The Trials of Young Joseph F. Smith (2)

Mary's death, Joseph's bitterness, out of control, beating up the schoolmaster. Except where noted, primary sources are in the Joseph F. Smith Papers.

like a comet or fiery meteor  
Death of Mary Fielding   Then, in the summer of 1852, Mary fell ill. Small in stature and constitutionally frail, Mary's indomitable will had carried her through fifteen years of deprivation, but this was different. She was taken to Heber C. Kimball's home. To prevent their possible infection, the children not allowed to visit. After eight weeks, she died.   frail: "Mothers," 139.

Mary married Heber C. Kimball in 1846, which in her case meant only that she could call on him for assistance. Heber, 122–23.
Joseph's bitterness   When Joseph heard the news, Mary Ann recalled, he passed out. He was thirteen. Through the chaos of his short life, his mother had been the only constant, stabilizing force. He remembered the hardships she endured, and the times he had disappointed her, concluding bitterly that no one had rendered her the service she deserved. To a son of Heber C. Kimball he wrote:   passed out: Mary, 265.

disappointed: ¶ Love of Mother
   

With the exception of the attentions, kindness and care bestowed by [your parents] upon my mother in her last illness, for which I have ever felt to bless them, and which was accidental, she having been stricken down while attending meeting in this city, she received no support from either the church or any human being, while on the other hand she contributed largely to the support of others besides supporting her own family.

   JFS to Solomon F. Kimball, September 23, 1889.
    By the time he penned these lines, Joseph had heard George A. Smith tell the story "many times" of how he had "offered every induecement to the Prophet's widow to come West but ‘Widow' Smith, the widow of the Patriarch, was left alone to make her plans and to devise her own schemes. This test was the cap-sheaf of all [Mary's] other trials and tests."   ¶ Susa Young Gates: Mary Fielding Smith
Susa undoubtedly heard this from JFS. They both lived in Laie on the underground and were close associates for many years.
Mary idealized   In death he idealized—if not idolized—Mary as    
 

the refined, pure gold of womanhood and motherhood—wise, intelligent, faithful, and indomitable. … Her faith in God and the holy gospel was implicit, boundless, sublime. Her patience in trials, her unwavering fidelity to her husband's family through all the persecutions and drivings, her endurance in poverty and hardships, and her perfect integrity to every good word and work were beyond anything I have ever seen in womankind.

   JFS to Susa Young Gates, May 26, 1890
    What woman could live up to that model?    
Out of control   Joseph later described the year and a half after Mary's death as "perilous times … I was almost like a comet or fiery meteor, without attraction or gravitation to keep me balanced or guide me within reasonable bounds."   JFS to Samuel L. Adams, May 11, 1888, "Courage,"2.
Beating up the schoolmaster   In the winter of 1853–1854, schoolmaster D. M. Merrick called Martha Ann to the front of the class to be disciplined. As she approached, he pulled out a leather strap and directed her to hold out her hand. "Don't whip her with that!" Joseph suddenly exclaimed. Merrick turned "and was going to whip me; but instead of whipping me, I licked him, good and plenty."   "Reminiscences," 191; quote also appears in Life, 229.
  When Joseph told the story, he added that the thrashing delighted his classmates, for it was "a justly deserved whipping."   Life, 229.
Not afraid to fight   But on reflection, a "good and plenty" licking goes beyond protective or defensive intervention. Nor was this likely not an isolated incident. He was expelled from school, and as one acquaintance discreetly put it, Joseph was "quick with his temper and not afraid to let his fists fly."   expelled: Ibid.

fists fly: Presidents (Nibley), 236.
       

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