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Excerpt #1
"I've studied the life of Joseph extensively, and I can see why they loved him so. I'm personally a believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in Joseph Smith, his teachings, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I read of the experiences that my ancestors had with Joseph, it only strengthens my resolve to be dedicated to the Church he was directed by God to restore & organize. When I hear nonbelievers who try to assassinate the character of Joseph Smith, I have to smile! All I have to do is read what my family had to say about the man, to know what he was really like. He was a simple, down to earth man in some ways, but he was also a Prophet of God!
Here's an encounter John W. Hess had with Joseph: "Elder John W. Hess, who was for a long time President of the Davis Stake of Zion, has given exceedingly interesting reminiscences of the Prophet Joseph. When Elder Hess was a boy, about twelve years of age, his father rented a house at Richmond Landing, or, as the place was also called, Pomeroy's Ferry. There the Saints landed who came by water from Kirtland to go to Far West. And there the Prophet Joseph, in company with his brothers Hyrum and William, and others, thirteen in all, stopped as they were returning from laying out the city of Far West. They stayed with the family of Father Hess for thirteen days.
The Prophet was studying Greek and Latin. He would study intently until he was very tired. Then he would come out of his room and engage in a game, perhaps it would be "hide and seek," with the children, showing the childlike simplicity which characterized the life of that great man. And oh, how he was beloved by every member of that family!
Brother Hess says he has never seen anyone else that he has loved as he loved the Prophet Joseph Smith. He can remember of Joseph's taking him on his lap at different times, and of putting his own arms around the beloved Prophet's neck and being embraced by him; and that, being thus clasped to the noble, generous, mighty heart of the Prophet, gave him a heavenly sensation never to be described or forgotten.
Upon one occasion, the little boy heard some of the brethren talking of the strength they felt they possessed in resisting temptation, and he never forgot what the Prophet said to them; it was: 'Brethren, if you get onto the Devil's ground, he will handle you! Keep away from him, the farther the better!'
When the Prophet went away from the home he had found with Father Hess, you would have thought there had been a funeral in the family, the children all loved him so! This is as Elder Hess remembered those days and events." (Taken from the Improvement Era, Vol V pg. 943. This event took place in 1838).
Ann Eliza and her folks, the Addison Everett family, were actually neighbors to Joseph in Nauvoo, Ill. She delivered milk to Mother Smith, as the Prophet's mother was called. Ann Eliza told her children that she saw the Egyptian Mummies that were buried with the scrolls that the Book of Abraham in The Pearl of Great Price was translated from. Mother Smith kept them stored in a large cupboard. Ann Eliza described them as being preserved or "cured" with spices. One of these mummies was said to be the Pharaoh's daughter, the same that rescued Moses in the rushes. She also begged Mother Smith to show her the Urim & Thummim, but of course she couldn't, but she did show her the peep stone that the Prophet had. (See the life sketch of Elizabeth White Hess).
On one occasion, the Everetts had purchased a milk cow with a young calf. Ann Eliza was out enjoying the fun of seeing the young calf frisk around with its tail stuck straight up in the air. The front gate to their yard had been left open, and the calf made a break for it into the street! In a state of alarm she ran after the animal to bring it back. It refused to cooperate to return to the yard. Just then the Prophet Joseph came along riding his favorite steed. Seeing that little Ann Eliza's efforts were futile, and the calf wasn't going to cooperate, he rode after it and drove it back through the gate into the yard for her. The great Prophet was never too busy to help a child! Ann Eliza was but a little girl of nine at this time, but this left a vivid impression with her.
The Prophet visited the home of the Everetts on several occasions on Church business. Ann Eliza's father, Addison Everett, was a prominent member of the Church in Nauvoo, Ill. It was not unusual for Joseph to take the little hazel-eyed Ann Eliza upon his lap. It was with feeling of unusual pride that she related the fact to everyone she met, that when she was a child, she dangled from the knee of Joseph Smith! (See appendix 9, life of Ann Eliza Everett).
James Steed, James H.'s Grandfather, actually traveled from Nauvoo, Ill. to New Orleans with Joseph and George A. Smith to meet a boat loaded with Saints who had sailed from Liverpool England.
So as you can see, the Prophet Joseph and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were a key element in the lives of all these people. They followed the Church he restored through all the persecution and hardships to the mountain west and helped settle the territory."
Excerpt #2
"Joseph was truly a Prophet of great visions. He had a peculiar, almost supernatural aura about him. John W. Hess noticed this when Joseph stayed in his home a few years later, "there was something heavenly & angelic in his looks that I never witnessed in the countenance of any other person. During his short stay I became very much attached to him, and learned to love him more dearly than any other person I ever met." (See Appendix 1, memoirs of John W. Hess).
Excerpt #3
Again quoting from John W. Hess, "About May 1, 1836 my father and his family moved to the State of Missouri and we settled in Ray County of that State, near Pomeroy's Ferry, or Richmond Landing on the Missouri River, where we lived on a farm which we rented from John Arbuckle, until the expulsion of the Saints from Caldwell County." The appalling events they witnessed there were grievous.
As you recall, the prophet Joseph was a house guest of the Hess family during this period. The mob even kept a close surveillance on Joseph while he stayed in their home. Here’s what David Hess had to say, “I was a mere child,” says Mr. Hess, “and do not remember the incidents but have been assured by my mother that the Prophet Joseph, and Patriarch Hyrum Smith, while waiting for a ferry boat to go down the Missouri River, spent several days at my father’s house, and that the Prophet often held me in his arms. She also related that on certain morning, at an early hour before breakfast, while Joseph and Hyrum were there, the Prophet, with his hands behind his back, was walking to and fro across the floor (obviously he was nervous about something), when a knock came at the door and a stranger said, ‘I understand that the pretended prophet, Joe Smith, is here and I would like to see him.’ The Prophet turning to him quickly responded, ‘I am the man.’ At these words the stranger hurriedly departed.”
(See Appendix 1, Statement of David Hess)
Excerpt #4
In the Autumn of 1838, Joseph the Prophet and others came to my father's house near the Richmond Landing and stayed there thirteen days. Father was the only Mormon in that part of the country. At that time Joseph was studying Greek and Latin. When he got tired of studying, he would go and play with the children in their games about the house, to give him exercise. Then he would go back to his studies. I was a boy then about fourteen years old.
He used to take me upon his knee and caress me as he would a little child. I relate this to show the kindness and simplicity of his nature. I never saw another man like Joseph. There was something heavenly & angelic in his looks that I never witnessed in the countenance of any other person. During his short stay I became very much attached to him, and learned to love him more dearly than any other person I ever met, my father and mother not excepted.
The next time I saw the Prophet was at Richmond Court House, in chains after the surrender of Far West. I used to walk six miles every day to see him during his stay in the Richmond Jail.
Although a boy of about fourteen years, I became convinced beyond doubt that he was a prophet of God, and that testimony has never left me.
(The Juvenile Instructor, XXVI (15 MAY 1892) PAGES 302-303)
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