Exploring Joseph Smith's Birthplace, Childhood, and Ancestry

Where is the exact spot where Joseph Smith was born? Where did Joseph Smith grow up? How did his early life and location influence him in restoring the Church? Did you know that Joseph had ancestors on the Mayflower, or who fought in the Revolutionary War? Join professor Casey Griffiths in this travel video, as he explores the early sites of the prophet’s life.

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Joseph's Ancestors

Anderson, Richard Lloyd. "Heritage of a Prophet." Ensign 1, no. 2 (1971): 15-19.

"Once the known convictions of Asael Smith, Solomon Mack, and their wives are identified, they become significant in understanding Joseph Smith in two ways. First, the Prophet’s parents obviously possessed characteristics formed in the Smith and Mack homes. Second, the Prophet had some direct contact with his grandfathers, who (as he said) taught him to value the freedom that they had fought for. Most significantly, however, their achievements and ideals were clearly respected and taught to the young Joseph Smith by his own parents." 

Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith

Anderson, Richard Lloyd. "Joseph Smith, Sr." New Era 3, no. 12 (1973): 34-39.

Honor thy father and mother is a strict requirement of many cultures. The youth who learns its meaning prepares for rich wisdom, seeking the best from all generations that preceded him. Joseph Smith sought wisdom of God (following James 1:4–5), but long before that he sought wisdom of religious teachers and particularly his parents. As Nephi did in the Book of Mormon, Joseph opens his earliest personal history by observing that he was born “of goodly parents, who spared no pains to instruct me in the Christian religion.” This and many other clues show that the Prophet grounded his life on the moral foundations of his parents. If one would know Joseph, Jr., he must understand the personality of Joseph, Sr.

Anderson, Richard Lloyd. "Lucy Mack Smith." New Era 3, no. 12 (1973): 34-39.

There are physical sketches of the aged Lucy Mack Smith, but they are a hollow shell without knowing the vital interior convictions that sustained her through a demanding life of 80 years. These can best be seen by reading her biography of her family, which is virtually her own autobiography. Sometimes depicted as ignorant in unsympathetic literature, Lucy writes with the power and clarity of a bright mind. Although her history has been generally understood as dictated to and polished by others, over 200 pages of her handwritten manuscript exist in clear, legible writing with highly accurate spelling. The Prophet’s mother was well educated and possessed a creative mind, practiced in articulate expression.

If you want to read the first edition of Lucy's autobiography, now popularly known as History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, check it out here:

• Smith, Lucy Mack. Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations. Liverpool: Published for O. Pratt, by S.W. Richards, 1853.

Joseph's Early Life

Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel. "The Early Years, 18​05–19.” In Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer, edited by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson, 1–22. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010.

Joseph’s Surgery

Scott Jackson, an orthopedic surgeon, explains the painful surgery Joseph Smith went through at the young age of 7. Doctor Jackson goes into the history of medicine at that time, and what Joseph Smith would have endured. He also includes a short video clip from a modern day surgery to demonstrate the procedure. 

WARNING: The clip from the surgery is graphic. Viewer discretion advised. 

• Jackson, Scott. A Doctor Explains Young Joseph Smith's Leg Operation!. Springville, UT: Doctrine and Covenants Central, 2021.

Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial Monument

Following the dedication of Joseph's Birthplace Memorial, the proceedings and an account of the trip were published the next year. They're worth taking a look.

• Proceedings at the Dedication of the Joseph Smith Memorial Monument at Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, December 23rd, 1905. Salt Lake City: The Deseret News, 1906.

Read a contemporary account of the dedication from Susa Young Gates, present at the event, and published in a prominent Church magazine of the day. 

• Gates, Susa Young. "Memorial Monument Dedication." Improvement Era 9, no. 4 (1906): 308-319.
• Gates, Susa Young. "Memorial Monument Dedication (Concluded)." Improvement Era 9, no. 5 (1906): 375-389.

Check out some from republished photographs from the trip, published in BYU Studies. 

• Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel, and Paul H. Peterson. "New Photographs of Joseph F. Smith’s Centennial Memorial Trip to Vermont, 1905." BYU Studies Quarterly 39, no. 4 (2000): 107-114.