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This collection was in the possession of BYU before 1960, prior to when donor records were retained by the department. The location of the originals of the items for which we only have photocopies is unknown. The items in this collection have been pulled together artificially, but there is some evidence that all the materials were originally donated together.
The originals are restricted because of condition. Please use photocopies.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from Papers of John Lyman Smith must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the Special Collections Board of Curators.
John Lyman Smith, an early member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born in Pottsdam, New York, on November 17, 1828, the son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. He was the youngest of three children, and his family was among the first to join the Church. When he was a small child, they moved to Kirtland, Ohio, to be with the Saints. His father was an uncle to the Prophet Joseph Smith, making John and Joseph first cousins. His older brother, George A. Smith, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, his father, John Smith, was Church Patriarch, and John himself held several positions in the Church and community during his life. Among these were president of the 12th Quorum of the Seventy, mission president, Justice of the Peace, Utah territorial legislator, and patriarch.
John was baptized a member of the Church in Kirtland in 1836, at the age of eight, by his father. In 1838, his family moved to Far West, Missouri, and later Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri, with other members of the Church. His family, along with the rest of the Church, endured much persecution there. John was just a boy, but he knew the terrors of mob violence.
In 1839 the family was forced to leave Missouri along with the rest of the members of the Church, and they relocated on the banks of the Mississippi River in Illinois. The Saints built a city there called Nauvoo, and they began to prosper. John's father was called to preside locally over part of the Church across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo in Iowa territory, so the family moved across the river. They lived in several different areas in Iowa. While living in one of these areas, known as Zarahemla, Joseph the Prophet, would come to their home to hide from those seeking his life.
In 1843 the family moved again, this time to Macedonia, Illinois, where John's father was called as the local Church presiding officer. In May of 1844, the Macedonia troop of the Nauvoo Legion was called to Nauvoo. As a member of the troop, John marched along with the rest, a distance of twenty-five miles, to protect the Prophet from the mob. There had been heavy rains before the march, so it was a muddy, wet, miserable trip. Most of the members of the troop had either no shoes or shoes that wore out during the march. John was among these. His feet were sore and bloody, but, "I thought not of that but longed to snap my old gun. . . at the mob." When Joseph Smith saw their condition, John records that he wept, and then arranged for them to all have new boots.
Later, on June 19, 1844, he met Joseph on the road and was told that the troop would be disbanded and he would go to Carthage for trial. John was told by the Prophet that he should live to see Zion prosper and Israel triumph. This was the last time he would see his cousin alive. The Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum, were killed in Carthage Jail, June 27, 1844. He writes of his feelings upon their death, "We could not believe it, thinking they were men of God." He went to Nauvoo to see the bodies, and of that experience he said, "I could not cry, the fountain of my heart was dried up. I could have given my life freely to have restored life to those noble men, relations of mine." That fall John was ordained an elder in the Church by his father, John, and his brother, George A. On his seventeenth birthday, just days later, he was ordained a member of the 12th Quorum of the Seventy. In July of 1845, he "was made happy. . .by taking to myself the sweet and lovely Augusta B. Cleveland." John and Augusta would have eight children: Isabella, 1846 (stillborn), Augusta Bowen, [1849-1921], Sarah Marietta, [1851-1912], Clarissa Medora, [1853-1854], John Lyman, Jr., [1855-1939], George Don Alexander, [1859-1938], Lottie Rose, [1861-1950], and Sophronia Amanda, [1865-1930].
Augusta B. Cleveland was the daughter of John Cleveland and Sarah Marietta Kingsley, who was one of the counselors to Emma Smith in the first Relief Society presidency of the Church. Her family was well-to-do; she had been given a good education and had many great advantages in her youth. At the age of twelve, she and her mother had the same dream on the same night which told them that the gospel had been restored. Just days later they heard the Mormon elders and joined the new church. But her father and younger brother did not join. After joining the church the entire family moved to Nauvoo, a city Augusta loved. It was there that she met John Lyman Smith while they were both studying in the Nauvoo Library.
Augusta would spend almost nine years of her married life alone, having the responsibility of caring for her children in the uncertain pioneer world while John was serving missions in Europe. She was frail and sick for much of her life, but between sickness and household duties, she found time to write poems, several of which were published in the local papers under the name "Esta". Her poems were not written for the sole purpose of being published, but they generally were composed for friends, birthday greetings, weddings, and especially to comfort those who were mourning the loss of a loved one. Augusta was also quite musical, and along with poems, she wrote songs. This pioneer woman also left stories and reminiscences of many of her experiences as a pioneer.
When the Church moved west, John L. was again with them. He left Nauvoo on February 8, 1845: "This day [we] started for the mountains or somewhere else. I know not where." With the courage and faith he possessed, he stayed true to his beliefs and went again with the Saints to a place where they could have peace in their religion, although he did not know where that place was. Augusta's mother, Sarah Cleveland, and younger brother, Alexander, had begun the journey with John L. and Augusta, but they were advised by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball to return to Illinois. John L. records what they told her: "if she did so it should be the means of salvation to my father-in-law." He also writes, "Augusta feels very bad to part with her mother."
John L. and Augusta Cleveland Smith arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 25, 1847, among the first of the Saints to live in Utah. The next spring, just after his grain had been planted, crickets came and destroyed many of his and other pioneers' fields. According to his journal, many settlers became discouraged and wanted to leave, but "finally the Lord sent numerous swarms of white gulls which destroyed them." His account of this legendary event is one of the few contemporary accounts known. [See 1846-1849 Journal, May, 1848]
In 1853 John L. was elected to the Utah Territorial Legislature, and two years later, he was admitted to the bar of the territorial Supreme Court. He also took a second wife, Mary Adelia Haight, in March of 1853. Mary was the daughter of Hector C. and Julia Haight. To this union two sons were born, Asahel Albert in 1854 and Horton William in 1860. These two sons of John L. and Mary would be killed by the bursting of a mill wheel on July 19, 1882, at the young ages of 28 and 22, respectively.
Both of John L.'s parents died in 1854, the same year he was called to work in the Historian's Office with his brother, George A. Smith, who was Church Historian. John L. was called to serve a mission in Europe in the spring of 1855. He left Salt Lake City on May 7, 1855, under somewhat miraculous circumstances. He had become ill three weeks before the time appointed to leave; he was bedridden and unable to feed himself. President Brigham Young came to visit him and John told him, "I am called of God to go, and I wish to be laid on a bed in the wagon and start and I shall get well. Otherwise I may lay here and die." President Young then gave John L. a blessing in which he told him that he would "begin to amend from this hour." As he wished, he started the journey to Europe lying in the back of the wagon.
John L. arrived in Liverpool on August 14, 1855 and was appointed to labor in the Swiss and Italian Mission. In December he was called to be the president of that mission, a calling which he served in faithfully until his release in 1857. Upon his release he wrote, "I must acknowledge with feelings of regret that I bid the Saints adieu, but I am nevertheless glad to start on my return to the land I love and the bosom of my dearest family." His love for his family, especially his wife, Augusta, is also shown as he continues, "Oh how I long to see them. My much loved Esta, how I long to clasp thee dearest to my arms and may God grant to preserve us that we may soon meet again."
After leaving Switzerland, he spent nearly four months in England before beginning the journey home. Once back in Utah, he again spent an extensive amount of time working in the Historian's Office. John L. was also the secretary of the Legislative council in 1858. He went on his second mission from 1860-64, spending the first three years in Switzerland, and the last in England. Soon after his arrival he was again appointed to "take charge" of the Swiss, Italian, and German mission. He arrived in Geneva on January 4, 1861, and extended the missionary work into central and northern Europe.
John L. arrived back in Salt Lake in October of 1864. In November of the same year he was advised by President Young to leave Salt Lake and settle in Fillmore, Utah, which he quickly did. In 1866, John L. was elected as Justice of the Peace in the Fillmore Precinct, Millard County. He was appointed secretary of the School of Prophets and set apart as a member of the stake high council in 1869.
Because of the poor health of his wife, Augusta, John L. moved the family again, this time to Beaver. He became a Justice of the Peace again in Beaver County in 1871, and in 1873 he was ordained a patriarch by Brigham Young and George A. Smith. In 1876 he began collecting tithes and offerings from the members in Washington, Kane and Iron Counties in order to finish the St. George Temple.
He supported his family throughout his life mainly by carpentry, furniture making, farming, and also practicing some law. John L. Smith was active in the Church for the remainder of his life. His last few years were spent in St. George working in the temple nearly every day. He died after a long illness in St. George on February 24, 1898, at the age of 69.
This collection consists of seven original journals, their photocopies, a photocopy of a journal that is missing its original, and photocopies of fragments from two missing journals. These journals were kept by John Lyman Smith over a period of about forty-nine years (ca. 1846-1895).
The collection also includes a photocopy of his autobiography and portions of other autobiographical and biographical material. These journals and biographical materials include accounts of his life as a boy in Ohio and Missouri; the forced removal from Missouri; his father's ecclesiastical duties in Iowa and Illinois; the journey to and pioneering in Utah; his two missions to Europe, where he served as president of the Swiss Italian Mission and the Swiss, Italian, and German Mission; and records of temple work done at the St. George Temple. The collection also includes a contemporary account of the cricket and seagull affair of 1848. Also included are materials that have been divided into personal, church related, and professional papers. The final portion of the collection contains papers of various members of John Lyman Smith's extended family.
This collection has been organized into three main units: (1) John Lyman Smith journals and autobiography, (2) John Lyman Smith papers and (3) John Lyman Smith family papers. The family papers include letters, blessings, and reminiscences of members of John Lyman's family and are arranged by individual; also included are genealogies and family records. Most of the photocopied blessings that were given to John Lyman Smith, and included in his papers, can also be found in his journals.
The BYU library also owns the Augusta B. Smith (John Lyman Smith's wife) Collection [MSS 1833]. Items in this collection include the following:
For more information on the Smith family, see the papers of Iona Thompson, 1862-1945 [MSS 1336], which deal primarily with sections of southern Utah in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Autobiography and journal, persecutions in Missouri and Nauvoo; death of Joseph Smith; crossing the plains and beginning settlement in Utah; cricket and seagull affair of 1848.
Item 1-May 23, 1849-April 5, 1855, black, damaged binding and loose 2 pages, 98 pages, self-paginated to 33, 7 pages blank, dark ink and pencil. Early pioneering in the Salt Lake Valley; pioneering in Parowan, Utah; member of Territorial Legislature; work in Church Historian's Office.
Item 2-May 7, 1855-December 31, 1856, brown binding, 300 pages, self-paginated to 281, first 7 pages record blessings, 22 pages blank, dark and red ink and pencil. Journey from Utah to Europe; mission to Europe; serving as president of the Swiss Italian Mission in Geneva.
Continuation of mission to Switzerland and Italy; missionary service in England; principle cities: Geneva, Zurich, and London: journey back to Utah; work in Historian's office.
Copy of Deseret Alphabet is pasted in and used in some entries; work in Historian's Office and Territorial Legislature; second mission to Swiss Italian Mission (president); principle cities: Geneva, Zurich, and Basel; service in London, England; record of personal expenses; statistical reports of mission; record of distances [pasted in upside down].
Last part of mission in England; journey home; living in Fillmore, Beaver, and St. George; record of work in St. George Temple; newspaper clippings of poems written by Augusta (wife) and articles about death of brother, Apostle George A. Smith pasted in; inventory of livestock [upside down in back of book].
Living in Fillmore, Beaver and St. George; traveling through southern Utah giving patriarchal blessings; working in St. George Temple.
Regarding working in St. George Temple, church work and meetings.
Certificates of ordination to Church offices, blessing given to Smith, Smith's passport, and a testimonial written on Smith's behalf.
Blessing sets apart John Lyman for mission to Europe.
Includes Elder's Certificate, letter of appointment to take charge of the Swiss-Italian Mission, from Amasa Lyman, Charles C. Rich, and George Q. Cannon, passport (visa), 2 Passage Broker's Agent's Appointments, from George Q. Cannon, record of offerings, Seventies certificate, record of ordination as patriarch, and letter assigning Smith to collect tithes and offerings to finish the St. George Temple.
Includes license to practice law, certificate of admission to the [Utah Territorial] Bar, certificate of appointment to office of Adjutant of First Regiment, of First Brigade of Cavalry, of Great Salt Lake Military District of Nauvoo Legion, and certificate of election to First Lieutenant of Company B, of First Regiment of First Brigade of Cavalry, of Great Salt Lake Military District of Nauvoo Legion.
Certificate of election to the office of Justice of the Peace, Millard County.
Many of the items are not dated.
Family stories written by Augusta Carter Wood, granddaughter of John Lyman Smith
Includes chart of priesthood authority, incomplete account sheet, and outline. Chart is the only dated item.