The News
Family Descendant of Joseph and Emma Smith devotes her life to reaching out
Deseret News 8/10/2010 Page M01
With her 47-foot-long descendancy chart, white GMC van containing a small icebox, portable toilet, gas stove and a back seat that turns into a bed, and the help of her husband turned chauffeur, whom she lovingly calls “Ivor the driver,” Gracia N. Jones travels the United States. Her purpose: to help the descendants of Joseph and Emma Smith learn about their heritage.
Jones, the great great- granddaughter of Joseph and Emma, devotes her life to reaching out with love and compassion to unite her extended family and create understanding throughout the world toward the legacy of her ancestors.
“We call her our matriarch. She is the matriarch of the Joseph Smith family,” Darcy Kennedy, secretary and treasurer of the Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, said.
Jones, who is a member of the Flathead Indian Tribe through her father, grew up on a dairy farm on the reservation in Montana. From a very young age, she learned the importance of hard work by helping with the daily chores.
Growing up, Jones knew little about her relationship to Joseph Smith. She related an occasion when her mother saw the Prophet’s name in her history book. Telling Jones he was her great-greatgrandfather, she quickly urged her not to share that fact with anyone.
Jones’ knowledge of the Prophet grew when she began babysitting for an LDS family, who eventually introduced her to the missionaries. When she was baptized in 1956 at age 18, Jones became the first descendant of Joseph Smith Jr. to join the church and remain active. As a member of the church, Jones grew in her understanding of Joseph and Emma, and while she did, she began to notice a pattern.
“Everyone considered it an honor to be a descendant of Joseph, but not Emma,” Jones said.
Once when Jones was looking at a painting of Emma hanging on the wall in her Relief Society, another sister said that her husband thought they should not display “that woman’s” picture on the wall. Reactions such as this held her back from wanting to research her ancestors more, she said.
Her trepidation faded in 1972 when Buddy Youngreen contacted her. With a charge from President Harold B. Lee to gather the descendants of Joseph Smith Sr., Youngreen organized a reunion that year. Despite being days away from delivering her eighth child, Jones eagerly participated in the reunion with zeal before going into labor on her way home, Youngreen s aid.
With a fresh perspective gleaned from the reunion and the help of church scholars such as Richard L. Anderson, Truman Madsen and Hugh Nibley, Jones actively began to research the lives of her ancestors, particularly Emma.
“She became one of the primary experts. There are probably less than a handful of people that know Joseph and Emma as well as she does,” Michael Kennedy, third great-grandson of the Prophet and friend of Jones, s aid.
In 1992, Jones wrote an Ensign article titled, “My Great- Great- Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith,” which Michael Kennedy cites as a turning point toward Latterday Saints giving a positive image to Emma. Jones has since authored three books, including “Emma and Joseph: Their Divine Mission,” and assisted in the production of the movie “Emma Hale Smith: My Story.”
Jones has been a popular teacher at BYU Education week for the past 10 years, where she shares her knowledge of Joseph and Emma as well as techniques for reaching out to family members beyond the traditional family reunion. Many people attend her classes year after year, so Jones tries to add new things, present older material in a new way and further build credibility beyond being a family member by being a careful historian.
“I have studied (Emma’s) life so much it is a pleasure for me to to talk about her and her family to help people know her better, too,” Jones said. “It is a story that really belongs to the whole church and not just our family.”
As chief historian for the Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, Jones now spends much of her time contacting and visiting Joseph and Emma’s posterity. She and her husband, Ivor, have personally visited with more than 400 Smith descendants worldwide.
“This is her life. She eats, sleeps, breathes Joseph and Emma and their children,” Angeline Kennedy Washburn, daughter of Michael and Darcy Kennedy, said.
“Everybody does something,” Jones said. “Some crochet, others knit. I do family history.”
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Joseph Smith Family Glimpse Rare Emma Smith Bible
Joseph Smith Descendant has a Story to Tell
By Julie A. Weber-Baker
For Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Apr. 8, 2010
I am writing to tell you what it has been like to be raised a descendant of Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith.
We were not allowed to talk to Mormons (or anyone) about our lineage. We were raised to believe that Mormons would either try to kill us or recruit us (and as children, we didn't know which would be worse). We were encouraged to run from anyone with a Book of Mormon. We were sent to Baptist and Methodist churches and told to stay away from any other religion.
We were taught that the "Mormons in Utah" wanted to kill our great-great grandfather (though I didn't know it then, I now think they were speaking of Joseph Jr. and Emma's son, Alexander) and we were in danger around "them" (the "Utah Mormons").
The ironic part is that when my mother became very ill (when I was about 10 years old) it was a Mormon family (LDS) that took care of my two sisters, my brother and me for weeks. When we were welcomed in the LDS Church, we were surprised (and relieved).
Still, we were not encouraged to speak of, or even really learn about, our lineage.
Our lineage wasn't even really explained to us. We were only told that we were great-great-grandchildren of a "Joseph Smith" who was part of the beginning of the Mormon church. If we asked any more questions than that we were told to drop the subject because it was dangerous.
As time went on these messages became even more confusing and conflicting. When I was in my early 20s, it was an LDS family who saved the lives of my daughter and me when we were kidnapped by some very bad men.
And it was a Mormon family who rented me my first apartment and made sure I was safe.
And it was a Mormon family whose day care I took my own children to when they were little.
Still, my fear of talking to Mormons about religion or family lineage continued until I met Gracia Jones (my second cousin) only about 10 years ago.
Since then I have also met Michael and Darcy Kennedy begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting and other members of our family who are Mormons (LDS) and have also met members of our family who are part of the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).
What I've found, both in our family and in the Mormons and also the Community of Christ in general, is a very loving bunch of people. People who are very family-oriented, very reasonable and very wonderful.
It's been quite an experience learning these truths.
I wasn't (at the Joseph Smith Jr. Family Organization meeting in Nauvoo in 2007) when the "healing document" letter of apology from Brigham Young's family was first read, but I have since read it. Tears sprung into my eyes and my heart was filled.
I didn't grow up knowing where the fear of Mormons started. I only know it was the reality of my childhood -- and that fear had something to do, especially, with the "Mormons of Utah" who were led by a man named "Brigham Young" (whom I thought was an enemy of my great-great grandfather).
Things were whispered but never really explained or defined. They were like shadows in the corners you are taught to fear but you aren't sure why. And they kept me from being able to reach out and become a part of the organization that realistically seemed to be filled with wonderful people with exceptionally good values and beliefs (and who seemed to keep coming up as protectors of me and my children rather than enemies).
It was quite a surprise to me to go to Nauvoo and see the statue of Joseph Smith Jr. and Brigham Young together looking out over the Mississippi standing as two friends excited at new prospects. Before that day I did not know they were friends who adored one another.
I have to admit it was difficult to readjust my old beliefs with the new information, but it was wonderful.
I cannot tell you how glad it makes me to know that our two families are working things out and that a light has been shined on the shadows I grew up learning to fear. I am glad that members of my family are (more and more) becoming Mormons. More than that, I am glad that my children will not be raised to fear Mormons, nor will my grandchildren or their children. This truly is a time of healing and blessings for our whole family.
Julie A. Weber-Baker lives in Jewell, Kan., and is a fifth-generation descendant of Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith.
Joseph Smith Jr. Now Even More Irish
Mormon prophet Joseph Smith Jr., was shown in 2008 to have descended from Irish royalty. Ugo Perego, a senior researcher at Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, said recent DNA tests show the connection is even more certain. In 2008 Perego found a DNA connection between Joseph Smith, the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and King Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish warlord of the fifth century. This connection was found using STR profile values.
The STR profile assigns a number value to certain small sections on a person's Y chromosome. An STR profile looks like a long list of numbers. One person's number values can be compared section by section with another person's values. The closer two people's STR values align the more likely they are connected.
"We know exactly what the Joseph Smith and Smith family Y chromosome STR profile looks like," Perego said. "As accurate as if I had Joseph Smith next to me and I would get a swab from him. It's not guesswork."
The 24 values of the Smith family STR profile matched best with the STR profile of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Two years later, Perego compared 43 STR values between Joseph Smith and Niall of the Nine Hostages. Instead of showing Joseph Smith was on another genealogical branch, the Irish connection continues to match.
"So why is Joseph Smith more Irish?" Perego said. "We have more STR data available for Joseph Smith. We have more STR data available for Niall of the Nine Hostages. And the number of STR values matching has also increased. . . . A stronger connection. A more sure family relation."
Y chromosome research only follows the line back from son to father to grandfather and so on. It doesn't tell the whole DNA story. It is just one branch of the family tree -- but Y chromosome analysis does follow the surname, usually making it easy to match up with genealogical records.
Michael Kennedy, a direct descendant of Joseph Smith and president of the Joseph Smith Jr. Family Organization, said the Irish family connection is just beginning to be known among family members. He said, however, that descendants don't appear to be giving Irish names to their children just yet.
Even though traditional genealogical research failed to push the direct Smith lineage back beyond England, the DNA evidence points to Ireland. Y chromosome STR profiles may not tell the whole genealogical story of the Smith family, but for Michael Kennedy it is enough to enjoy St. Patrick's Day a little more.
The Website Gets a New Look
It is obvious if you are reading this that the website has been given a radical update. Our intent is to give you more articles and to participate in our projects in an easy-to-access format. We wish to extend to each of you the opportunity to learn more about Joseph, Emma, and their children, and to participate in a variety of activities that are available to all members of the JSEHS Historical Society.
Feel free to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Director of Membership.