Lauritz Smith

Lauritz Nicholaisen Smith (or Smidt[1]) (October 5, 1830 – June 16, 1924) was an early Mormon leader and one of the founders of Draper, Utah, United States.

This article is about the Mormon leader. For the 18th-century Danish philosopher, see Laurids Smith.
Lauritz Smith
Born(1830-10-05)October 5, 1830
Hjørring, Denmark
DiedJune 16, 1924(1924-06-16) (aged 93)
Draper, Utah, United States
Known forFounder of Draper, Utah Territory
Spouses
  • Maren Kirsten Mikelsen
  • Johanne Kirstine Jensen
Parent(s)Nicolai Smidt Christensen
Karen Marie Christensdatter

Early life

Smith was born October 5, 1830, in Hjørring, Denmark, to Lutheran[2] parents Nicolai Smidt Christensen[3] and Karen Marie Christensdatter.

Conversion, marriage, and emigration

A blacksmith by trade,[4] Smith joined the LDS Church in August 1851. His future wife, Maren Kirsten Mikelsen, whom he did not know at the time, joined eight months later.

After joining the church, Smith labored with the missionaries in the Hjørring area, despite a ban on church services that were not Lutheran in nature.[2] He eventually moved on to Schleswig, then in 1854 joined an emigrant party in Holstein-Glückstadt. The group crossed the sea to Hull, England, then traveled by rail to Liverpool to arrange trans-Atlantic passage.

The group sailed on January 3, 1854, from Liverpool, England, on the ship Jessie Munn, a Canadian-built square rig. Smith and Maren Kirsten Mikelsen, who had been baptized eight months after him, were married at sea.[2] In addition, Smith was appointed to take care of the German church members on board.[2] The ship arrived in New Orleans on March 22,[5] after which the group proceeded on to the future Kansas City area by riverboat in order to outfit for the trek across the Great Plains to Utah Territory. The group suffered several cholera deaths on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Settling Utah

The Smiths arrived in Salt Lake City on October 15, 1854, and settled on 160 acres (0.6 km2) on the eastern edge of South Willow Creek, near the south end of the valley. Smith had the reputation of being "the best plow-maker in the [Salt Lake] valley."[6]

Smith began practicing plural marriage when he married Johanne Kirstine Jensen in 1867.

Hideout for Porter Rockwell

After dining with the Smiths one day, Brigham Young complimented Maren on her cooking, then asked her to provide food for his bodyguard, Orrin Porter Rockwell, when he was in the area. She agreed to do so, and Rockwell subsequently used the Smiths' farm fields as a hideout when seeking protection from his enemies.[7] "A child of Lauritz recounted the experience of taking a pot of stew to the pasture, leaving it, and then returning for the empty pot on a regular basis, not knowing why or who it was for."[7]

Death

Smith died at the age of 93 on June 16, 1924. His home on Pioneer Road in Draper is on the National Register of Historic Places.[8]

References
  1. Under the patronymic system the name would have been Lauritz Nicolaisen, and under the system of fixed family names it would have been Lauritz Smidt. Both systems were combined in his name. Since he had the name Smidt from the day he was christened, his name and his trade (blacksmith) were not related.
  2. Smith, Lauritz. Autobiographical Narrative. http://www.the-family-history-place.com/PAF_Web/pafn05.htm. Accessed 2008-04-20. From Smith, Richard P. The Ancestors of Lauritz Smith. 1989.
  3. Lauritz Smith thought his father's name was Jens Nicolai Smith. Many family records incorrectly show Jens as part of Nicolai's name. However, Jens appears in the Danish records only in connection with the christening of Lauritz's brother Thomas, where it almost certainly is an artifact. If Nicolai's name really had been Jens Nicolai, Lauritz's name would have been Lauritz Jensen Smidt rather than Lauritz Nicolaisen Smidt, even if Jens had been dropped in informal usage.
  4. A History of Sivogah to Draper City 1849—1977. Volume Two of History of Draper, Utah. The Draper Utah Historical Society. . Accessed 12 August 2007.
  5. Jenson, Andrew. Church Chronology. 2nd ed., pp. 50, 52.
  6. Young, Levi Edgar. The Founding of Utah. C. Scribner, 1924, p. 310.
  7. "History of Draper". www.draper.ut.us. "Draper City -- History of Draper". Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-08-12. Accessed 12 August 2007.
  8. "Pioneer Road - Historic Buildings". www.draperhistory.org. "Draper Utah Historic Pioneer Road Houses". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-12.. Accessed 12 August 2007.
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