Hyrum Mack Smith (March 21, 1872 – January 23, 1918) was a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). Smith was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

, the eldest son of church apostle and future church president Joseph F. Smith and Edna Lambson. Smith was named after his paternal grandfather

Hyrum Smith Hyrum Smith (February 9, 1800 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, J ...

, who was the elder brother of LDS Church founder

Joseph Smith 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 ...

and a prominent leader of the early church. Smith attended

Latter-day Saint College Ensign College (formerly LDS Business College) is a private college in Salt Lake City, Utah. The college is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and operates under its Church Educational System. It also includes a ...

, from which he graduated in 1894. On November 15, 1895, he married Ida Elizabeth Bowman and the next day left her behind in Utah to serve a mission in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. From October 1896 until February 1898, Smith presided over the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

. After returning from his mission, Smith worked at

ZCMI Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution (typically referred to as ZCMI) was an American department store chain. It was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 9, 1868 by Brigham Young. For many years it used the slogan, "America's First De ...

while also serving as a part-time missionary in Salt Lake City. Smith was ordained an

apostle 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 on October 24, 1901, at the age of 29, by his father, who was president of the church. In 1909 Smith was assigned as one of the original two priesthood advisors to the Church wide Primary Association. In 1913, Smith was called as the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the European

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

of the church. He served in this capacity until 1916, when the activities of the mission were suspended due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Smith and his wife had five children, one of whom was

Joseph Fielding Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (July 19, 1876 – July 2, 1972) was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was t ...

, who became

presiding patriarch In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Presiding Patriarch (also called Presiding Evangelist, Patriarch over the Church, Patriarch of the Church, or Patriarch to the Church) is a church-wide leadership office within the priesthood. Among the duties ...

of the church. Another of Smith's children was Geraldine Smith, the mother of

M. Russell Ballard Melvin Russell Ballard Jr. (born October 8, 1928) is an American businessman and religious leader who is currently the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He has ...

, an apostle of the LDS Church. Smith wrote a commentary on the

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chur ...

with Janne M. Sjödahl. Smith died in Salt Lake City from a ruptured appendix at the age of 45. He was buried at

Salt Lake City Cemetery The Salt Lake City Cemetery is a cemetery in northeastern Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, that is one of the largest city-operated cemeteries in the United States. Description The cemetery is located above 4th Avenue and east of N Street in ...

. His wife Ida was pregnant with their fifth child, Hyrum, and died from complications with childbirth in September 1918. The deaths of Hyrum Mack and Ida were among the contributing factors that led to the revelation of Church President (and Hyrum's father) Joseph F. Smith in October 1918 on the spirits of the dead, which became section 138 of the

Images

Image:Hyrum M. Smith2.jpg, Image:Elizabeth Bowman Smith.jpg, Image:HyrumMSmithGrave.jpg,

References

*Cowley, M. F. 1901
"Lives of Our Leaders: The Twelve Apostles.--Hyrum M. Smith."
''

Juvenile Instructor ''The Juvenile Instructor'' was a magazine for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It began publication in 1866 as a private publication, but by the late 1860s served as the de facto publication of the LDS Churc ...

'', November 15: 673–674.

External links

Hyrum M. Smith diary typescript, MSS SC 247
at

L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Hyrum M. 1872 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saint writers American Mormon missionaries in England American general authorities (LDS Church) Apostles (LDS Church) Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Deaths from peritonitis Latter Day Saints from Utah Mission presidents (LDS Church) Mormon missionaries in Europe People from Salt Lake City Smith family (Latter Day Saints) Writers from Salt Lake City