George Albert Smith

LDSInfobox
English name=George Albert Smith


birth_name=George Albert Smith
birth_date=birth date|1870|04|04
birthplace=Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
dead=dead
death_date=death date and age|1951|04|04|1870|04|04
deathplace=Salt Lake City, Utah
prophet_date=death date and age|1945|05|21|1870|04|04
predecessor=Heber J. Grant
successor=David O. McKay
president_who_called=Joseph F. Smith
apostledate=death date and age|1903|10|08|1870|04|04
ordination_reason=Death of Brigham Young, Jr.
end_date=death date and age|1951|04|04|1870|04|04
end_reason=Death
reorganization=Marion G. Romney ordained

George Albert Smith (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was the eighth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Biographer and historian S. George Ellsworth has called Smith "an example of Christlike living." [S. George Ellsworth, [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/EoM,4206 "George Albert Smith"] , "Encyclopedia of Mormonism" (New York: Macmillan) pp. 1326–1329 at 1329.]

Early life

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, Smith was one of nineteen children of polygamist Mormon apostle John Henry Smith and one of his wives, Sarah Farr. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was also an LDS Church apostle.

Smith attended high school at Brigham Young Academy, graduating in 1884. He next graduated from the University of Deseret (later the University of Utah) in 1888. In 1896, he had joined the Republican Party and campaigned for William McKinley, who became President of the United States. He also favored Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley's successor.

While surveying for a railroad as a young man, Smith's eyesight was permanently impaired by glare from the sun.After 1903, Smith found his frequent travels debilitating, and began to show prominent symptoms of physical weakness. He was eventually diagnosed with lupus erythematosus, a chronic debilitating autoimmune disease.

Smith was known for his patriotism, joining various American patriotic groups and was an ardent supporter of the Boy Scouts. In 1934, the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America awarded him the prestigious Silver Buffalo Award. Smith was an avid genealogist and family historian and was named National Vice President of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1922.

Marriage and family

In 1892, Smith married Lucy Emily Woodruff, the daughter of Wilford Woodruff, Jr., in the Manti Temple. The couple later had three children. Wilford Woodruff Jr. was the son of Wilford Woodruff who was the fourth president of the LDS Church. Lucy had spent much of her time growing up in the household of her grandfather Wilford, and looked on him as almost more of a father than a grandfather. [Gibbons, Francis M. "George Albert Smith: Kind and Caring Christian: Prophet of God"]

LDS Church service

Just prior to his marriage to Lucy, Smith served as a Mutual Improvement Association missionary throughout many areas in Southern Utah.

Smith and his new wife Lucy were missionaries in the LDS Church's Southern States Mission under President J. Golden Kimball from 1892 to 1894. Smith was appointed mission secretary.

Smith was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1903. From 1920 until 1923 Smith served as president of the British and European Missions of the church. In this capacity, he preached in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. From 1921 to 1935, Smith was the general superintendent of the church's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. In 1935 he was succeeded in this position by Albert E. Bowen.

With the death of President Rudger Clawson, in 1943, Smith was sustained as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and served in the position for two years.

Administration as President of the Church

Smith became president of the church on May 21, 1945 with the death of Heber J. Grant. When World War II ended, Smith helped send supplies to Europe and was also known for his efforts to revitalize missionary work. He publicly denounced the activities and political influence of the American Ku Klux Klan. Smith dedicated the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple on September 23, 1945. Over his lifetime, he traveled approximately a million miles fulfilling church assignments. [George Albert Smith, [http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=browse&speaker=Smith%2C+George+Albert&topic=&type=&year=&x=13&y=7 "Devotional"] , 1950-01-01.]

George Albert Smith was the first president of the church to visit Mexico while in office. He went there to complete the reconciliation and return to the church of a group of apostate Mexicans known as the "Third Conventionists". [Gerry R. Flake, [http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=38cf535cedb1c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 “Mormons in Mexico: The First 96 Years,”] "Ensign", Sep. 1972, p. 20.]

Death

Smith died in Salt Lake City from systemic lupus erythematosus. [ [http://images.archives.utah.gov/data/81448/2224907/2224907_0000169.jpgState of Utah Death Certificate] ]

Works

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Notes

External links

* [http://www.gapages.com/smithga2.htm Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: George Albert Smith]