Author: William G. Hartley and the Smith Institute, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University and Deseret Book, 2003, 6.25x9.25" hardbound, 590 pages. (The book is still available from Desert Book. The suggested Retail Price is $37.95 but it can be obtained less expensively from some retailers.).
In April 1829 the Lord instructed Oliver Cowdery, “Stand by my servant Joseph, faithfully, in whatsoever difficult circumstances he may be” (D&C 6:18). Oliver stood for a while but then faltered. By contrast, Father Joseph Knight, acquainted with Joseph Smith before he received the plates, stood by the Prophet through every circumstance. So did almost all of Father Knight’s married children, their spouses, and dozens more in the extended family. In this volume, historian William G. Hartley tells the extraordinary story of these ordinary members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He explores the family’s intimate role in obtaining the gold plates, the translation of the Book of Mormon, the experiences of the Colesville Branch, the gathering to Kirtland, the sufferings in Jackson County, the building of Nauvoo, and the journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley.
This fascinating account is drawn from important original documents that detail mobbings and losses, spiritual experiences, miraculous healings, and contacts with Joseph Smith. These writings are given context and corroboration by other early documents, contemporary records, and the best scholarship about Mormonism’s early years.
More than sixty Knight relatives who were acquainted with Joseph Smith from the beginning of his ministry “stood” by him and his mission until their deaths. Though none of them was among the Three Witnesses or the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, the Knight family itself furnishes an unequaled collective witness of the Restoration through their actions of loyalty and sacrifice for the man they knew to be a prophet of God.
Review Excerpts:
Winner of the Mormon History Association 2004 Thomas Rice King Best Family or Community History Award
“This is a true story of one of the earliest families of the Church who witnessed the events of the Restoration from an independent point of view. They consitute a strong family witness that Joseph Smith Jr. was a true prophet.” --Darrell Knight, 2004.
William Hartley has published in BYU Studies and is the author of multiple books including “My Best for the Kingdom”: The History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler, a Mormon Frontiersman, The Iowa Mormon Trail: Legacy of Faith and Courage and The Everything Family Tree Book: Finding, Charting, and Preserving Your Family History.
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