If you don’t know the name of Joseph Smith, he was the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first prophet of this dispensation. I’m planning on giving you several installments on the life of Joseph Smith. Here are his early years.
Early Years
Joseph Smith Jr. was born December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith.
Joseph Sr. and Lucy had several children named Alvin, Hyrum, Sophronia, Joseph Jr., Samuel Harrison, William, Catherine, Don Carlos, and Lucy. They also had two children that died as infants, an unnamed child, and Ephraim.
Little is known about Joseph Smith growing up. His mother Lucy says, “nothing occurred during his early life except those trivial circumstances which are common to that state of human existence. (History of Joseph Smith by His Mother).
Lucy does share one event that occurred while the family was living in Lebanon, New Hampshire. At age 7 young Joseph contracted typhus fever which is high fever, headaches, and a dark red rash. Initially, the doctor thought it was a sprain, but after two weeks of intense pain, the doctor reexamined Joseph and found a large fever sore had formed on his chest. The doctor lanced the sore and an entire quart of fluid came out. This wasn’t the end of the problem. Joseph’s leg soon began to swell and for the next three weeks he suffered pain in his leg. During this time Joseph’s brother Hyrum had compassion for his brother and would sit beside Joseph night and day applying pressure to the leg to help alleviate the horrific pain.
The surgeon was called for again and he made an eight-inch incision on the front of the leg between the knee and ankle. This provided a great deal of relief for a time, but the pain came back with a vengeance.
The surgeon was once again summoned and the same procedure was followed, enlarging the wound and deepening it to the bone. The success of the procedure was short-lived. As soon as the cut started healing, the swelling and pain would recommence. The complications from the typhus fever lead to the infection and what we would today call, osteomyelitis.
With the swelling returning, they determined to again call for medical help. This time a council of surgeons came and in their consultation they determined that amputation would be the only route to follow for success.
Joseph’s mother asked the surgeons, “Gentlemen, what can you do to save my boy’s leg?” Their answer was less than promising that, “We can do nothing; we have cut it open to the bone and find it so affected that we consider his leg incurable and that amputation is absolutely necessary in order to save his life.”
Neal A. Maxwell gives us further insight into the surgeon. “The medical doctor in final attendance, it turns out, was Dr. Nathan Smith, founder of the Dartmouth Medical School. He brought two doctors and several medical students with him to attend to young Joseph, who resisted amputation and pain-deadening alcohol. It turns out that Dr. Nathan Smith was highly qualified, and he was using a very advanced technique. Thus ‘the only man in America who could save [Joseph’s] leg was just five miles away’. Happily, for young Joseph, Dr. Smith’s plans to leave the area had been delayed by a typhoid epidemic.” (“Discipleship and Scholarship,” BYU Studies 32, no. 3)
The surgeon wanted to tie young Joseph down to prevent him from moving and to drink some liquor to prevent the boy from squirming and to dull his senses from the pain, but to each Joseph refused, instead, he proposed that his father Joseph Sr. would sit on the bed and hold Joseph in his arms. Joseph also requested that his mother leave the room. Joseph said, “The Lord will help me, and I shall get through with it.” So we can see the strength of Joseph’s faith at a very young age.
The surgery was excruciatingly painful. The surgeons drilled into the bone in a couple of places then broke away large pieces of the bone. On the removal of the first piece, Joseph screamed out so loud that Lucy, who had gone several hundred yards away from the home, came running. Joseph sent his mother away. With the third piece of bone being removed Joseph’s mother returned and described the scene, “The wound tore open, the blood was still gushing from it, and the bed literally covered with blood. Joseph was pale as a corpse, and large drops of sweat were rolling down his face, whilst upon every feature was depicted the utmost agony!” Again, Lucy was forced from the room.
The operation was a success and Joseph’s leg soon healed.
To continue with part 2, read on here
image credit: LDS Church