SMITH, Joseph Fielding, American reli gious leader, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, nephew of Joseph Smith (1805-44) : b. Far West, Caldwell County, Mo., 13 Nov. 1838; d. Salt Lake City, Utah, 19 Nov. 1918. His childhood was spent amid persecutions and hardships which finally re sulted in the martyrdom of his uncle and his father at Carthage, Ill., 27 June 1844. In 1846 his mother with her family left her home in Nauvoo, Ill., as an exile, with the majority of the Latter Day Saints, who were driven from their homes. In this exodus, Joseph drove an ox-team to Winter Quarters, on the Missouri river, where the family remained until the spring of 1848, when they continued their journey to the west. From Winter Quarters to Salt Lake Valley, Joseph drove two yoke of oxen attached to a heavy-laden wagon, a distance of more than 1,000 miles, and arrived in the valley 23 Sept. 1848. He was engaged in manual labors 1848-54, and in the last-named year went as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, where he remained until 1857, gaining a thorough knowledge of the native tongue. He returned to Utah in 1858 and on 21 Mardi 1858 was ordained to the office of a Seventy, and on 16 October of the same year to the office of a High Priest and member of the High Council of the Salt Lake State. He labored as a missionary in Great Britain 1860 63 and in 1864 returned to the Hawaiian Islands on his second mission, where he resided until his return to Utah in 1865. While on his third mission to the Hawaiian Islands, 1885-87, he became acquainted with Prof. L. L. Rice, the possessor of the original manuscript of the much famed "Spaulding Story" which many over-zealous anti-"Mormons" have tried in every possible way to connect with the Book of Mormon, and from him he obtained an ex act copy of the manuscript, which being pub lished in book form, effectually disproved the Spaulding theory, according to Pres. James H. Fairchild, of Oberlin College, who com pared the two productions. On 1 July 1866 he was ordained an apostle and was received into the quorum of the Twelve Apostles 6 Oct. 1867. In February 1874 he started on his second mission to Europe, this time to preside over the European mission and to edit the Millennial Star, the Church periodical in England. He
remained there until the fall of 1875, when he returned to Utah and was appointed to preside over the Latter Day Saints in Davis County. This position he held until the spring of 1877 when he was again appointed to preside over the European mission, and for the third time left for Great Britain. He traveled in this field, visiting the different branches in England and on the Continent, until the death of Presi dent Brigham Young, 29 Sept. 1877, when he was called home. He was second counsellor to the presidency 1880-1901, and first counsellor April 1901 to 10 Oct. 1901. On the last-named date he was sustained as president of the Church.
President Smith's civic record comprises the offices of territorial legislator, city councillor, and university regent, in all of which he served repeatedly. As a member of the municipal government he was the main mover in securing from heirs of President Brigham Young Lib erty Park and Pioneer Square as public parks for Salt Lake City. He was a member of the House of the Utah .legislature 1865, and in 1882 was a member of the legislative council, presiding over it at the latter session. He was also president of the constitutional convention held the same year. He assisted in the organiza tion of Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institu tion, Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Company, the State Bank of Utah, and the Utah Sugar Company, over all of which he was the presi dent. He was also president of the Consoli dated Wagon and Machine Company and was connected with many other concerns.
In the auxiliary organizations of the Church he was the head of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and the Deseret Sun day School Union, and was senior editor of the Improvement Era and the Juvenile Instruc tor, the official organs of these two organiza tions of young people of the church.
Early in 1904 President Smith was sum moned to Washington to testify before the Senate Committee of Privileges and Elections in the case of Reed Smoot senator elect from Utah, upon whose eligibility the committee was called to pass. During a pro longed examination the witness displayed a mental resourcefulness equal to that of his distinguished interrogators.