Bogus?

[inquiringmind]

Does anyone know if this is genuine or bogus?

Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr. to Hyrum Smith:

The blessing of Hyrum Smith who was born in Tunbridge, Orange County, Vermont, February 9, 1800. Hyrum, thou are my oldest son, whom the Lord has spared unto me when my eldest was taken at an untimely age, but thy ?dead? brother whom thou dids’t love around whose heart thine affections were twined has been taken in the vigor of youth even in the morning of his days; his seat is vacant this day but his spirit is at rest. Wo be to the man who sought his fall by which means he was deprived of leaving seed to rise up in his inheritance to call him blessed. Therefore, that his name may not be forgotten (I) make this mention of him in thy blessing that it may be recorded with the same for my posterity to look upon; and as you are now my eldest your seed may look upon this in after years and remember the sorrows of thy father and the sorrows of my family. God is just and he will reward the enemy of my son four fold. So much I have found in my heart to say to perpetuate the memory of thy brother who was an upright man. Behold thou art Hyrum; the Lord has called thee by that name and by that name he has blessed thee. Thou hast borne the burden and heat of the day; thou hast toiled hard and labored much, for the good of thy father’s family: thou has been a stay many times to them, and by thy diligence they have often been sustained, thou hast loved thy father’s family with a pure love, and hast greatly desired their salvation, thou hast always stood by thy father and reached forth the helping hand to lift him up when he was in affliction; and though he has been out of the way through ?, thou hast never forsaken him, nor laughed him to scorn, for all these kindnesses the Lord my God will bless thee. I now ask my Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ to bless thee with the same blessings with which Jacob blessed his son Joseph for thou art his descendant and thy posterity shall be numbered with the house of Ephraim and with them thou shalt hand up to crown the tribes of Israel when they come shouting to Zion. Thou shalt live to see thy Redeemer come in the clouds of heaven and thou shalt lift up thy head with gladness and ?have? the holy throng with uplifted hands. Thou shalt stand before Kings and Rulers and bear testimony of the Lord. Thou shalt proclaim the gospel to may nations and bring many souls to the knowledge of the truth, thou art numbered with the horns of Joseph; for thou shalt raise many people togther. Thou shalt escape the hands of thine enemies and triumph over all who oppose thy way in truth. Thou shalt be blessed with the good things of this earth in rich abundance. The Lord will ?sanctify? his choice blessings upon thee and upon thy seed after thee, and thou with them shall have an inheritance in Zion, and they shall possess it from generation to generation, and thy name shall never be blotted out from among the just; for the righteous shall rise up and also thy children after thee and say thy memory is just, that thou wert a just man and perfect in thy day. Thy name is written in heaven and thy salvation sealed on high, even so, Amen.

Also, does anyone know anything about this book or it's author?

Early Patriarchal Blessings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

H. MICHAEL MARQUARDT, COMPILER

hardback. 500 Pages. / 1-56085-202-X / $70.00

In the LDS Church, patriarchal blessings offer comfort to individuals and foretell possible future accomplishments. The blessings are pronounced in the form of a prayer by an ordained patriarch. Drawing on Old Testament precedent, the patriarch rests his hands upon the individual’s head, eyes shut while speaking and without forethought regarding what to say. In most cases, the blessing identifies the recipient’s spiritual heritage and lineage as a member of one of the twelve tribes of Israel and thus heir to the blessings Israel bestowed upon his sons. The promises and counsel contained in one’s patriarchal blessing—prophetic insight into one’s life and future—are said to be contingent upon worthiness. A patriarchal blessing is given only once in a person’s lifetime.

Contained in this volume are 755 blessings from 1833 through 1845, delivered by the church’s first oracles: Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Smith Sr., and William Smith. Prominent in these blessings is the promise that the recipients will live to witness the Second Coming of Christ, together with other period-specific expectations and doctrinally based beliefs. The compilation is an indispensable source of early Mormon intellectual history, as well as a valuable resource for historians, biographers, and genealogists.

H.Michael Marquardt is the author of Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record; The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary; and other works. He is the webmaster for Mormon Origins. He and his wife, Dorothy, live in Sandy, Utah, and have five children.

Edited June 4, 2012 by inquiringmind

[Nominee]

Patriarchal Blessing to Hyrum Smith, by Joseph Smith, Sr.

Hyrum, thou art my oldest son whom the Lord has spared unto me: my eldest was taken at an untimely age, but thy next brother, whom thou didst love, around whose heart thine affections were twined, has been taken in the vigor of youth, even in the morning of his days: his seat is vacant this day, but his spirit is at rest. Wo be to the man who sought his fall, by which means he was deprived of leaving seed to rise up in his inheritance to call him blessed. I, therefore, that his name may not be forgotten, make this mention of him, in thy blessing, that it may be recorded with the same, for my posterity to look upon; and as you are now my eldest, your seed may look upon this in after years and remember the sorrows of they father, and the sorrows of my family: God is just, and he will reward the enemy of my son four fould [sic]. So much I have found in my heart to say, to perpetuate the memory of thy brother, who was an upright man. Behold thou art Hyrum; the Lord has called thee by that name, and by that name he as blessed thee. Thou has bourne the burden and heat of the day; thou hast toiled hard and labored much for the good of thy father’s family: thou been a stay many times to them, and by thy diligence they have often been sustained. Thou has loved they father’s family with a pure love, and has greatly desired their salvation: Thou has always stood by thy father, and reached forth the helping hand to loft him up when he was in affliction; and though he has been out of the way through wine, thou has never forsaken him nor laughed him to scorn. For all these kindnesses the Lord my God will bless thee.... Thy name is written in heaven, and thy salvation sealed on high, even so. Amen.

SOURCE: Joseph Smith, Sr., Blessing on Hyrum Smith: Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:2-3, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. See also, Marvin Hill, Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), p. 190; Richard Bushman Joseph Smith and Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984), p. 255.

edit: I would take what is in this version with its legit sources and search it out further through them rather than relying on exmormon.org to not be using creative license.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Nominee

[Robert F. Smith]

Does anyone know if this is genuine or bogus?

Blessing from Joseph Smith Sr. to Hyrum Smith:

Mike publishes a lot of books with early Mormon documents and you can be sure that they are not bogus. He has always been an ardent student of Mormon history. He and his wife Dorothy are wonderful people. However, Mike left the Church long ago, and his interpretations are not always in synch with the official LDS Church interpretations.

[inquiringmind]

I would take what is in this version with its legit sources and search it out further through them rather than relying on exmormon.org to not be using creative license.

Actually, I found that on some sort of a blog, posted by someone who claimed to have gotten a copy from the Church because members of his family were direct descents of Hyrum (but there was a typo in his post--1933 when I think he meant 1833.)

I can't find that site right now, I don't think it was part of ex-mormon.org., and I'm sure you could find it if you try hard enough.

[Log]

I bet it was this one.

Nevertheless, I can't verify it. The only other source I saw was, in fact, ex-mormon.org.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Log

[inquiringmind]

Mike publishes a lot of books with early Mormon documents and you can be sure that they are not bogus.

Thank you.

I believe this is from his web site.

Excerpt from a Patriarchal Blessing of Matthias Cowley, given by Uncle John Smith

26 March 1845

shalt live to see Israel gathered in fulness - the City of Zion built in Jackson County, Missouri, and the House of the Lord, and the cloud rest upon it, according to the Revelation

http://user.xmission.com/~research/about/patb2.htm

The quote looks incomplete to me.

Can you tell me if he's taken it out of context?

[inquiringmind]

I bet it was this one.

Nevertheless, I can't verify it. The only other source I saw was, in fact, ex-mormon.org.

I don't think that's the site I got it from (like I said, there was a typo saying that the blessing was given in 1933), but thank you.

Do you think I can safely assume that Nominee's version is the correct one?

[Log]

I honestly don't know. Sorry.

[Nominee]

Actually, I found that on some sort of a blog, posted by someone who claimed to have gotten a copy from the Church because members of his family were direct descents of Hyrum (but there was a typo in his post--1933 when I think he meant 1833.)

I can't find that site right now, I don't think it was part of ex-mormon.org., and I'm sure you could find it if you try hard enough.

Yours is the exmormon.org blog version: however the board will not allow me to provide the link here. It starts like this though: Subject: Hyrum Smith's patriarchal blessings. Date: Mar 26 16:09 Author: Butch

This is the version I posted: http://stewartbg.blogspot.com/

Both are just people posting on the internet. Both have the opportunity to use creative license but only one offers legit references that you have the ability to delve into deeper. The ... in the blogspot version says that something is missing from that place but is it really an entire paragraph? I'm not so sure. Is the paragraph added to the exmormon version accurate? I'm not so sure.

This was the useful info. I was attempting to offer up: SOURCE: Joseph Smith, Sr., Blessing on Hyrum Smith: Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:2-3, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. See also, Marvin Hill, Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American Pluralism (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), p. 190; Richard Bushman Joseph Smith and Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984), p. 255.

I consider LDS Church Archives to be an obvious reliable source. And I have high praise for Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. If you haven't read Rough Stone Rolling be sure that you do!

Edited June 4, 2012 by Nominee

[Robert F. Smith]

Thank you.

I believe this is from his web site.

http://user.xmission...about/patb2.htm

The quote looks incomplete to me.

Can you tell me if he's taken it out of context?

Sorry, don't know. Don't have the source available, but it does say that it is an excerpt, so that would make it incomplete by definition.

The Church has been in the process of publishing all these early documents for some time now, and at least a couple of volumes are already out. So, eventually you'll be able to look this sort of thing up very easily, and will full notes on sources.