Hyrum Smith

“ I invited them to come and live with me. They consented to do so as soon as it was practicable.
The Sympathy Between the Prophet and his Brother Hyrum.
Friday, 18.—Brother Hyrum Smith called to see me, and read a letter that he received from William, in which he asked forgiveness for the abuse he offered to him (Hyrum) at the debate. He tarried most of the forenoon, and conversed freely with me upon the subject of the difficulty existing between me and Brother William. ”

“ Oh, no matter about Smith, he has gold plates, gold Bibles, he is rich—he don't want anything." But finally, they agreed, if Hyrum could raise them one thousand dollars, by Saturday at ten o'clock in the evening, they would give up the deed. ”

“ A NOBLE WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE. CHAPTER I.
Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch, married Jerusha Barden, November 2, 1826. They had six children, viz: Lovina, Mary, John, Hyrum, Jerusha and Sarah. Mary died when very young, and her mother died soon after the birth of her daughter, Sarah. Hyrum, the second son, died in Nauvoo, in 1842, aged eight years. The Patriarch married his second wife, Mary Fielding, in the year 1837, she entering upon the important duty of stepmother to five children, which task she performed, under the most trying and afflictive circumstances, with unwavering fidelity. ”

“ We are told that faithfulness shall be the strength of his loins. This is a figure. We all understand what it means. It means that the children of Hyrum Smith shall be faithful and from generation to generation shall be a shaft in the hands of God to execute His judgments. That is what it means!
But the blessing continues:
"And he shall be hid by the hand of the Lord, that none of his secret parts shall be discovered unto his enemies unto his hurt. ”

“ Smith, with his brother Hyrum and their fellows, had suffered severely, but later their confinement had been more easy, and the news of the triumphant gathering of his people, together with the excitement of the escape, had induced in Smith a mood which spurned past failures with a foot that sped to a new goal. The acclamation, the sincere and touching joy, with which Smith was received by men and women and children, were enough to raise any man in his own esteem, and to set free the ambition which had been perhaps drooping in confinement. ”

“ He chose Elder Heber C. Kimball, as his first and Willard Richards, as his second counselor. The choosing of Heber C. Kimball, was the fulfilment of a prediction by the Patriarch Hyrum Smith. In a patriarchal blessing given to Elder Kimball March 9, 1842, Hyrum Smith said: “You shall be blessed with a fulness and shall be not one whit behind the chiefest; as an apostle you shall stand in the presence of God to judge the people; and as a prophet you shall attain to the honor of the three.” The following day they selected “Uncle” John Smith to be “the Patriarch over the whole Church.” ”

“ After making an inflammable speech to the rabble army, the governor led the brothers before the troops, as the mob had requested to have a clear view of Joseph and Hyrum. As they passed in front of the lines, Ford introduced the Prophet and Patriarch as Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The Carthage Greys refused to receive them by that introduction, and some of the officers threw up their hats, drew their swords and said: "We will introduce ourselves to the damned Mormons in a different style." ”

“ Between nine and ten o’clock Hyrum Smith came out of the Mansion House and gave his hand to Reynolds Cahoon, saying, “A company of men are seeking to kill my brother Joseph, and the Lord has warned him to flee to the Rocky Mountains to save his life. Good-bye, Brother Cahoon, we shall see you again.” A few minutes later, as Joseph, Hyrum and Willard Richards were waiting on the river bank, William W. Phelps was instructed to take the families of the Prophet and Patriarch to Cincinnati. ”

“ We will further examine his statement. Sidney Rigdon, Caleb Baldwin and Alexander McRae were fellow prisoners with the Prophet Joseph, Patriarch Hyrum and Lyman Wight in Liberty. If any such blessing or ordination, or whatever you desire to call it, had taken place at that time these brethren would have known something of it. Moreover, Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon were counselors to the President, and in such an appointment they would in all reason have been called on to assist in such blessing; an account of it would have been made on the records of the Church. ”

“ It may be that the vision of the end is opened to Hyrum's view, for he will not leave his brother's side. They have loved in life, the elder brother living by the other's prophetic words, and in death they shall not be separated. Joseph says: "Hyrum, take your family on the next boat to Cincinnati. I want you to live to avenge me." Hyrum replies: "Joseph, I will not leave you." It is not a vengeance of blood that the Prophet means: it is the triumph of the work over all murderous mobs, a triumph in which he wants his faithful brother to share in the flesh. ”

“ Shortly before the martyrdom the Prophet tried with all his power to persuade Hyrum not to accompany him to Carthage, knowing full well the fate that awaited them there. Had Hyrum stayed behind, and thereby remained in mortality, he would, by virtue of his position and ordination received in 1841, have become the president of the Church. His brother intended that this should be (Times and Seasons, 5:683) , but through his faithfulness to, and love for, his brother, Hyrum fell a martyr before the Prophet Joseph did. ”

“ Hyrum Smith and Orson Hyde were appointed by a Council of the High Priests in Kirtland at this time, to write a letter of reproof and warning to the brethren in Zion. In this communication the conduct of the Saints in Zion was reviewed in great plainness. The whole spirit of the communication may be judged by the following paragraph:
"We feel more like weeping over Zion than rejoicing over her, for we know that the judgments of God hang over her, and will fall upon her except she repent, and purify herself before the Lord, and put away from her every foul spirit. ”

“ The other Councilors concurred in the above.
Councilor Hyrum Smith said that Elder Carter had been blessed of God, and by the prayer of faith the sick had been healed under his administration; yet he does not always have the gift of God and wisdom to direct; so in the case before the Council. Pride had engendered in Elder Carter's heart a desire to excel, and the spirit of meekness was withdrawn, and he was left to err, as has been shown by the testimony, because he is not yet perfect. ”

“ The Lord spoke to each of them by revelation, calling them to cry repentance to their generation. The people of Seneca County, in which Fayette was situated, were friendly, and many houses were opened by those desiring to know more of the Prophet’s message. Many were convinced and showed a willingness to obey the Gospel. Hyrum Smith, who had come to Fayette, David Whitmer and Peter Whitmer, Jr., were baptized, the first by the Prophet and the others by Oliver Cowdery. Samuel H. Smith, younger brother of the Prophet, had been baptized while the Prophet and Oliver were in Harmony, Pennsylvania. ”

“ Thursday, November 1.—Brothers Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were brought prisoners into camp. The officers of the militia held a court martial, and sentenced us to be shot, on Friday morning, on the public square of Far West as a warning to the "Mormons." [2] However, notwithstanding their sentence and determination, they were {191} not permitted to carry their murderous sentence into execution. Having an opportunity of speaking to General Wilson, I inquired of him why I was thus treated. ”

“ This proves to us that the blessing of the progenitors was not necessarily the blessing of the first born; nor was it the right to the Presidency of the Church; for Samuel received a blessing similar to that of his brother Joseph, and neither of them received the birthright in these blessings. I shall now show you that it was Hyrum Smith who received the blessing of the first born—the birthright—and it was not the Presidency of the Church either, for they are not the same. ”

“ The conference also appointed Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon, and Jared Carter, a committee to superintend this business, viz: that of circulating subscriptions to establish a fund to build a house, and to aid the Elders to attend this school. The subscriptions are now in circulation among us, and our Heavenly Father is opening the hearts of our brethren beyond the expectation of many; and not one brother among us, as yet, refuses to exert himself to do something in a temporal way to bring about the establishing of this house and school ”

“ Build upon my rock, which is my Gospel. Deny not the Spirit of Revelation nor the Spirit of Prophecy; for woe unto him that denieth these things.
Hyrum believed and awaited the proper hour for baptism.
While the light of truth was thus breaking upon the world, all the powers of hell allied themselves against it, with the determination that it should be extinguished. Mobs increased in strength and hatred. Added to this constant menace, Joseph once more found himself almost destitute of means. ”

“ I have appointed for Zion,” said the Lord. Those who took stock were not to pay less than fifty dollars, and not more than fifteen thousand dollars for any one man.
The Calling of Hyrum Smith Another important commandment in this revelation was the appointment of Hyrum Smith, to act as patriarch in the office which had been held by his father, and also his ordination to be a “prophet, seer and revelator” unto the Church, as well as Joseph Smith. ”

“ But verily, verily, those men will have their reward.
They drove off with my husband, leaving me alone with my little girl. The next morning, I went on foot several miles to see a friend by the name of Abner Lackey, who, I hoped, would assist me. I was not disappointed. He went without delay to the magistrate's office, and had my papers prepared, so that I could get my husband out of the prison cell, although he would still be confined in the jail yard.
Shortly after I returned home, a pert young gentleman came in, and asked if Mr. Hyrum Smith was at home. ”

“ It is easy to understand that a church whose leaders had such views of financial responsibility as Smith's and Rigdon's, and whose members were ready to apostatize when they could not obtain credit at the prophet's store, was anything but a harmonious body. Smith was not a man to maintain his own dignity or to spare the feelings of his associates. Wilford Woodruff, describing his first sight of the prophet, at Kirtland, in 1834, said he found him with his brother Hyrum, wearing a very old hat and engaged in the sport of shooting at a mark. ”

“ At the same time, Mr Smith received a commandment to go forthwith to Waterloo, and prepare a place for his family, as our enemies also sought his destruction in the neighborhood in which we then resided, but in Waterloo he should find favor in the eyes of the people. The next day, by ten o'clock, Hyrum was on his journey. Joseph and Emma left for Macedon, and William went away from home in another direction, on business. ”

“ Elder Lorin Babbitt said he was present when the above conversation took place, and heard a considerable part of it, and fully concurred in the statement of Elder Smith; and he heard Brother Green say, previous to the above talk, that although they accused Brother Aldridge of having an evil spirit, yet, if the truth were known, the devil was in them, (namely, Presidents Joseph and Hyrum) ; for if any man should ask my opinion, and then abuse me in that way, I should call him a scoundrel or a knave. ”

“ Don Carlos Smith to Joseph Smith, Jun., and Others Confined in Liberty Jail, Missouri.
Quincy, Illinois, March 6, 1839.
Brothers Hyrum And Joseph:—Having an opportunity to send a line to you, I do not feel disposed to let it slip unnoticed. Father's family have all arrived in this state except you two; and could I but see your faces this side of the Mississippi, and know and realize that you had been delivered from your enemies, it would certainly light up a new gleam of hope in our bosoms; nothing could be more satisfactory, nothing could give us more joy. ”

“ Brothers Partridge and Morley soon afterwards left the house, in order to get further information upon the subject.
After falling asleep that night, I saw my sons in vision. They were upon the prairie traveling, and seemed very tired and hungry. They had but one horse. I saw them stop and tie him to the stump of a burnt sapling, then lie down upon the ground to rest themselves; and they looked so pale and faint that it distressed me. I sprang up, and said to my husband, "Oh, Mr. Smith, I can see Joseph and Hyrum, and they are so weak they can hardly stand. ”

“ One monstrous bed was made in which we all “camped out” in turn, one fellow only remaining awake as sentinel for an hour at a time.
“We shall have to settle to-morrow,” said Smith, when he had returned to “camp,” after having gone the round and seen that all lights were out, and all doors and bolts fastened—“we shall have to settle to-morrow what to say to them about coming out, you fellows.”
“I thought that was left to the captain,” said Hawkesbury.
“I vote we stick out against the Henniker having anything to do with us,” said Philpot, “in or out of school.” ”