Dates

• Existence: 1781 - 1854

Biographical History

John Smith (1781-1854) was a farmer and an early leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and the Utah territory.

On July 16, 1781 in Derryfield, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, John Smith was born the eighth of eleven children to Asael and Mary Duty Smith. He was the younger brother of Joseph Smith, Sr. and uncle to Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. John spent his youth and adult life as an occupational farmer. John married Clarissa Lyman on September 11, 1815 and together they had 3 children: George Albert, Caroline, and John Lyman Smith. On January 9, 1832, John Smith and his family were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1833 they moved to be with the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1836, John was appointed president of the Kirtland high council, the first of many duties he would preform for his religion. That same year he and his brother, Joseph Smith, Sr., left for a mission to the eastern states. On September 3, 1837 John was than appointed assistant counselor in the First Presidency, and a member of the Kirtland Stake Presidency in 1838. That same year, the saints were forced to leave and John moved with the saints to Far West, Missouri where he was called to be President of the Adam-ondi-Ahman Stake. A short while later, John moved once again to Illinois and presided as the President of a branch in Lee County in 1839. On January 10, 1844 John was than appointed a patriarch. He also moved again with the Saints to Salt Lake City in the Utah Territory in 1847 where he preside over the Salt Lake Stake and than was appointed the patriarch of the church on January 1, 1949. John Smith participated faithfully in the church and practiced polygamy.

John Smith died on May 23, 1854 in Salt Lake City in the Utah Territory.

Citation:

Wikipedia, via WWW, April 10, 2018 (John Smith; Uncle John; July 16, 1781 – May 23, 1854; Smith was the younger brother of Joseph Smith, Sr., uncle of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, father of George A. Smith, grandfather of John Henry Smith, and great-grandfather of George Albert Smith; member of the first presiding high council in Kirtland, Ohio, an assistant counselor in the First Presidency under Joseph Smith, and as Presiding Patriarch under Brigham Young; Smith practiced plural marriage; stake president in Illinois and Salt Lake City, Utah; died in Salt Lake)

The Joseph Smith Papers, via WWW, April 10, 2018 (Smith, John; b. July 16, 1781 in Derryfield (later Manchester), Rockingham Co., New Hampshire; son of Asael Smith and Mary Duty; Married Clarissa Lyman, Sept. 11, 1815; Baptized into LDS church by Solomon Humphrey, Jan. 9, 1832; Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833; Appointed president of Kirtland high council, Jan. 21, 1836; mission to eastern states with his brother Joseph Smith Sr., 1836; Appointed assistant counselor in First Presidency, Sept. 3, 1837; member of Kirtland stake presidency, 1838; Left Kirtland for Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri, Apr. 5, 1838; president of stake in Adam-ondi-Ahman, Daviess Co., Missouri, June 28, 1838; Illinois, Feb. 28, 1839; president of branch in Lee Co., Iowa Territory, Oct. 5, 1839; patriarch, Jan. 10, 1844; Nauvoo stake president, Oct. 7, 1844; Arrived in Salt Lake Valley, Sept. 23, 1847; Presided over Salt Lake stake, 1847–1848; Ordained patriarch of church, Jan. 1, 1849; d. May 23, 1854; Occupation farmer)

Patriarchal Bridge, via WWW, April 10, 2018 (John Smith; born July 26, 1781 as the eighth of eleven children to Asael and Mary Duty Smith; married Clarissa Lyman Sept. 11, 1815; together had 3 children: George Albert, Caroline, and John Lyman Smith; sealed to Mary Aiken, widow od his brother, in Nauvoo; seven weeks before his death he married Mary Frankly)

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