''History of Joseph Smith by His Mother'' is a biography of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

, according to his mother,

Lucy Mack Smith Lucy Mack Smith (July 8, 1775 – May 14, 1856) was the mother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She is noted for writing the memoir, '' Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Ge ...

. It was originally titled ''Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations'' and was published by

Orson Pratt Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). He became a member of the ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in 1853.

Background

Shortly following the

death of Joseph Smith Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail. As mayor of the city of N ...

in 1844, and into 1845, Lucy Mack Smith dictated her recollections and family story to Nauvoo schoolteacher Martha Jane Coray. Coray worked with her husband to compile these books of notes and other sources into a manuscript, which was then copied. One copy was given to

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

, and the other stayed with Lucy Smith in Nauvoo. Eventually, apostle Orson Pratt obtained Lucy's copy and published it in 1853, to great controversy.

Brigham Young's opposition

After its publication, Brigham Young declared the book to be a "tissue of lies" and wanted corrections made. In the ''

Millennial Star ''The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star'' (usually shortened to ''Millennial Star'') was the longest continuously published periodical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was printed in England from 1840 unti ...

'' in 1855, he said,

There are many mistakes in the work ... I have had a written copy of those sketches in my possession for several years, and it contains much of the history of the Prophet Joseph. Should it ever be deemed best to publish these sketches, it will not be done until after they are carefully corrected.

In 1865, Young ordered the church members to have their copies destroyed. There was no "corrected" version until the church published a 1901 serialization and 1902 book, which were done under the direction of Joseph F. Smith, Lucy's grandson. Later historians theorized that Young opposed the book because of his own conflicts with its publisher, Orson Pratt, as well as the book's favorable references to William Smith, Young's opponent and Lucy's son. Lucy Mack Smith portrayed the Smith family as the legitimate leaders of the church, which Young may also have seen as a challenge to his leadership.

Importance

LDS historian

Leonard Arrington Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his man ...

saw the book as "informative, basically accurate, and extremely revealing of Joseph Smith's early life and family background," and felt it "perhaps tells more about Mormon origins than any other single source. Richard L. Anderson called it one of "the essential sources for Mormon origins." Non-Mormon historian

Jan Shipps Jo Ann Barnett Shipps (born 1929), known as Jan Shipps, is an American historian specializing in Mormon history, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century to the present. Shipps is generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar ...

identifies this history as being "of central importance in the Mormon historical corpus."

Editions

The book has been republished several times, under various publishers, editors and titles. The following is a list of editions with significant changes to the text or title. * * *. * * * * *. * *

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Joseph Smith by His Mother 1853 non-fiction books American biographies History books about the Latter Day Saint movement Books about Joseph Smith LDS non-fiction 1853 in Christianity