Review
Title: My Dear Sister: letters between Joseph F. Smith and his sister Martha Ann Smith Harris
Author: Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and David M. Whitchurch, editors
Publisher: BYU Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book
Genre: Joseph F. Smith correspondence
Year Published: 2018
Number of Pages: 671
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN10: n/a
ISBN13: 9780842528481
Price: $49.99
Reviewed by Elizabeth White for the Association for Mormon Letters
I can count the material things among my physical possessions that I truly treasure on both of my hands with several fingers left over. On my very minimal list are my deceased mother’s Bible with her handwritten notes, my grandfather’s weekly letters to me during my mission far from home, and several handwritten cards, mostly for birthdays and Christmases over decades, from a dear friend. Several of these notes contained monetary gifts, but it is not the monetary tokens I value as much as the love that prompted them. These particular things represent my connection to my dearest family, their faithfulness and devotion to God, and my inheritance of faith and testimony from them. In them I find some timeless gems that anchor me as well as mundane comments about shopping, chores, and illnesses. These few mementos form much of what I value most, principally due to my connection to those who wrote and passed on their words to me.
When Nephi went to get the brass plates, wherein was written the record of his fathers, they were located in Laban’s treasury. I have recently found a book that belongs in such a family treasury, that includes a record of faithfulness, love, devotion, daily testimony, righteous example, trials, and triumphs woven in letters between Joseph F. Smith and his sister, Martha Ann Smith Harris. It speaks of their connection to their family and friends as well as their love for each other and their determination to serve their God in every circumstance. My Dear Sister is an exhaustive collection of known correspondence over seven decades between these two stalwart children of Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith from the time they were teenagers until the last few years prior to their deaths. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and David M. Whitchurch collaborated on this multi-year project with several other dedicated individuals who devoted countless hours researching, transcribing, indexing, editing, and enhancing the documents so that they could be preserved and made available to the public.
The origin of this volume begins one day with a great granddaughter noticing a box in her closet that she received from her mother, but that she had not sorted. When she opens it, she finds a trove of original letters, many with their original envelopes, that had been waiting to be discovered. These letters, along with other correspondence, journals, and subsequent research, has culminated in this book, which has many historical and personal treasures in it.
Each of the seven decades in this book begins with its own introduction, detailing some historical, political, church, and personal contexts for the letters. Each of the letters is printed in order, with its envelope when available. I found this an interesting touch since these included stamps and origin addresses over the years from Utah Territory, England, Honolulu and several other locations. An exact transcription of each letter with helpful footnotes is also available as the handwriting in some of the letters may be harder to read. Letters from Martha Ann to her brother have also been researched and included. Dozens of colored photographs, many from private family collections, further enrich the sections of this book. Full outlines of Joseph F. Smith’s and Martha Ann Smith Harris’ families are provided as helpful references. Every person mentioned in any of the letters has been thoroughly researched and has a rather detailed biographical sketch in the appendix, including birth, death, marriage dates, and names of children where records have been available. The biographical register also indicates the corresponding letters where individuals are named or referenced. The two hundred and forty one letters are also summarized to make searching for a particular one or topic far easier.
The letters between Joseph F. and Martha Ann cover the full range of human experience and emotions and the supporting research helps flesh out their stories and their lives. They confide in each other, rejoice together, share difficult and stretching moments, ask forgiveness and apologize for slights and offenses. The people in these letters are unguarded, real people who share their raw emotions as well as their unfiltered opinions about people and events going on around them. They share the little moments in life as well as the earth-shaking challenges as they turn to each other for support. Joseph F. practices polygamy, having married six times and raises five families. He still often sends monetary help to Martha for her family’s needs, as she ends up raising three generations of offspring through many years of widowhood and illness. Joseph is no stranger to family difficulties himself. Just two examples among many other moments: he mentions he is served with divorce papers on his 30th birthday, and he shares his distress and grief over the deaths of his beloved children.
Before reading this book, I could probably have given four or five stories about the life of Joseph F. Smith, and I would not have been able to name his sister, or even if he had one. Due to the resources and nature of their era, most of Joseph F. and Martha Ann’s contemporaries are only remembered by what is recorded on headstones and perhaps in family Bibles or a few census records. To have the breadth and depth of these records is a phenomenal find and an incredible opportunity to learn more about this time in history and the people who saw vast changes while leading rather quiet lives. They lived during a tremendous time period in history. Their early memories included seeing the martyred Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Joseph F.’s mother teaching him to read by candlelight at night in a wagon on the trail west. Their lives extended through the Utah War and the Civil War, the pioneer and polygamy era and the Edmunds-Tucker Act to the modern age which included telephones, electric lights, cars, airplanes, trains, and unfortunately, a world war.
This book is a treasure for historians and those who have a personal connection to those people mentioned here. It also serves as an outstanding memorial for the people who kept trying to do their best day after day, through all the vagaries of life. I found reading this book turned me to my own family stories, since I had relatives living in some of the areas mentioned. It made it easier for me to imagine events that may have happened in their lives. There are so many personal stories highlighted in this book, that it would take many books to share each one.
This book is truly a magnificent achievement and an awe-inspiring addition to what is known about one of the modern prophets who was a leader at a pivotal time of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I read of his life, his trials, his strengths, his weaknesses, I have come to know him better and through it all I see evidence of his desire to serve Jesus Christ as best he can and his never-ending devotion to his dear sister.