[Great-grandfather of George Albert Smith] John Smith: Baptized 9 January 1832. (1)
-- 1834
[Grandfather of George Albert Smith] George A Smith: Armor bearer, Zion's Camp 1834 q(1)
-- 1830s
Concerning Gratitude, by President George Albert Smith
... My great-grandparents lived in New England. When the message of the restored gospel was first taken to that section by Orson Pratt and others, the houses of worship were not open to them. They had a difficult time in finding a place in which to preach. They came to a small village and thought surely they would readily find someone who would offer to open a place for the preaching of the gospel, but they found none. At length they inquired of a man on the street as to where they could secure a place. He said, "Go find Winslow Farr. I think he can help you. So they went to see Winslow Farr; he was easily found; everyone knew him. They told him what they wanted to find a place in which to preach the gospel. He asked, "What are you going to preach about?" They answered, "Jesus Christ and the gospel." He said, "I will help you. They found a place and invited the people to come. Orson Pratt told them God had spoken again from the heavens, and that a young man named Joseph Sm
ith had received heavenly manifestations. The Lord had directed him to an ancient record which the Prophet translated the Book of Mormon. It was a divine record, the story of the ancestry of the American Indians.
Orson Pratt's testimony was so effective that Winslow Farr came up to him, took his hand, and said, "I have enjoyed your meeting tonight. Where are you going to stay?" On learning that they had no place to stay, he said, "You come home with me. The missionaries didn't know that Winslow Farr's wife was dying of a dread disease tubercular consumption. But this servant of the Lord, Orson Pratt, seeing her condition and realizing how kind her husband had been, looked at her and asked, "Have you faith to be healed?" The doctor had said she could not be healed, could live but a few days. When asked that question she said, "I don't know if I have that faith or not, but I know God could heal me if he wanted to. And then this servant of the Lord said, calling her by her given name, "Olive, in the name of God, I command you to be healed." She was healed and in a few days was going about performing her household duties.
It was not long after that the Farrs came down where our people were situated in Nauvoo. And when our people came farther west, the Farrs were among the first to come. Winslow Farr, my great-grandfather, and Olive Farr, his wife, had three sons and a daughter born to them. They were among the first people to live in Ogden. The last time the Farr family assembled to celebrate her birthday, they found she was grandmother, great-grandmother, or great-great-grandmother to more than three hundred and twenty people, and I was one of the great-grandchildren. (3)
-- 1835-37
[Great-grand father of George Albert Smith] John Smith: Stake president (1835-37) q(1)
-- 1 March 1835
[George A. Smith, grandfather of George Albert Smith] George A. Smith: Ordained member of First Quorum of Seventy 1 March 1835. (1)
Footnotes:
1 - Cook, Lyndon W., The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith: A Historical and Biographical Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants, Seventy's Mission Bookstore, Provo UT, 1985, http://amzn.to/RevelationsofJosephSmith
2 - Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 6, Biographical Sketches of General Officers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power
3 - Ancestors of Tim Farr, http://dustyhills.net
LDS History Chronology: George Albert Smith
Mormon History Timeline: The life of George Albert Smith
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
