Essentials
Born: 13 April 1793 or 1794; Brockfield, Orange, Vermont
Daughter of: Parker SMITH and Sarah (Sally) LOOMIS
Married: 1. Ira Smith; 2 January 1812; Ernestown, , Upper Canada; 2. James LAKE, 8 September 1823; Tobaro, Ontario, Canada
Died: 29 March 1873; Oxford, Franklin, Idaho

Page contents
One-minute history
Short tribute
Her grandmother's poems

AUTHOR UNKNOWN
FROM 'PIONEER WOMEN OF FAITH AND FORTITUDE'
VOLUME II, PAGES 1700-01 (1998)
     Philomela Smith was born into a family whose New England ancestor settlers came to America for religion.
     She would often visit her grandmother in New Hampshire which was not far from her home in Vermont. Her grandparents were educated and instilled in her the importance of being able to read and write. Her parents and family moved to Ontario, Canada, when she was a child. When she was eighteen years old, she married Ira Smith. They had five children before he died. Three years after his death, Philomela married James Lake, Jr., who was widowed and had seven children. Philomela met the challenges of being the mother of such a large family. Ten more children were born to James and her. She was a woman that stood at the side of her husband and supported him in all he did. Several of the Lake family were baptized in 1832 by Eleazer Miller.
     They moved to Kirtland where they continued to help build the kingdom. She crossed the plains under the direction of her husband, James Lake, Jr. They were instructed to move to Ogden. They lived in the Lorin Farr Fort during that first winter and then made their home in Harrisville.
     She supported her family in their responsibilities in the church. They were called to march in Zion's Camp, served in the Mormon Battalion, and were colonizers of several communities.
     Philomela watched her family grow spiritually and physically and tried hard to instill in them a love of culture, hospitality, and the love of work. She carded, wove, and dyed cloth, sewed their clothing, and preserved food which sustained them. She passed away in Oxford, Oneida, Idaho, at the home of her youngest son, George Lake.

Return to top

Short Tribute

AUTHOR UNKNOWN
COMPILED BY MRS. KATHERINE (HAWS) GARRARD
ONLINE AT http://home.sprintmail.com/~hawstom/biogskg.htm
     The James Lake Sr. family was one of the early German colonists in New Jersey. James Jr. moved to Canada with his family where he married Philomelia Smith (fifth cousin once removed of Joseph Smith). Here they met Brigham, Phineas, and Joseph Young along with Elezier Miller who taught them the Gospel and with whom they developed a strong relationship.
     James Lake Jr. and Philomelia were baptized in 1832 by Elezier Miller in Ontario County, Canada. From here they traveled to lake Ontario to start their journey to Kirtland. Philomelia had to leave her 14 year old daughter behind because Esther, the daughter, had gone to visit relatives and hadn’t gotten back in time to join the family. Both were heart broken. (Esther went back to stay with the relatives and later married and raised a family).
     They arrived in Kirtland and were the recipient of the persecutions heaped on all the Saints. Being forced out of Kirtland they stayed in Geneva, Scott County, Ill. from 1838-1844 until they could get more supplies. They later joined the Saints in Nauvoo where they helped build the Temple and later experienced the gloom felt at Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. In Sketches of James Lakes Life by S.C. Richardson this experience is related as follows, "They (the Lakes) followed faithfully the footsteps of the Prophet (Joseph Smith). They knew the truth when it was presented to them. After the awful scene at Nauvoo, where they saw the form of the Prophet they loved so well, laid in the grave, they sought a testimony from God as to their future procedure, and this testimony they received at the great meeting held in the grove at Nauvoo, Aug. 8, 184-. There they witnessed the sublime personality of Joseph Smith as it cast its mantle of splendor around the chosen form of Brigham Young, he being transformed before the eyes of the people, as a heavenly witness to them, that God had caused the majesty of his priesthood to fall upon ‘whom he would’ that his work might be continued."
     Along with the other Saints, the Lakes were forced to leave Nauvoo and made their way toward Council Bluffs. Once more they were detained due to lack of supplies and stayed three years in Halt County, Missouri. Here they were greatly blessed and found favor in the eyes of the Missourians.
     They arrived in Salt Lake in 1850 and went on to colonize Ogden. Through all this travel Philomelia was said to be of delicate health and James was crippled from an ax accident where he lost his leg. The Lakes can be said to be great pioneers and very faithful.

Return to top

Her Grandmother's Poems

BY SAMANTHA T. BRIMHALL FOLEY
APPEARED IN THE "WOMEN'S EXPONENT" (1910)
     In among the many noble women who embraced the Gospel in the early days of the Church was Philomelia Smith, daughter of Parker Smith and Sarah (Sally) Loomis, she being their sixth child and born in Brookfield, Prince County, Vermont, 13 April 1794. At the age of twelve she was bereaved of her mother and left to the care of her grandmother, Sarah Huntington Loomis who, although crippled with age, sat in her armchair and gave her daughter's children the benefit of her wise counsel in domestic training, and also her deep religious conviction, which was a natural result of all those who were favored by a rich flow of Puritan blood in their veins. Many of those splendid principles are embodied in the following verses which have been handed down to posterity by the poor lame Grandmother as she addressed herself to Philomelia who was bereaved of a little brother.

          Your little brother is dead and gone;
          We all must die before 'tis long.
          And when you think he young did die
          Say, In the grave I soon may lie.

          And may you early learn to know
          Good children's souls to God do go;
          At last their bodies sure will rise
          To dwell with him above the skies.

     She also wrote the following acrostic for Philomelia, with this commentary: "Your poor, lame grandmother has made and written this for you, and you must have it rolled on a round stick and keep it a long time to remember me by."

          Pretty girls should always mind
          How they talk and spend their time,
          If they strive with all their might,
          Learn to spin, sew, read, and write;
          Obey their parents and they'll see
          Most glad they surely then will be.
          Even brother must be kind,
          Love sisters, too, and always mind
          And never quarrel, so repine.

          Some little girls are so pretty
          Many would call them very witty.
          If they are proud they soon will know
          That shame is lurking there below,
          Hence friends will turn, they'll find it so.

     Thus trained to love God and home, Philomelia was capable of taking upon herself the duties of a wife and mother. At the age of eighteen years she married Ira Smith, [2 January 1812] and with him become the mother of five children, viz. Lymon, James Harvey, Elizabeth, Boardman, Josiah William, and Esther.
     Ira Smith died in the 36th year of his age. Philomelia then became the wife of James Lake [8 September 1823] and with him again the mother of ten children: Sabra, William Bailey, Barnabus, Clara, Jane, Lydia Ann, Moroni, Samantha, George, and Sarah Amanda. She was a wise and loving mother and was noted for the neatness and order of her home. She was adept in all home manufacture. She knew the art of spinning, and of dyeing the most beautiful colors, and in the weaving of many kinds of cloth, she also excelled. Her fame as a maker of the best flavored butter and cheese was known wherever her name was heard.
     Her children partook of her meek and docile, yet lofty and noble nature and when the Gospel came to them in Upper Canada, she with her husband and family were some of the first ones to embrace it. Philomelia was baptized 31 December 1832.
     Brigham Young took the gospel to them and they were baptized by Eleazer Miller. Their house was always a welcome place for the Elders traveling in Canada. Brigham Young making their home his home for a year or more.
     They gathered with the Saints in Kirtland and shared all the hardships of early days. James Lake with an ox team and assisted by his sons, handled the first cornerstone to the Kirtland Temple and helped to lay it in its place, at the beginning of temple-building in this dispensation.
     Philomelia Smith Lake received a Patriarchal blessing under the hands of Joseph Smith, Sr. the father of Prophet Joseph Smith, in which he called her "Beloved of the Lord" which name was most appropriate, for she not only was beloved by the Lord but by all who knew her. She was tall and graceful, with broad forehead and full dark brown eyes, her dark brown hair was silken and luxuriant and the noble name of mother was appropriate to her in its most dignified meaning. Her husband was appointed captain of fifty and was successful in arriving in the Valley in the fall of 1850. They settled four miles north of Ogden City on a farm. James Lake was ordained a patriarch and many of the saints of Weber County were comforted through the blessing they received at his hands.
     He was a member of the high council and with his wife enjoyed the honor and esteem of all who knew them, while almost worshipped by a numerous posterity, members of which can be found in nearly every settlement of the states and from Canada to Mexico. I have often thought of the life career of my Grandmother and have led to exclaim:

          "If every soul were of such worth,
          Nearer would heaven be to earth."
          -- Samantha T. Brimhall-Foley

     Philomelia Smith Lake died on 20 March 1873 in Oxford, Oneida County, Idaho.

Return to top

James LAKE (Jr.)
Lydia Ann LAKE
Philomela SMITH

CHILDREN WITH IRA SMITH

CHILDREN WITH JAMES LAKE