Graham guardian., 1915-08-13
A WESTERN PIONEER
Joseph Fielding Smith, Presi.
dent of the Church of
Latter Day Saints

and founded the now HOuriShlng
state of Utah, were the Latter day
Saints or "MormOns. In their
pilgrimage from the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers-the latter then the
frontier of the Nation they pene-
traled the wilderness between the
Rockies and the Sierra Nevada and
sci up the standard of intermoun-
tain civilization.
The present day leader of this
community is the sixth to bear the
title of President of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He is the nephew and namesake of
that Joseph Smith whom all Nor
mons" revere as their martyred
Prophet. His father, Hyrum Smith,
shared with his brother, the Prophet,
his tragic fate at Carthage, Illinois,
June 27, 1874; an act, of mob
violence preceding y only a few
years the migration of their people
into the wilderness
Joseph Fielding Smith was born
at Far West, Missouri, November
l3, 1888, in the very thick Of the
mob troubles that eliminated in the
expulsion of the "Mormons" from
that state. Hyrum Smith was a
prisoner in the hands of the Miss
ourians when his son Joseph f. came
into the world. Some of the pIund-
erers, while sacking the defenseess
city, thrust themselves into the sick
mothers presence, and in reckless
search for articles of value pulled a
bed to pieces and tossed the mattress
upon another bed where the babe
lay sleeping. He was nearly smoth-
cred when, black in the face, he
was rescued from his perilous posi-
ton.
In the exodus of 1916 he accom-
panied his widowed mother from
NauvoO, illinois, crossing the Miss
issippi on a fiat boat, tOWed by a
skiff. Camping on the Iowa side Of
the river, they witnessed the bonn
bardment by the mob forces of the
city from which they had fed. Mrs,
Smith, woman of heroic mettle,
drove her own team to the Missouri
river, and thence across the plains
and mountains tc Salt Lake valley.
Her little son acted as herd boy and
teamster and otherwise assisted the
family during and after the long
journey to the Rocky mountains.
He was not quite ten years old when
that journey ended. Coming to
Utah before there was Utah-fOr
the territory, now state, was not
organized until two years afterward,
President Smith has seen, practically
from its beginning, the wonderful
growth and development of the
country which his people settled,
and has experienced all the hard
ships and vicissitudes attendant up
on pioneer life. 1t is not the pur
pose of this article to follow him
through all the shifting scenes of his
busy career, from youthful cOlonizer
and missionary to his present posi-
ton as the spiritual shepherd of half
million devOtees. Only the social
side Of his nature, and some of the
business aspects Of his career, will
here be glanced at.
Though naturally serious, and in
tenselY earnest in his convictions, his
temperament is not saturnine, as
unfriendly critics have represented
While he can be solemn, he is not
gloomy and mOrUse. On the con-
trary, there is a joval vein in his
disposition which makes him most
companionable. He laughs as hearth
ly as anyone at a good joke, and has
a keen appreciation of wit and
humor. Occasionally he will spin
a yacn" himself But fun-making,
in order to be acceptable to him,
must be in season; he delights not
in ill-tmed pleasantries, nor in such
as leave a sting behind. A hard
worker almost necessarily employed,
he never allows his recreations-
which are all too feW-tO interfere
with his labors, particularly his re-
Iigious duties.
There is nothing that President
Smith seems to enjoy more than to
be the host, and to welcome to his
home, or to public halls owned by
the church over which he presides,
his friends and felIow-laborers. A
marked feature of his administra-
ton has been an extended series of
social functions in the form of semi
annual receptions, given in honor of
veterans of the church, notably those
who drove OK teams or pulled hand
carts across the plains in ante-rail-
road days. or who now occupy posts
Of hardship, if not Of danger, in out
of the way sections
His kind thoughtfulness toward
the aged and his tender care for
little children are among his most
pronounced characteristics. While
fervently enjoining reverence for