Review: William Smith: In the Shadow of the Prophet

Originally published at StandardNET

In “William B. Smith: In the Shadow of the Prophet” (Greg Kofford Books, 2015), author Kyle R. Walker seeks an analogy between the well-known younger brother of Joseph Smith, and their lesser-known malcontent uncle, Jesse Smith, who eventually alienated his entire family, and presumably friends, with a self-righteous anger that threatened violence at times. It’s an interesting comparison, but the sheer lack of knowledge on Jesse’s life leaves it suspect. The nephew mellowed at the end of his life; we don’t know if Jesse did but the odds are against it.

The biography of Smith is very long, somewhat psychological, and the author frequently repeats information, but it is a magnificent work. Through extensive research, Walker has compiled a detailed biography that highlights not only the many dysfunctions that hampered Joseph’s younger brother, but spotlights his talents, and provides a poignancy, particularly in his later years, that makes you admire and root for the younger brother who was tossed from the main LDS Church a year-plus after Joseph’s death.

It’s appropriate he get a good, fair biography. Growing up in the LDS Church, I heard him described as immature, impulsive, adulterous, violent, profane, hypocritical .... He was all that, but I never heard the good, the missionary work, the defense of his slain brother, his suggestion the LDS Church expand to England, his tenure as editor and state legislator, and his later failed religious initiatives that otherwise set the framework for the now-named Community of Christ’s theological foundation. They were an aversion to polygamy and a belief in a lineal hierarchy of Smiths to head the “Reorganized LDS Church.”

Smith was a complex of emotions, alternating between damning the Utah Mormons post-excommunication, to proposals, whether to Brigham Young and Orson Hyde, that he rejoin the Utah Church, but only with a promise of a renewal of apostleship and the church patriarch position, with hints that he be as highly regarded as Young. In fact, about 1860, long after his excommunication, William B. Smith impulsively was rebaptized into the Mormon Church. Nothing came of it, and Smith, entering a more stable phase of his life that would eventually lead to membership in the Community of Christ, never affiliated with his old faith.

These contradictory emotions were liabilities to Smith’s early tenure in Mormonism. Despite his time as an apostle and other leadership positions, he was never fully trusted by his peers in the hierarchy. His key strength was his familial ties, and the patience of his elder brothers, Joseph and Hyrum, who endured his weak sensitivity, grandiosity, sense of entitlement and flaring temper, which occasionally extended to violence. Smith had a stable but needy home life, married to a chronically ill wife, Caroline, and dabbling in polygamy as it was introduced. His church troubles intensified when he went on a mission in 1843 to head the Saints in New England. He alienated local leaders, eventually drumming some out of the church, and favored manipulative associates, such as George J. Adams, who flattered him.

The most serious error Smith made was to assume, due to his family name, that he had the sealing power to conduct polygamous marriages. That action eventually had him removed from the position about the time his brothers were murdered in Carthage. For the next year and a half, a shaky, oft-broken truce would last between Young, the Quorum of the Twelve and William Smith, who returned to Nauvoo in May of 1945 with a terminally ill wife who died soon after. This was a time of tension in which most of the Smiths broke association with Young’s leadership, but William’s behavior was particularly erratic. It included a strange public speech advocating then-secret polygamy, irresponsible marriages to very young teens, sympathy for criminal thugs, and constant arguments over compensation and his status as church patriarch. As Walker notes, though, even as the turmoil continued, Smith performed with enthusiasm his blessings duties as patriarch.

Smith’s church tenure was finished after he abandoned Nauvoo and published an anti-Brigham Young bromide, ironically printed in the newspaper of Thomas Sharp, the man chiefly responsible for killing his brothers. The next several years were spent moving around the region with his new family (he married his late wife’s younger sister) and allying himself with Mormon factions. As Walker notes, he had more affiliations with disaffected Mormons than any of his colleagues, including ventures with James J. Strang, Martin Harris, Lyman Wight, George J. Adams, and even John C. Bennett! 

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is Smith’s several-year church that he headed, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was more successful in this venture than many perhaps realize. His church had several branches, a newspaper and several hundred members with William as the prophet. The author wryly notes that once Smith was established as prophet, he hedged away from earlier positions that Joseph Smith III eventually take over the church. Alas, the church failed when a key member, Isaac Sheen, discovered William’s polygamous past and heavily publicized it. Besides the church, William also lost his wife, Caroline’s sister Roxey Ann, who with their children left him.

William B. Smith lived a long life. The last 30-plus years of his life was spent mostly in a manner far more serene than the fiery decades of 1830 through 1859. He married a woman, Eliza Sanborn, with children and they had a few of their own. The newlyweds withdrew from Mormonism and its offshoots, and lived a rustic, semi-poor existence farming in Elkader, Iowa. Smith even briefly joined the Union Army during the Civil War to make some money. He eventually affiliated, with his wife,  with the Reorganized LDS Church, and served missions and as a branch president. His status as a brother of Joseph Smith made him an admired man, and Smith used his still-strong preaching skills to laud his brother and his faith. 

He never stopped hoping that he would achieve a major position in the Community of Christ, and frequently asked such of Joseph Smith III. The son, gifted with strong patience, compassion and interpersonal skills, never acceded to his uncle’s wish but flattered his frail ego and utilized his talents, allowing him to go on missions and speak at conferences. He outlived Eliza by a few years, and even remarried before his death at 82 in 1893.

William B. Smith, arguably a rogue as a much-younger man, was a better man late in life, a kind man who greeted Utah Mormon missionaries with tears and a hug late in his life. Walker notes that the Prophet Joseph Smith once said that William would be a good man late in his life; that proved to be true. 

There’s much I haven’t mentioned in this biography. Rest assured if you have a passion for LDS Church history, you won’t be disappointed by Walker’s biography.

-- Doug Gibson

The last son of Joseph Smith understood the power of doubt

The following was written in the late 19th century by a young man familiar with the two Mormon churches: The Utah LDS Church and the Midwest Reorganized LDS Church founded by Joseph Smith III. “’Except you believe, ye shall be damned’ is the first proposition of the church.’ ... In art, in science, in every department of life, intelligence is never required to give credence to or act upon any proposition unless it is capable of demonstration, actual demonstration, or it is based up apparrent (sic) fact, apparent even though their causes and mode be hidden. But in religion another basis is acted upon and we are expected to believe and stake our salvation upon this belief. ... The seeker for salvation must first believe and the vital object, salvation or damnation, hangs thereon. This is absurd.”

The author was David Hyrum Smith, the youngest son of the slain LDS prophet, Joseph Smith. Born after his father had been murdered, David was cossetted by his family and lived the life of a writer, artist and missionary. The young father — in his 20s — had returned to a mission in Utah after several requests. Joseph Smith III, whom the letter was addressed to, must have regretted extending the call, writes Valerie Tippetts Avery, author of “From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet,” a fascinating biography of David Smith. To young David, already prone to instability, the mission call served to convince himself of something that tormented, that he had spent years angrily refuting — that his father had preached and practiced polygamy. 

The knowledge, confirmed to David by former plural wives of his father, led to other doubts, expressed by David in these letters to his brother. In the following excerpt, David reasonably objects to the longstanding Christian doctrine that a loving father willfully leaves his children abandoned on earth. David was reflecting on his new fatherhood and the love for his son as he wrote: “I have a child. I keep myself obstinately hidden from him; I make no revelation to him but in an obscure and very doubtful way the requirement of love and obedience comes to him. And death or life hangs in its acceptance. How very unjust if he be ignorant, prejudice guide him, if wise, then reason tells him if I have a father he must come near me first, love me, and teach me to love him. ..; I do not argue the benefit of Faith and trust in God as a general application of moral principle but the attaching of salvation upon such ambiguous grounds is unjust.”

Writes Tippetts Avery, “Fatherhood had taught David to distrust the seemingly deliberate obscurity of God.”

Yet David Hyrum Smith took his newfound skepticism a step further, arguing against the dogma that man can only seek important further knowledge from a selected prophet. This doubt struck at a key doctrine — at that time — of both churches. He wrote: “If faith unto salvation was an eternal principle and true, it could be discovered and demonstrated so as to be of general benefit as the law of gravitation of the rules of mathematics. But as it comes to us it makes us subservient to our falable (sic) fellow Man for eternal life, a most absurd proposition. But you again might speak God has revealed himself. But here again is an absurdity our fellow man brings us a revelation, and we are only guided by our faith in him. We do not know he has had this revelation and eternal salvation depends upon our faith in our fellow man and his revelation. Unjust and absurd.”

In his writings, David Smith further pointed out the inconsistency of ascribing belief based on one man’s claim of divine prophecy. For every Joseph Smith, he told his brother, there were Brigham Young, “Spiritualists,” and “Strangites” ... an offshoot of Mormonism.

Young Smith’s ideas could be dismissed as heresy or apostasy by some believers. The proper term is doubt, though, which is a healthy expression, and a prerequisite toward a mature belief and hope. Any follower of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or any Christian religion, should acknowledge the inconsistencies demanded by Christian theology, which are:

• That belief is required without presentable evidence.

• That our father in heaven has deliberately abandoned us from palpable presence.

• And that for every claim of a Joseph Smith or a Thomas S. Monson, there are thousands of similar claims from prophets with hundreds of millions of adherents.

We cannot prove theology, and we should not try. Beliefs we hold dear may not affect others in the same manner. History exists which alleges those we worship as servants of God as sinners of lust and power.

The mystery of belief, if it can be defined, is that to doubt is to believe. Doubt turns sand into a rock. To not doubt is to omit an ingredient for faith and hope.

More will be written about David Hyrum Smith. There is an irony to his letters. Mental illness overcame him and he spent the last half of his life institutionalized. A melodramatic person might see his fate as God’s punishment. Such supercilious jeering may exist. But we should investigate the questions he shared with his brother. Failure to do so results in churches having a low activity rate.

-- Doug Gibson

This article was previously published at StandardBlogs.

The last years of William B. Smith a mix of persistent hope and pity

In 1878, William B. Smith, brother to the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, apostle to the LDS Church in his early 20s, and briefly LDS Church patriarch in his mid-30s, was essentially forgotten. The most volatile member of the Smith family had not only been kicked out of the Utah Mormon church, he had been tossed from several other offshoots of post-Nauvoo Mormonism. He had even failed as a Baptist preacher. As 1878 began, there was one option left for Smith, now 66. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headed by his nephew, Joseph Smith III, was preparing a conference in Plano, Ill.

As Paul M. Edwards relates in the Dialogue magazine article “William B. Smith: The Persistent “Pretender,” (here) Smith III, who recognized his uncle’s value as a link to his father’s early church history, visited William. The pair discussed William’s proposed acceptance into the RLDS Church. At first, William demanded that he be inserted in the RLDS Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He also wanted to “be received into the Reorganization on the basis of his former membership.”

Smith III never seriously considered having his uncle be an apostle, but he was OK with William’s previous LDS affiliation qualifying him for membership into the RLDS church. As it was, William B. Smith was accepted into the church as a high priest. William’s official position with the RLDS was as a missionary in Hamilton, Mo. As mentioned, his value was reminiscing of his time with his more-famous late brother. However, the old “lost apostle” hadn’t yet lost his ambition. If he couldn’t be an apostle, William hoped he could become the RLDS Church patriarch. His rationale was that he had been the final “legitimate” patriarch with the Mormon church before its move to Utah.

Edwards includes this letter William wrote to the Saints Herald, an RLDS publication, saying: “that this office of Patriarch is an office that belongs in the Church of Christ; and that whosoever is appointed to fill the place left by the death of Hyrum Smith will hold the right to the same presiding authority. ... Joseph, inherited the patriarchate by lineal descent from Jacob who was the father of the twelve patriarchs; and from father Joseph Smith, the patriarchal office was given, as the revelation of 1841 declares, by blessing and by right, for such is the order of this evangelical priesthood handed down from father to son. ... It is the duty of the First Presidency to select and ordain the Patriarch, that is to fill the space left vacant by the death of Hyrum Smith.” (1881, 82)

A key problem with William’s effort is that the RLDS Church, at that time, had little use for the office of church patriarch. Edwards includes the comment of then-RLDS apostle Jason Briggs, who called the office of patriarch “a ‘wart upon the ecclesiastical tree, unknown in the Bible, or Book of Mormon.’” In fact, as Edwards adds, Briggs wanted to eradicate the office. Joseph Smith III put off William’s request to be church patriarch. Later, he learned that his uncle was considering writing a biography of Joseph Smith. At that time, the RLDS Church, and Smith III, were actively trying to preserve the fiction that Joseph Smith had not practiced polygamy, and that it was an invention of the Utah Mormons.

In Edwards’ article is this excerpt from an 1882 letter to William Smith from his nephew: “I have long been engaged in removing from father’s memory and from the early church, the stigma and blame thrown upon him because of polygamy, and have at last lived to see the cloud rapidly lifting. And would not consent to see further blame attached, by blunder now. Therefore uncle, bear in mind our standing today before the world as defenders of Mormonism from Polygamy, and go ahead with your personal recollections of Joseph and Hyrum.”

In the letter, Joseph Smith III instructed his elderly uncle to only remember admirable things about Joseph and Hyrum Smith, meaning again, no mention of polygamy. Also, he mentions the possibility of William making money on the book “if the right sort of enterprising men got hold of it.”

As William Smith entered the final years of his life, money became his main goal. In 1891, at the age of 80, living in Osterdock, Iowa, with his wife, on a military pension of $84 a year, he began a correspondence with RLDS bishop, and apostle, William Kelly. Smith, too feeble to maintain ambitions of high ecclesiastical office, merely wanted to make ends meet. Again, these pleas from William were put off, although occasionally stipends of money would be sent to him.

The letters from William Smith include resentment that his requests for additional funds are largely ignored. In late 1891, asking for $8 a month remittance, Edwards notes some of the arguments he used: “William ... asked: Who helped remove the tar from Joseph Smith? Who stood guard for long hours to protect Joseph Smith’s life? Who was driven from his home and forced to move from place to place in the name of the church, sleeping on the ground and in tents, to do the work of the Lord in Iowa and Illinois? He closed the letter by telling Bishop Kelly that ‘I think it due me that you place a salary on my family of eight dollars per month.’”

Writing to Kelly in late 1892, William again criticized the RLDS Church for not having a patriarch: “Then there is the patriarchal office the seed of which was sown in the church among all the prophets, a seed that was planted ... in the church of 1830. ... My nephew is lame on some of these points, the Church under him is not yet perfect in organization ...”

A month before William Smith died on Nov. 18, 1893, Joseph Smith III asked his uncle for more “evidence” that polygamy was a creation of the Utah Mormons. William dutifully obliged, saying that the polygamy taught in Nauvoo was of “the Brigham party,” comprised of apostates.

The last years of William B. Smith were those of an old man who had sown his oats and was in pasture. A man who had more than once behaved like a rake and a thug was toothless. His unrealized desire to become RLDS patriarch was a compromise from earlier higher desires. The condescending deference paid William by his nephew probably met his needs, if not his wants. It is a pitiful, but not unhappy end for the brother of the prophet. After William’s death, the RLDS ordained a patriarch.

-- Doug Gibson

-- Originally published at StandardBlogs