From Orson Hyde: A Life of Lessons Learned by Roy B. Huff:
In January of 1832, the Prophet Joseph Smith gave Orson a blessing in which Joseph pronounced an unusual prophecy upon Orson’s head: “In due time, thou shalt go to Jerusalem, the land of thy fathers, and be a watchman unto the house of Israel; and by thy hands, shall the Most High do a good work, which shall prepare the way, and greatly facilitate the gathering together of that people.”[2]
The year 1833 was an eventful one in the life of Orson Hyde. He entered the School of the Prophets and was chosen to be the teacher of the school. He taught various subjects, including history, geology, geography, science, and government.
From a letter by Orson Hyde, from The Joseph Smith Papers - Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 June 1841:
“About nine years ago, a young man with whom I had had a short acquaintance, and one, too, in whom dwelt much wisdom and knowledge—in whose bosom the Almighty had deposited many secrets,[ laid his hands upon my head, and pronounced these remarkable words: ‘In due time, thou shalt go to , the land of thy fathers, and be a watchman unto the house of Israel; and by thy hands, shall the Most High do a good work, which shall prepare the way, and greatly facilitate the gathering together of that people.’[ Many other particulars were told me by him, at that time, which I do not write in this letter: But sufficient is written to show that divine appointment is claimed as the main-spring that has sent me forth from the embraces of an affectionate family, and kind friends as well as from the land that gave me birth.”
Footnotes 15 and 16:
[15] The notion that JS enjoyed access to divine secrets is referenced in several revelations. (See Revelation, Sept. 1830–B [D&C 28:7]; Revelation, 7 Dec. 1830 [D&C 35:18]; and Revelation, 11 Sept. 1831 [D&C 64:5].)
[16] There is no extant copy of Hyde’s blessing from JS. In 1840, Hyde stated that the blessing was given “something near eight years ago,” suggesting that it occurred sometime around 1832. Hyde was in the eastern United States on a mission from 1 February through 22 December 1832, so if the blessing was given in 1832, it occurred in either January or late December. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 2nd ed., [iii]; Hyde, Journal, Feb.–Dec. 1832.)
We read in The Painesville Telegraph in the issue for March 13, 1832:
"They [the Mormons] have made one of their young fanatics [Orson Hyde] believe that he is a descendant of, or belongs to the tribe of Judah, & that it is his duty to repair to Jerusalem, to preach Mormonism, or assist in restoring to Jews their ancient city. He some time since [February 1] took up his march for Boston."
The source of this quote adds a note:
Note: Orson Hyde -- "the Olive Branch of Israel" -- was born Jan. 8, 1805 to Nathan and Sarah (Sally) Hyde. From the age of seven raised by Gentile foster parents. From some accounts it appears that he was of Jewish ancestry. At least he and his fellow Mormon leaders believed that to have been the case. Samuel H. Smith, his 1832 missionary companion, believed his ancestry was of the ancient Israelite tribe of Ephraim.
The entry for Orson Hyde in the Utah History Encyclopedia by Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton states, "There is a popular myth that Orson Hyde was of Jewish ancestry, but careful investigation has uncovered no evidence this is true." This prompted a JA Benson to write an article trying to justify the revelation from Joseph Smith on Orson Hyde's alleged "Jewish ancestry" despite the lack of evidence. See Sephardic Jews and the LDS Connection: Utah History Encyclopedia Is Wrong- Joseph Smith Was Right, Orson Hyde Is of Jewish Ancestry (Posted on January 4, 2010) by JA Benson. In the comments section of JA Benson's article, Joyce Brinton Anderson on January 4, 2010[,] said:
I’d take Joseph Smith’s ablities as prophet in revelation (churchwide or on an individual basis as was the case here) over the editors of the [Utah History Encylopedia] anyday.
I think JA Benson's article is a clever attempt at "apologetics," but the reality is Orson Hyde was most likely not literally Jewish.
The book Orson Hyde: Missionary, Apostle, Colonizer by Howard H. Barron, states on page 129 that the claim that Orson Hyde is Jewish "can't be substantiated." On page 321, in response to the question "Was Orson Hyde a Jew?" Barron responds:
Over a period of several years time during the course of research on the life of Orson Hyde a perennial question for which an answer was sought was, was Orson Hyde a Jew? A careful steady was made at the [LDS] Church Historian's office, Brigham Young University Library, and other places. Many sources were carefully investigated, but no evidence was found which indicated he was of Jewish ancestry. Also, several interviews were conducted with people, who were thought might be able to provide evidence as to whether he was Jewish. In every incident the answers were all the same, "we don't possess any records or have any evidence that he was Jewish." Some were quite definite in their opinions that Orson Hyde was not of Jewish ancestry.In box 2, folder 1 of the Orson Hyde papers in the Church historian's office in Salt Lake City, Utah, a patriarchal blessing for Orson is recorded. ... It doesn't give Orson's lineage, however.Arnold Harrison Green, in his Master's thesis, gives an interesting survey and commentary on the question. On page thirty-five of his thesis he introduces the subject as followers: "There is in some quarters of LDS tradition a popular myth that Orson Hyde was a Jew. The idea would have been preposterous to Brigham Young ..." He lists several writers that have indicated that Orson was of Jewish ancestry. They are as follows: B.H. Roberts, LeGrand Richards and Lynn Hilton.In addition to the above mentioned authors I include President Joseph Fielding Smith, who wrote: "Elder Orson Hyde was of the House of Judah. It was therefore very proper that he, as one of the apostles of the Lord in the last dispensation, should be sent to bless the land [of Jerusalem] for the gathering of the Jews."*President [Joseph Fielding] Smith, in common with the other mentioned authors, doesn't give the source of his statement.
In other words, when those who are professional historians, genealogists, and other experts, have looked for evidence, there is none. As I write this in 2025, we now have DNA testing and to my knowledge no DNA tests of Orson Hyde's relatives reveal any Jewish DNA. Thus, Orson Hyde was thus most probably not Jewish.
What all of this means for me is that I think Joseph Smith was engaged in religion-making just like the apostle Paul was doing in the New Testament. By declaring that Jerusalem was "the land of [Hyde's] fathers," and that he was to "be a watchman unto the house of Israel ...," I think Smith was motivating Orson Hyde to go to Jerusalem; and in that moment I think he probably he felt like he was really receiving a revelation that Hyde actually was of Jewish descent. But in reality Orson Hyde was no more Jewish in the literal genetic sense than the Irish-British American Joseph Smith was from the literal Isralite Tribe of Joseph (according to the Book of Mormon). I see Joseph Smith engaged in religion-making (or midrash), just like the apostle Paul was doing; and through inspiration, just like the apostle Paul, I think Smith believed he was recieving revelations from God. In the process Joseph Smith was giving Americans like himself a more noble identity: by placing Scandinavian, German, Irish and British converts to early Mormonism into the story of the Bible.
So that the Bible was not someone else's story, the story of the Israelites, and was not just the God of another ethnicity, the Israelites; but instead, British and European Americans when declared a mixed race by being part Israelite by revelation (i.e. made known by revelation like revealed scripture and patriarchal blessings), American Mormons were thus elevated beyond the lower status of gentile pagans needing to be grafted in and their genes swapped out for Jewish genes (in the eyes of the Bible); to instead, Smith's revelations declaring that Scandinavian, German, and British Americans (as the early converts to Mormonism) were of a higher status through a noble birthright as Ephraimite Israelites. For more details see the short book Born to Change the World by Brad Wilcox.
So for early Mormon converts, the Bible was not just about non-Americans, non-Europeans in the Middle East, but it became a story about Americans through the theory of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Joseph Smith then produced scripture where the Jewish Jesus, who preached primarily to fellow Jews in Jerusalem, now comes to America to preach to those on the American continent (the Lost Tribes of Israel); and then visits the Irish American Joseph Smith to reveal an Americanized restored gospel.
