From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For others named Hyrum Smith, see Hyrum Smith
(disambiguation)
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LDS
Church General Authority
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Assistant Counselor in the First
Presidency
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| Called by |
Joseph
Smith, Jr. |
| Start of term |
September 3, 1837 (aged 37) |
| End of term |
November 7, 1837 (aged 37) |
| End reason |
Called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency |
| Second
Counselor in the First
Presidency |
| Called by |
Joseph
Smith, Jr. |
| Start of term |
November 7, 1837 (aged 37) |
| End of term |
January 24, 1841 (aged 40) |
| End reason |
Called as Assistant President of
the Church |
| Presiding
Patriarch |
| Called by |
Joseph
Smith, Jr. |
| Start of term |
September 14, 1840 (aged 40) |
| End of term |
June 27, 1844 (aged 44) |
| End reason |
Death |
| Assistant President of
the Church |
| Called by |
Joseph
Smith, Jr. |
| Start of term |
January 24, 1841 (aged 40) |
| End of term |
June 27, 1844 (aged 44) |
| End reason |
Death |
Hyrum Smith (February 9, 1800 – June 27, 1844)
was the older brother of Joseph Smith, Jr. and a leader in the
early Latter Day Saint movement.
Hyrum was born in Tunbridge, Vermont, the second son of Joseph Smith,
Sr. and Lucy
Mack Smith. Hyrum received a limited education, and established
himself as a farmer. He
married Jerusha Barden (1805–1837), on November 2, 1826, and had
four daughters and two sons. After Jerusha's death, he married Mary
Fielding in 1837, with whom he had a son, Joseph
Fielding, and a daughter Martha. In August 1843 he married his
second wife's sister Mercy Fielding Thompson, widow of Times and
Seasons editor Robert B. Thompson, and Catherine
Phillips, as plural wives.[2]
Service
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
During the translation of the Book of Mormon and the establishment of
the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints, Hyrum was Joseph Smith, Jr.'s close advisor and
confidant. In June, 1829, Hyrum was baptized in Seneca Lake, New
York. He was one of the Eight Witnesses examining and
testifying of the reality of the Golden Plates, the
original source of the Book of Mormon. When the Church of Christ
was organized on April 6, 1830, six men signed their names as
charter members; at the age of thirty, Hyrum was the oldest of the
six. Hyrum served as presiding officer of a church branch in Colesville, New York and was one
of the first Latter Day Saint preachers in the surrounding
area.
As the church headquarters and membership moved west, Hyrum and
his family relocated. In 1831, he established a home in Kirtland, Ohio.
During his residence there, he served as foreman of the quarry providing stone for the Kirtland
Temple. Between 1831 and 1833, he served proselyting missions
to Missouri and Ohio. In 1834, under the direction of
Joseph Smith, he recruited members for a militia, Zion's Camp, and
traveled with the group to the aid of the Latter Day Saints in Missouri. He was appointed
Second Counselor in the church's First Presidency in November 1837. In
1838 and 1839, Hyrum, Joseph and three other church leaders shared
a jail cell in Liberty,
Missouri while awaiting trial.
After relocating to Nauvoo, Illinois, Hyrum was ordained
as Presiding Patriarch of the Church, a
position formerly held by his deceased father, Joseph Smith,
Sr. He also was ordained by Joseph to the priesthood office of Apostle and replaced Oliver Cowdery as
Assistant President of
the Church; in this capacity, Hyrum acted as President of the Church in Joseph's absence
and was designated to be Joseph's successor if he were killed or
incapacitated.
When warned of possible danger, Joseph urged Hyrum and his
family to flee to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hyrum refused and, in 1844, traveled with Joseph to Carthage,
Illinois where both were charged with riot and treason. Joseph, Hyrum, John Taylor and Willard Richards were held awaiting
trial in a jail
in Carthage. On June 27, 1844, the building was attacked by a mob
of between sixty to two hundred men. While attempting to barricade
the door to prevent the mob from entering, Hyrum was shot in the
face and killed instantly. Taylor was struck by several bullets but
survived with the help of Richards. Joseph was killed by at
least two shots, and fell through a second story window to the
ground where he was shot again.
Because of his position as Assistant President of
the Church, it is likely that Hyrum would have succeeded Joseph
and become the next president of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints had he outlived his brother.
- "Hyrum is credited in Church history with being an astute
organizer who gave ecclesiastical leadership to the emerging
Church. As a person, he was considered a man without guile."
(Ludlow, Editor, p. 493).
Grave of Joseph,
Emma,
and Hyrum Smith
Descendants
Monument to Hyrum Smith erected by his descendants in 1918, Salt
Lake Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah.See other views of monument:
,
,
Hyrum's descendants have played significant roles in the history
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph F.
Smith, his son by Mary Fielding Smith, served as president of the LDS Church between 1901
and 1918. His grandson, Joseph Fielding Smith also served
as president of the church between 1970 and 1972. His eldest son,
John Smith, served as Presiding Patriarch of the church between
1855 and 1911, and John Smith's descendants held this post from
1912 to 1932 and from 1942 to 1979, when the office was effectively
discontinued. M. Russell Ballard, a current member
of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, is a direct descendant of
Hyrum Smith.
Notes
References
External
links
| Apostles of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
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| Members of the Council of Fifty of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
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| Counselors in the First Presidency of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
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