MIDWAY — For the first time in 165 years, LDS Church founder Joseph Smith's Nauvoo Legion sword was displayed in public Friday.
The 4-foot-long, leather-handled steel sword has been in the keeping of the Joseph Bates Noble family since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prophet gave the sword to Noble on his way to Carthage Jail.
Noble was one of the bodyguards to Smith, as well as his bishop in Kirtland, Ohio, and Nauvoo, Ill.
The unveiling of the sword, along with the prophet's cap and ball musket rifle and one of the casket canes (fashioned from the prophet's casket), was the highlight of the Book of Mormon Prophecies Conference held Thursday and Friday at the Zermatt resort.
Howard Carlos Smith, a descendant of Noble who has written the book "Keeper of the Prophet's Sword," said his family has handed the precious relics — which were carried across the plains during Latter-day Saints' westward migration — from father-to-son for generations.
Much of the time, the sword and the other relics were in a small, adobe farm house in West Bountiful, he said.
It's time to bring them out into the light for public perusal, Howard Carlos Smith said, referring to the items inside a sturdy glass case on the stage.
Three descendants of the Noble family and Mike Kennedy, a direct descendant of Joseph Smith, were at the unveiling.
The sword was given to Smith by Wilford Woodruff in early 1834 and is of a unique design reserved for a high-ranking officer.
The blade of the cavalry saber — known as a wristbreaker — is 35 1/2 inches long. The hilt has a metal protector of black steel that appears to be interlaced with three distinct hand protectors.
Howard Carlos Smith said when he first held the sword, he felt the spirit of God come over him.
"Holding the sword, I felt a spirit like I've never felt before — almost like holding hands with the prophet himself," he said.
The sword provided comfort and protection to Joseph Smith's wife, Emma, when the prophet was away, Howard Carlos Smith said. It was one of the few items Emma Smith kept with her as she moved from home to home and place to place, he said.
The Nauvoo Legion was organized by Joseph Smith to help protect the early members of the church. Able-bodied men 18 and older (ultimately about 3000) drilled regularly and in uniform.
The prophet was the legion's lieutenant general. He carried the sword during the Zion's Camp march.
Joseph Smith once addressed the legion and unsheathed his sword, saying, "I call God and angels to witness that this people shall have their legal rights or my blood shall be spilt upon the ground and my body consigned to the tomb. But if there is one drop of blood shed on this occasion, the sword shall never again be sheathed until Christ comes to reign on Earth."
The sword to this day has not had blood upon it, Howard Carlos Smith said.
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