Jesse N Smith

Early life

Smith was born the youngest of three sons to Silas Smith (1779–1839) and his second wife Mary Aikens (1797–1877) in Stockholm, New York. His older brothers were Silas Sanford Smith (1830–1910) and John Aikens Smith (1832–38), but John died as a young child. Smith's father, Silas, married his first wife in 1806. She bore seven children, but died in 1826. Silas met Mary while she was teaching school in Stockholm and they married in 1828. Both of Smith's grandfathers, Asael Smith (1744–1830) and Nathaniel Aikens (1757–1836), served in the American Revolutionary War. According to Smith, his grandfather Aikens served under General George Washington.

Smith's father was a younger brother of Joseph Smith, Sr., making him a first cousin of Joseph Smith. Silas was converted when Joseph Sr. visited him in 1830, but was not baptized into the church until 1835 by his nephew Hyrum Smith. Smith's mother, Mary, would join the church a couple of years later. Jesse was an infant when his parents joined the church and a young boy when his father died of illness. Smith and his brother were considered well educated, for the time, by their mother since she had taught school.

Smith and his family followed the Mormons to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and finally out west to the Utah Territory. Smith's cousin William tried to persuade Mary Aikens Smith against following Brigham Young and the main body of Latter Day Saints west, but she informed him that this was her intention. The widow took Jesse N. and his brother, Silas S. across the plains with Young's group. At the age of twelve, Jesse N. drove his Uncle John's two yokes of oxen on the journey.

Church service

Smith served in many leadership positions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His cousin George A. Smith, serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, sent a letter informing him he was to serve as a missionary in Europe. When he arrived in Salt Lake City for departure he was told he would serve in the Scandinavia Mission. In the spring of 1862, at the age of 27, he was asked by Brigham Young to serve as Mission president of that mission. He went home for a brief period, but returned again in 1868 to serve as the mission's president for a second time. He assisted almost 3,000 members of the church in emigrating to America. Smith learned to read and speak Danish on his missions.

Smith served as the first Stake President of the Eastern Arizona Stake from 1879–1887 and as the first president of the Snowflake Stake from 1887 until his death. In 1882, he predicted that a temple would be built in Pima, Arizona. The Gila Valley Arizona Temple is between Pima and Thatcher.

Colonizer

Smith helped colonize different Mormon settlements. The church leadership asked him, his mother and brother to help settle Parowan, Utah in 1851. He also helped in creating the settlement of Minersville. In 1878 he went to explore an area in the Arizona Territory where Mormon settlements were being established. Smith returned to report his findings to John Taylor, who had succeeded Young. Taylor asked Smith to relocate there as a church leader. He settled his family in what is now Snowflake, Arizona. In 1884, he was assigned to a committee for the church to purchase land in Mexico for Mormon colonization.

Statesman

Smith was involved in local politics throughout his adult life. He served as Mayor of Parowan from 1859–1861, as a member of the 5th Utah Territorial Legislature in 1855–56, the 22nd Utah Territorial Legislature in 1876 and the 24th Utah Territorial Legislature in 1880, and in the 19th Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1897. He was elected probate judge of Iron County in 1866 by Utah Territory Legislators and again appointed by the Arizona territorial governor. He served as a captain in the local militia while in Utah Territory. He also held the positions of Deputy U.S. Marshal, Iron County District Attorney, surveyor, city clerk, town councilman, city magistrate, stockman and established cooperative mercantiles in both Utah and Arizona.

Wives and children

Smith practiced plural marriage. He had five wives and forty-four children. Smith was eighteen years old when his oldest child was born and seventy when his youngest was born.

Death

Smith died at his home in Snowflake at the age of 71 after battling an illness. Four of his five wives survived him at his death.