Jesse N. Smith

Jesse N. Smith

Family Lithograph of Jesse N. Smith

Jesse Nathaniel Smith (December 2, 1834 – June 5, 1906) was a Mormon pioneer, church leader, colonizer, politician and frontiersman. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was related to Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Early life

Smith was born the youngest of three sons to Silas Smith (1779–1839) and his second wife Mary Aikens (1797–1877) in Stockholm, New York. His older brothers were Silas Sanford Smith (1830–1910) and John Aikens Smith (1832–38), but John passed away as a young child. Smith's father, Silas, married his first wife in 1806. She bore seven children, but passed away in 1826. Silas met Mary while she was teaching school in Stockholm and they married in 1828. Both of Smith's grandfathers, Asael Smith (1744–1830) and Nathaniel Aikens (1757–1836), served in the American Revolutionary War. According to Smith, his Grandfather Aikens served under General George Washington.

Smith's father was a younger brother of Joseph Smith, Sr., making him a first cousin of Joseph Smith Jr. Silas was converted when Joseph Sr. visited him in 1830, but was not baptized into the church until 1835 by his nephew Hyrum Smith. Smith's mother, Mary, would join the church a couple of years later. Jesse was an infant when his parents joined the church and a young boy when his father died of illness. Smith and his brother were considered well educated, for the time, by their mother since she had taught school.

Smith and his family followed the Mormons to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and finally out west to the Utah Territory. Smith's cousin William tried to persuade Mary Aikens Smith against following Brigham Young and the main body of Latter Day Saints west, but she informed him that this was her intention. The widow took Jesse N. and his brother, Silas S. across the plains with Young's group. At the age of twelve, Jesse N. drove his Uncle John's two yokes of oxen on the journey.

Church service

Smith served in many leadership positions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His cousin George A. Smith, serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, sent a letter informing him he was to serve as a missionary in Europe. When he arrived in Salt Lake City for departure he was told he would serve in the Scandinavia Mission. In the spring of 1862, at the age of 27, he was asked by Brigham Young to serve as Mission president of that mission. He went home for a brief period, but returned again in 1868 to serve as the mission's president for a second time. He assisted almost 3,000 members of the church in emigrating to America. Smith learned to read and speak Danish on his missions.

Smith served as the first Stake President of the Eastern Arizona Stake from 1879–1887 and as the first president of the Snowflake Stake from 1887 until his death. In 1882, he predicted that a temple would be built in Pima, Arizona.^[1] The Gila Valley Arizona Temple is between Pima and Thatcher.^[2]

Colonizer

Smith helped colonize different Mormon settlements. The church leadership asked him, his mother and brother to help settle Parowan, Utah in 1851. He also helped in creating the settlement of Minersville. In 1878 he went to explore an area in the Arizona Territory where Mormon settlements were being established. Smith returned to report his findings to John Taylor, who had succeeded Young. Taylor asked Smith to relocate there as a church leader. He settled his family in what is now Snowflake, Arizona. In 1884, he was assigned to a committee for the church to purchase land in Mexico for Mormon colonization.

Statesman

Smith was involved in local politics throughout his adult life. He served as Mayor of Parowan from 1859–1861, as a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1856 and 1878–1879, and in the Arizona Territorial Legislature's 19th session in 1897. He was elected probate judge of Iron County in 1866 by Utah Territory Legislators and again appointed by the Arizona territorial governor. He served as a captain in the local militia while in Utah Territory. He also held the positions of Deputy U.S. Marshal, Iron County District Attorney, surveyor, city clerk, town councilman, city magistrate, stockman and established cooperative mercantiles in both Utah and Arizona.

Wives and children

Smith practiced plural marriage. He had five wives and forty-four children:

Emma Seraphine West (1836–1910), m. 13 May 1852 Emma Seraphine Smith (1853–1909) Mary Josephine Smith (1855–1894) Hannah Daphne Smith (1857–1939) Eliza Snow Smith (1859–1927) Jesse Nathaniel Smith Jr. (1861–1912) Sarah Elizabeth "Sadie" Smith (1866–1892) Silas Derryfield Smith (1867–1956) John Walter Smith (1871–1936) Samuel Francis Smith (1873–1954) Margaret Fletcher West (1838–1864), m. 27 January 1856 Adelaide Margaret Smith (1857–1927) Joseph West Smith (1859–1944) Janet Mauretta Johnson (1848–1933), m. 9 October 1866 Susan Janet Smith (1868–1960) Ellen Mauretta Smith (1871–1872) Sariah Anna Smith (1873–1922) Agnes Maude Smith (1874–1879) Julia Johnson Smith (1875–1956) Priscilla Smith (1877–1954) Editha Smith (1878–1931) Lucy Smith (1880–1951) Margaret Fife Smith (1882–1969) Ruth Smith (1884–1956) Esther Smith (1887–1975) Elias Smith (1889–1961) Leah Smith (1891–1976)

Augusta Maria Outzen (1854–1932), m. 3 June 1869 Georgiana Bathseba Smith (1870–1946) Augusta Gerhardina Smith (1872–1940) Robert Christian Smith (1874–1920) Martha Amelia Smith (1877–1931) Asahel Henry Smith (1880–1947) Anna Smith (1883–1910) Rebecca Smith (1886–1960) Rachel Smith (1889–1940) Sophronia Smith (1892–1953) Natalia Smith (1894–1978) Millie Smith (1897–1931) Emma Larson (1863–1943), m. 28 October 1881 Hyrum Smith (1882–1971) Caroline Smith (1884–1924) Don Carlos Smith (1886–1967) Lorana Smith (1888–1979) Lehi Larson Smith (1891–1918) George Albert Smith (1893–1965) Aikens Smith (1899–1960) Myrtle Smith (1901–1977) Matthias Foss Cowley Smith (1905–1990)

Smith was eighteen years old when his oldest child was born and seventy when his youngest was born.

Death

Smith died at his home in Snowflake at the age of 71 after battling an illness. Four of his five wives survived him at his death.

Notable relations

See also: Smith (family)

• Nephew of Joseph Smith, Sr., Lucy Mack Smith and John Smith
• 1st cousin of Joseph Smith, Jr.
• 1st cousin of Hyrum Smith
• 1st cousin of Elias Smith
• 1st cousin of Samuel H. Smith
• 1st cousin of William Smith
• 1st cousin of Don Carlos Smith
• 1st cousin of George A. Smith
• 1st cousin, once removed, of John Smith
• 1st cousin, once removed, of Joseph Smith III
• 1st cousin, once removed, of Joseph F. Smith
• 1st cousin, once removed, of Alexander H. Smith
• 1st cousin, once removed, of David Hyrum Smith
• 1st cousin, once removed, of John Henry Smith
• 1st cousin, twice removed, of George Albert Smith
• 1st cousin, twice removed, of Hyrum M. Smith
• 1st cousin, twice removed, of Joseph Fielding Smith
• 2nd great grandfather of Jake Flake
• 3rd great grandfather of Jeff Groscost
• 3rd great grandfather of Jeff Flake
• Daughter Leah married John Hunt Udall
• Son Asahel H. married Pauline Udall, daughter of David King Udall

See also

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona

References

1. ^ McClintock, James H. (1921). Mormon settlement in Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona: Office of the Arizona State Historian. p. 223. http://books.google.com/books?id=WrkUAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 20 April 2009. 
2. ^ Adair, Jill (2009-02-16). "Ground broken for Gila Valley temple". Church News. http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56653/Ground-broken-for-Gila-Valley-temple.html. Retrieved 2009-04-08. 

Further reading

"Six decades in the early west. The Journal of Jesse N. Smith", Jesse N. Smith Family Association (Publishers Press, Salt Lake City), 1970.

External links

• Jesse N. Smith Website
• Jesse N. Smith Family Foundation
• Jesse N. Smith History
• Journal for 1904-1906

Persondata
Name	Smith, Jesse N.
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	December 2, 1834
Place of birth
Date of death	June 5, 1906
Place of death