With reference to Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, one philosopher has noted that, in his judgment, “nothing so far published—whether biographical, historical, or expository—is fully adequate. . . . Since, as I believe, no one person can completely master the immediate and world context into which Joseph Smith came, and the texts that survive him, we may never see a one-author definitive work. In the meantime, probing the earliest sources in . . . topical fashion . . . is the order of the day.”1 One topic largely unexplored in the life of Joseph Smith Jr. is the quality of interrelationships in his family of origin.
Recent historians have noted a need to reconstruct Mormon2 history using a variety of approaches. In addition to the traditional kinds of history, such as biography or cultural history, they suggest using demographic studies, narrative history, photography, oral histories, and sociology.3 By utilizing these unconventional approaches, researchers can address more of the Saints’ everyday life experiences, including “such undramatic but basic matters as diet and disease and family relationships.”4 These historians further encourage a closer scrutiny of work patterns, recreation, religiosity, and psychological resiliency among the early Saints.5 By evaluating these ordinary experiences, we can come to know the Saints in a more personal way, as well as glean important insights related to family functioning that may be of use for contemporary families.
One current approach to examining the past is the use of [3] modern psychological concepts in examining historical figures. This historical approach is termed psychohistory and has yielded valuable insights into many famous personalities. My approach to evaluating history is similar to psychohistory, but instead of using psychological constructs to evaluate an individual, I have utilized some of the leading concepts in the field of family studies in examining a historical family. Using a human science approach to evaluating history will enable us to view family patterns of interaction that have not otherwise been examined. By combining family studies concepts with careful attention to historical detail, I have attempted to, as one historian has noted, “add texture to the historical picture, fill in aspects of personal meaning and motive, and provide continuity to a history that has gaps.”6
Many Mormon historians have been successful in integrating psychosocial research into their historical studies.7 Gary Bergera and Roger Launius have both indicated that using this type of approach in investigating early Mormon families such as the Smiths would enable historians to see more clearly their interrelationships, a little-noted topic in the literature to date.8
Statement of Purpose
Mormonism began with a single family—the family of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. In 1845, Lucy Mack Smith stated that her family “presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth.”9 Just how did this family operate, and what characteristics did they exemplify? Much has been written to chronicle the movement and events pertaining to this family, and yet little has been written with the intent of sifting through the historical records to reveal what kind of [4] family this was.
The purpose of this study is to examine the family processes of the Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family by using a model derived from family literature. Five family process concepts—cohesion, resiliency, religiosity, conflict management, and family work and recreation—have been highlighted and used to examine historical sources that identify how the Smith family operated. [5]
