Asael Smith
Captain Asael Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 7, 1743 |
| Died | October 30, 1830 (aged 87) Buckton, St. Lawrence County, New York |
| Burial place | Union Cemetery, New York |
| Other names | Crook-neck Smith |
| Occupation(s) | soldier, farmer, town clerk of Manchester, New Hampshire |
| Known for | Grandfather of Joseph Smith Jr. |
Asael Smith (7 March, 1743 – 30 October, 1830) was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and grandfather of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Early Life
[edit]
Asael was born to Captain Samuel Smith Jr. (1714–1785) and Priscilla Gould (1707–1744).[2] Samuel was a anti-British politician, militiamen for Massachusetts and member of the first Massachusetts Provincial Congress and Priscilla was the descendant of Zaccheus Gould one of the founders of Topsfield, Massachusetts.[3][4][5] Asael's mother died 6 months after his birth, Samuel married Priscilla Gould (the original Priscilla Gould's cousin).[6] While growing up he received a severe burn on his neck which caused a deformation leading to him gaining the nickname "Crook-neck Smith".[6] Asael married Mary Duty (1743–1836) on February 12, 1767 and moved to Windham, New Hampshire in 1772 and proceeded to have 11 children.[6] From there he moved to Dunbarton and from there he went to Derryfield, now the city of Manchester.[6]
Military life and Vermont
[edit]Asael enlisted in the Continental Army and served under Colonel Joshua Wingate from March 4, 1776 to August 1, 1778.[7] Asael returned to Topsfield in 1785 following the death of his father, he worked in Topsfield for five years to liquidate his father's debts.[5] after paying off the debts, he first moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, and then to Tunbridge,Vermont in 1791.[5][8] In 1797 he began to oppose the established religions and served as moderator of a meeting that established one of the early Universalist societies in Vermont.[5][9] He also began to believed that “God was going to raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind.”[10][11]
Death and legacy
[edit]
Asael spent the rest of his life working as a farmer and living with his son Silas Smith in Stockholm, New York and eventually became a Mormon before his death on October 30, 1830.[6][12][13][14][15] Asael was praised by several prominent Mormons like Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Fielding Smith, Brigham Young, and George Q. Cannon[16] for his patriotism, honesty and his beliefs on religion and equal rights. According to Joseph Smith Jr., “My grandfather, said that he always knew that God was going to raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind...he declared that I [Joseph] was the very Prophet that he had long known would come in his family.”[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "Smith Homestead – Ensign Peak Foundation". Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ The family bible of Hyrum Smith
- ^ Dow, George Francis (1940). History of Topsfield Massachusetts. Topsfield Historical Society. The Topsfield Historical Society.
- ^ B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930), 1: 2.
- ^ a b c d "Smith Family Ancestors - The Encyclopedia of Mormonism". 2016-03-03. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ a b c d e Joseph Fielding Smith. Asael Smith of Topsfield.
- ^ Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls); War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington. D.C.
- ^ 1790 U.S. Census, Topsfield, Essex Co., MA, 613.
- ^ R. L. Anderson, p. 112
- ^ "Joseph Smith First President of the Church". www.churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Joseph Smith’s New England Heritage (1971), 112.
- ^ www.josephsmithpapers.org https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/back/joseph-smith-pedigree-chart. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ wiki (2013-11-03). "Asael Smith". Joseph Smith Foundation. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ "Autobiography Volume 3 circa 1865-1866," p. 22, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, accessed December 29, 2024, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/p/ZXmw
- ^ Journal of Jesse Nathaniel Smith: The Life History of a Mormon Pioneer, 1834–1906. Salt Lake City: Jesse N. Smith Family Association, 1953.
- ^ George Q. Cannon, Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1972), 26.
- ^ "A Christian Heritage". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved 2024-12-31.