Posted on by MPGL

Index of Mormon pioneers and other prominent persons (and many of their ancestors) whose ancestry is posted on this site on pedigree charts and ahnentafels. Most 9 generation postings and a few 11 generation postings include both a Scholars Version and a FamilySearch Version (which highlights in red the wrong or speculative ancestors claimed in the LDS FamilySearch Family Tree, with a 60 percent error rate for claimed ancestors born before the year 1700). All 6 generation postings show only the scholars version.

Posted in Genealogy

Joseph Smith (Mormon prophet) (1805-1844)

Posted on by MPGL

Today marks the 209th birthday of Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the Mormon prophet. This posting begins with a 5-generation pedigree and ahnentafel for the Prophet Joseph, followed by a standard 9-generation presentation covering the ancestry of his father Joseph Smith (1771-1840). The next two postings will cover the ancestry of his maternal grandparents Solomon Mack (1732-1820) and Lydia Gates (1732-1817). He descends from seven Mayflower passengers on his maternal lines.

The Prophet Joseph Smith admonished his followers to “present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation” (D & C 128:24). The LDS faithful may want to ask themselves if the work displayed in the FamilySearch versions of these postings is “worthy of all acceptation.”

The risk in calling attention to the error rate in the FamilySearch pedigrees is a possible knee-jerk reaction by administrators that ends up throwing out the baby with the bath. This would be a huge mistake. People all over the world are grateful for the voluminous resources made freely available on FamilySearch. And the pedigrees are not all bad.

LDS submitters have done quite well on their closer generations. Beyond about their tenth generation, however—and especially on colonial New England lines where there are often millions of descendants and numerous conflicting sources—they have not done so well. Most of them do not have the training or the critical thinking skills to distinguish the good from the bad, the good sources from the bad sources. The advent of the internet and the ease with which any submitter can find a source to support almost anything and then go in and change anything at any time has resulted in a database for the 16th and 17th centuries that is constantly changing but has become progressively worse.

The work shown on Joseph Smith’s lines is no better and no worse than that on the lines of thousands of other Mormon pioneers who share large New England ancestries.

More than forty years ago, the LDS Genealogical Department abandoned programs that assisted and coordinated the efforts of genealogists who were working to update and correct their linked ancestries. Since that time, the Church emphasis has been on name extraction and indexing, with little regard for whether or not ancestries are correctly linked. It should not be surprising, then, that the accuracy of the FamilySearch pedigrees has deteriorated.

Postings on this Mormon Pioneer Genealogy Library website, the source for reliable scholarly genealogy, began in July 2014. Serious genealogists are invited to phone Michel L. Call to share ideas and discuss what they can do to help.

Pedigree of Joseph Smith (Mormon prophet) (1805-1844)

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Ahnentafel of Joseph Smith (Mormon prophet) (1805-1844)

Generation 1
1. Joseph SMITH (Mormon prophet): born 23 Dec 1805 in Sharon, Windsor, VT; died 27 Jun 1844 in Carthage, Hancock, IL.
Generation 2
2. Joseph SMITH: born 12 Jul 1771 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; married 24 Jan 1796 in Tunbridge, Orange, VT; died 14 Sep 1840 in Nauvoo, Hancock, IL.
3. Lucy MACK -Mayflower ancestry: born 8 Jul 1775 in Gilsum, Cheshire, NH; died 14 May 1856 in Nauvoo, Hancock, IL.
Generation 3
4. Asael SMITH: born 7 Mar 1744 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; married 12 Feb 1767 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 31 Oct 1830 in Stockholm, Saint Lawrence, NY.
5. Mary DUTY: born 11 Oct 1743 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died 27 May 1836 in Kirtland, Geauga, OH.
6. Solomon MACK: born 15 Sep 1732 in Lyme, New London, CT; married 4 Jan 1759 in Lyme, New London, CT; died 23 Aug 1820 in Gilsum, Cheshire, NH.
7. Lydia GATES -Mayflower ancestry: born 3 Sep 1732 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT; died 1817–18 in Royalton, Windsor, VT.
Generation 4
8. Samuel SMITH: born 26 Jan 1714 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; married 27 May 1734 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 14 Nov 1785 in Topsfield, Essex, MA.
9. Priscilla GOULD: born 4 Aug 1707 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 25 Sep 1744 in Topsfield, Essex, MA.
10. Moses DUTY: born abt 1715 in of Rowley, Essex, MA; married 1 May 1741 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died w.p. 29 Apr 1778 in Exeter, Rockingham, NH.
11. Mary PALMER: born 1 Jun 1717 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died aft 15 Apr 1791 in Nottingham, Rockingham, NH.
12. Ebenezer MACK: born 8 Dec 1697 in Lyme, New London, CT; married 30 Apr 1728 in Lyme, New London, CT; died abt 1777 in Lyme, New London, CT.
13. Hannah HUNTLEY: born 22 Jul 1708 in Lyme, New London, CT; died 1796 in Lyme, New London, CT.
14. Daniel GATES: born 5 Feb 1706–7 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT; married abt 1729; died 9 Mar 1776 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
15. Lydia FULLER -Mayflower ancestry: born 1 Sep 1709 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT; died 14 Aug 1778 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
Generation 5
16. Samuel SMITH: born 26 Jan 1666 in Boxford, Essex, MA; married 25 Jan 1707–1708 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 12 Jul 1748 in Topsfield, Essex, MA.
17. Rebecca CURTIS: born 20 Jan 1687–88 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 2 Mar 1753 in Topsfield, Essex, MA.
18. Zaccheus GOULD (not Joseph): born 26 Mar 1672 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; married 21 Jan 1701–2 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 29 Apr 1739 in Topsfield, Essex, MA.
19. Elizabeth CURTIS (not Priscilla PERKINS): born 15 Dec 1679 in Topsfield, Essex, MA; died 21 Jun 1740 in Topsfield, Essex, MA.
20. William DUTY: born 3 Aug 1687 in Rowley, Essex, MA; married 15 Apr 1709 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died 24 Mar 1753 in Rowley, Essex, MA.
21. Rebecca BENNETT (not Elizabeth HIDDEN): born 9 Oct 1687 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died 27 Mar 1739 in Rowley, Essex, MA.
22. John PALMER: born 21 Jun 1689 in Rowley, Essex, MA; married 18 Nov 1709 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died 22 Dec 1763 in Rowley, Essex, MA.
23. Mary STICKNEY: born 1 Mar 1686–87 in Rowley, Essex, MA; died 2 Nov 1763 in Rowley, Essex, MA.
24. John MACK (parentage unknown): born 6 Mar 1652–53 in Inverness, Inverness, Scot.; married 5 Apr 1681 in Salisbury, Essex, MA; died 24 Feb 1720–21 in Lyme, New London, CT.
25. Sarah BAGLEY: born 2 Mar 1662–63 in Boston, Suffolk, MA; died aft 1721 in Lyme, New London, CT.
26. Aaron HUNTLEY: born 1 Dec 1680 in Lyme, New London, CT; married 27 Jul 1707 in Lyme, New London, CT; died 26 Sep 1748 in Lyme, New London, CT.
27. Deborah De WOLF (not Mary CHAMPION): born 25 Jul 1690 in Lyme, New London, CT; died aft 1748 in Lyme, New London, CT.
28. Daniel GATES: born 4 May 1680 in Haddam, Middlesex, CT; married 15 Apr 1705 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT; died 24 Nov 1761 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
29. Rebecca DUTTON: born 13 Aug 1686 in Billerica, Middlesex, MA; died abt 1749 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
30. Shubael FULLER -Mayflower ancestry: born abt 1684 in Barnstable, Barnstable, MA; married 7 Dec 1708 in Barnstable, Barnstable, MA; died 29 May 1748 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT.
31. Hannah CROCKER -Mayflower ancestry: born 26 Mar 1688 in Barnstable, Barnstable, MA; died 31 Mar 1751 in East Haddam, Middlesex, CT.

by Michel L. Call, P.O. Box 11488, Salt Lake City, UT 84147; (801-450-7410); www.mormonpioneergenealogylibrary.com; www.royalancestors.com; www.mayflowerancestors.com. Color Coding: BLUE indicates Mayflower or Royal ancestry. RED indicates wrong or speculative ancestors in LDS FamilySearch Family Tree (December 2014).
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Posted in Genealogy