Smith Family Memorial
On May 14, 2022, President M. Russell Ballard dedicated the new Smith Family Memorial in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Topsfield, Massachusetts.
President Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, visited Topsfield on Saturday, May 14, to celebrate the life and sacrifices of the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. — and the five generations who came before him — and to dedicate the monument. It memorializes Joseph Smith’s ancestors who lived, worked, and worshipped there.
The new monument — 9 feet, 6 inches high, weighing 13,868 pounds and made of the same Barre granite as the Joseph Smith Birthplace Monument in Sharon, Vermont — sits near another Smith marker, placed in the cemetery in 1873 under the direction of President George A. Smith, a counselor to President Brigham Young and first cousin to Joseph Smith Jr. Some of the Smith family are buried in the cemetery, but the locations of their graves are unknown.
The inscription reads, in part, “Five generations of a remarkable American family resided in Topsfield, beginning with Robert Smith, who came to Massachusetts in 1638.”
The dedication has personal significance to President Ballard. He explained, “My mother is Geraldine Smith. She is the oldest daughter of Hyrum Mack Smith, who is the oldest son of Joseph F. Smith, who is the youngest son of Hyrum Smith.”[1]
In his dedicatory prayer, President Ballard asked the Almighty to bless all who come to this cemetery to feel its spiritual gravitas.
- “Bless those of all nations, kindreds, tongues and people of all religious persuasions, that as they come to this cemetery and have the opportunity to see this beautiful new monument, as they read the words and contemplate the meaning, that Thy spirit may touch them, that they may know that this is a very special place honoring Thy prophets of this the dispensation of the fullness of times,” he said.[2]
Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr., a General Authority Seventy and then Church historian and recorder, accompanied President Ballard to Massachusetts. Craig B. Ballard, President Ballard’s son and a member of the Young Men general advisory council, also joined President Ballard.
The new memorial was built by the Ensign Peak Foundation in collaboration with town officials. It was installed in September 2020, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the dedication was delayed until May 2022.
