Joseph Smith's Pre-1830 Education

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Joseph Smith's Pre-1830 Education

127 Primary Sources

A black and white illustration of a young Joseph Smith studying his bible by candlelight with the caption 'Joseph Reading the Bible,' by LA Ramsey, from the book 'From Ploughboy to Prophet,' 1912. — An illustration by L.A. Ramsey from the book 'From Ploughboy to Prophet,' 1912.

Did Joseph Smith[BIO] really only have a third-grade education?

Yes, probably. It's hard to compare early nineteenth-century educational grade levels to modern grade levels. Joseph was mostly homeschooled and seemed to have a good grasp of reading, a little bit of writing, and some basic arithmetic.[1]

Does this lack of education show that he couldn’t have written the Book of Mormon himself?

Yes, it does support that idea. Joseph said he was "mearly instructtid [sic] in reading and writing" however, Emma Smith said that Joseph could "neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter" at the time Joseph translated the Book of Mormon.[2]

The earliest example of Joseph's penmanship is shown in a fragment of the 1829 manuscript of the Book of Mormon.[3]

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127 Primary Sources

Footnotes

BIOJoseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith (1805–1844) organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born in Sharon, Vermont, he began to experience visions of deity and angels at a young age. One vision featured the Angel Moroni, who revealed the location of gold plates with an account of ancient Americans. He translated this record and published it as The Book of Mormon. He continued to receive revelations throughout his life which serve as the foundation for the Church's doctrine today. He led the Latter-day Saints across the country from New York to Illinois. In 1844, he was martyred while awaiting trial in Carthage, Illinois.
BIOMark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens)
Samuel L. Clemens (1835–1910) was an American novelist and humorist who wrote under the pen name "Mark Twain."
BIOAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th president of the United States. He served as a state representative from 1834 to 1842 and as a representative in the U.S. House from 1847 to 1849. He won the 1860 election for the presidency against Democratic opponent Stephen A. Douglas. He led the nation through the Civil War and abolished slavery. In 1865, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
BIOLydia Gates Mack
Lydia Gates Mack (1732-1818) was born in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut. She was Lucy Mack Smith's mother and Joseph Smith's grandmother. She worked as a schoolteacher.
BIOJoseph Smith, Sr.
Joseph Smith, Sr. (1771–1840) was born in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachussetts, to Asael Smith and Mary Duty. He married Lucy Mack Smith in 1796. He was the father of Joseph Smith, Jr. He was one of the eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon and served as the first Patriarch of the Church. He died in Nauvoo, Illinois.
BIOOliver Cowdery
Oliver Cowdery (1806–1850) was a scribe for the Book of Mormon and served as one of the Book of Mormon's Three Witnesses. In 1838, he was excommunicated from the church for a number of reasons, including encouraging lawsuits against the Church and defaming Joseph Smith by accusing him of adultery. He returned to the faith near the end of his life and never denied his testimony of the Book of Mormon's veracity.
BIOJohn Smith
John Smith (1752-1809) was a Dartmouth University professor of classics and taught Ancient Languages. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the arts from Dartmouth, and received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Brown, though he never studied there. He was also the librarian of the college, and served as a pastor in the school's congregation for 30 years. John Smith was once though to be a distant relative of Joseph Smith, however they are not related.
BIOHyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith (1800–1844) was born in Tunbridge, Vermont. He was the older brother of Joseph Smith, who organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served as the Church's second patriarch. He was one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. In 1837, he became Second Counselor in the First Presidency, and the following year, he was imprisoned alongside Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. Hyrum Smith became the Church's new patriarch in 1841 after the death of his father, Joseph Smith, Sr., in Nauvoo. Hyrum also served as a member of the City Council, the Nauvoo Legion, and the Council of Fifty. He was martyred along with Joseph Smith in Carthage Jail in 1844.
BIOEleazar Wheelock
Eleazar Wheelock (1711-1779) was a Congregational Minister and the founder of Dartmouth College and Moor's Indian Charity School.
[1]↩︎
In 1832, Joseph Smith dictated a simple biography where he said he was taught the "christian religion" and that he received a basic education.
Later, in 1840 and 1859, Orson Pratt described Joseph Smith's education as rudimentary.
[2]↩︎
In 1879 "The Last Testimony of Sister Emma" was published which included questions to Emma about Joseph's education. She said:
Joseph Smith . . . could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictate a book like the Book of Mormon. And, though I was an active participant in the scenes that transpired, and was present during the translation of the plates, and had cognizance of things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, “a marvel and a wonder,” as much so as to any one else.
- Emma Hale Smith on JS as being a poor at dictation and writing.
[3]↩︎
The earliest writing sample from Joseph Smith is a sentence in the middle of Book of Mormon manuscript from 1829:
yea in every citty throughout all [the land whic]h were <was> possessed by the people of Nephi and it came to pass t[h]at <they> did appoint priests and teachers
The next earliest writing sample is from a letter Joseph Smith wrote to Hyrum Smith in 1831.
The earliest letter we have from Joseph Smith is from 1829, however, it was written by Frederick G. Williams and is believed to have been dictated by Joseph.
[4]↩︎
According to his autobiography, Mark Twain said his time at an "ordinary western common school" until he was 13 years old was "all the ~~education—if~~ schooling—if playing hookey & getting licked for it may be called by that name."
He later had to leave school when his father died.
- Charles Dudley Warner's notes from autobiography of Samuel Clemens concerning his education.
- TMTH&M says MT(SC) was educated until the fifth grade.
[5]↩︎
Twain worked as an apprentice from age 11 until age 17. He did not consider himself literate until later in his life but gained experience through learning his trade.
- Biography of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).
- TMTH&M says MT(SC) was educated until the fifth grade.
[6]↩︎
Mark Twain's first book was a travel book, The Innocents Abroad.
- TMTH&M summarizes the publication of Mark Twain's first book.
[7]↩︎
J. W. Leonard described Twain's literary experience that he obtained from printing and editing, "He began in 1848 as a worker at the printing trade, becoming an expert compositor for several years."
[8]↩︎
Joseph Smith Jr. worked on the farm his family rented as well as laboring for others.
- LMS highlights JS's farm labors.
- JS worked as a day laborer.
[9]↩︎
Joseph Smith began translating the Book of Mormon in 1829. He had obtained the plates at age 21 in 1827.
[10]↩︎
Although Lincoln attended Crawford's school for around a term, he did not have much formal education.
- Historian David Herbert Donald says that Abraham Lincoln had less than one year of schooling by age fifteen.
[11]↩︎
Lincoln learned to write and read through booklets like Dilworth's Spelling along with his sister Sarah. Through using this and other booklets, Lincoln began to become literate despite his poor education.
- David Herbert Donald describes 19th-century education for Abraham Lincoln.
[12]↩︎
Lincoln penned his own speeches and studied to become a lawyer on his own.
[13]↩︎
Lydia Gates was reportedly a school teacher in the public school system and believed strongly in educating youth.
- Lydia Gates Mack, mother of Lucy Mack Smith, taught school and was an accomplished woman.
- Joseph Smith went to school and was not as ignorant as some portrayed him.
[14]↩︎
Joseph Smith Sr. held several jobs, one of which was being a schoolteacher
- Kyle Walker, in a PhD thesis, discusses Joseph Smith Sr. working as a school teacher.
- LS describes how her husband taught school during the winter-time.
[15]↩︎
Oliver Cowdery worked as a school teacher in Manchester, New York, for all youth in the community.
- Lucy Mack says that Oliver Cowdery taught school at the district school when the Smith family arrived in Harmony.
[16]↩︎
Richard K. Behrens, citing information from a Dartmouth Alumni magazine shows the connection between Asael Smith and his wife Mary Duty and a Joseph Smith and Elizabeth Palmer who lived in the same town as the parents of Dr. John Smith.
George T. Chapman, who recorded the life sketches of the Dartmouth Alumni, mentioned in his preface some of the challenges faced in compiling the record and noted that some inaccuracies might persist in the record.
Dr. John Smith's widow left a life sketch that identified his mother as Sarah Sawyer, meaning his father was a different Joseph Smith that was not related to Asael Smith.
[17]↩︎
According to Dr. John Smith's wife, Susan Mason Smith's memoir of his life, Dr. John Smith's mother was a Sawyer. There is a separate Joseph Smith from Rowley Massachussets who was married to a Sarah Sawyer who is the actual father of Dr. John Smith. This line of Smiths does not appear to be directly related to Joseph Smith, Jr. in any meaningful way.
- Byfield Parish Church record of the christening of John Smith, son of Joseph Smith, in 1751.
- Susan Smith recalls Reverend John Smith's mother was a Sawyer.
[18]↩︎
The Town of Rowley recorded John Smith as the son of Joseph and Sarah, not Joseph and Elizabeth.
- Susan Smith recalls Reverend John Smith's mother was a Sawyer.
- Town of Rowley records show John Smith as son of Joseph and Sarah.
[19]↩︎
Richard K. Behrens shows the relationship of Asael Smith to Joseph Smith through Robert Smith and of Mary Duty to Elizabeth Palmer through Francis Palmer - this relationship was cited as coming from the Sketches of Almuni of Dartmouth College.
When compiling the Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College, G. T. Chapman notes how the project changed hands and may contain innacuracies. It appears that the wrong Joseph Smith, the one married to Elizabeth Palmer, was the one identified in Dr. John Smith's alumni sketch, which is understandable considering how common the name was. This mistake appears to have been repeated by later scholars and researchers.
- Richard K. Behrens connects Joseph Smith Jr.'s paternal grandparents to the Joseph Smith and Elisabeth Palmer who were mistakenly identified as the parents of Reverend John Smith in a Dartmouth Alumni Sketch.
- George Thomas Chapman explains the limitations of the Sketches of Dartmouth alumni, and that some inaccuracies are to be expected.
[20]↩︎
John Smith wrote some theological works centering around the concept of free will (Arminianism), but his work while at Dartmouth seems to have focused mostly on ancient languages.
- The RDOCS gives biographical and academic details of John S.
[21]↩︎
The Rutgers Database of Classical Scholars notes that John Smith died in Hanover, NH, in April 1809.
Joseph Smith was born on December 23rd, 1805.
- The RDOCS gives biographical and academic details of John S.
[22]↩︎
Lucy Mack Smith recalled that Hyrum went to Moor's Charity School sometime near when their family moved to Lebanon, New Hampshire. She doesn't give a precise date for when he started, but they did move to Lebanon sometime after William Smith's birth on March 13th of 1811.
- Lucy Mack Smith describes Hyrum Smith's education.
[23]↩︎
Records are unavailable for when Hyrum initially started attending Moor's Indian Charity School, though Lucy Mack Smith appears to say it wasn't for long:
But this state of things did not long continue. The typhus fever came into Lebanon, and raged tremendously; and among the number seized with this complaint; was first Sophronia, and then Hyrum, who was taken while at School and came home sick;
He did not return for the year of 1813-1814 as he does not appear in the school's records. However, he does appear on the records for 1814-1815, though it seems he only attended for the first quarter (from August to November), studying Arithmetic as a "Charity Scholar." Joseph Senior moved to Palmyra in late 1816 to prepare the farm for the family, and the rest of the family moved to Palmyra in January of 1817. It seems Hyrum had ceased attending Moor's altogether, perhaps to help at home, as he doesn't appear in their records for examinations in August of 1816 either. All told, when including the reminiscence of Lucy Mack Smith along with actual school records, it seems likely that Hyrum received less than a year or two of total schooling there.
[24]↩︎
Moor's Charity School was founded in 1754 to teach Native American children English and Christianity so they could become Christian ministers. It was initially located in Lebanon, Connecticut, but later moved to Hanover, New Hampshire.
- An exhibit summarized by DCL recounts the history of Moor's Charity school.
[25]↩︎
While the school began as a feeder school for Dartmouth College (founded in 1769) and the charity school and Dartmouth had a common founder, it seems that Hyrum did not end up attending Darthmouth College itself.
- An exhibit summarized by DCL recounts the history of Moor's Charity school.
[26]↩︎
When Wheelock started Dartmouth, Moor's Charity School relocated to Dartmouth's campus and remained separate but somewhat affiliated:
Moor’s, relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire, continued on as a sort of feeder school for Dartmouth, educating both Indian and English students who were not prepared to take on College level studies.
- An exhibit summarized by DCL recounts the history of Moor's Charity school.
[27]↩︎
A Dartmouth Alumni Magazine Article that was focused on members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had attended Dartmouth makes a mention of Hyrum Smith and that he was "destined for Dartmouth" but ultimately went westward with his family instead.
- A Dartmouth Alumni Magazine article recalls that Hyrum Smith was "destined for Dartmouth," but went west before attending.