Alvin Smith and the Restoration

Joseph’s older brother Alvin, who died shortly after Moroni’s first visit to Joseph, had a significant impact on Joseph and the Restoration.  Alvin was the oldest son of Lucy Mack Smith, and was apparently her favorite son.  In the years preceding his death he was largely responsible for the well-being of the family and he supervised construction of their frame house in Manchester.  He was a devout worker, and Joseph Jr. said of him, “From the time of his birth, he never knew mirth.  He was candid and sober and never would play; and minded his father, and mother, in toiling all day.  He was one of the soberest of men.”  He kept their family going when Joseph Sr. had struggles doing so.  Alvin seems to have been Joseph’s biggest supporter among the family, and as he lay on his death bed less than two months after Moroni’s first visit, Alvin urged Joseph “to be a good boy, and do everything that lies in your power to obtain the Record” (Bushman, Richard. Rough Stone Rolling, p. 42, 46).  That trust and encouragement from his oldest brother surely helped Joseph through the difficult days of both waiting to obtain the record and then getting it translated.  Joseph’s respect for Alvin is evidenced in the fact that in 1828 Joseph and Emma named their first son after him. 

               Joseph’s experience with Alvin’s death would further shape his questions about salvation, and the Lord would teach Joseph truths about heaven using Alvin.  William Smith recalled that after Alvin’s death the minister who spoke at his funeral “intimated very strongly that [Alvin] had gone to hell, for Alvin was not a church member.”  Joseph must have often pondered that message.  In January of 1836, over twelve years later, Joseph saw a vision of the celestial kingdom that is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants: “I saw Father Adam and Abraham; and my father and my mother; my brother Alvin, that has long since slept; And marveled how it was that he had obtained an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life before the Lord had set his hand to gather Israel the second time, and had not been baptized for the remission of sins” (D&C 136:5-6).  Joseph was surprised to see Alvin in the celestial kingdom because he had not been baptized, but Joseph also knew that Alvin was a good man and one who belonged in the celestial kingdom.  The Lord used this to teach Joseph that His plan was far more just than Alvin’s funeral service had suggested: “All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God” (D&C 136:7).  It wasn’t until Nauvoo that Joseph would teach how this could be accomplished through the work of baptisms for the dead.  As Joseph Smith Sr. was very near death, Joseph Jr. “discussed with his father the doctrine of baptism for the dead, and Father Smith’s thoughts turned to his beloved son Alvin.  Father Smith asked that the work be done for Alvin ‘immediately.’  Just minutes before he died, he declared that he saw Alvin.  In the latter part of 1840, the Smith family rejoiced as Hyrum received the ordinance of baptism for his brother Alvin.”  Joseph’s experience with Alvin surely played a significant role in his understanding of the doctrine of salvation for the dead.

               There is another interesting way Alvin’s death helped the Saints even in the years after Joseph’s own death.  Richard Bushman described Alvin’s death this way: “Alvin fell sick with bilious coli.  The doctor prescribed a large dose of calomel, a compound of mercury and chlorine thought to promote the discharge of bile.  Lucy thought the calomel lodged in Alvin’s stomach, and, according to her, the combined exertions of four physicians could not remove it” (Rough Stone Rolling, p. 46).  From this point on, Joseph believed that calomel contributed to the death of Alvin, and he taught the Saints not to use this substance that was commonly prescribed by the physicians of his day.  As calomel is now known to be toxic, this was surely a great blessing to the Saints.  One author described, “One group that refused treatment with calomel was the Mormons, who crossed the frontier from Iowa to Salt Lake in the 1840s. The founder of the Mormon religion, Joseph Smith, had watched his brother die after taking calomel.”  Dean Hughes historical fiction novel Fresh Courage Take—which chronicles the pioneers’ trek from Nauvoo to the Rocky Mountains—suggests that Brigham Young encouraged the soldiers to avoid the poisonous substance based on what he learned from Joseph.  It seems that at least to some measure Alvin’s death helped save others by the practical knowledge it gave the Saints.  Even though Alvin died early in Joseph’s life, we honor him because of his significant impact on Joseph and the course of the Restoration.