JS worked on his translation of the Book of Mormon, Hale never believed in the book or JS’s ministry. (JS History, vol. A-1, 8; Deed from Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, 25 Aug. 1830; Isaac Hale, Affidavit, 20 Mar. 1834, in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 262–266.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.
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See Willard Chase, Affidavit, 11 Dec. 1833, in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 245–246; and “Mormonism—No. II,” Tiffany’s Monthly, Aug. 1859, 164–165. Not only did Emma accompany JS to the hill where he obtained the gold plates, she also served as a scribe for JS during his translation of the record. (Edmund C. Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” 454; Journal of History, Oct. 1916, 454; Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289–290; Knight, Reminiscences, 1.)
Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.
“Mormonism,” Tiffany’s Monthly 5 (May 1859): 46–51; (July 1859): 119–121; (Aug. 1859): 163–170. Tiffany's Monthly. New York City. 1856–1859.
Briggs, Edmund C. “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856.” Journal of History 9, no. 4 (Oct. 1916): 446–462.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.
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On 15 June 1828, Emma gave birth to a son who died within an hour; on 30 April 1831, she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl who lived only three hours. In early May 1831, JS and Emma adopted Joseph and Julia Murdock, whose mother died in childbirth. Joseph Murdock died on 29 March 1832. Joseph Smith III was born in Kirtland on 6 November 1832. At this time, then, only two of JS and Emma’s six children were still living. (JS History, 1834–1836, 9; JS History, vol. A-1, 209.)
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A July 1830 revelation called Emma an “Elect Lady” and explained to her that she would “be ordained under his [JS’s] hand to expound Scriptures & exhort the Church.” Emma was eventually named president of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, an ecclesiastical organization of Latter-day Saint women formed in March 1842. During the organizational meeting of the Relief Society, JS stated that Emma had been ordained “at the time, the Revelation was given, to expound the scriptures to all.” JS also commented on the meaning of “Elect Lady,” explaining that “Elect meant to be Elected to a certain work &c, & that the revelation was then fulfilled by Sister Emma’s Election to the Presidency of the Society.” (Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25:3, 7]; Relief Society Minute Book, 17 Mar. 1842; JS, Journal, 17 Mar. 1842, underlining in original.)
Relief Society Minute Book / “A Book of Records Containing the Proceedings of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo,” Mar. 1842–Mar. 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.