It was John Locke, the great characteristic English philosopher, who, at the age of thirty, wrote:

"I no sooner perceived myself in the world, but I found myself in a storm which has lasted hitherto."

To Joseph F. Smith, who is among the greatest and most unique and notable individualities of that peculiar people, the Latter-day Saints, this sentence of Locke's is especially applicable. Only, his was enveloped in storm before he could perceive. He is the son of Hyrum Smith, the second patriarch of the Church, and brother of the Prophet Joseph. His mother was Mary Fielding, of English origin, a woman of bright and strong mind and of excellent business administrative qualities.

It was during the Missouri troubles. Governor Boggs had issued his order to exterminate the "Mormons." On the first day of November, 1838, through the heartless treachery of Colonel Hinkle, Joseph and Hyrum and several other leaders of the people were betrayed into the hands of an armed mob under General Clark. They were to be taken prisoners, and confined in jail, and perhaps shot. On the following day, these betrayed leaders were given a few moments to bid farewell to their families. Under a strong guard of militia mobocrats, Hyrum was marched to his home in Far West, and, at the point of the bayonet, with oaths and curses, was ordered to take his last farewell of his wife; for his "doom was sealed" and he was told that he would never see her again. Imagine such a shock to his companion! It would have overpowered and come near ending the life of an ordinary person. But with the natural strength of her mind, coupled with the sustaining care of God, she was upheld in this fiery trial with its added miseries to follow. It was on the 13th day of the same month of November, 1838, in the midst of plunderings, and scenes of severest hardships and persecution, that she gave birth to her first-born, who was named Joseph Fielding Smith. In the cold of the following January, leaving four little ones, under the care of her sister, Mercy R.—children of her husband by a former wife, then dead—she journeyed in a wagon with her infant to Liberty Jail in Clay county, where the husband and father was confined, without trial or conviction, his sole offense being that he was a "Mormon." She was permitted to visit him in jail, but was later compelled to continue her flight from Missouri with her children, to seek shelter in Illinois.

Such were the stormy environments of birth, and such was the first pilgrimage of the infant Joseph who has since compassed the earth and the islands of the sea, promulgating and defending the principles for which his father endured imprisonment and later martyrdom, and for which his mother suffered untold persecution and distress.

Joseph's early years were spent amidst the agitations which culminated in the martyrdom of his uncle and his father on the memorable 27th day of June, 1844. After the abandonment of the city by the Twelve, and when the majority of the Saints had been driven from Nauvoo, in September, 1846, his mother fled from the city and camped on the west side of the Mississippi River, among the trees on its banks, without wagon or tent, during the bombardment of the city by the mob. Having later succeeded in making exchanges of property in Illinois for teams and an outfit, she set out for Winter Quarters, on the Missouri River. Joseph, a lad of only about eight years, drove a yoke of oxen and a wagon most of the distance through the state of Iowa to Winter Quarters, and his other occupation, after leaving Nauvoo, was principally that of herd boy.

On these western plains he drank in the freedom of the spirit of the West, and developed that physical strength which, notwithstanding his later sedentary occupation, is still observable in his robust, erect and muscular form.

He is a lover of strength and a believer in work. "Labor is the key to the true happiness of the physical and spiritual being. If a man possesses millions, his children should still be taught how to labor with their hands; boys and girls should receive a home training which will fit them to cope with the practical, daily affairs of family life, even where the conditions are such that they may not have to do this work themselves; they will then know how to guide and direct others," said he, in a recent conversation with the writer.

The great and overpowering desire of all the Saints was to obtain means to gather to the Valley. For this purpose various kinds of labor were sought in Iowa and neighboring states, from farming to school teaching. In the fall of 1847, he drove a team for his mother to St. Joseph for the purpose of securing provisions to make the coveted journey to the Salt Lake Valley, in the spring following. The trip was successfully made.

It was in the fall of that year, while tending his mother's cattle near Winter Quarters, that he experienced one of the most exciting incidents of his life. The cattle were their only hope of means for immigration to the Valley. This fact was deeply impressed upon the boy, so that he came to view them as a precious heritage, as well as a priceless charge given to him as a herd boy. He understood the responsibility; and that is much, for neither Joseph, the boy, nor Joseph, the man, was ever known to shirk a duty or prove recreant to a responsibility.

One morning, in company with Alden and Thomas Burdick, he set out upon the usual duties of the day. The cattle were feeding in the valley some distance from the settlement, which valley was reached in two ways, one over a "bench" or plateau, the other through a ravine or small canyon. The boys each had a horse. Joseph's was a bay mare, swifter than the others. Alden suggested that Thomas and Joseph go the short route to the left, over the "bench," and he would go up the canyon to the right, so that they would meet in the valley from the two directions. The suggestion was gladly adopted, and the two set out with youthful frolic, and soon arrived at the upper end of the valley, where the cattle could be seen feeding by a stream which divided it in the center and wound down the canyon from the direction of the settlement. Having the day before them, they amused themselves with "running" their horses, and, later, in "jumping" them over a little gully in the upper part of the valley. As they were engaged in this amusement, suddenly a band of twenty or thirty Indians came into view around a point in the lower end of the valley, some distance below the cattle. Thomas first saw them, and frantically yelled, "Indians," at the same time turning his horse for the "bench" to ride for home. Joseph started to follow, but the thought came to his mind, "My cattle, I must save my cattle!" From that moment, only this thought filled his mind; everything else was blank and dark. He headed his horse for the Indians, to get around the herd before the reds should reach it. One Indian, naked like the others, having only a cloth around the loins, passed him, flying to catch Thomas. Joseph reached the head of the herd, and succeeded in turning the cattle up the ravine just as the Indians approached. His efforts, coupled with the rush and yells of the Indians, stampeded the herd, followed by Joseph, who by keeping his horse on the "dead" run, succeeded for some time in keeping between the herd and the Indians. Here was a picture! the boy, the cattle, the Indians, headed on the run for the settlement! Finally the reds cut him away from the herd, whereupon he turned, going down stream a distance, then circling around the ravine to the right, to reach the cattle from the other side. He had not gone far in that direction when other Indians were seen. They started for him, overtaking him as he emerged from the valley. He still spurred his horse, going at full speed, and while thus riding, two of the naked reds closed up beside him in the wild race, and took him, while the horses were going at full speed, one by the left arm and the other by the right leg, and lifted him from the saddle, for a moment holding him in the air, then suddenly dropping him to the ground.

Undoubtedly he would have been scalped but for the timely appearance of a company of men going to the hay fields, on the opposite side of the ravine, which scared the thieving Indians away, they having obtained both the boys' horses for their pains. In the meantime Thomas had given the alarm. Two relief companies were formed in the settlement, one a posse of horsemen under Hosea Stout, who went up the canyon and found the cattle with Alden Burdick (the pursuing Indians having abandoned the chase from fright), while the other took the "bench" route, and discovered Joseph, who with them spent the day in a fruitless search for the Indians and the cattle supposed to have been stolen. "I remember, on my way home," says Joseph, "how I sat down and wept for my cattle, and how the thought of meeting mother, who could not now go to the Valley, wrung my soul with anguish." But happily, his bravery and fidelity to trust, which are indissolubly interwoven with his character as a man, had saved the herd.

Leaving Winter Quarters in the spring of 1848, they reached the Salt Lake Valley on September 23, Joseph driving two yoke of oxen with a heavily loaded wagon the whole distance. He performed all the duties of a day watchman, herdsman and teamster, with other requirements imposed upon the men. Arriving in Salt Lake City, he again had charge of the herds, interchanging with such labors as plowing, canyon work, harvesting and fencing. During this whole time he never lost an animal entrusted to his care, this notwithstanding the numerous large wolves abounding in the country.

His education was obtained from his mother who early taught him, in the tent, in the camp, on the prairie, to read from the Bible. He has had no other, save that sterner education gathered from the practical pages of life. But his opportunities in later years have not gone unused, and there are few college-bred men who delight more in books than Joseph. He is, too, a fair judge of the manner and matter of books. His leisure for reading is limited, owing to his constant employment in the affairs of the Church; but he loves to read books of history, philosophy, science; and has specially delighted in such authors as Seiss and Samuel Smiles, who may be said to be his favorites. He is fond of music, of which, though not a judge, he is a great lover, especially enjoying the music of the human voice.

In 1852 his mother died, leaving him an orphan at the age of fourteen. When fifteen years of age, he, with other young men, was called on his first mission to the Sandwich Islands. The incidents of the journey to the coast by horses, his work in the mountains at a shingle mill for means to proceed, and the embarkment and journey on the Vaquero for the islands, are sufficient for a long chapter in themselves; while his labors in the Maui conference, under President F. A. Hammond, his efforts to learn the language in the district of Kula, his attack of sickness, the most severe of his life, caused by the Panama fever, and his other labors and varied, trying experiences while there, would fill a volume. He says, "Of the many gifts of the Spirit which were manifest through my administration, next to my acquirements of the language, the most prominent was perhaps the gift of healing, and by the power of God the casting out of evil spirits, which frequently occurred." One incident shows how the Lord is with his servants: Joseph was studying the language, being alone with a native family in Wailuku. One night, while he sat by a dismal light poring over his books in one corner of the room where dwelt a native and his wife, the woman was suddenly possessed; she arose and looking toward Joseph made the most fearful noises and gestures, accompanied by terrible physical contortions. Her husband came on his bended knees and crouched beside him, frightened to trembling. The fear that our young missionary felt under those circumstances was something indescribable, but presently it all left him, and he stood up facing the maniac woman, exclaiming: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I rebuke you." Like a flash, the woman fell to the floor like one dead. The husband went to ascertain if she were alive, and pronounced her dead. Then he returned, and set up a perfect howl, which Joseph likewise rebuked. What should Joseph do? His first impression was to get away from the horrid surrounding, but upon reflection he decided that such action would not be wise. His feelings were indescribable, but having rebuked the evil, it was subdued, peace was restored, and he proceeded again with his studies. These are the class of experiences that bring a lone missionary, young as he was, close to the Lord.

After his release, and while returning from the mission in Hawaii, this incident occurred: At Honolulu he went on board the barque Yankee, on October 6, 1857, and with a company of elders landed in San Francisco, about the end of the month. With Edward Partridge, he went down the coast to Santa Cruz County, Cal., and from thence with a company of Saints, under Captain Charles W. Wandell, southward to the Mojave river, where he and others left the company and made a visit to San Bernardino on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. It must be said that the feeling against the "Mormons," first, on account of the exaggerated reports of the Mountain Meadows massacre, and secondly, because of the coming of Johnston's army to Utah, was exceedingly bitter on the coast. As an illustration: While they were in Los Angeles, a man, William Wall by name, came near being hung because he had confessed he was a "Mormon." A mob of men had passed sentence on him, and had prepared every detail to hang him. It was only through the wise counsel of a man among them, whose better judgment prevailed, that he was not hung. This man pointed out to the mob that here was a man who had not been near Utah when the massacre took place, a man who had no sympathy with it, who could in no way be counted as a criminal. Why should he suffer? And so Wall was finally discharged and given time to get out of the country. It was under such conditions, and such prevailing sentiment, that President Smith, then a lad of nineteen, found himself on his journey home, and on his trip to San Bernardino.

With another man, and a mail carrier, he took passage in a mail wagon. They traveled all night, and at daylight stopped near a ranch for breakfast. The passenger and the mail carrier began to prepare breakfast, while Joseph went a short distance from camp to look after the horses. Just while the carrier was frying eggs, a wagon load of drunken men from Monte came in view, on their road to San Bernardino to kill the "Mormons," as they boasted.

The oaths and foul language which they uttered, between their shooting, and the swinging of their pistols, were almost indescribable and unendurable. Only the West in its palmiest frontier days could produce anything like its equal. They were all cursing the "Mormons," and uttering boasts of what they would do when they met them. They got out at the ranch, and one of them, tumbling around, caught sight of the mail wagon, and made his way towards it. The passenger and the mail carrier, fearing for their safety, had retired behind the chaparral, leaving all the baggage and supplies, including the frying eggs, exposed and unprotected.

Just as the drunken man approached, President Smith came in view on his way to the camp, too late to hide, for he had been seen. The ruffian was swinging his weapon, and uttering the most blood-curdling oaths and threats ever heard against the "Mormons." "I dared not run," says President Smith, "though I trembled for fear which I dared not show. I therefore walked right up to the camp fire and arrived there just a minute or two before the drunken desperado, who came directly toward me, and, swinging his revolver in my face, with an oath cried out: 'Are you a —— —— —— "Mormon?"'"

President Smith looked him straight in the eyes, and answered with emphasis: "Yes, sir'ee; dyed in the wool; true blue, through and through."

The desperado's arms both dropped by his sides, as if paralyzed, his pistol in one hand, and he said in a subdued and maudlin voice, offering his hand: "Well, you are the —— —— pleasantest man I ever met! Shake. I am glad to see a fellow stand for his convictions." Then he turned and made his way to the ranch house. Later in the day, on seeing President Smith, he only pulled his slouch hat over his eyes, and said not a word.

In 1858, Joseph F. Smith joined the militia which intercepted Johnston's army, serving until the close of hostilities, under Colonel Thomas Callister. He was later chaplain of Colonel Heber C. Kimball's regiment, with the rank of captain. He took part in many Indian expeditions, and was in every sense a minute man in the Utah militia.

In the spring of 1860, though only about 22 years of age, he was sent on a mission to Great Britain. As he had no money, he and his cousin Samuel H. B. Smith, each drove a four-mule team over the plains to Winter Quarters to pay their way. It happened that the owners of these teams were rank apostates, so that when the young men arrived at their destination, it was very well known that they were Latter-day Saints. They were moneyless, and decided finally to go to Des Moines where they tried without success to get something to do. They hunted for work in the harvest fields, but found no one who wished to employ them. The feeling was still bitter against the "Mormons" in this region, for it was only about fourteen years since the remnant of the Saints had been driven from Nauvoo. One day they met a man who asked them who they were, and where they were going, and having been told that they were going to England on a mission, the man stated that he had a sister in England whom he wished to emigrate, and asked that they take the money with them for her emigration. He stated that they might use it as they saw fit; provided on arrival they would let his sister have the money to pay her passage to America. They agreed to this, and immediately went on their way to Burlington where they took a steamer for Nauvoo; but when they got on board they learned that the steamer would not land at that place, as they had been told; and they also heard the most bitter imprecations against the Latter-day Saints, uttered in the most profane and indecent language.

Landing at Montrose, where the boat took on freight, the feeling was still more bitter. The Saints were cursed, and boasts were made of what evil would befall any "Mormon" who would dare to make his appearance. Getting on board the skiff next morning, which was to carry them over to Nauvoo, the young men found that the spirit of the mob was just as bitter as ever, but it was not known here that they were "Mormons." Several men asked them who they were, and their replies were evasive. Finally, a Catholic priest came to them and asked where they were from. "Oh! from the West," was the reply.

"How far West?" "From the Rocky Mountains."

But the priest finally pinned them down by asking, "Are you 'Mormon' elders from Utah?"

President Smith says that under those circumstances, for a moment, never had temptation to deny the truth come to him with stronger force, but it was only for a moment. He answered, "Yes, sir, we are 'Mormon' missionaries on our way to England."

The reply seemed to satisfy the priest; and, contrary to expectations, it did not in the least increase the imprecations of the passengers. When they landed at Nauvoo, they went directly to the Mansion House, and, strange to say, the Catholic priest also stayed there. If they had not truthfully answered the queries on the boat, he would have found them out here, to their shame.

"I had never felt happier," says President Smith, "than when I saw the minister there, and knew that we had told him the truth about our mission."

On this mission he served nearly three years, returning in the summer of 1863; it was during these years that the intimacy between President George Q. Cannon, who presided over the mission, and Joseph F. Smith began; friendship and love for each other were engendered, which have since grown stronger through the intimate careers of two beautiful lives. On his return, President Young proposed at a priesthood meeting that Joseph and his cousin, Samuel, each be given a present of $1,000 to begin life with. President Smith realized in the neighborhood of $75 in provisions and merchandise, but mostly a legacy of much annoyance from certain people who entertained the current thought that he had thus obtained a small fortune. With the exception of the cost of his passage and stage fare home, which was sent him by his aunt, Mercy R. Thompson, amounting to about $100, he paid his own expenses throughout, as he had done on previous missions. President Smith has been too busy with his work to make money, and his temporal affairs are a strong testimony to his exclusive devotion to the public good.

He had only been at home a short time, when, in the early spring of 1864, he was called to accompany Ezra T. Benson and Lorenzo Snow on a second mission to the Sandwich Islands to regulate the affairs of that mission, which had been greatly disarranged by the well-known, shrewd and covetous actions of Walter M. Gibson. In this mission he acted as principal interpreter for the apostles. After Gibson was excommunicated from the Church, Joseph was left in charge of the mission, with W. W. Cluff and Alma L. Smith as his fellow-laborers. It was many months after Gibson had been cut off before his people left his jurisdiction and returned to the standard of the Church. Among the works accomplished by Joseph and his associates on this mission was the selection of the Laie plantation as a gathering place for the Saints, which was afterwards on their recommendation, purchased by a committee sent for that purpose by President Young, and which has proven a valuable possession for the mission, and for the Church in a general way. Joseph and his aids returned in the winter of 1864-1865.

It was while on this mission that the drowning incident occurred, mentioned in Whitney's sketch of President Lorenzo Snow. President Smith's part in the affair has never been fully told. The ship upon which they arrived lay anchored in the channel in which the sea was nearly always rough. A breakwater had been built, under shelter of which the natives skilfully steered their boats ashore. There was much danger, however, in approaching it. When it was proposed that the party should land in the ship's unwieldy freight-boat, President Smith strongly opposed the proposition, telling the brethren that at the breakwater there was great danger of capsizing, the boat being a clumsy old tub, unfit for such a load. He refused to go ashore, and tried to prevail upon the others to abandon the attempt until a better boat could be obtained. He offered to go ashore alone, and to return with a safer boat to land the party. So persistent, however, were some of the brethren, that he was chided for his waywardness, and one of the apostles even told him: "Young man, you would better obey counsel." But he reiterated his impression of danger, refusing positively to land in that boat, and again offering to go alone for a better boat. But the brethren persisted, whereupon he asked that they leave their satchels with their clothes and valuables on the anchored ship with him, and that he be permitted to stay. This they reluctantly consented to do, and set out for land.

Joseph stood upon the ship and saw them depart, filled with the greatest apprehension for their safety. When the party reached the breakwater, he saw one of the great waves suddenly overturn the boat, dropping the company into twenty or thirty feet of water. A boat came out from shore, manned with natives, who set to work to gather them up, and obtained all but President Snow, when the boat which picked them up started for land. It was then that Elder W. W. Cluff demanded that they return for Brother Snow, who would otherwise have been abandoned and left for drowned. He was found and dragged into the boat for dead, his life being thus saved by Brother Cluff. All this time, Joseph stood in the greatest agony as a witness, helpless, on the deck of the ship. His first information of his companions' fate came from some passing natives who replied to his inquiry that one of the men (Brother Snow) was dead. But through the blessings of God and self-effort it was, fortunately, not quite so serious, his life having been restored.

Joseph had saved himself and the satchels, and he has always considered that while the brethren fatefully said of the incident: "It was to be," that a prevention in this case would have been much better than a cure. The incident illustrates two predominating traits in his character: When he is convinced of the truth, he is not afraid to express himself in its favor to any man on earth. When he does express himself, it is often with such earnestness and vigor that there is danger of his giving offense.

On his return home, he labored in the Church historian's office for a number of years; also as clerk in the endowment house, succeeding Elder John V. Long in that capacity; being in charge, after the death of President Young, until it was closed. He had been ordained an apostle under the hands of President Young, on July 1, 1866, and on the 8th of October, 1867, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In the year following, he was sent with Elder Wilford Woodruff of the Council of the Twelve and Elder A. O. Smoot to Utah county. Here he served one term in the Provo city council.

On February 28, 1874, he went on his second mission to England, where he presided over the European mission, returning in 1875, after the death of President George A. Smith. On his return he was appointed to preside over the Davis stake, until the spring of 1877, when he left on his third British mission, having first witnessed the dedication of the first temple in the Rocky Mountains, at St. George, April, 1877. He arrived in Liverpool, May 27, and was joined a short time afterwards by Elder Orson Pratt, who had been sent to publish new editions of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. When news arrived of the death of President Young, they were released, and returned home, arriving in Salt Lake City, September 27.

In August of the following year, he was sent with Elder Orson Pratt on a short eastern mission, visiting noted places in the history of the Church in Missouri, Ohio, New York and Illinois. It was on this trip that they had their famous interview with David Whitmer. When the First Presidency was organized, in October, 1880, he was chosen second counselor to President John Taylor, who died July 25, 1887. He was chosen to the same position in the Presidency under President Woodruff; and holds it at present under President Snow.

It would require too much space to name his various civil positions held in Salt Lake City, and in the legislature of the territory, where he served the people long and faithfully. All my readers are familiar with the work of his recent years; it is like an open book to the whole people.

So he has been constantly in the service of the public, and by his straightforward course has won the love, confidence and esteem of the whole community. He is a friend of the people, is easily approached, a wise counselor, a man of broad views, and contrary to first impressions, is a man whose sympathies are easily aroused. He is a reflex of the best character of the "Mormon" people—inured to hardships, patient in trial, God-fearing, self-sacrificing, full of love for the human race, powerful in moral, mental and physical strength.

President Joseph F. Smith has an imposing physical appearance. Now completing his 62nd year, he is tall, erect, well-knit and symmetrical in build. He has a prominent nose and features. When speaking, he throws his full, clear, brown eyes wide open on the listener who may readily perceive from their penetrating glimpse the wonderful mental power of the tall forehead above. His large head is crowned with an abundant growth of hair, in his early years dark, but now, like his full beard, tinged with a liberal sprinkling of gray. In conversation, one is forcibly impressed with the sudden changes in appearance of his countenance, under the different influences of his mind; now intensely present, with an enthusiastic and childlike interest in immediate subjects and surroundings; now absent, the nobility of his features, set in that earnest, almost stern, majesty of expression so characteristic of his portraits—so indicative of the severity of the conditions and environments of his early life.

As a public speaker, his leading trait is an intense earnestness. He impresses the hearer with his message more from the sincerity and simplicity of its delivery, and the honest earnestness of his manner, than from any learned exhibition of oratory or studied display of logic. He touches the hearts of the people with the simple eloquence of one who is himself convinced of the truth presented. He is a pillar of strength in the Church, thoroughly imbued with the truths of the gospel, and the divine origin of God's great latter-day work. His whole life and testimony are an inspiration to the young.

I said to him: "You knew Joseph, the prophet; you are old in the work of the Church; what is your testimony to the youth of Zion concerning these things?" And he replied slowly and deliberately:

"I was acquainted with the Prophet Joseph in my youth. I was familiar in his home, with his boys and with his family. I have sat on his knee, I have heard him preach, distinctly remembering being present in the council with my father and the Prophet Joseph Smith and others. From my childhood to youth I believed him to be a Prophet of God. From my youth until the present I have not believed that he was a Prophet, for I have known that he was. In other words, my knowledge has superceded my belief. I remember seeing him dressed in military uniform at the bead of the Nauvoo Legion. I saw him when he crossed the river, returning, from his intended western trip into the Rocky Mountains, to go to his martyrdom, and I saw his lifeless body together with that of my father after they were murdered in Carthage jail; and still have the most palpable remembrance of the gloom and sorrow of those dreadful days. I believe in the divine mission of the prophets of the nineteenth century with all my heart, and in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and the inspiration of the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and hope to be faithful to God and man and not false to myself, to the end of my days."—Edward H. Anderson, in Lives of Our Leaders, and Juvenile Instructor, 1901.