Lynn Mathers Hilton (November 3, 1924 – August 12, 2020) was an American politician who served as a member of the

Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term li ...

. He was also known as an academic professor, businessman,

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

explorer and author of many books related to

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 ...

Early life and education

Hilton was born in

Thatcher, Arizona Thatcher is a town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town is 4,865. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area. Thatcher is the home of Eastern Arizona College (EAC), ...

, to Eugene Hilton (1889–1982) and Ruth Naomi Savage (1891–1969, granddaughter of Levi Savage Jr.). He was raised in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

and

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. He served as a pilot on a

B-24 bomber The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After leaving the Army at the end of the war, Hilton served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

(1945–47) for

(LDS Church) in the church's

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

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 ...

. Hilton earned his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degrees at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

; and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

educational administration Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some t ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1952.

Career

After earning his Ph.D., Hilton became a professor of education at

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 ...

. He later served as associate dean of continuing education and was the founder of the

BYU Salt Lake Center The BYU Division of Continuing Education (DCE) is a division of Brigham Young University (BYU) that oversees continuing education programs. History Attempts at BYU to offer continuing education programs date back to Karl G. Maeser offering night cl ...

. Also among other things at BYU, Hilton helped to develop the first curriculum for

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

courses. Hilton served for one term as a member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district cont ...

, starting in 1972. In 1974 he ran unsuccessfully as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. In 1975 Hilton set up a business drilling wells for water in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. He was also made the

District President A district of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a geographical administrative unit composed of a number of congregations called branches. A district is a subdivision of a mission of the church and in many ways is an ...

of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over Egypt and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

at this time and worked for the four years he was in Egypt to try to get the LDS Church recognized by the Egyptian government. By appointment of the LDS Church's ''Ensign'' magazine, Hilton was called to organize an expedition of discovery to find the trail of the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

prophet

Lehi Lehi (; he, לח"י – לוחמי חרות ישראל ''Lohamei Herut Israel – Lehi'', "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel – Lehi"), often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang,"This group was known to its friends as LEHI and to its enemie ...

and his family. The Book of Mormon says that Lehi's group left from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in approximately 600 B.C., traveled through the wilderness to the place called Bountiful, and there built a ship in which they sailed to their promised land of America. This expedition was partly funded by the LDS Church. The results of Hilton's discoveries were first published in the ''

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

'' in the September and October 1976 editions. Hilton wrote two books on this subject, ''In Search of the Lehi's Trail'' and ''Discovering Lehi''. His wife, Hope, was co-author of each book. In 2008, Hilton published a DVD entitled ''Lehi's Trail in Arabia'', a slide show and narration. Hilton's first wife was Annalee Hope Averell; she normally went by Hope. They were married 51 years. They had five children. Hope died in 1999. Two years later he married Nancy Goldberg, a Jewish convert to the LDS Church. Goldberg had been a businesswoman in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

before joining the church in 1996. After this she sold her business and was called on a -year mission to work in the

Family History Library The Family History Library (FHL) is a genealogical research facility in downtown Salt Lake City. The library is open to the public free of charge and is operated by FamilySearch, the genealogical arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. At the Family History Library, Nancy developed a database of Jewish-related resources in the library that earned her an award from the

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Inc. (IAJGS) is an independent non-profit umbrella organization coordinating the activities and annual conference of 84 Jewish genealogical societies worldwide. History The IAJGS was ...

. After the Hiltons married in 2001, they have served as missionaries for the LDS Church on five separate occasions. The first one was to

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, where they served as Regional Employment Directors. The second was a mission in LDS Church headquarters in

Salt Lake City, Utah 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 ...

. The third was ten months in Irbid, Jordan, where Hilton was the

branch president A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, the ...

of the Irbid, Jordan branch; his wife did humanitarian work for the church. On this third mission, they also served eight months as the Directors of the Family History Center in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. The fourth and fifth missions were in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

respectively, where they performed family history work. Hilton also wrote ''The

Kolob Kolob is a star or planet described in the Book of Abraham, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Several Latter Day Saint denominations hold the Book of Abraham to have been translated from an Ancient Egypt, Egyptian Joseph Smith Pap ...

Theorem: A Mormon's View of God's Starry Universe'' and ''The Pearl of Great Price Concordance''. Hilton also served as the editor of ''The Story of the Salt Lake Stake'', the Salt Lake

Stake Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...

's 125th anniversary history; he did this while serving on the Stake's high council. This work was published in 1972. Hilton also compiled an edition of Levi Savage Jr.'s journal. Hilton is a great-grandson of Savage.

Excommunication of Annalee Skarin

Hope and Lynn Hilton played a central role in the

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

Annalee Skarin Annalee Skarin (born Annalee Kohlepp: July 7, 1899 – Transfigured 1952), was an American Latter-day Saint writer of mysticism and New Age literature. Her 1948 book ''Ye Are Gods'' was popular among some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

—Hope's mother in 1952. They submitted a study they had made of her book, '' Ye Are Gods'', to church Elder and president of the

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

Mark E. Petersen Mark Edward Petersen (November 7, 1900 – January 11, 1984) was an American news editor and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1944 un ...

. Elder Petersen gave Annalee the choice of renouncing her writing as the work of

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

, or facing excommunication.

References

External links

Lynn M. Hilton
at the MLCA Database (includes photo)
Hilton Books bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Lynn M. 1924 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Mormon missionaries 21st-century Mormon missionaries American expatriates in Egypt American expatriates in Jordan American Mormon missionaries in Australia American Mormon missionaries in Greece American Mormon missionaries in the United States Book of Mormon studies Brigham Young University faculty Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives Mormon missionaries in Jordan People from Thatcher, Arizona University of Chicago alumni University of Utah alumni Writers from Arizona United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II