Heman Conomon Smith (September 27, 1850 – April 17, 1919) was a leader in and official

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

of the

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

(RLDS Church, now the

Community of Christ The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

Early life

Smith was born in the

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

settlement of

Zodiac, Texas Zodiac is a vanished Mormon settlement established in 1847 on the Pedernales River, located southeast of Fredericksburg, in Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The area it was located on eventually converted to private acreage, and no ...

. His grandfather was Lyman Wight, one of the original

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

established by

Joseph Smith, Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

After Joseph Smith's death, the church divided into several groups, one of which Wight led to Texas. In 1858, Heman's family left Texas, and they eventually settled in

Shelby County, Iowa Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,746. The county seat is Harlan. Its name is in honor of Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky. History Shelby County was establis ...

. In 1862, Smith and his family were baptized into the RLDS Church.

RLDS Church service

Smith was a

Seventy 70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71. In mathematics 70 is: * a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes. * a Pell number. * the seventh pentagonal number. * the fourth tridecagonal number. * the fif ...

and an RLDS missionary in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

, and eastern Canada. In 1885, Smith became one of the church's seven presidents of the Seventy, and in 1887 he was selected as a member of the

Council of the Twelve In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...

; he was officially ordained an apostle by Joseph Smith III in 1888. In 1893, Smith moved to Lamoni, Iowa. During 1897 and 1898, Smith oversaw the RLDS Church mission in England and Wales. In 1897, Smith became the official historian of the RLDS Church, and in this capacity co-wrote with Joseph Smith III the first four volumes of the RLDS Church's ''History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints''.

Marriage and family

In 1886, Smith married Vida Elizabeth Smith, who was the daughter of Alexander Hale Smith and a granddaughter of church founder

References

"Heman C. Smith"
in J. M. Howell (ed.) (1915). ''History of Decateur County, Iowa and Its People'' (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing) 2:45. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Heman C. 1850 births 1919 deaths American Latter Day Saint missionaries Apostles of the Community of Christ Latter Day Saint missionaries in Canada Latter Day Saint missionaries in England Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States Community of Christ missionaries Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement American Latter Day Saint writers Smith family (Latter Day Saints) People from Lamoni, Iowa People from Shelby County, Iowa People from Gillespie County, Texas Doctrine and Covenants people American leaders of the Community of Christ Historians from Iowa Historians from Texas