Joseph William Smith biography

Joseph William Smith

Joseph William Smith was born Nov. 3, 1867 at Oakworth, Yorkshire, England.  The son of Stephen Smith and Martha Ann Lund.  He came to America with his family at the age of 17 years old.  He had one sister and 2 brothers.  He married Charlotte Rachel Anderson in the Logan Temple, Nov. 28, 1889.  He was the father of 8 children – 5 boys and 3 girls.

“Joe” as he was called by all his associates, was a man of ambition and energy.  He was very quick in his actions.  His work took him away from home a great deal of the time, but he loved his family and his home but was never home enough to learn to play with his children.  He was fair in all his dealings and never broke his word.  He had the ability to work well with others, and it was said of him that he never said unclean stories or used profanity.  He loved to dance and was considered very good at it.  He loved music and was bass drum player for the Grantsville Band for many years.  His father and mother were also very musical.  He always accepted the responsibilities of providing for his home seriously.  He blamed no one for his mistakes, cared little for praise and gave little praise to others, but always ready to help those in need.  He loved to be out in the mountains and was a “sure shot” with a rifle.  He was very particular about everything being in place and tidy.  He loved to read and was a very good penman, also exceptionally good in mathematics.

Many men will give freely of their means for a good cause when it seems to be the popular thing to do but to him popularity meant nothing.  The test of generosity and brotherly kindness lies in giving when it is difficult to give or when there is nos spotlight and no applause.  He cared little for those things he couldn’t take with him.  For many years he worked at the Morton Salt Co. at Burmester, Utah, a refinery plant about 10 miles north of Grantsville.  He was killed in an accident there Aug 6, 1920 and was buried Aug. 10, 1920 in Grantsville.  It was a shock and great loss to his wife and family, but Rachel was a woman of great faith and courage and the family adjusted well to the loss.  Father left his family many fine examples for good living – not many worldly goods but so many things to help them build good characters and to be law abiding citizens.