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“He was the most wrought-upon man I ever saw”

“He was the most wrought-upon man I ever saw”

Last updated on: July 2, 2020 at 10:01 pm by Dan Peterson

“He was the most wrought-upon man I ever saw” 2020-07-02T22:01:23-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Oliver Cowdery running, in a scene from the Interpreter Foundation’s forthcoming “Witnesses” film. (Still photograph courtesy of gaffer Rhett Fernsten.) Please note the authentic early nineteenth-century camera-equipped drone in the upper left hand corner of the photo.

Driving up here today, we paused to visit (and to take the sacrament) with my wife’s father in Bountiful and then, for the first time, to pay our respects at the graves of my great grandparents, my great great grandparents, and others of my maternal family in a small cemetery located somewhat north of Brigham City. Given the family historical orientation of our day, it seems entirely appropriate to share now a couple of passages from another of my maternal ancestors, Joseph Knight Sr. They are to be found in Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith (American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2009):

I had been there [evidently in Manchester, New York] several days waiting for some books to be bound. Old Mr. Smith [Joseph Smith Sr] and Martin Harris came forward to be baptized, for the first. They found a place in a lot through which a small stream ran, and they were baptized in the evening, because of persecution. They went forward and were baptized, being the first I saw baptized in the New and Everlasting Covenant. (21)

Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith had received the ordinance previously, having baptized each other in the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania, on 15 May 1829, immediately after John the Baptist had conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon them.

There was one thing I will mention, when old Brother Smith and Martin Harris were baptized. Joseph was filled with the Holy Spirit to a great degree, to see his father and Mr. Harris, who he had been with so much, that he burst out with great joy and seemed as though the world could not hold him. He went out into the lot and appeared to want to get out of sight of everybody, and would sob and cry and seemed to be so full that he could not live.

Oliver and I went after him, and came to him; and after awhile [sic] he came in. He was the most wrought-upon man I ever saw, but his joy seemed to be full. I think he saw the great work he had begun and was desirous to carry it out. (21)

Joseph Jr. may also have been especially emotional at seeing his father accept baptism for two reasons: (1) His father had had a rough life, suffering many economic setbacks. (2) His father had, until now, remained “unchurched,” thus (in many minds, perhaps including his son’s) putting his salvation at risk.

Posted from Garden City, Utah

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