“Oh My own, own Mother, oh she was good, she was true. She was indeed a Saint. A Royal Daughter of God. To her I owe my very existence as also my success in life, coupled with the favor and mercy of God” -President Joseph F. Smith
To watch on Youtube click here:
https://youtu.be/qOGCs0Zzpy0
To listen on spotify click here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/krystine-stephenson/episodes/Mary-Fielding-Smith-overview-LDS-women-e2jcek7
-Mary Fielding Smith was born in 1801 in Honeydon Bedforshire, England. Mary is the sixth child in her family and was especially close to two siblings Mercy and Joseph Fielding.
-Mary Fielding Smith was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints by John Taylor(the third prophet of the Church). John Taylor lived in the same area in England and went to the same congregation as Mary Fielding’s family.
-After John Taylor was converted to the Church he introduced Mary and her siblings to the Gospel through a missionary named Parley Pratt.
-Mary with her siblings John and Mercy, moved to Kirtland, Ohio to joined the rest of the Saints in 1836.
-In 1837, Mary married Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith. She was 36 when they got married and became the step-mother to his five children.
-Mary and Hyrum would go on to have two more children, Joseph F. Smith and Martha Anne Smith.
-In the year 1838 Mary Fielding Smith and her husband faced one of their hardest trials. Her husband was put in Liberty Jail while Mary was pregnant and gave birth to her first son, Joseph.
-Mary and Hyrum left Missouri and settled in Nauvoo, Illinois with the rest of the Saints. June 27, 1844 Mary’s husband was killed with his brother Joseph Smith in Carthage Jail. Hyrum was killed only six years after he escaped from Liberty Jail.
-In the year 1846, two years after her husband Hyrum was murdered, Mary was then run out of Nauvoo in the Battle of Nauvoo. Mary left with the poorest of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the Rocky Mountains. Mary’s young family was one of the last families to leave Nauvoo, a new widow supporting 7 children, can you imagine!
-Mary and her family were in Iowa when the “Miracle of the Quails” occurred.
-Leaving Winter Quarters Mary Fielding Smith was assigned to the company of Captain Cornelius P. Lott(head of the bodyguard of Joseph Smith). He told Mary and her family they could not be in his company! He informed Mary that she should turn around and wait until someone could come and support her. He said her family would slow the rest of the company down and require too much help. She told the captain, she would NOT need or ask for his help! Mary also informed the Captain that she would beat him to Salt Lake! And she did!! She’s awesome!
- Around Sweet water Wyoming. Mary Fielding Smith had oxen that taken ill on the trek to Utah on two different occasions. Mary had her oxen blessed both times and they were healed. These oxen miraculously are the same oxen that got her all the way to Utah.
-It appears that the Lord wanted Mary and her family to get to Salt Lake before the Captain too. There was a storm that stopped the captain, and Mary passed his company and beat the captain to Salt Lake. She made it to Salt Lake late one night and the captain and his company made it to Salt Lake the next afternoon!
-Mary Fielding Smith made it to Salt Lake in 1848 and died in 1852 at the age of 51, she only lived in Utah for four years before she passed away. She died of pneumonia at the home of her second husband Heber C. Kimball.
-When making it to Salt Lake Mary was offered a lot in downtown Salt Lake, but she wanted some space of her own. Mary took her family to Millcreek and build a small house for her family. The home she built is still standing today. The home was relocated to “This is the Place Heritage Park” in 1972, and you can go visit this house today!
-Mary is the mother of the 6th Joseph F. Smith, president of the Church and Grandmother of the 10th president of the Church, Joseph Fielding Smith.
Places to visit when learning about Mary Fielding Smith:
Honeydon Bedforshire England
Kirtland, Ohio
Liberty Jail, Missouri
Nauvoo, Illinois
Salt Lake City Cemetery- Mary is buried
“This is the Place Heritage Park”-Mary’s house in Millcreek is preserved
Platt and Sweet water River Wyoming- Location around where Mary Fielding Smith had her oxen blessed.
Sources:
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=173312
https://www.thisistheplace.org/heritage-village/buildings/mary-fielding-smith-home