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===The effect of Alvin's funeral on the Smith family=== | ===The effect of Alvin's funeral on the Smith family=== | ||
− | Alvin's funeral was conducted by a Presbyterian clergyman named Benjamin B. Stockton. <ref>{{CitationSource:BoM Witnesses:Other:William Smith:1893}}</ref> This detail raises the strong possibility that someone in the Smith household had an affiliation with the Presbyterian church by November 1823 (Stockton did not become the official pastor of Palmyra's Western Presbyterian Church until 18 February 1824). <ref>See {{Book:Backman:Joseph Smith's First Vision|pages=69}} Also see | + | Alvin's funeral was conducted by a Presbyterian clergyman named Benjamin B. Stockton. <ref>{{CitationSource:BoM Witnesses:Other:William Smith:1893}}</ref> This detail raises the strong possibility that someone in the Smith household had an affiliation with the Presbyterian church by November 1823 (Stockton did not become the official pastor of Palmyra's Western Presbyterian Church until 18 February 1824). <ref>See {{Book:Backman:Joseph Smith's First Vision|pages=69}} Also see Dan Vogel, ''Early Mormon Documents'' 5 vols (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996-2003) 487n13</ref> Indeed, in one of William Smith's recountings of Church history he seems very clearly to say that his mother and some of his siblings were members of the Presbyterian church at the time of Alvin's funeral. <ref>''Zion’s Ensign'', vol. 5, no. 3, 13 January 1894.</ref> And in another recounting he states that they had this affiliation in the year 1820. <ref>{{CitationSource:BoM Witnesses:Other:William Smith:1883}}</ref> |
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{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} |
It is claimed that the Prophet's mother joined the Presbyterian church after Alvin Smith died in late 1823 (Joseph Smith said she joined in 1820). If Lucy Mack Smith joined the Presbyterian Church in 1823, then this contradicts Joseph's statement that she joined in 1820, thereby dating Joseph's First Vision to no earlier than 1823.
There are several problems with this argument. The most serious one is that Lucy Mack Smith did NOT say in her autobiography that she joined the Presbyterian church after her son Alvin died. The original manuscript of the autobiography (including the crossed-out portion) actually says:
There are several observations that will help to clarify the meaning of this text.
Alvin's funeral was conducted by a Presbyterian clergyman named Benjamin B. Stockton. [1] This detail raises the strong possibility that someone in the Smith household had an affiliation with the Presbyterian church by November 1823 (Stockton did not become the official pastor of Palmyra's Western Presbyterian Church until 18 February 1824). [2] Indeed, in one of William Smith's recountings of Church history he seems very clearly to say that his mother and some of his siblings were members of the Presbyterian church at the time of Alvin's funeral. [3] And in another recounting he states that they had this affiliation in the year 1820. [4]
Notes
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