Life bridged gap to genesis of Church
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When Joseph Fielding Smith became president of the Church in early 1970, he had already served 60 years as an apostle under four prophets, including 19 years as president of the Council of the Twelve, and five years as a counselor in the First Presidency.
D. Arthur Haycock, secretary to President Smith, wrote in the foreword of Joseph Fielding Smith - A Prophet Among the People, a 1971 book by J M. Heslop and Dell R. Van Orden:"As the son and grandson of noble men who played important roles in the history of the Church, President Smith literally bridges the gap between the present and the very genesis of the Church. His father, Joseph F. Smith, sixth president of the Church, was born in 1838 in Far West, Missouri, only eight years after the organization of the Church. His grandfather, Hyrum Smith, and his great-uncle, the Prophet Joseph, were martyred in the Carthage Jail, June 27, 1844."
Heslop and Van Orden, who as then-editor and assistant editor of the Church News covered the activities and travels of President Smith, described him as "a man of devotion. His life has been a continual expression of service and devotion to his family, his fellowmen, and the Church."
"As a young man he responded to the call of his midwife mother to hook up the horse and drive her on a house call. For hours he sat in the buggy, and though he wondered why it seemed that all babies were born in the middle of the night, he performed a great service for his mother and the mothers of the community."
The editors noted that President Smith was always devoted to the principles of the gospel. "As a teen-age boy he broke his leg while paying his tithing," they wrote in describing how he fell from atop the last load of hay - the "tithing load" - he and his brother were taking to the tithing office.
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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)
Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the gospel doctrine course of study.
Information compiled by Gerry Avant
Sources: Joseph Fielding Smith - A Prophet Among the People, by J M. Heslop and Dell Van Orden; Church News: Jan. 31, 1970; July 8 and July 15, 1972; and Dec. 29, 1973.
