Joseph Smith III was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith Jr. founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now called the Community of Christ, which considers itself a continuation of the church established by Smith's father in 1830. For fifty-four years until his own death, Smith presided over the church. Smith's moderate ideas and nature set much of the tone for the church's development, earning him the sobriquet of "the pragmatic prophet". Joseph Smith III was born in Kirtland, Ohio, on November 6, 1832, to Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith. He moved with his parents to Far West, Missouri, in 1838, where his father was arrested as a result of the events in the 1838 Mormon War. Young Joseph was able to stay overnight with his father in prison on several occasions, it was alleged by fellow prisoner and church apostle Lyman Wight that during one of these visits, Joseph Jr. laid his hands upon Joseph III's head and said, "You are my successor when I depart."

While his father was still imprisoned in 1839, Joseph III left Missouri with his mother and siblings and moved to Quincy, to the new settlement of Nauvoo. The elder Smith escaped custody that year and rejoined the family. At Nauvoo, the Latter Day Saints created a militia known as the Nauvoo Legion and soon afterward, 500 of the town's boys created their own junior version of the militia. Joseph III became general of the boys' militia whose motto was, "our fathers we respect, our mothers we'll protect." According to reminiscences, Joseph III was blessed by his father at a special council meeting of church officials held in the second floor of the Smith family's Red Brick Store in Nauvoo. By some accounts, participants included Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, Willard Richards, Newel K. Whitney, Reynolds Cahoon, Alpheus Cutler, Ebenezer Robinson, George J. Adams, W. W. Phelps, John M. Bernhisel. Joseph III's father seated him in a chair and Whitney anointed his head with oil; the elder Smith pronounced a special blessing upon his son's head that suggested that Joseph III would succeed him as church president if he lived righteously.

Joseph Smith died at Carthage, when Joseph III was 11 years old. Although many Latter Day Saints believed that Joseph III should succeed his father, his young age in 1844 made that impractical. A succession crisis ensued which resulted in Brigham Young taking lead of the majority of church members as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Three years Young became the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Relations between Young and the Smith family were strained and many of the Smiths chose to recognize James J. Strang as church president. Young and the majority of the Latter Day Saints departed Nauvoo in 1846, leaving the Smith family in a empty city. Smith's mother Emma attempted to make a living renting out rooms in the family home. Joseph Smith III began to study and practice law. In 1856, he married Emmeline Griswold and the couple moved into a house, his parent's first residence in Nauvoo, they had five children: Rebecca, Carrie and Joseph Arthur. After Emmeline died of probable tuberculosis, he married their housekeeper, Bertha Madison, on November 12, 1869.

They had seven children: David Carlos, Mary Audentia, Frederick Madison, Israel "Dutch" Alexander, Bertha Azuba, Hale. Bertha Madison Smith died from injuries sustained in a carriage accident in 1895. On January 12, 1898 Joseph Smith III wed Ada Rachel Clark of Toronto, Canada, they had three sons, William Wallace, Richard Clark, Reginald Archer. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, the bulk of the Latter Day Saints either aligned themselves with Brigham Young and emigrated to Utah or they remained in the Midwest and looked to James J. Strang as church president. Strang gave indications that he believed that a son of Joseph Smith Jr. would one day lead the church and made overtures to the Smith family. Emma and her sons, remained aloof. Many midwestern Latter Day Saints were adamantly opposed to plural marriage and when Strang began to practice the doctrine in 1849, several key leaders including Jason W. Briggs and Zenas H. Gurley, Sr. broke with his leadership. When Strang was mortally wounded by assassins, he refused to name a successor, when he died he left his church leaderless.

The midwestern Saints began to call for the need to establish a "New Organization" of the church and many believed that Joseph Smith III should be its head. Latter Day Saints visited Smith and asked him to take up his father's mantle, but his reply was that he would only assume the church presidency if he were inspired by God to do so. In 1860, Smith said that he had received this inspiration and at a conference in Amboy, Illinois on April 6, 1860, he was sustained as president of the RLDS Church. Smith III stated at the conference: I would say to you, brethren, as I hope you may be, in faith I trust you are, as a people that God has promised his blessings upon, I came not here of myself, but by the influence of the Spirit. For some time past I have received manifestations pointing to the position which I am about to assume. I wish to say that I have come here not to be set of men. I have come in obedience to a power not my own, shall be dictated by the power that sent me. At the time both this organization and Young's Utah-based church claimed to be the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

As church president, Smith was what

Blandfield is a historic plantation house located at Caret, Essex County, Virginia. It was built about 1716–1720, is a brick dwelling consisting of a two-story, central block with flanking two-story dependencies connected by one-story hyphens in the Georgian style. Blandfield was built for William Beverley, son of Virginia's first native-born historian, Robert Beverley, Jr.. The house is one of the largest colonial plantation mansions in Virginia, as of 1969, was still in the Beverley family, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Media related to Blandfield at Wikimedia Commons Blandfield, U. S. Route 17 & State Route 624, Essex County, VA: 109 photos, 21 measured drawings, 6 photo caption pages at Historic American Buildings Survey Blandfield, Caret, Essex County, VA: 3 photos and 1 photo caption page at Historic American Buildings Survey

Winnie Cordero-Erquieza is a Filipina comedian, actress and TV host. Cordero is a Communication Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas. Cordero started her career as a cast member in the live-action children's edutainment program Batibot when she was in her 3rd year of college, she started her career at DZMM from 1996 to 1997 when she talked with DZMM anchor Joey Galvez who mentioned that DZMM needed a new voice to join him in his new showbiz program Showbiz Today. Cordero is a host of the Philippine morning television show, Umagang Kay Ganda, a segment anchor of Winner sa Life! for TV Patrol and a co-anchor of DZMM's Todo-Todo Walang Preno with Ariel Ureta. Winnie Cordero on IMDb