Bryant S. Hinckley

Bryant Stringham Hinckley (July 9, 1867–June 5, 1961) was an American author, religious speaker, civic leader and educator. He served as a prominent mid-level leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 20th century. His books were primarily designed for a Latter-day Saint audience.

Hinckley was the father of Gordon B. Hinckley, [Dew, Sherri. "Go Forward with Faith: The biography of Gordon B. Hinckley] who would later serve as an apostle and the president of the LDS Church. His brother, Alonzo A. Hinckley was also an Apostle. His father was Ira Hinckley.

Hinckley was the principal of the Latter-day Saint high school in Salt Lake City. During the first decade of the 20th century, he was the head of LDS Business College. Hinckley had previously been the head of the Commercial Department at Brigham Young Academy. [http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=1901 Portrait of a BYU Pioneer ] ] Today there is a scholarship at LDS Business College named after Hinckley. [ [http://www.lds.org/ldsfoundation/accelwork/humanintereststory/0,7989,1325--6-1890,00.html Hinckleys Help Create Endowed Scholarship at LDS Business College ] ]

Hinckley later served as the superintendent of the LDS Church owned Deseret Gym.

Church service

Born in Coalville, Utah, Hinckley was president of the Liberty Stake in Salt Lake City in the 1920s, which was then the largest stake in the church with about 20,000 members.

He also served on the general board of the LDS Church's organization for young men, the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. While on this board he moved for the adoption of the Boy Scout program by the church. He had also been on one of the committees that led to the establishment of the Improvement Era. Other members of this committee included B. H. Roberts and Reed Smoot.

In the 1930s Hinckley was president of the Northern States Mission of the LDS Church, which was based in Chicago. While serving in this position he tried to convince the leaders of the LDS Church to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple. Also while in this position he represented the church at the dedication of the monument to the Mormon handcart pioneers in Iowa City erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1936. [ [http://www.mormonhistoricsitesfoundation.org/articles/iowaCity3.htm Iowa City: birthplace of handcart venture ] ] Also in this capacity he was involved in organizing the celebration of the centennial of Nauvoo in 1939. [ [http://www.beautifulnauvoo.com/site/default.asp?pg=pages/hist_restoration.asp Welcome to Beautiful Nauvoo, Illinois ] ]

peaking

Hinckley was also a popular speaker. He attended Brigham Young Academy where he studied under Karl G. Maeser. He won a contest to be the speaker at his commencement, and would be noted the rest of his life as a great orator. Among other speeches to church congregations he gave at least two talks at general conferences. [ [http://search.ldslibrary.com/article/view/208884 LDS Library - Home ] ] [ [http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,680193459,00.html Deseret Morning News | President Hinckley receives giant gift for 97th — a BYU building ] ]

Hinckley also participated in giving talks in the church's "Church of the Air" program on KSL radio in the 1930s. [http://www.booksandcollectibles.com.au/dump/Confetti_Antiques_Books_USA/books-0001.html]

Later life and recognitions

From 1940-1941 Hinckley served as the President of the BYU Alumni Association. While in this office he was responsible for the formation of the emeritus club, of which he latter served as the leader.

For a time there was a "Bryant S. Hinckley Award" given to recognize people for the service they had performed in boy scouts. [ [http://www.tonkawadistrict.com/modules.php?name=Tonkawa&file=awarddetails Tonkawa District - District 24 - Boy Scouts of America - Awards ] ]

Family

Hinckley married four times, his first three wives having predeceased him. In 1893, Hinckley married Christina Johnson (1870–1908). After Johnson's death, he married Ada Bitner (1880–1930) in 1909. After Bitner's death, he married May Green (1881–1943) in 1932. After Green's death, he married Lois Anderson (1889–1983) in 1944.

All of Hinckley's children were born to his first two wives, Christina Johnson and Ada Bitner. [ [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/AF/individual_record.asp?recid=2224905&lds=0&region=-1&regionfriendly=&frompage=99 Individual Record ] ]

Publications

Biographies:
* biography of church apostle Melvin J. Ballard. * "Bryant Stringham and his People", Salt Lake City, UT,Stevents and Wallis, 1949. [ [http://mormonlit.lib.byu.edu/lit_work.php?w_id=8143 Mormon Literature Database - Briant Stringham and His People ] ] .
* "Heber J. Grant: Highlights in the Life of a Great Leader" published by Deseret Book in 1951. [ [http://mormonlit.lib.byu.edu/lit_work.php?w_id=8142 Mormon Literature Database - Heber J. Grant ] ]
* "Daniel Hammer Wells and the Events of his Time". [ [http://www.geocities.com/latterdayprophets/biographies.html biographies ] ]

Inspirational materials:
* "The Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers" Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1959.
* "Not by Bread Alone" a compilation of inspirational stories aimed at helping teachers. [ [http://deseretbook.com/auctions/show-auction?auction_id=438700 NOT BY BREAD ALONE by Elder Bryant S. Hinckley ] ]
* "That Ye Might Have Joy" a collection of articles compiled by his children, used as a companion to "Not by Bread Alone". Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, inc., 1958.

Hinckley also wrote several articles for the LDS Church publication, the "Improvement Era".

ee also

*Richard G. Hinckley : grandson
*Virginia H. Pearce : granddaughter

References

External links

* [http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=1901 BYU Magazine profile, fall 2006]
* [http://search.ldslibrary.com/article/view/207775 Speech] given by Bryant S. Hinckley at the Salt Lake Tabernacle while he was serving as President of the Northern States Mission.
* [http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=browse&speaker=Hinckley%2C+Bryant+S.&topic=&type=&year=&x=15&y=8 BYU speeches, audio versions]