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Oral history interview with Eldred G. Smith and Hortense Smith

 Collection — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 9020

Scope and Contents

Transcript of interview, conducted by Don Norton, with LDS Church Patriarch, Eldred G. Smith and his wife, Hortense Child Smith. Contains various stories of the Smith family during the Restoration from Carthage to the Salt Lake Valley, and Eldred Smith's experiences as the Church Patriarch from 1947 to 1979. This interview took place February 8, 2001.

Dates

  • 2001 February 8

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Oral history interview with Eldred G. Smith and Hortense Smith must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical History

Don E. Norton (1934-) is a retired BYU English professor in Utah.

Don Evan Norton Jr. was born on December 5, 1934 in Zurich, Montana to Don E. Norton and Vera Camilla Murphy. He moved with his family to Burley, Idaho in the 1940s, and graduated from Burley High School. He then attended Brigham Young University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1959 and a master's in 1961.

In 1967 Norton joined the university faculty, working in the English Department and the Department of Linguistics and English Language. His academic interests focused on the usage, grammar, and history of the English language. He has also written on Mormon history and doctrine, and has been involved in oral history work. Norton retired from Brigham Young University in 2004.

Biographical History

Elder Eldred Gee Smith (1907-2013) lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was the Patriarch emeritus of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Eldred G. Smith was born January 9, 1907 in Lehi, Utah to parents Hyrum Gibbs Smith and Martha Electa Gee. He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 6, 1915, and later served full-time in the Swiss German mission starting in 1926. A few years after returning home, he met and married Jeanne Audrey Ness in 1932. Together they had five children, Audrey Gay, Sylvia Isom, Gary, Raynor, and Miriam Skeen. They lived in Salt Lake City, where he worked as an Assistant Sales Manager. On April 10, 1947, Eldred was set apart as the Patriarch of the Church and served until he was given emeritus status in 1979. Just two years prior to that, however, his wife Jeanne died on the 13th of June, 1977. A year later, he remarried to Hortense Hogan in May of 1978. Although he was no longer an acting General Authority, he remained an emeritus and continued to be a close friend with many of the Brethren, until his death on April 4, 2013, at the age of 106.

Biographical History

Hortense H. Child Smith (1919-2012) was a WWII veteran from Thatcher, Idaho who served in the General Young Women's Presidency.

Hortense Hogan was born on the 6th of May, 1919 to Grover Cleveland Hogan and Eliza Jane Hubbard Hogan in Thatcher, Idaho, where she grew up on the family farm with her siblings, Grover Ceylon and Rhea Jane. She attended college at Utah State University, but later moved to Salt Lake City to earn her Business Administration degree from LDS Business College in 1939. That year on August 26th, she married her first husband, Robert Rumel Child.Shortly thereafter, she enlisted and served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1945. On June 10, 1950, their daughter, Carol Jane Child, was born. Later, from 1969 to 1972, Hortense worked as the Personnel Administrator for Salt Lake County, during which time Robert passed away on the 4th of August, 1970. In 1972, she was called to serve as the First Counselor in the General Young Women's Presidency with President Ruth H. Funk, which she did until her release in 1978. It was that year that she married the recently widowed Patriarch, Eldred G. Smith. Hortense Child Smith died on May 17th, 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah at age 93.

Extent

1 folder (0.01 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

Donated by Don Norton on February 1, 2017, who interviewed Eldred G. Smith and Hortence C. Smith on February 8, 2001.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; Don Norton; February 1, 2017.

Appraisal

LDS cultural, social, and religious history (20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts collection development policy 5.V, August 2007).

General

Interview conducted on February 8, 2001 by Don E. Norton, one of Norton's oral history seminar students, and a friend. Interview was organized by Norton's student and occurred in the Smith home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

General

18 leaves ; 28 x 22 cm.

Processing Information

Processed; Jace Packer, student manuscript processor, and John Murphy, curator; 2017.

Title
Register of Oral history interview with Eldred G. Smith and Hortense Smith
Status
Completed
Author
Jace Packer
Date
2017 June 20
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States