Mary Aikens Smith

Hi, this is Lauri again. I have some histories that I am going to add to this site. Where possible I will try to scan them on but this one I will just simply retype. It comes from the "Kinsman" a Jesse N. Smith Family Association. Dated August 1970. This was in some of the stuff that my dad (Ralph M. Smith or Milton Ralph Smith) had in his records that I inherited when my mother (Carol Rose Hiatt Smith) passed away. This is a history of Mary Aiken Smith who is the mother if Silas Sanford Smith, Jesse Nathaniel Smith and John Aikens Smith.

Mary Aikens Smith--Pioneer Mother

August 13, 1970 marked the 173rd anniversary of the birth of Mary Aikens Smith, mother of Jesse N. Smith (and Silas Sanford Smith and John Aikens Smith) and a noble pioneer, teacher, and community builder.

Mary was born in Barnard, Windsor County, Vermont--only a few miles from the birthplace of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet. Her parents, Nathaniel Aiken and Mary Tupper, were of sturdy New England stock with roots in England and Scotland. Her father served in the Revolutionary War under General George Washington.

After receiving her education in Vermont, Mary moved to the pioneer community of Stockholm, St. Lawerence Co., New York to teach school. There she met Silas Smith, a younger brother of Joseph Smith Sr., whose wife had died in 1826 leaving four children. On March 4, 1828, she was married to Silas (then 48), and to them were born three sons: Silas Sanford, Oct 26, 1830; John Aikens, July 6, 1832; and Jesse Nathaniel, Dec 2, 1834. In their home she also took card of her husband's aged parents, Asael and Mary Duty Smith. In the summer of 1830 the family was visited by Joseph Smith SR. who taught them the gospel, and Silas was baptized by his nephew Hyrum in the Summer of 1835.

The following spring Silas, Mary, along with Mary Duty Smith and others of the family, emigrated to join the Saints at Kirtland, Ohio. With then they took their three young boys and two sons of the first wife, Curtis and Stephen, but the latter soon returned to their former home. Silas' mother, aged 93, died on may 27 and was buried in a little plot near the Kirtland temple. On July 18, 1837 Mary Aikens Smith was baptized by Hyrum Smith.

During the next ten years this family suffered many privations for the gospel's sake. Because of opposition to the Mormons in Ohio, they set out on April 13, 1838 to follow the Prophet to Missouri. Before reaching far West, however, they were turned back the infamous "Exterminating Order" of Governor Lilburn Boggs, and spent a miserable winter on the west bank of the Mississippi River. There little John Aikens Smith died at the age of six. In February of 1839 Silas and other Mormon settlers crossed the river to Pittsfield, Illinois, but there Silas was taken ill and before he could take the family on to Nauvoo. Brother chandler rogers came to the relief of Mary and her two boys, taking them to Nauvoo where they first stayed with the family of Hyrum Smith, and later John Smith, youngest brother of Silas who became Patriarch to the Church after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. these kinsfolk assisted Mary and her sons in their destitute circumstances, and made it possible for them to emigrate with the Saints to Winter Quarters in 1846 and to Utah in 1847.

Of this widowed mother the following was written by her grandson, Hyrum, as a footnote to the first chapter of the Journal of Jesse N. Smith (1953):

Mary was a courageous woman of unusual faith and strength of character. She struggled heroically to rear her two boys, Silas and Jesse, to manhood. She seemed to know intuitively that a great destiny awaited them. She taught them to read and write and gave them the incentive to continue to study and improve themselves throughout their lives. Through her teachings and her wonderful example she helped her sons to acquire, early in life, a firm testimony of the truthfulness of Mormonism. To Mary Aikens Smith and her sons the Gospel of Jesus Christ was always the thing of greatest importance in their lives.

"She and her boys came to Salt Lake Valley in 1847 (in Parley Pratt's Company). In 1851 they were called by Brigham Young to help build the new settlement of Parowan on the southern frontier. They answered the call and there Mary spent the remaining 26 years of her useful and eventful life."

"With pride and satisfaction she watched her sons become prominent figures in the civic and religious activities of the community. They served with distinction in many fields: both filled foreign missions, served in the territorial legislature, in military and exploring expeditions, and both became capable Stake Presidents in Colorado and Arizona."

"Mary felt rewarded for her years of struggle and sacrifice by having her sons become respected leaders in affairs of both and church and state. She helped them with their families; taught the older children the three 'R's' and gave them many valuable lessons on good habits and proper behavior which they always remembered."

Mary died in Parowan April 27, 1877 at the age of 79 years, eight months, and was buried in Parowan Cemetery. the following tribute is engraved on the bronze tablet affixed to the Jesse N. Smith memorial Home in Parowan: "Dedicated to the memory of Mary Aikens Smith and her sons, Jesse Nathaniel and Silas Sanford, and to the memory of all the pioneer settlers who founded Parowan in 1851."