The Reverend John Lathrop

It wasn’t but several months ago that I learned about the Reverend John Lathrop. I heard this talk on KBYU. I had mentioned it to most of you. What I found so amazing about Reverend Lathrop is his lineage. Joseph Smith Jr. and four other Presidents of the Restored Gospel are his direct descendants (Joseph F. Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, Wilford Woodruff and Harold B. Lee). But there is more, of course Hyrum Smith is also a descendant, but also consider the fact that Oliver Cowdery, Orson and Parley P. Pratt, Frederick G. Williams, Marion G. Romney and M. Russell Ballard are all his direct descendants. I am sharing this with you again because I made a discovery tonight while researching our family history on the the new FamilySearch website. We are direct descendants of Heber C. Kimball through his plural wife Clarissa Cutler. While researching our line to my surprise I found that Clarissa’s mother's name was Lois Lathrop. As I went back through generations I found that Lois Lathrop is a direct descendant of the same Reverend John Lathrop.

Reverend John Lathrop Samuel Lathrop Israel Lathrop Samuel Lathrop Captain Elisha Lathrop Captain Samuel Lathrop Lois Lathrop Clarissa Cutler Heber C. Kimball

Please read the following talk. You will learn that the life of John Lathrop is a type and shadow of the life of his descendant Joseph Smith Jr. You will also learn that God has prepared family lines from the Foundation of the World for this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.

Joseph Smith: A Family Prepared for a Prophet Susan Easton Black © 2002 by Brigham Young University,

Was the family of Joseph Smith prepared for a son to come home one spring morning in l820 and exclaim: “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true”?

In order for them to be prepared, knowledge needs to be available and accessible to the family that such a prophet is to be born. Father Lehi while giving a blessing to his son Joseph spoke of Joseph of Egypt, Joseph Smith Sr. and Joseph Smith Jr. (2 Nephi 3:7–15) 

A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins. . . . And he shall be great like unto Moses. . . . and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins. . . 

And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation. 

Knowledge of Joseph Smith was given but not available or accessible to the family of Joseph Smith until the 1820s. Lehi's promise to his son Joseph was in the Hill Cumorah. Joseph of Egypt's writings were not had among men. 

Is evidence available to show actual family preparation—when scriptural accounts are not available? 

Brigham Young stated: “It was decreed in the councils of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he [Joseph Smith] should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was foreordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation. . . .” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:289–90) 

An example of one progenitor is John Lathrop. John was born 1584 in Elton, Yorkshire, England. He entered Queens College in Cambridge in 1601 and graduated with his bachelor of arts degree in 1605 and his masters of arts degree in 1609. In 1607, prior to receiving his master’s degree, he was ordained a deacon by the bishop of Lincoln and became the curate of Bennington, Herefordshire, England, for the Church of England. After graduation, he was placed in charge of the Egerton Church in Kent, which is located approximately 50 miles southeast of London. He served in this capacity until 1623, a 14-year period. In 1623, he made a decision to leave the Church of England. A major reason for the break from the church was the dispute over whether authority for leadership of the church came from God to the church—in other words, who gave authority to act in the name of God? 

His decision to leave the Church of England, at this time was considered a dangerous crime. The punishment for this crime was death; most often the method was burning at the stake. John's position became even more perilous when he accepted an appointment to be a minister of an illegal independent church. On 22 April 1632 his Independent Church was assailed by governmental officials. Of the 42 congregated in this meeting in 1632, only 18 were able to escape; the rest were thrown into the Clink Prison. By the spring of 1634, Lathrop was the only one of the 24 who was not released from prison. John was released only after he petitioned for liberty to go into foreign exile. The foreign exile he chose was America. He sailed on the ship Griffiin from London to Boston. Aboard ship, he was the only one who had a Bible. While he was reading the Bible, hot tallow from a dripping candle burned holes through several pages. He obtained paper and pasted it on the partially burned pages. He then printed from memory the passages of scripture which had been destroyed. 

John Lathrop was the ancestor of Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Joseph F. Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Wilford Woodruff, Orson and Parley P. Pratt, and Harold B. Lee, Marion G. Romney................ 

We don’t know much about Clarissa Cutler. We don’t even have a picture of her. We do know that she didn’t follow Heber and the Saints to the Salt Lake Valley. She chose to stay with her sister and father. She had a twelve month old son (Abraham Alonzo Kimball) who would be our family progenitor. Heber somehow knew that she would not follow the Saints and gave Abraham a blessing that he would someday come to the ‘valley of the mountains’. This blessing was fulfilled. Abraham went on to serve a mission to England and served as a Bishop in Kanosh, Utah. He received advice and even a prophecy on his behalf from the prophet Brigham Young. I have never really given much thought to Clarissa Cutler. I’m sure she was in poor health since she died just two years after Heber left her at Winter Quarters. All I really knew was that she didn’t follow the Saints. But now I know that she is a direct descendant of John Lathrop. That she is part of the same family lineage that was foreordained to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. I know as stated by Brigham Young that God is watching over this family. Just as our Heavenly Father made sure that Abraham Alonzo Kimball made his way to the ‘valley of the mountains’ to maintain the priesthood line of our family. 

Joseph Smith wrote, "At the first organization in heaven we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned it."......and to Brigham Young he said, "Be sure to tell the people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before we came into the world. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are all disorganized and in great confusion." Brigham continued: "Joseph then showed me the pattern, how they were in the beginning. This I cannot describe, but I saw it , and saw where the where the Priesthood had been taken from the earth and how it must be joined together, so that there would be a perfect chain from Father Adam to his latest posterity." 

I remember the temple sealer teaching Richard and Kristy about the Abrahamic covenant. That God had provided a lineage for those that had demonstrated their righteousness in His presence. That he has provided a 'foreordained path' to exaltation through the blessings of the fulness of the Gospel. I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. I know that members of our family that have died love us and want to help us find our way on this path to exaltation. This is who we are, this is our destiny. It is not meant to be easy. 

 President John Taylor said, "You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as Abraham and other men of God....God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God. 

 Again consider this intriguing statement: In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike and they will, you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed. Elder Jeffrey Holland ("For Times of Trouble," New Era, Oct. 1980, 15) 

President Ezra Taft Benson said: Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us. I am grateful for this new knowledge regarding our family. Hope you found this interesting. 

I sent an email to Susan Easton Black and received the following response: 

RE: Reverend John Lathrop Thanks for sharing with me your relationship to John Lathrop. That is wonderful!!!! All the best, 

Susan Black 

Associate Dean of General Studies and Honors Professor of Church History and Doctrine Brigham Young University