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 was born to Captain Samuel Smith Jr. (1714–1785) and Priscilla Gould (1707–1744).The family bible of Hyrum Smith 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.B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930), 1: 2. 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 married Mary Duty (1743–1836) on February 12, 1767, the couple then moved to Windham, New Hampshire in 1772. From there they moved to Dunbarton and later Derryfield, now the city of Manchester.
Military life and Vermont Asael enlisted in the Continental Army and served under Colonel Joshua Wingate from March 4, 1776 to August 1, 1778.Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls); War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington. D.C. 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. After paying off the debts, he first moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, and then to Tunbridge, Vermont in 1791.1790 U.S. Census, Topsfield, Essex Co., MA, 613. 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.R. L. Anderson, p. 112 He also began to believe that God was going to "raise up some branch of his family to be a great benefit to mankind.”Joseph Smith’s New England Heritage (1971), 112.
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."Autobiography Volume 3 circa 1865-1866," p. 22, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, accessed December 29, 2024, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/p/ZXmwJournal of Jesse Nathaniel Smith: The Life History of a Mormon Pioneer, 1834–1906. Salt Lake City: Jesse N. Smith Family Association, 1953. Before Asael's death his son Joseph Smith Sr. converted him to Mormonism despite the protest of Silas. Asael was praised by several prominent Mormons like Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Fielding Smith, Brigham Young, and George Q. CannonGeorge Q. Cannon, Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1972), 26. 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.”
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