Asael Smith

Asael Smith (7 March 1743 – 30 October 1830) was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and grandfather of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Early life

Asael Smith's family home, built in 1638 and later rebuilt in 1875. Asael was born to Captain Samuel Smith Jr. (1714–1785) and Priscilla Gould (1707–1744). Samuel was an anti-British politician, militiamen for Massachusetts and member of the first Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and Priscilla was the descendant of Zaccheus Gould, one of the founders of Topsfield, Massachusetts. Asael's mother died 6 months after his birth and Samuel later married Priscilla Gould (the original Priscilla Gould's cousin). While growing up, he received a severe burn on his neck which caused a deformation leading to him gaining the nickname "Crook-neck Smith". Asael returned to Topsfield in 1785 following the death of his father, and he worked in Topsfield for five years to liquidate his father's debts. In 1797 he began to oppose the established religions and served as moderator of a meeting that established one of the early Universalist societies in Vermont. He also began to believe that God was going to "raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind.”

Death and legacy

Asael spent the rest of his life working as a farmer and living with his son Silas Smith in Stockholm, New York before his death on October 30, 1830. Before Asael's death his son Joseph Smith Sr. converted him to Mormonism despite the protest of Silas. for his patriotism, honesty and his beliefs on religion and equal rights. According to Joseph Smith Jr., “My grandfather, said that he always knew that God was going to raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind...he declared that I [Joseph] was the very Prophet that he had long known would come in his family.”