__NOTOC__ Thomas Evans McKay (October 29, 1875 – January 15, 1958) was a

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

politician and

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

and was a general authority of

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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) from 1941 until his death. McKay was born in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

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 son of David McKay and Jennette Evans. McKay's older brother was

David O. McKay David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordain ...

, who would become the ninth

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 ...

of the LDS Church. Thomas E

After graduating from 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 ...

in 1899, McKay traveled to Switzerland and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

as an

LDS Church missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

. During his mission, he was president of the

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Conference of the church for three months. After returning to Utah, McKay taught at the Weber Academy and the Agricultural College of Utah. Later he became the superintendent of the Weber County schools. From 1909 to 1912, McKay returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

as the

of the church's Swiss–German

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 ...

. He also was the mission president of the Swiss–Austrian Mission from 1927 until the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

in 1938. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, McKay was, in theory, the mission president over all

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

areas of Europe, although he resided in Salt Lake City at the time. In 1918, McKay was elected to 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 conta ...

as the representative for Weber County. He served one term, in the 13th Utah State Legislature which met from 1919 to 1921. McKay then served in the

Utah Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of senate districts. Each senate district is c ...

in 1921 and 1923Historical Listing of Utah State Legislators
/ref> Prior to his call as a general authority, McKay was a

of the Ogden Stake of the church. In 1941, he became one of the first five men appointed to the newly created position of Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In 1951, he witnessed his brother's promotion to the presidency of the church. Thomas E. McKay served as an Assistant to the Twelve until his death in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

at the age of 82. McKay was married to Fawn Brimhall and was the father of five children. McKay's daughter, Fawn M. Brodie, was a biographer and professor of history at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

who was eventually excommunicated for portraying

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, ...

as a fraudulent genius in her 1945 work ''

No Man Knows My History ''No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith'' is a 1945 book by Fawn M. Brodie that was one of the first significant non-hagiographic biographies of Joseph Smith, the progenitor of the Latter Day Saint movement. ''No Man Knows My History' ...

''.

References

* *''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The five-volume texts have been digitized and are available ...

External links

Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Thomas E. McKay
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Thomas E. 1875 births 1958 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Austria American Mormon missionaries in Germany American Mormon missionaries in Switzerland American general authorities (LDS Church) Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Latter Day Saints from Utah McKay family Members of the Utah House of Representatives Mission presidents (LDS Church) People from Huntsville, Utah University of Utah alumni Utah State University faculty Utah state senators

See also

References

External links