Biography of Joseph Smith's youngest son is superb
FONT FACE="Verdana,Helvetica,Arial">
B>By Dennis Lythgoe
/B>
/FONT>
BR>
FONT FACE="Verdana,Helvetica,Arial" SIZE="2">Deseret News book editor
/FONFROM MISSION TO MADNESS: LAST SON OF THE MORMON PROPHET; by Valeen Tippetts Avery (University of Illinois Press); 357 pages; $19.95.Largely unknown to modern readers, David Hyrum Smith was a brilliant and charismatic young man, born in 1844, the year his father, Joseph Smith Jr., was killed. The younger Smith -- a poet, painter, singer, philosopher and naturalist -- was also a missionary for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS).
Smith spent more than a decade working with his brothers to carry on their father's work of establishing Mormonism as an American religious tradition. Unfortunately, David Smith was stricken with mental illness, and in his 30s was institutionalized in the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane in Elgin, Ill. He remained there until his death.
"From Mission to Madness" is a superb biography, written by Valeen Tippetts Avery, a professor of history at Northern Arizona University and co-author with Linda King Newell of the prize-winning biography, "Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith." Avery not only reveals a most interesting portrait of the youngest Smith son, but she has written it in the context of the 19th Century American family.
She has also drawn the most enlightening picture yet of the 19th Century relationship that existed between the LDS Church, headquartered in Utah under Brigham Young, and the RLDS Church, centered in Independence, Missouri.Mo.
Although David spent a good deal of his time trying to convert the Utah Mormons, his personality was such that he made friends with many of them as well. Brigham Young called him "the son of promise," and hoped he would eventually join the Utah church, perhaps even preside over it. In 1855, his brother, Joseph Smith III, who later became RLDS president, wrote a letter in which he called David, "the boy of all boys, the pet of the family and the very personification of gentleness and goodness."
Not formally educated, David nevertheless read voraciously, developing a broad knowledge that enabled him to speak eloquently and easily quote biblical passages for the benefit of his listeners. Over a decade, during which he met many Utah Mormons who knew his father, David learned much about him and even came to identify those characteristics he shared with him.
One of the most touching passages of the book comes from a letter David wrote his mother:
"I dreamed that I saw you sitting sadly alone and I tried to comfort you but could not wholly do so. Ah! me I fear I was a trial instead of a help. I am like my Father was, I love my friends half to death, kiss and hug them but only torment and never help them only sing to them and preach to them, and don't practice myself."
Like all RLDS members, David was troubled by the practice of polygamy in the Utah Church and tried to convince both churches that it was wrong and that his father never taught the doctrine. Over the years, he became convinced that his father had indeed taught polygamy, but he considered it "the sin of his father."
David also became close to Amasa M. Lyman, a former LDS leader, who became enamored of spiritualism. Although he participated with Lyman in seances, he never became convinced that spiritualism was a legitimate pursuit.
One reason David was such an effective speaker was his conviction that spontaneous deliveries were always the best. He believed, says Avery, that "the passage of time between the writing and the reading made for a dull sermon. Speakers, he said, 'should be attentive to the audience, to the promptings of inspiration, and to the state of the air, the time of day, the season and nature of the day.' "
David spent his life in poverty, giving his time most constantly to missionary work. Although he was married and had a young son, he rarely saw his wife and child because he felt the call to religious duty was so great. In his letters home, he spent a great deal of space describing the scenery of the American West. Using his lyrical gifts, he said the distant mountains "hung on the horizon's verge, blue and white; blue with the shadowy ravines, and white with snow, cloud-like and dim and vast . . . now sinking below the swell of the vast plain, now rising again the same, following us like a phantom."
Avery happily includes several of David's hymns and poems, as well as his intellectual dissertations, indicating the profound and gifted mind he had. Although David's letters are quoted prolifically, many of the answers of Joseph III to him are not available to scholars today. So there are a few holes in the story. But Avery has done a magnificent job of piecing together all the evidence, interpreting it with insight and presenting a compassionate picture of an exceptional man whose promise was tragically cut short.
Avery's writing style is a worthy model for all historians, especially those who dabble in biography. She manages to bring not only David to life -- but the many people with whom he interacted as well. The result is a lively, fascinating portrait of a pivotal figure in early Mormon history.