Happy Sunday, February is Valentine's- that means it is all about the heart... and one of my favorite scriptures
Malachi 4:5-6
5 ¶ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
I love sharing and hearing family history stories. I especially love studying the Doctrine and
Covenants and studying my own family's journey to join the restored church and their pilgrimage to Zion. This week as we have studied Doctrine an Covenants section 12 my thoughts again returned to Joseph and his sister Molly. the following was written by Joseph Smith of his true and trusted friend, Joseph Knight Sr., on 22 August 1842
“For fifteen years he has been faithful and true, and even-handed and exemplary, and virtuous and kind, never deviating to the right hand or to the left. Behold he is a righteous man … and it shall be said of him, by the sons of Zion, while there is one of them remaining, that this man was a faithful man in Israel; therefore his name shall never be forgotten.” (History of the Church, 5:124–25.)
The prophet continued, It shall be said of him (Joseph Knight) by the sons of Zion, while there is one of them remaining,” the Prophet said of Father Knight, “ that this man, was a faithful man in Israel.” Because of Father Knight’s faithfulness, Joseph additionally promised that “his name shall never be forgotten.”
And then my thoughts turn to his sister Molly and my own lineage
My lineage to Molly Knight
Amyanne Weaver m. Travis Rigby
Kimball Weaver m. Janet Hofheins
Ruth Mabel Stoddard Kimball Weaver m. Max Dickson Weaver
Edwin Clevleland Stoddard m. Jennie Smith Stoddard
Hyrum Franklin Stoddard m. Evangeline Cleveland
Henry Rogers Clevleand m. Margaret Boyack
Henry Alanson Cleveland m. Ann Slade
Aaron Slade m. MARY "MOLLY' Knight
Benjamin Knight m. Sarah Crouch
And it is her story in which I can trace my ancestry back to the first 150 members of the church and the Colesville branch. This small woman was the younger sister to Joseph Knight Senior and was a good friend to the prophet Joseph. Joseph Knight was instrumental in bringing forth the Book of Mormon. The Knights are one of the first three families of the restoration.
Molly was 78 years old when she climbed off of the Wagon in Salt Lake City. She had seen and witnessed much since joining the Mormon church in 1830. Her Husband left her for having joined the controversial religion, but she did not falter- her faith defined her actions.
As a member of the Colesville Branch she was among a small group which banded together and stayed the ties of adversity. Her journey to the "Ohio" led her to the live on the Lehman Copley Farm under the New Order. Next came the call to establish Zion in Missouri. By boat, she traversed the great Mississippi and temporarily camped in Kansas City, MO. After the expulsion there, she lived for a time in Clay County in a secluded canyon.
It was in Far West that Molly joined the prophet once again. Life at Far West was for a time happy and prosperous, but tensions and questions soon rose as Oliver Cowdrey doubted the work of the prophet. These events led to the Hans Mill Massacre, the false imprisonment of the Prophet, Hyrum and others. The Saints were again driven from their homes. Molly along with her family crossed the Mississippi and lived in Pittsfield Illinois while Nauvoo was being established.
Driven from their "Zion" again Molly traveled to Winter Quarters and then back to Kanesville. While there, she sustained Brigham Young as the next prophet of the church. How strange it must have been for Molly. She had followed the prophet Joseph since the days of Colesville.
Having seen more adversity than I can imagine, Molly climbed aboard her all to familiar wagon one more time and headed to the Salt lake Valley- the final trek of her journey that began 32 years earlier when she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- A choice which forever changed the course of her history and of mine.
For more information on Molly and Joseph Knight, please visit the Knight family web page(https://josephknightfamily.org/)
