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Traditions of Honesty and Integrity in the Smith Family

LaMar E. Garrard

Although our character is not completely determined by family traditions and the environment in which we are placed, still these are factors that often influence and help to shape us. It is not hard to find instances where the character of a parent or grandparent set a pattern or tradition that affected the lives of his or her descendants. The Prophet Joseph Smith inherited a tradition of honesty and integrity from his own father and grandfather.

The Prophet's grandfather Asael Smith was the youngest of five children and the second son in the family of Samuel Smith. He was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, in 1744. His mother died when he was not yet a year old. He was raised on the family farm, sharing the work with his father and other brother. He married Mary Duty when he was twenty-three years old, and they also lived and shared the work on the family farm until they had three children. However, "Asael was only the second son, so economic custom dictated his learning a trade and leaving the family homestead, allowing his older brother, Samuel Smith, Jr., to farm on shares with his father."-->

Asael moved his family to Windham, New Hampshire, in May 1772. While living there, one more child, Asael, Jr., was born. They then moved to Dunbarton, New Hampshire, in April 1774; and approximately four years later they moved again, this time to Derryfield (Manchester), New Hampshire. During this four-year period two more children, Mary and Samuel, were born.

Asael enlisted in the army during the Revolutionary War, "an act of obvious hardship for a family head with six dependents."--> His army duty may have contributed to the poor health he experienced later on. After moving to Derryfield, Asael purchased a one hundred-acre farm, which he and his sons worked during the summer. Over the winter he and his sons worked at the cooper trade, making barrels. Four more children were born during the seven years on this farm.

On 14 November 1785, Asael's father Samuel died in Topsfield, Massachusetts. At that time Samuel, Jr. (Asael's brother), was still living on the family farm with his stepmother, Priscilla Smith. Prior to the father's death, Asael had made a trip to visit his ailing father. The circumstances surrounding this visit were as follows:

In 1785 Asael visited his father, Samuel, in Topsfield in his last sickness, and saw the old man at seventy-two jump out of bed in a delirium and head for the door, saying he must go to the mill or his family would suffer. Asael assured Samuel the family would be watched after. After Samuel's death on November 14, 1785, care of his widow first fell to Samuel, Jr. He was executor of the estate and initially took over the family farm. His listing as gentleman in the land records as compared to Asael's cooper may reflect an aspiration to follow Samuel, Sr., into the town aristocracy. Within a few months of Samuel, Sr.'s death, however, Samuel, Jr., was ready to rid himself of the farm and settle for less. With the farm, he had inherited the responsibility for seeing that Priscilla Smith received one-third of its income, her widow's portion. In addition, he soon discovered that the estate was actually insolvent. The two burdens were greater than he chose to carry.-->