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Joseph F. Smith: An Era of Transition

President Joseph F. Smith led the Church during most of the first two decades of the twentieth century. His administration as well as his personal life represented important links with the past as well as with the future.

Joseph F. Smith's Earlier Life

Joseph F. Smith was born in Far West, Missouri, on November 13, 1838, in the midst of one of the most bitter periods of anti-Mormon persecution. His parents were Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith. Within his first year, the Saints had been driven from Missouri and had commenced to build the city of Nauvoo in Illinois. He was only five years old when his father and his uncle, the Prophet Joseph Smith, were martyred in the Carthage Jail. The impression of this personal tragedy would remain with him throughout his life.

In 1848 he helped his widowed mother drive an ox team across the plains to Utah, performing most of the duties of a man. On one occasion their oxen were lost and could not be found despite a diligent search. Suddenly his mother arose and began walking toward a nearby river, even though she had been told that her oxen had been seen earlier in the opposite direction. She found them in a deep gulch by the river bank, perfectly concealed from view. "This circumstance," Joseph later reflected, "was one of the first practical and positive demonstrations of the efficacy of prayer I had ever witnessed. It made an indelible impression upon my mind and has been a source of comfort, assurance and guidance to me throughout my life." 1