The duty of a Patriarch is to bestow blessings upon his posterity and the children of men.
In a revelation (Doc. and Cov., sec. 107) the Lord says that "Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, who were all High Priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessings. * * And Adam * * predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the last generation. These things are all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time."
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were patriarchs, and blessed their posterity. All that Jacob said and sealed upon the heads of his twelve sons has been fulfilled to the very letter, so far as time has permitted.
We also have patriarchs in our day. Father Joseph Smith, the father of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was the first Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He gave a great many blessings unto the Saints, which are recorded, and many of them have seen their fulfillment.
When he put his hands on the head of a person to bless him, it seemed as though the heavens were opened, and he could reveal the whole life of that person.
He gave me my patriarchal blessing in the Temple of the Lord at Kirtland, on the 15th day of April, 1837.
Many marvelous things which he sealed upon my head, for which I could then see no earthly chance of fulfillment, have already been fulfilled to the very letter.
One or two instances I will name. He said I should have access to the treasures hid in the ground to assist me in getting myself and others to Zion.
When in Cambridgeport gathering up the Saints, in 1850, Alexander Badlam went to California on business, and the Saints who were digging gold filled a little sack with gold dust and sent it to me to assist me on my mission.
By the sale of this treasure from California I was enabled to emigrate myself, family and a number of others to Zion in the mountains.