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Joseph Smith Was A Gentleman

Jesse Nathaniel Smith was a first cousin to the Prophet Joseph Smith and knew him well to the very end of his life. When the Saints went west, Jesse was among them. He was sent to colonize in Arizona and became a stake president, Patriarch, and a great and good man. One year prior to his death he was asked to share his memories of the Prophet Joseph Smith with students in the Church History class of John Henry Evans at LDS College. The date was April 11, 1905. He said,

“I may say I was never so impressed by any person. I am unable to fully describe my sensations when in the presence of this wonderful man. I only know that I rejoiced being in his presence….I will speak of the domestic life of the Prophet. My mother being a widow, he noticed her children. She had two sons. He asked them to his house, he made them welcome, they were at liberty to remain in his household. In this way we passed some time under his roof. I was intimate with his children, especially with the one that came into prominence and was known as young Joseph. I knew that queenly woman, his wife, Emma Smith. I may say that I was greatly impressed with her personality. She was the fitting helpmate of such a man.

I stood in awe of this lady far more than I did of the Prophet himself, because he was so considerate of the feelings of the children. His domestic animals seemed to love him. He was very fond of horses. He had a few very fine horses, one very remarkable dog, the housedog; they called him Major. The dog and the horses rejoiced when they saw this man because he took care of them, because he recognized them in their places as God’s creatures. He did not require unreasonable things of them; he was kindness itself to every human being, especially to his own household.

His children rejoiced when he was present, and this was not so very remarkable; they could not do otherwise with so good and kind a father….I will say another thing, that I feel to be equally true, Joseph Smith was a gentleman in the very highest sense of the word. I never heard that said before, but I will stake my reputation on it that I know it was true. He was especially neat in his appearance. He was unusually tidy—he was exceptionally tidy. When I have seen him almost at the best advantage was when he was attired in a military uniform. He was an officer of the military organization know as the “Nauvoo Legion. . .”

My young brothers and sisters, the name of this man has been sacred to me. It has been next to that of the Blessed Redeemer in my estimation. I knew him at home, I knew him in his public ministry. I listened to him in his house and also in the congregation of the people, and at every walk of life he stood at the head…. I do not expect that you will ever become as enthusiastic as I am about Joseph Smith. I never said a word in my life that seemed to bless me so as when I have said a good word for Joseph Smith.

Source: Oliver R. Smith, ed., The Journal of Jesse Nathaniel Smith-1834-1906 (Provo: Jesse N. Smith Family Assn., 1970), 455-456.

Why do I take the time to share such memories and testimonies? In the hopes that you will never forget them and may be influenced by them, as Jesse Nathaniel Smith himself was. Many years
later, Jesse’s daughter, Hannah Daphne Smith Dalton wrote of her father receiving a mission call and having to leave his family. She said,

“The separation was sad, and I remember very well how white and frail and pitiful my little Mother looked when Father took her in his arms just before he left.

His last words to me were, “Daphne, my darling, honest, daughter–be good and kind to your dear Mother.”

These words were constantly before me all of my life. Father was gone about two and one-half years on this mission and every letter he wrote to me while he was away always started with, “My darling, honest, daughter, Hannah Daphne.”

How I loved that dear, good man. When I would see him worried or in trouble, I used to go close to him and pat his hand and often kiss him and I never can forget the sweet smile he would give me.”

Could it be that Jesse became the kind of honored and revered father he had seen in the Prophet Joseph?

Source: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWCX-4KH