Smith, Joseph, Sr., 1771-1840

Joseph Smith Senior (1771-1840) was born in Massachusetts and married Lucy Mack in 1795. Among his eleven children was the founder of the LDS Church, Joseph Smith Junior. Being plagued by crop failures in Vermont, Smith moved his family to upstate New York where the birth of the Latter-day Saint movement began. In late 1833, Joseph Smith Junior called upon his father to become the first presiding patriarch of the LDS Church. Patriarchal blessings often state an individual's particular talents and abilities, lineage, and often contain admonitions and blessings. Joseph Smith Senior carried this calling until his death in 1840 at Nauvoo, Illinois. The calling of patriarch was then given to Smith's son, Hyrum.

Father of the first president of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith (1805-1844).

First president of the Mormon Church.

Abraham Alonzo Kimball was the son of Heber C. and Clarissa Cutler Kimball. He was born April 6, 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois. He lived with his grandparents in Iowa until 1862, when he came to Utah. He was baptized in 1863 and served two missions. The first mission was to Iowa in 1863,the second to England from 1877-1879. Abraham practiced polygamy. He married Mary Eliza Hatton Kimball in 1866, Lucy Brown in 1874, and Laura Moody in 1882. To these three marriages were born fourteen children, Abraham Kimball, Jr. among them. Abraham kept a series of journals and personal papers which recorded his time as a missionary, as well as his experiences as a Bishop in the Kanosh ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Abraham A. Kimball, Sr. died September 24, 1889, of lung complications.

Joseph Smith, Sr. was the father of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the LDS Church. In 1833, Jospeh Smith, Jr. called upon his father to become the first presiding patriarch of the LDS Church. Patriarchal blessings often state an individual's particular talents and abilities, lineage, and often contain admonitions and blessings.