The Prophet Joseph Smith was blessed with a noble mother who made a covenant with the Lord to serve him, which led her to seek with all her heart for the true religion and the way of salvation. She looked for the truth for about 3 years before the Prophet was born and 14 years before he had his first vision. Her love for the truth was imprinted upon Joseph’s soul as she carried him under her heart and nurtured him. After Joseph was born, she taught him to fear the Lord and seek after him and gave him that example to follow. Listen to her story of how she came to question the different churches and came to make her covenant with the Lord.
My name is Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of the Prophet Joseph. I was born in Gilsum, New Hampshire on July 8, 1775, to Solomon Mack and Lydia Gates. I was the youngest of 8 children. My parents loved the Lord and their country. My father and two older brothers, Jason and Stephen fought in the Revolutionary War.
When I was 8 years old my mother became very ill and thought she was going to die. She gathered us all around her bedside and exhorted us to fear God and walk uprightly before him and remember what she had taught us. She asked my older brother Stephen to care for me and raise me as his own child. Much to our amazement and happiness the Lord allowed our mother to live.
When I was 19 years old both of my older sisters Lovina and Lovisa died with consumption or tuberculosis only a few months apart. They were both examples of living Christ centered lives from their youth praying and singing daily. Before their deaths they came to know that their sins were forgiven and they exhorted their family and friends to do the same.
At the age of 16 the care of Lovina became mostly mine for three years. I remained at her bedside and if I left her, it was only for an hour or so. There was no cure for consumption in those days. With the disease Lovina wasted away and weighed no more than a child and I was able to carry her. As she was dying, I carried Lovina to her bed and my hand slipped, and she cried out, “Oh! Sister that hurt me.” Knowing I had hurt my sister who I loved so dearly in her last moments wounded me very much. My heart was truly broken, and my health became affected. I became pensive and melancholy and life held no joy for me. I had anxiety of mind and needed God’s peace.
My brother Stephen came to visit and after seeing my condition, he asked my parents if I could come and live with him in Tunbridge, Vermont. He insisted so earnestly on my going that my parents consented. They felt that this change would divert my mind and improve my health.
The ministers of the day talked a lot from the pulpit about the need for a change of heart, and this became my desire. To accomplish this, I spent much of my time reading the Bible and praying. Even though I greatly desired a spiritual rebirth, another matter kept coming back into my mind as to which church was right. As I studied the scriptures and meditated, I reasoned that if I remained a member of no church, all religious people would say that I was of the world and did not belong to the kingdom of God. If I joined one of the different denominations, all the rest would say I was in error. None of the churches would admit that I was right except for the one that I joined. I realized that none of the churches that I knew of were like the Church of Jesus Christ that the Savior himself had established, and the early apostles carried on after his death.
While I was living in Tunbridge, I met my future husband Joseph Smith Sr. who was a farmer, and we were married on January 24, 1796. My brother Stephen and his business partner gave me a considerable amount of money for a dowry. After our marriage we settled on a family farm in Tunbridge. This is where our 2 sons Alvin and Hyrum were born.
After six years we moved to Randolph where I also came down with tuberculosis. It started with a bad cold which caused a sever cough and then a high fever. My mother came to care for me. Even though my mother cared for me with up most diligence, I continued to grow worse day by day until I could not stand to hear a foot fall upon the floor unless it was in stocking feet and a voice above a whisper in my room. Without my knowledge the doctors decided that there was no hope for my recovery, and I was going to die.
My husband came to my bedside. He took me by the hand and exclaimed, “Oh Lucy, my wife, my wife, you must die! The doctors have given you up and all say that you cannot live.” There was no earthly person I could turn to for help, so I called upon the Lord with all my might. I begged and pleaded with him to spare my life. I wanted to be able to raise my children and be a comfort to my husband. During the whole night my mind was very agitated. I thought of heaven and heavenly things and then my thoughts would turn back to the earth and to my beautiful babes and my dear husband. Finally, I made a solemn covenant with the Lord that if he would let me live, I would serve him to the best of my abilities. Shortly after this promise I heard a voice say to me, “Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. Let your heart be comforted, ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Shortly after the voice stopped, I was healed. My mother came in and looked upon me and said, “Lucy, you are better.”
My speech was returned to me, and I said, “Yes, mother, the Lord will let me live, if I am faithful to the promise which I made to Him, to be a comfort to you mother, to my dear husband and to my beautiful children.” From this time forward, my strength continued to improve until I was well, and my mind became strong.
End Notes: Lucy’s babies at the time of her illness were 4-year-old Alvin and 2-year-old Hyrum and Lucy was 3 months pregnant with their daughter Sophronia who was born May 17, 1803. (“History of Joseph Smith by His Mother,” Scott and Maurine Proctor, 1996, pg.50.)