Elbert A. Smith

Elbert A. Smith

Photo of Elbert A. Smith ca. 1915

Photo of Elbert A. Smith ca. 1915
Presiding Patriarch
April 10, 1938 (1938-04-10) – February 4, 1958 (1958-02-04)
Called by Frederick M. Smith
Predecessor Frederick A. Smith
Successor Roy A. Cheville
Counselor in the First Presidency
April 19, 1909 (1909-04-19) – April 7, 1938 (1938-04-07)
Called by Joseph Smith III
Predecessor R. C. Evans
Successor Israel A. Smith
Lemuel F.P. Curry
Personal details
Born Elbert Aoriul Smith
(1871-03-08)March 8, 1871
Nauvoo, Illinois, United States
Died May 15, 1959(1959-05-15) (aged 88)
Independence, Missouri, United States
Resting place Mound Grove Cemetery
39°06′47″N 94°25′41″W / 39.113°N 94.428°W / 39.113; -94.428 (Mound Grove Cemetery)
Spouse(s) Clara A. Cochran
Children 3
Parents David Hyrum Smith
Clara C. Smith

Elbert Aoriul Smith (8 March 1871 – 15 May 1959) was an American leader in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church). He was a member of the church's First Presidency from 1909 to 1938 and the Presiding Patriarch of the church from 1938 to 1958.

RLDS Church leadership

Smith was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, the son of David Hyrum Smith and the grandson of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. In 1900, Elbert Smith became a full-time missionary of the RLDS Church.

On 18 April 1909, Smith's uncle Joseph Smith III, who was the president of the RLDS Church, asked him to become one of his counselors in the church's First Presidency.[1] Smith replaced R. C. Evans, who had moved to Canada and been given jurisdiction over the church there.

When Smith's cousin Frederick M. Smith succeeded Joseph Smith III as president of the church, Elbert Smith was retained in the First Presidency as a counselor. Smith moved to Independence, Missouri, after the church made the decision to move its headquarters there from Lamoni, Iowa. Smith remained as a member of the First Presidency until 7 April 1938, when Frederick Smith designated him as the Presiding Patriarch of the church.[2] In 1946, Smith presented a revelation to a World Conference of the church in which he stated that God had selected Israel A. Smith to succeed Frederick Smith, who had recently died.[3]

Smith remained in as Presiding Patriarch of the church until his resignation in 1958 for health reasons, when he was replaced by Roy Cheville.[4]

Author and editor

Smith was a prolific author of books and tracts about the history of the Latter Day Saint movement and the RLDS Church and about church organization and procedure. For many years he was also the editor of Saints' Herald, the official periodical of the RLDS Church. Among Smith's most well-known works is Restoration: A Study in Prophecy and Differences that Persist Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Utah Mormon Church.

Family and death

Smith married Clara Abigail Cochran in Lamoni, Iowa on 4 September 1895. They were the parents of three boys, two of whom survived to adulthood. Smith died at Independence, Missouri at the age of 88.

Publications

Notes

  1. ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 129:5.
  2. ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 137:4a.
  3. ↑ History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, vol. 8, pp. 358–359.
  4. ↑ Doctrine and Covenants 145:4.

References

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints titles (Community of Christ)
Preceded by
Frederick A. Smith		 Presiding Patriarch
April 10, 1938 – February 4, 1958 		Succeeded by
Roy A. Cheville
Preceded by
R. C. Evans		 Counselor in the First Presidency
April 19, 1909–April 7, 1938 		Succeeded by
Israel A. Smith
Lemuel F.P. Curry
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