Ten (1815)
tenacious strength, still found comfort in her adamant faith in God. This had been instilled in
her after surviving a near-fatal illness in 1802, after which she devoted her life to God.^18
The young Joseph witnessed the sadness and downfall of his father’s ego, and was
present when some of his uncles introduced his father to the subject and purpose of
Freemasonry. In Vermont, Joseph Sr. tried to join a local Masonic lodge, only to be rejected
because he was nothing close to what a “king and a merchant”^19 was supposed to be in
that day. His temporal “failures” were not only his own internal downfall, but also
threatened his social standing.
Ironically, it wasn’t Joseph Sr. who cared as much about his social standing as Lucy
did. Unreported in the annals of Mormon history was the constant pressure Lucy put on
Joseph Sr. to succeed in life so that she would be seen as a success. Lucy had grown
accustomed to this expectation because of the influence of her family, which was numbered
among the more affluent in the area where she was reared.^20 Lucy’s motivation in this
regard kept her husband motivated in the same direction.
Her driving nature, pushing against her husband’s more docile character, was partly
the reason why the young Joseph was more partial and close to his father than he was to his
mother. For example, when Joseph was in dire need of his parents’ support while he was
going through the aforementioned operation, he wanted nothing to do with his mother, but
couldn’t bear the thought of not having his father by his side.
The Smiths and the Masons; Alvin’s Anger Towards Masonry
Two of Joseph Sr.’s and one of Lucy’s brothers joined the Masons in Randolph,
Vermont, Federal Lodge #15.^21 Joseph Sr. had made his attempt in Lebanon, Vermont, where he
was rejected. While desiring to know if he had been accepted or rejected by the Lebanon Lodge,
Joseph Sr. took Alvin with him to the lodge’s warden during the fall of 1815. Alvin was a strong
teenager of almost 18 years, having labored tenaciously for many years helping his father.
Upon arriving at the local lodge and hearing the announcement by the local warden
that the lodge had rejected his dear father, Alvin flew into a fit of rage and leaped upon the
Warden, cursing and wailing upon the man until his father and others were able to pull him
off. Alvin cursed the very notion that a man had to subject himself to the judgment of other
men in order to be accepted by them into what Alvin called “A Goddamn sect of devils!”
Even when the Smith family later moved to Palmyra, where both Joseph Sr. and Hyrum did
become “Free and Accepted Masons,”^22 Alvin wanted nothing to do with the organization.
When Joseph Sr. and Alvin (Joseph’s idol and mentor) returned to Norwich from
Lebanon that night, Alvin carried on about the Masons with a rant and rave that Joseph never
forgot. One day in the future, this developing true messenger would use the concepts of
Masonry—with their signs, tokens, penalties, robes, aprons, and “calling and election” —
against the very men who thought themselves worthy of such blatant, inhumane hypocrisy.^23
Joseph’s Distaste for Masonry
Some misinformed historians portray Joseph as a proponent of Masonry. The
truth is that there was never a mortal-inspired organization that he disliked more. In a
later chapter of this biography we will see how Masonry made its way into the
LDS/Mormon Church and became associated with Joseph’s name forever. What