Biographical History

The Smoot family were early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and pioneers of the west.

Abraham Owen Smoot was born February 17, 1815, to George W. Smoot and Ann Rowlett of Owenton, Kentucky. He was a Mormon pioneer, mayor of both Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, and an early supporter of Brigham Young Academy. On November 11, 1838, in the aftermath the siege, Smoot married Maragret Thompson McMeans. Over the course of his life, he took five additional wives: Sarah Gibbens and Emily Hill in 1846, Diana Caroline Tanner Eldredge in 1855, Anne Kristine Mauritzen in 1856, and Hannah Caroline Rogers. He had twenty-seven children, three of whom were adopted. Among his most notable children was Reed Smoot, Brigham Smoot, Ida Smoot Dusenberry, and Zina Beal Smoot.

Reed Smoot (1862-1941) was a Utah politician, Senator, successful businessman and an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and son of Anne Kristine Mauritzen and Abraham Smoot. On September 17, 1884, Reed married Alpha M. Eldredge who was the daughter of Mormon pioneers named General Horace Sunderlin Eldredge and Chloe Anoinette Refield Eldredge. Together Reed and Alpha had 6 children. After her death in 1928, Reed married Alice Taylor Sheets.

Brigham Smoot (1869-1946) was another son of Anne Kristine Mauritzen and Abraham Smoot, a businessman and missionary in Tonga.

Ida Smoot Dusenberry (1873-1955) was a daughter of Anne Kristine Mauritzen and Abraham Smoot, wife of George Albert Dusenberry and teacher at Brigham Young University. She was a counselor of the General Board of the Relief Society for 25 years.

Zina Beal Smoot Whitney (1859-1900) was the daughter of Emily Hill and Abraham Smoot. She was well known through association of her husband, Orson F. Whitney, who was a Mormon apostle.

Citation:

Mormon Missionary Diaries, About the Diarists, via WWW, Dec. 9, 2016 (born on March 11, 1856 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Abraham Owen Smoot and Diana Tanner Eldredge; when eleven years old his family moved to Provo, where his father was serving as town mayor and stake president of the Utah Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; attended Brigham Young Academy under the tutelage of Karl G. Maeser; was among the first to graduate from that institution; at the age of seventeen Abraham and his friend, William Paxman, started their own business, the Paxman & Smoot Lumber Company; at the age of nineteen Abraham was called to serve a mission to Great Britain for the Church; after arriving in England, Abraham was assigned to the London Conference and served as its unofficial clerk and secretary; his friend from home, William Paxman, presided over the conference, and the two worked together as companions for much of their missions; after returning from Great Britain, Abraham married Electa Bullock, also from Provo, in Salt Lake City on October 30, 1878; had six children, two sons and four daughters; returned to the lumber business and managed the newly-formed Smoot Lumber Company until 1896; also served as county assessor for eight years and as a representative to the upper house of the territorial legislature for one term; Electa died in 1887; Abraham remarried in 1893 to Zina A. Huntington, who bore him one daughter; in 1896 was elected to the state house of representatives for one term and to the state senate for two terms; in this latter position he occupied the post of floor leader for the Democratic Party, and initiated new legislation on inheritance, railroads, and other issues; also at various times served as Provo City councilman, secretary of the Territorial Insane Asylum, United States commissioner, and trustee for the State Agricultural College; held church callings of home missionary and high councilman for the Utah Stake; died on May 22, 1911, from uremic poisoning after a throat operation in the local hospital)

Wikipedia, via WWW, April 24, 2018 (His sons included Reed Smoot, born in Salt Lake City, who also became a politician and US Senator; and Brigham Smoot. A notable daughter was Ida Smoot Dusenberry. Smoot's fourth child and third daughter, Zina Beal Smoot, married apostle Orson F. Whitney)

Utah History to Go, via WWW, April 24, 2018 (Reed Smoot; During his senatorial career, Smoot served concurrently as a Mormon apostle; married Alpha M. Eldredge of Salt Lake City on September 17, 1884. They were the parents of six children: Harold Reed, Chloe, Harlow Eldredge, Annie K., Zella Esther, and Ernest Winder. Alpha died on November 7, 1928 and Smoot later married Mrs. Alice Taylor Sheets on 2 July 1930; businessman)

Find a grave, via WWW, April 24, 2018 (Brigham Roland Smoot; 1869-1946; Mormon Missionary and Businessman. Smoot was one of the first missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) to preach in Tonga)

Find a grave, via WWW, April, 24, 2018 (Ida Smoot Dusenberry; 1873-1955; parents: Anne Kristine Mauritzen and Abraham Smoot; married George Albert Dusenberry; teacher at Brigham Young University; counselor of the General Board of the Relief Society for 25 years)

Find a grave, via WWW, April, 24, 2018 (Zina Beal Smoot Whitney; 1859-1900; married apostle Orson F. Whitney; mother Emily Hill)

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