Road in Sharon, Vermont
although instructed in reading, writing,
and the ground rules of arithmetic. His
mother penned that the boy was often
“given to meditation and deep study.”
The year of 1811 brought horror to the
Smith home when six of the children were
diagnosed with typhoid fever. It was young
Joseph who was struck hardest and would
become prey to this awful disease. His leg
would eventually become so infected that
his physicians seriously discussed ampu-
tation.
Struck down with unspeakable pain that
would have crippled an adult, young
Joseph would go on to bear the agony of a
grizzly procedure without any anesthesia.
In “The History of Joseph Smith by His
Mother,” Lucy Mack Smith delved into
great detail about the boy’s anguish.
“The surgeons commenced operating by
boring into the bone of his leg, first on one
side of the bone where it was affected, then
on the other side, after which they broke it
off with a pair of forceps or pincers. They
thus took away large pieces of the bone.
When they broke off the first piece, Joseph
screamed out so loudly, that I could not
forbear running to him. On my entering
the room, he cried out, ‘Oh, mother, go
back, go back; I do not want you to come
in—I will try to tough it out, if you will
go away.’ When the third piece was taken
away, I burst into the room again—and oh,
my God! What a spectacle for a mother’s
eye! The wound torn open, the blood
still gushing from it, and the bed literally
covered with blood. Joseph was as pale as
a corpse, and large drops of sweat were
rolling down his face, whilst upon every
feature was depicted the utmost agony!
I was immediately forced from the room,
and detained until the operation was
completed; but when the act was
accomplished, Joseph put upon a clean
bed, the room cleared of every appearance
of blood, and the instruments which were
used in the operation removed, I was
permitted again to enter.”
Joseph would go on to later write of the
incident: “I endured the most acute
suffering for a long time under the care of
Drs. Smith, Stone, and Perkins, of Ha-
nover. At one time, 11 Doctors came from
Dartmouth Medical College, at Hanover,
New Hampshire, for the purpose of
amputation, but, young as I was, I utterly
refused to give my assent to the operation,
but consented to their trying an experi-
ment by removing a large portion of the
bone from my left leg, which they did, and
fourteen additional pieces of bone
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