Samuel Harrison Smith
| Samuel H. Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 13, 1808 Tunbridge, Vermont |
| Died | July 30, 1844 (aged 36) Nauvoo, Illinois |
| Resting place |
Smith Family Cemetery 40°32′25.98″N 91°23′31.06″W / 40.5405500°N 91.3919611°W |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Bailey (1834–41) Levira Clark (1841–44) |
| Children | 7 |
| Parents |
Joseph Smith, Sr. Lucy Mack Smith |
Samuel Harrison Smith (13 March 1808 – 30 July 1844) was a younger brother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Samuel was a leader in his own right and a successful missionary. Smith is commonly regarded as the first Latter Day Saint missionary following the organization of the Church of Christ by his brother, Joseph. One of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's golden plates, Samuel Smith remained devoted to his church throughout his life.
Born in Tunbridge, Vermont, to Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack Smith, Samuel moved with his family to western New York by the 1820s. When Smith's father missed a mortgage payment on the family farm on the outskirts of Manchester Township, near Palmyra, a local Quaker named Lemuel Durfee purchased the land and allowed the Smiths to continue to live there in exchange for Samuel's labor at Durfee's store.
On May 25, 1829, Smith became the third person baptized as a Latter Day Saint. Smith was baptized by Oliver Cowdery, who had become the first baptized Latter Day Saint on May 15, 1829 (Joseph Smith had been baptized immediately after Cowdery).
At the end of June 1829, Samuel, along with his brother Hyrum, his father, and several men of the Peter Whitmer, Sr. family, signed a joint statement declaring their testimony of the golden plates that Joseph Smith said he translated into the Book of Mormon. The witnesses stated that "we did handle [the golden plates] with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereo". This "Testimony of the Eight Witnesses" was printed as the final page of the Book of Mormon and is still included in the preface of most current editions.
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