Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, and the older brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Though he died six years before the church was organized, Alvin played a significant role in early Mormon history and theology.

Alvin was known for his industriousness and was instrumental in helping the family build a frame house in Manchester, New York. He was deeply supportive of his younger brother Joseph’s spiritual experiences. When Joseph first told the family about his vision of the angel Moroni in September 1823, Alvin encouraged him and expressed a desire to see the golden plates himself.

Alvin died on November 19, 1823, at age 25, from what appears to have been mercury poisoning after a physician administered calomel to treat bilious colic. His last words to Joseph reportedly encouraged him to be faithful in obtaining the plates and translating them. The family was devastated by his sudden death.

In 1824, rumors circulated that Alvin’s body had been exhumed for dissection, prompting Joseph Smith Sr. to publish a newspaper notice confirming the body remained undisturbed after examining the grave.

Alvin’s most lasting impact came in January 1836, when Joseph Smith reported a vision (now canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 137) in which he saw Alvin in the celestial kingdom. This vision puzzled Joseph since Alvin had died without baptism. The subsequent revelation that ‘all who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom’ became foundational to LDS theology regarding salvation for the dead and eventually led to the practice of vicarious baptism for the deceased.