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[Lawrence&Diana_Owen Jan 2 2002.GED] Topsfield Historical Collections vol.8 Topsfield Historical Society, MA, 1902. Call No. F74.T6T6
JOSEPH, born in Topsfield, July 12, 1771. He moved with his father to Tunbridge, Orange County, Vermont, in 1791, and assisted in clearing a large farm of a heavy growth of timber. In the year 1816, Joseph moved to the State of New York and settled in Manchester, Ontario County. While the family was living in New York, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized with six members on April 6, 1830, and Joseph Smith, Jun. was chosen as its President. This young man who, at this time, was but twenty-four years of age, is generally spoken of as the founder of "Mormonism", but the Latter-day Saints, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ, look upon him as an instrument in the hands of God in restoring to the earth the pure doctrines of ancient Christianity, and to them he is a Prophet in the fullest sense of the word, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc., were to ancient Israel. His testimony is that through the power of God he was enabled to translate from golden plates, which were buried in the earth about the year 420 A. D., a history of the ancient inhabitants of America. This record is now known as the Book of Mormon; by the same power and authority the Church of Jesus Christ was organized with the same officers, gifts and blessings which characterized the Church in the days of the Apostles.
Joseph Smith, Sen. was the first to accept the testimony of his son and in the year 1833 he was called to the office of Presiding Patriarch of the Church. He died in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, September 14, 1840, of consumption which was brought on through exposure and suffering during the mobbings and persecutions of his people. The Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum(*) (the latter succeeding his father as Patriarch), when under the protection of Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois and while waiting trial on the charge of treason, were murdered in Carthage jail, June 27, 1844, by a mob disguised with painted faces. For what reason these men were charged with treason has never been made clear, unless, according to the ruling of Judge Austin A. King, "they believed that the Kingdom of God would eventually be set up upon the earth and break in pieces all other nations, hence they were guilty of treason". The Church of Jesus Christ to-day numbers 300,000 souls. |