William R. Smith (Mormon)
Encyclopedia
William Reed Smith was a Utah territorial
politician and a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Utah Territory
.
, Upper Canada
as the youngest of nine children born to Peter Smyth and Mary Read. Both of his parents died when he was very young, so at the age of two years and ten months he was taken in by neighbours, Samuel and Fanny Parrish, who raised him to adulthood. The Parrishes raised Smith in the Quaker religion.
In 1837, the Parrishes and Smith moved to Stark County, Illinois
. In the late 1830s, as Latter Day Saints began gathering in nearby Nauvoo
, the Parishes and Smith became interested in Mormonism
. Smith was baptized
into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1841, on his 15th birthday.
as a Mormon pioneer
. In Utah
, Smith settled in Centerville
. In 1855, Smith was appointed as the bishop of the LDS Church's Centerville Ward, and served in this position until 1877. During his time as bishop, Smith was involved in the Mormon Reformation
, and accompanied Jedediah M. Grant
in a tour of Utah in which the merits of rebaptism
. Smith himself was rebaptized on 29 September 1856.
in the House of Representatives
of Utah Territory
. He was elected to finish the unexpired term of Charles C. Rich
, who had resigned so that he could travel to Europe as a missionary
for the LDS Church. Smith was subsequently elected to full terms in the House of Representatives in 1860, 1862, and 1864. From 1874 to 1883, Smith was an elected probate
judge in Davis County, Utah
.
for the LDS Church in England
, Ireland
, and Scotland
. While traveling to and from Europe, he visited relatives in Ontario
.
In 1874, Smith was appointed the president of the Centerville brach of the United Order
. In 1877, Smith became the first president of the newly organized the Davis Stake of the LDS Church, and he served in this position until his death. During his tenure, the first Primary of the LDS Church was organized in his stake boundaries by Aurelia Spencer Rogers
.
In 1880, Smith became a member of the LDS Church's Council of Fifty
, a body which advised the church on political, economic, and social issues affecting Latter-day Saints.
In 1885, Smith and two other men travelled to western Canada to examine the possibility of establishing Mormon colonies in the area. On this trip, the men investigated a number of potential settlement locations in Alberta
south of Lethbridge
. Smith purchased a tract of land, which was later settled as Spring Coulee, Alberta
. Smith's investigations led to the establishment of Cardston
by Charles Ora Card
in 1887.
. He pleaded guilty, and on 31 March 1888 was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a $300 fine. Smith was imprisoned until 20 July 1888, when he was pardon
ed by U.S. President Grover Cleveland
.
. He was survived by three wives and 28 children.
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
politician and a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
.
Early life
Smith was born in Yonge Township, Leeds CountyLeeds County, Ontario
Leeds County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario.The county was created in 1792, and merged with Grenville County in 1850 to create Leeds and Grenville County....
, Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
as the youngest of nine children born to Peter Smyth and Mary Read. Both of his parents died when he was very young, so at the age of two years and ten months he was taken in by neighbours, Samuel and Fanny Parrish, who raised him to adulthood. The Parrishes raised Smith in the Quaker religion.
In 1837, the Parrishes and Smith moved to Stark County, Illinois
Stark County, Illinois
Stark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 5,994, which is a decrease of 5.3% from 6,332 in 2000...
. In the late 1830s, as Latter Day Saints began gathering in nearby Nauvoo
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
, the Parishes and Smith became interested in Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
. Smith was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1841, on his 15th birthday.
LDS Church leadership in Utah
In 1849, Smith travelled to the Salt Lake ValleySalt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
as a Mormon pioneer
Mormon Pioneer
The Mormon pioneers were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated across the United States from the Midwest to the Salt Lake Valley in what is today the U.S. state of Utah...
. In Utah
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, Smith settled in Centerville
Centerville, Utah
Centerville is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,335 at the 2010 census...
. In 1855, Smith was appointed as the bishop of the LDS Church's Centerville Ward, and served in this position until 1877. During his time as bishop, Smith was involved in the Mormon Reformation
Mormon Reformation
The Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It took place in 1856 and 1857 and was under the direction of President of the Church Brigham Young. During the Reformation, Young sent his counselor Jedediah M...
, and accompanied Jedediah M. Grant
Jedediah M. Grant
Jedediah Morgan Grant was a leader and an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was member of the First Council of the Seventy from 1845 to 1854. He also served in the First Presidency under Church President Brigham Young from 1854 to 1856...
in a tour of Utah in which the merits of rebaptism
Rebaptism (Mormonism)
Rebaptism is a practice in some denominations of the Latter Day Saint or Mormonism movement.The Latter Day Saints were headquartered in Nauvoo, Illinois. Many who were already baptized members of the church, were rebaptised either to show a renewal of their commitment to the movement or as part of...
. Smith himself was rebaptized on 29 September 1856.
Political career
In 1859, Smith was elected to represent CentervilleCenterville, Utah
Centerville is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,335 at the 2010 census...
in the House of Representatives
Utah House of Representatives
The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district contains an average population of 35,000 people...
of Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. He was elected to finish the unexpired term of Charles C. Rich
Charles C. Rich
Charles Coulson Rich was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
, who had resigned so that he could travel to Europe as a missionary
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
for the LDS Church. Smith was subsequently elected to full terms in the House of Representatives in 1860, 1862, and 1864. From 1874 to 1883, Smith was an elected probate
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...
judge in Davis County, Utah
Davis County, Utah
Davis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2010 the population was 306,479, a 28.2% increase over the 2000 figure of 238,994. It was named for Daniel C. Davis, captain in the Mormon Battalion. The county is part of the Ogden–Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area as...
.
Later LDS Church leadership
From 1865 to 1867, Smith was a missionaryMormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
for the LDS Church in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. While traveling to and from Europe, he visited relatives in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
In 1874, Smith was appointed the president of the Centerville brach of the United Order
United Order
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the United Order was one of several 19th century church collectivist programs. Early versions of the Order beginning in 1831 attempted to implement the Law of Consecration, a form of Christian communism, modeled after the New Testament church which had "all things...
. In 1877, Smith became the first president of the newly organized the Davis Stake of the LDS Church, and he served in this position until his death. During his tenure, the first Primary of the LDS Church was organized in his stake boundaries by Aurelia Spencer Rogers
Aurelia Spencer Rogers
Aurelia Read Spencer Rogers was the founder of Primary, the children's organization and official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
.
In 1880, Smith became a member of the LDS Church's Council of Fifty
Council of Fifty
The Council of Fifty was a Latter Day Saint organization established by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, a body which advised the church on political, economic, and social issues affecting Latter-day Saints.
In 1885, Smith and two other men travelled to western Canada to examine the possibility of establishing Mormon colonies in the area. On this trip, the men investigated a number of potential settlement locations in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
south of Lethbridge
Lethbridge
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
. Smith purchased a tract of land, which was later settled as Spring Coulee, Alberta
Spring Coulee, Alberta
Spring Coulee is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within Cardston County, located east of Highway 5, approximately southwest of Lethbridge.-History:...
. Smith's investigations led to the establishment of Cardston
Cardston, Alberta
-Demographics:The population of the Town of Cardston according to its 2007 municipal census is 3,578.In 2006, it had a population of 3,452 living in 1,234 dwellings, a 0.7% decrease from 2001...
by Charles Ora Card
Charles Ora Card
Charles Ora Card was the founder of the town of Cardston, Alberta, the first Mormon settlement in Canada. He has been referred to as "Canada's Brigham Young"....
in 1887.
Bigamy conviction and pardon
Like many 19th-century members of the LDS Church, Smith practiced plural marriage, and had five wives simultaneously. In July 1887, Smith was arrested for violating the Morrill Anti-Bigamy ActMorrill Anti-Bigamy Act
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
. He pleaded guilty, and on 31 March 1888 was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a $300 fine. Smith was imprisoned until 20 July 1888, when he was pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
ed by U.S. President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
.
Death
Smith died in Centerville of "stricture of the bowels"—which today would probably have been identified as colorectal cancerColorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
. He was survived by three wives and 28 children.