Click Links above to See my Extensive Research!
1840s Illinois Man,
Printed mere miles from JOseph Smith's sons, from a "smith family album"
This image was taken using my new cell phone, of my CDV, it seems to show more detail than even the expensive, professional shots I have of it.
Four years ago I began a VERY casual search for a photograph of Joseph Smith. I'd seen the Library of Congress Image, as an artist who loves to draw faces, I knew it wasn't a true human face. A few blogs later, I found a unique image of a beautifully kind looking man on Pinterest, alleged to be Joseph, that caught my attention, and I studied other images alleged to be of Joseph Smith, drawing in pencil, then colorizing it on my ipad. When finished I showed a friend the reference for my drawing and the not so young looking Joseph and she really liked the older one best, pictured above, she said,
"That’s his chin... is he missing hair on one SIDE of his head?"
For some reason, the things she said really made me want to know if I myself REALLY believed either image could be- Joseph Smith Jr., Prophet and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that was murdered in 1844, thus far- no verified pictures has been found, although many are hoped to be! My intentions changed from, "oh- there are professionals that are going to prove this", to a strong desire to analyze it every way I could, to his death mask, to give my two cents, so whoever owned it simply didn’t give up. So, using a program that utilized layers, I started looking at the death mask of Joseph Smith; what I saw, when looking at the death mask and this “older Joseph”, convinced me immensely.
I began reading up on the history of the older Joseph’s CDV and was disturbed by what I saw, it was utterly negative, but the man they mock, who believed it could be Joseph, stated it was from a family album with Smith ID photos in it, with images from Missouri (that I saw much later), and other states Joseph Smith had lived, but he was shot down, put down, grammar checked. Unfortunately the man found the blog mocking him, and was hurt, he attacked, they attacked back, he threatened to sue them and it all ended, he ended his fight as fast as he started it. I had intense concern about WHERE this image ended up. Did he throw the image away? Did he mail it to the Church (any Church)? I made a youtube video or two, which you will see how concerned I was, in 2017.
In 2017, I believed one image had been proven to be Joseoh Smith, naive Debi took this website’s word for it, that they have a team of professionals proving it; so I thought proving this “older Joseph” looked similar could help whoever owned it to - keep it, to see the similarities I saw to the death mask, and then THEY could prove it; this was all my intent was at this point; something that was just for "fun", became a passion, as I had the thought,
"This guy GOING TO THROW IT AWAY, no!!!" - cue- Passion Project.
After one video, I began making videos showing how I was analyzing this “older Joseph”, I was so convinced the “older Joseph” matched the death mask, first using layers to outline all the features of 1840s Illinois Man, superimposing that onto the death mask of Joseph Smith, lastly superimposing the low opacity death mask, as many others had.
juvenileinstructor.org/daguerreotype-of-joseph-smith-wearing-the-urim-and-thummim-caution-this-will-disturb-you/
The blog linked above, linked above, quotes the ebay seller’s claims, that it was from a 19th century family Album with "Smith IDed" photos in it. They were quoting him just to make fun, even dubbing it, “Fake Joseph”; but I didn't find it funny, I was intrigued and soon I would be anxiously worried that they convinced the seller it was "trash". Mere months later, I found the owner and the image (EIGHT YEARS after the blog mocked it) and he bartered. I studied his store, which seemed stagnant, the mockery of his store - of specific images in 2009, read the comments, in 2017 they were still not sold, along with a daguerreotype of a painting he thought was also of Joseph Smith, also thought was wearing the Urim and Thummin (all since has been shut down). If he was a forger, he wasn’t a very good one. He had an image he thought was Emma who looked incredibly young, but she was mid 30s when photography came to the United States (1839, born in 1804). I shared my thoughts it looked more like one of Joseph’s son’s wives, and he showed me another CDV was of a woman with blue eyes, a paper CDV he tried to sell me (now wish I’d bought, I thought he was trying to say it was Emma), with pencil writing “Mrs. Smith”, stamped in Missouri; again I was naive, I knew very, very little about Joseph Smith’s sons, or the photograph I was about to get in the mail, but now I that I have seen many images of Joseph Smith III’s wives, I wish I could see that again to compare.
I can now say that image is a CDV from the 1860s, printed in Newark Illinois (there was a Branch there (like a Parish, but for the LDS)), in 1844, per Joseph Smith's Journal, and they campaigned in Newark for his Presidency, for the United States there as well.
2020, my image was authenticated, see the bottom of the page and here is what I know: it was copied/rephotographed from an older daguerreotype, by J.S. Bibbins, in Kendall County (where the RLDS Church's headquarters were during the mid 1860s-80s), mere miles from Joseph Smith and Emma's adults sons (all born in the 1830s-40s), who lived yes, mere miles from “J.S. Bibbins” WHEN he copied this older daguerrotype onto a paper CDV. Julia Murdock Smith did the same copying of a daguerreotype of Emma, circa 1845, in the 1860s as well, clearly the son knew copying daguerreotypes was a thing (but the original 1845 daguerreotype of Emma is crap, nearly all oxidized, black and owned by the Community of Christ).
Joseph Slocum Bibbins was born in 1821, in Pennsylvania; his father, a methodist circuit rider in Susquehanna, Penn. Elisha Bibbins, who ministered directly to Emma Smith, as a young girl, played a HUGE part in converting her entire family to religion, as she was taught by him to pray sincerely for answers to her prayers, wwhereas it was forbidden in her home before. I don't think Emma would have forgotten him. I theorize the possibility of Emma visiting her sons in Kendall County, a boat ride away; running into the sons of her previous mentor, who also lived in Kendall County; and possibly trusting him enough to reprint her daguerreotype of her husband, Joseph Smith. See page 67 of the Article below, to read how the Father of J.S. Bibbins knew Emma Smith’s family:
Thank you Mark Staker, for all your research on Elisha Bibbins:
mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Isaac-andElizabeth-Hale.pdf
To properly authenticate my newly owned 1860s CDV, I had to research the clothing styles of the decades Joseph Smith lived, (first step in authentication), I found it to clearly 1840s styles, click link at the top of the page to see a thorough analysis of my research on clothing Joseph Smith wore. Artwork of Joseph shows the same large bowtie, same lapel, same vest is owned by the Pioneer Memorial Museum, in SLC.
www.google.com/search?q=joseph+smith+vest&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS904US905&hl=en-US&prmd=sinv&sxsrf=ALeKk02kFgO9b8k4QQqdbV4yB4vicf_Emg:1606847285431&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiN0Z_NtK3tAhUdGDQIHe-IB_AQ_AUoAnoECBAQAg&biw=1366&bih=905#imgrc=DHKm-mWNAAzOCM
Some LDS scholars believe there is a photograph of Joseph Smith, and some don't, I have found statements by Joseph Smith III, and Alexander Smith (quoting Brigham Young) all referencing "pictures", "daguerreotype"s of their dad. I believe them and believe that I own an authentic Carte de Visite of Joseph Smith, which I had authenticated this year, 2020 (scroll to the bottom of the page for the official report).
See page 29:
scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5922&context=etd
Research has started with some incredible people that so far has sounded positive. A thorough analysis is in the works.
Without Further adieu, below is my artistic analysis, if you want to know sources, details of all that I have listed above, I have linked of the very top to entire pages dedicated to every point I lightly touched on. Let's start with the eyebrows. See my recent analysis of the Eyebrows, below:
"That’s his chin... is he missing hair on one SIDE of his head?"
For some reason, the things she said really made me want to know if I myself REALLY believed either image could be- Joseph Smith Jr., Prophet and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that was murdered in 1844, thus far- no verified pictures has been found, although many are hoped to be! My intentions changed from, "oh- there are professionals that are going to prove this", to a strong desire to analyze it every way I could, to his death mask, to give my two cents, so whoever owned it simply didn’t give up. So, using a program that utilized layers, I started looking at the death mask of Joseph Smith; what I saw, when looking at the death mask and this “older Joseph”, convinced me immensely.
I began reading up on the history of the older Joseph’s CDV and was disturbed by what I saw, it was utterly negative, but the man they mock, who believed it could be Joseph, stated it was from a family album with Smith ID photos in it, with images from Missouri (that I saw much later), and other states Joseph Smith had lived, but he was shot down, put down, grammar checked. Unfortunately the man found the blog mocking him, and was hurt, he attacked, they attacked back, he threatened to sue them and it all ended, he ended his fight as fast as he started it. I had intense concern about WHERE this image ended up. Did he throw the image away? Did he mail it to the Church (any Church)? I made a youtube video or two, which you will see how concerned I was, in 2017.
In 2017, I believed one image had been proven to be Joseoh Smith, naive Debi took this website’s word for it, that they have a team of professionals proving it; so I thought proving this “older Joseph” looked similar could help whoever owned it to - keep it, to see the similarities I saw to the death mask, and then THEY could prove it; this was all my intent was at this point; something that was just for "fun", became a passion, as I had the thought,
"This guy GOING TO THROW IT AWAY, no!!!" - cue- Passion Project.
After one video, I began making videos showing how I was analyzing this “older Joseph”, I was so convinced the “older Joseph” matched the death mask, first using layers to outline all the features of 1840s Illinois Man, superimposing that onto the death mask of Joseph Smith, lastly superimposing the low opacity death mask, as many others had.
juvenileinstructor.org/daguerreotype-of-joseph-smith-wearing-the-urim-and-thummim-caution-this-will-disturb-you/
The blog linked above, linked above, quotes the ebay seller’s claims, that it was from a 19th century family Album with "Smith IDed" photos in it. They were quoting him just to make fun, even dubbing it, “Fake Joseph”; but I didn't find it funny, I was intrigued and soon I would be anxiously worried that they convinced the seller it was "trash". Mere months later, I found the owner and the image (EIGHT YEARS after the blog mocked it) and he bartered. I studied his store, which seemed stagnant, the mockery of his store - of specific images in 2009, read the comments, in 2017 they were still not sold, along with a daguerreotype of a painting he thought was also of Joseph Smith, also thought was wearing the Urim and Thummin (all since has been shut down). If he was a forger, he wasn’t a very good one. He had an image he thought was Emma who looked incredibly young, but she was mid 30s when photography came to the United States (1839, born in 1804). I shared my thoughts it looked more like one of Joseph’s son’s wives, and he showed me another CDV was of a woman with blue eyes, a paper CDV he tried to sell me (now wish I’d bought, I thought he was trying to say it was Emma), with pencil writing “Mrs. Smith”, stamped in Missouri; again I was naive, I knew very, very little about Joseph Smith’s sons, or the photograph I was about to get in the mail, but now I that I have seen many images of Joseph Smith III’s wives, I wish I could see that again to compare.
I can now say that image is a CDV from the 1860s, printed in Newark Illinois (there was a Branch there (like a Parish, but for the LDS)), in 1844, per Joseph Smith's Journal, and they campaigned in Newark for his Presidency, for the United States there as well.
2020, my image was authenticated, see the bottom of the page and here is what I know: it was copied/rephotographed from an older daguerreotype, by J.S. Bibbins, in Kendall County (where the RLDS Church's headquarters were during the mid 1860s-80s), mere miles from Joseph Smith and Emma's adults sons (all born in the 1830s-40s), who lived yes, mere miles from “J.S. Bibbins” WHEN he copied this older daguerrotype onto a paper CDV. Julia Murdock Smith did the same copying of a daguerreotype of Emma, circa 1845, in the 1860s as well, clearly the son knew copying daguerreotypes was a thing (but the original 1845 daguerreotype of Emma is crap, nearly all oxidized, black and owned by the Community of Christ).
Joseph Slocum Bibbins was born in 1821, in Pennsylvania; his father, a methodist circuit rider in Susquehanna, Penn. Elisha Bibbins, who ministered directly to Emma Smith, as a young girl, played a HUGE part in converting her entire family to religion, as she was taught by him to pray sincerely for answers to her prayers, wwhereas it was forbidden in her home before. I don't think Emma would have forgotten him. I theorize the possibility of Emma visiting her sons in Kendall County, a boat ride away; running into the sons of her previous mentor, who also lived in Kendall County; and possibly trusting him enough to reprint her daguerreotype of her husband, Joseph Smith. See page 67 of the Article below, to read how the Father of J.S. Bibbins knew Emma Smith’s family:
Thank you Mark Staker, for all your research on Elisha Bibbins:
mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Isaac-andElizabeth-Hale.pdf
To properly authenticate my newly owned 1860s CDV, I had to research the clothing styles of the decades Joseph Smith lived, (first step in authentication), I found it to clearly 1840s styles, click link at the top of the page to see a thorough analysis of my research on clothing Joseph Smith wore. Artwork of Joseph shows the same large bowtie, same lapel, same vest is owned by the Pioneer Memorial Museum, in SLC.
www.google.com/search?q=joseph+smith+vest&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS904US905&hl=en-US&prmd=sinv&sxsrf=ALeKk02kFgO9b8k4QQqdbV4yB4vicf_Emg:1606847285431&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiN0Z_NtK3tAhUdGDQIHe-IB_AQ_AUoAnoECBAQAg&biw=1366&bih=905#imgrc=DHKm-mWNAAzOCM
Some LDS scholars believe there is a photograph of Joseph Smith, and some don't, I have found statements by Joseph Smith III, and Alexander Smith (quoting Brigham Young) all referencing "pictures", "daguerreotype"s of their dad. I believe them and believe that I own an authentic Carte de Visite of Joseph Smith, which I had authenticated this year, 2020 (scroll to the bottom of the page for the official report).
See page 29:
scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5922&context=etd
Research has started with some incredible people that so far has sounded positive. A thorough analysis is in the works.
Without Further adieu, below is my artistic analysis, if you want to know sources, details of all that I have listed above, I have linked of the very top to entire pages dedicated to every point I lightly touched on. Let's start with the eyebrows. See my recent analysis of the Eyebrows, below:
Joseph Smith has a very unique, bushy right eyebrow, so does what I have dubbed "1840s Illinois Man", and since I own it now, and know it is a CDV- I will call it, "My CDV" for short, through the rest of this website. You can see the angle the eyebrow hairs grow- match, and their thinner- super straight left eyebrow- matches as well.
See my Analysis of the eyelids/eye-shape, below:
See my Analysis of the eyelids/eye-shape, below:
Joseph Smith appears to have a very heavy left eyelid and a sunken in right eyelid, that is seen on "1840s Illinois Man", even the shape is near exact, expression lines match up as well.
The nose of both men show a nasal bone angling to his right, then comes down a sharp line curving down his noes, when outlined and superimposed, from my CDV Man, matches exactly.
The nose of both men show a nasal bone angling to his right, then comes down a sharp line curving down his noes, when outlined and superimposed, from my CDV Man, matches exactly.
Joseph Smith's mouth also has asymmetry, including a distinct scar on the farther right side of Joseph's top lip. See my supposing analysis of just the mouth, seen on both the death mask and on 1840s Illinois Man, video of the shape of the mouth compared below:
The chins of both men appear to curve outward, very distinctly, Analysis of the Chin- below.
The outline of 1840's Illinois Man's hairline- I outline the death mask, to the hairline (that is receded...) onto 1840s Illinois Man and simply adjust it slightly, it matches, from the base of the chin to to where I can see BOTH men have hair that is receded and cut- super bluntly, to their hairline, both show rather thick hair- up till where it the hair recedes. See the analysis of the hairline- outline- face shape- below!
