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Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 December 1834

Source Note

, Blessing, to JS and , , Geauga Co., OH, 9 Dec. 1834. Featured version copied [between 14 and 28 Sept. 1835] in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, pp. 3–5; handwriting of ; CHL.
, Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, [Dec. 1834–ca. Spring 1868]; handwriting of , , , , , , , Robert L. Campbell, John L. Smith, Richard Bentley, and James C. Snow; 144 pages, plus 52 pages of index; Patriarchal Blessings, CHL. Includes tipped in documents, redactions, use marks, and archival marking.
Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 is a commercially produced ledger measuring 17 × 10⅞ × 1¼ inches (43 × 28 × 3 cm) with tan leather-covered boards. The volume contains ninety-eight leaves measuring 16⅜ × 10½ inches (42 × 27 cm).
The ledger’s front page contains the title “The Book of Patriarchal Blessings 1834.” Robert L. Campbell recorded in the front of the volume “A History of this Record,” which was written in 1859 by church historians and . That history explains the provenance of the ledger, which was stolen on a couple of occasions, before obtained it and delivered it to in January 1859. The ledger was re-bound at least once. In a 7 October 1835 notation in Patriarchal Blessing Book 1, indicated that it would be impossible to collect all blessings given by Joseph Smith Sr., leaving the volume incomplete.
The first patriarchal blessings recorded in the ledger are those gave to his children and their spouses on 9 December 1834 at a special feast. began serving as the primary scribe for Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 probably sometime in September 1835 when he was appointed church recorder, and he likely recorded these blessings around that same time. served as the primary scribe for Patriarchal Blessing Book 1 until April 1836 when his brother , the assistant recorder, took over scribal duties. A variety of clerks inscribed the text of loose blessings into the ledger in and after 1837; active recording of ’s blessings to individuals continued until April 1868.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1:16; Cowdery, “Account Book of Writing,” 1; Minutes, 14 Sept. 1835.

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  2. [2]

    See Historical Introduction to Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 Dec. 1834.

  3. [3]

    Minutes, 14 Sept. 1835.

Historical Introduction

On 6 December 1834, JS and the other members of the to the offices of and assistant president of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Three days later, Joseph Smith Sr. called his family together at JS’s home and served them a large feast. On that occasion, he arranged his children according to age and bestowed patriarchal, or father’s, blessings upon each of them and their spouses, including JS and .
The office of church patriarch was not clearly defined at this time. In September 1835, , who served as a clerk and recorder for patriarchal blessings, recorded the earliest history of the office of patriarch in ’s patriarchal blessing book. He stated that JS, “the first ,” was the “first patriarch of the church.” In fact, JS did give blessings prior to 9 December 1834, though he did not necessarily connect them to the office of church patriarch. Joseph Smith Sr. also gave father’s blessings prior to his formal ordination. For example, on 22 January 1833, Joseph Smith Sr. laid his hands on JS’s head and gave him a blessing. On 19 February 1834, he blessed his sons JS and . After JS ordained to the office of high counselor on 24 September 1834, Joseph Smith Sr. “proceeded to bless him [Hyrum] also in the name of the Lord.”
Some historians have suggested that JS called and ordained his father to the office of church patriarch on 18 December 1833. This supposition is based on ’s 1835 account of blessings that JS gave to his family and other church leaders in December 1833. Although contemporaneous versions of the December 1833 blessings appear in JS’s 1832–1834 journal, in September 1835 Cowdery wrote expanded versions of the blessings in the patriarchal blessing book. According to the 1835 versions, was to “be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth.” He was also to “sit in the general assembly of patriarchs, even in council with the Ancient of Days when he shall sit and all the patriarchs with him and shall enjoy his right and authority under the direction of the Ancient of Days.” This information, however, was not included in the blessing as recorded in JS’s 1832–1834 journal. Furthermore, in his brief history of the office of patriarch, Cowdery wrote that Joseph Smith Sr. was ordained to the authority of “president and patriarch, under the hands of his son Joseph, myself, , and , presidents of the church.” Joseph Smith Sr.’s ordination as a president of the high priesthood occurred on 6 December 1834. The record of this meeting does not specify that the ordination to patriarch occurred at the same time, but Cowdery’s implication was that the two ordinations happened on the same occasion. Therefore, it is almost certain that Joseph Smith Sr.’s ordination to the office of patriarch occurred in December 1834.
The recording of blessings given on 9 December 1834 suggests that considered the blessings of husband and wife to be one. Rather than separating the blessings from each other, he recorded them together, signing and dating them as the clerk and recorder before moving to the next couple’s blessings. Further evidence that these husband-and-wife blessings were intertwined comes from the recording of the blessing of , JS’s younger brother. When originally blessed in December 1834, Don Carlos was not married. Upon Don Carlos’s marriage to in September 1835, gave him another blessing and blessed Agnes as well. Before recording these blessings in the patriarchal blessing book, Cowdery wrote, “The next in order is Don Carlos Smith, the youngest son of president Joseph Smith, sen. he was blessed at the time [9 December 1834], but in consequence of these blessings not being recorded until after this young man was married, it was though[t] best to lay hands upon him again, with his wife, and record both blessings together.” Since these blessings were recorded for the married couples and not simply for the individuals, the featured text includes ’s blessing with JS’s blessing. These blessings were the longest of all the blessings Joseph Smith Sr. gave to his children and their spouses on 9 December 1834. Full of scriptural allusions and references to his son’s prophetic calling and to Emma’s faithfulness under duress, the blessings refer to past events in JS’s and Emma’s lives and reflect aspirations and promises for them individually and as a couple.
did not record JS’s and ’s blessings in the patriarchal blessing book until September 1835. It is unclear whether Cowdery copied from an earlier version when recording the blessings or whether he simply worked with notes. In an 1835 letter, wrote about the recording of his own patriarchal blessing from Partridge noted that the blessing was not “delivered and written sentence by sentence” but that Smith “delivered them as fast as he naturaly speaks.” “In the mean time,” Partridge continued, “the heads were sketched down and they had to be filled out from memory.” This blessing and the others given on 9 December 1834 represent some of the few early blessings from Joseph Smith Sr. for which a record exists. According to an 1859 history of the patriarchal blessing book, “a considerable number of blessings which were given by that Patriarch, were not recorded, through the negligence of the Scribes.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834; Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9.

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  2. [2]

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1:1–8.

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  3. [3]

    See Bates and Smith, Lost Legacy, 29–58.

    Bates, Irene M., and E. Gary Smith. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

  4. [4]

    In that record, Cowdery wrote, “For although his father [Joseph Smith Sr.] laid hands upon, and blessed the fatherless, thereby securing the blessings of the Lord unto them and their posterity, he was not the first elder, because God called upon his son Joseph and ordained him to this power and delivered to him the Keys of the kingdom, that is, of authority and spiritual blessings upon the Church.” (Patriarchal Blessings, 1:8.)

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1833.

  6. [6]

    Minutes, 22–23 Jan. 1833.

  7. [7]

    Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834.

  8. [8]

    Minutes, 24 Sept. 1834. In a later account, Benjamin F. Johnson wrote that Joseph Smith Sr. also visited families in summer 1834 to give them patriarchal blessings. (Johnson, My Life’s Review, 11.)

    Johnson, Benjamin Franklin. My Life’s Review: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Johnson. Independence, MO: Zion’s Printing and Publishing Company, [1947].

  9. [9]

    See, for example, Bates and Smith, Lost Legacy, 5.

    Bates, Irene M., and E. Gary Smith. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1833.

  11. [11]

    Blessing to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, between ca. 15 and 28 Sept. 1835.

  12. [12]

    Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834.

  13. [13]

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1:9.

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  14. [14]

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1:7.

    Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–. CHL. CR 500 2.

  15. [15]

    Partridge, Genealogical Record, 25.

    Partridge, Edward, Jr. Genealogical Record. 1878. CHL. MS 1271.

  16. [16]

    George A. Smith and Wilford Woodruff, Statement, 1859, CHL.

    Smith, George Albert, and Wilford Woodruff. Statement, 1859. CHL. MS 4159.

Page 4

His feet shall stand upon the neck of his enemies, and he shall walk upon the ashes of those who seek his destruction: with wine and oil it shall he be sustained, and he shall feed upon the heritage of Jacob his father: the just shall desire his society, and the upright in heart shall be his companions: No weapon formed against him shall prosper, and though the wicked mar him for a little season, he shall be like one rising up in the heat of wine— he shall roar in his strength, and the Lord shall put to flight his persecutors: his he shall be blessed like the fruitful olive, and his memory shall be as sweet as the choice cluster of the first ripe grapes. Like <​a​> shief [sheaf] fully ripe, gathered into the garner, so shall he stand before the Lord, having produced a hundred fold. Thus spake my father Joseph. Therefore, my son, I know for a surety that these things will be fulfilled, and I confirm upon thee all these blessings. Thou shalt live <​to​> do the work which the Lord shall command thee: thou shalt hold the of this ministry, even the of this , both in time and in eternity. Thy heart shall be enlarged, and thou shalt be able to fill up the measure of thy days according to the will of the Lord. Thou shalt speak the word of the Lord and the earth shall tremble; the mountains shall move and the rivers shall turn out of their course. Thou shalt escape the edge of the sword, and put to flight the armies of the wicked. At thy word the lame shall walk, the deaf shall hear and the blind shall see. Thou shalt be gathered to and in the goodly land thou shalt enjoy thine ; thy children and thy children’s children to the latest generation; for thy name and the names of thy posterity shall be recorded in the book of the Lord, even in the book of blessings an <​and​> genealogies, for their joy and benefit forever. And now, my son, what more shall I say? Thou art as a fruitful olive and a choice vine: thou shalt be laden with precious fruit. Thousands and tens of thousands shall come to a knowledge of the truth through thy ministry, and thou shalt rejoice with them in the : Thou shalt stand upon the earth when it shall reel to and fro as a drunken man, and be removed out of its place: thou shalt stand when the mighty judgments go forth to the destruction of the wicked: thou shalt stand on mount Zion when the tribes of Jacob come shouting from the north, and with thy brethren, the sons of Ephraim, crown them in the name of Jesus Christ: Thou shalt see thy Redeemer Come in the clouds of heaven, and with the just receive the hallowed throng with shouts of hallalujahs, praise the Lord. Amen
, wife of Joseph Smith jr. was born in , Susqehannah County, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1804.
, my daughter-in-law, thou art blessed of the Lord, for thy faithfulness and truth: thou shalt be blessed with thy husband, and rejoice in the glory which shall come upon him: Thy soul has been afflicted because of the wickedness of men in seeking the destruction of thy companion, and thy whole soul has been drawn out in prayer for his deliverance: rejoice, for the Lord thy God has heard thy suplication. Thou hast grieved for the hardness of the hearts of thy ’s house, and thou hast longed for their salvation. The Lord will have respect to thy cries, and by his judgments he will cause some of them to see their folly and repent of their sins; but it will be by affliction that they will be saved. Thou shall see many days; yea, the Lord will spare thee till thou art satisfied, for thou shalt see thy Redeemer. Thy heart shall rejoice in the great work of the Lord, and no one shall take thy rejoicing from thee. Thou shalt ever remember the great condescension of thy God in permitting thee to accompany my son when the angel delivered the record of the Nephites to his care. Thou hast seen much sorrow because the Lord has taken from thee three of thy children: in this thou are not to be blamed, for he knows thy pure desires to raise up a family, that the name of my son might be blessed. And now, behold, I say unto thee, that thus says the Lord, if thou wilt believe, thou shalt yet be blessed in this thing <​and​> thou shalt bring forth other children, to the joy and satisfaction [p. 4]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr., 9 December 1834
ID #
1568
Total Pages
3
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:200–208
Handwriting on This Page
  • Oliver Cowdery

Footnotes

  1. [13]

    See Mark 4:8, 20.

  2. [14]

    This refers to Joseph the patriarch, son of Jacob, and suggests the same blessings for JS.

  3. [15]

    See Revelation, 8 Mar. 1833 [D&C 90:2–3]; and Historical Introduction to Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834.

  4. [16]

    See Revelation, 20 May 1831 [D&C 51:4]; and Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57].

  5. [17]

    See James 5:7.

  6. [18]

    See Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76:69–70]; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:20–25].

  7. [19]

    See Revelation, 7 May 1831 [D&C 49:23–24].

  8. [20]

    See Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:26–32].

  9. [21]

    See Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:96–98]; and 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17.

  10. [22]

    An 1830 revelation directed Emma to be a “comfort unto my Servent Joseph thy husband in his afflictions with consoleing words in the spirit of meekness.” JS had experienced much affliction from antagonists, sometimes with direct repercussions for Emma. For example, on the night of 24–25 March 1832 in Hiram, Ohio, a group of men dragged JS from his bed, attempted to force aqua fortis, a highly corrosive solution of nitric acid and water, into his mouth, and then tarred and feathered him. After dragging JS from the house, the door was left open, exposing JS’s and Emma’s infant son Joseph Murdock, already sick with the measles, to the cold night air. This apparently exacerbated his illness, and he soon died from complications, further grieving JS and Emma. In August 1833 and again in the early months of 1834, JS wrote that church members in Kirtland, Ohio, suffered “great persicution on account of” Doctor Philastus Hurlbut, who lied in an attempt to “b[r]ake down mormanism” and who “saught the distruction” of the church, JS, and his family. (Revelation, July 1830–C [D&C 25:5]; JS History, vol. A-1, 205–209; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833; JS, Journal, 28 Jan. 1834; see also “Mormon Trial,” Chardon [OH] Spectator and Geauga Gazette, 12 Apr. 1834, [4].)

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

    Chardon Spectator and Geauga Gazette. Chardon, OH. 1833–1835.

  11. [23]

    Isaac Hale, Emma’s father, was opposed to the marriage of JS and Emma in 1827. Although Hale did take in JS and Emma and sold them part of his property and the home where JS worked on his translation of the Book of Mormon, Hale never believed in the book or JS’s ministry. (JS History, vol. A-1, 8; Deed from Isaac and Elizabeth Hale, 25 Aug. 1830; Isaac Hale, Affidavit, 20 Mar. 1834, in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 262–266.)

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

    Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

  12. [24]

    See Willard Chase, Affidavit, 11 Dec. 1833, in Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, 245–246; and “Mormonism—No. II,” Tiffany’s Monthly, Aug. 1859, 164–165. Not only did Emma accompany JS to the hill where he obtained the gold plates, she also served as a scribe for JS during his translation of the record. (Edmund C. Briggs, “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856,” 454; Journal of History, Oct. 1916, 454; Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289–290; Knight, Reminiscences, 1.)

    Howe, Eber D. Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion, from Its Rise to the Present Time. With Sketches of the Characters of Its Propagators, and a Full Detail of the Manner in Which the Famous Golden Bible Was Brought before the World. To Which Are Added, Inquiries into the Probability That the Historical Part of the Said Bible Was Written by One Solomon Spalding, More Than Twenty Years Ago, and by Him Intended to Have Been Published as a Romance. Painesville, OH: By the author, 1834.

    “Mormonism,” Tiffany’s Monthly 5 (May 1859): 46–51; (July 1859): 119–121; (Aug. 1859): 163–170. Tiffany's Monthly. New York City. 1856–1859.

    Briggs, Edmund C. “A Visit to Nauvoo in 1856.” Journal of History 9, no. 4 (Oct. 1916): 446–462.

    Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.

    Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.

  13. [25]

    On 15 June 1828, Emma gave birth to a son who died within an hour; on 30 April 1831, she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl who lived only three hours. In early May 1831, JS and Emma adopted Joseph and Julia Murdock, whose mother died in childbirth. Joseph Murdock died on 29 March 1832. Joseph Smith III was born in Kirtland on 6 November 1832. At this time, then, only two of JS and Emma’s six children were still living. (JS History, 1834–1836, 9; JS History, vol. A-1, 209.)

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