Hyrum M. Smith
Born: 21 March 1872
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 24 October 1901
Died: 23 January 1918
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 24 October 1901
Died: 23 January 1918
Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 3
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Juvenile Instructor, 15 November 1901, Lives of Our Leaders: The Twelve Apostles - Hyrum M. Smith
Improvement Era, September 1913, Portrait of Elder Hyrum M. Smith
Juvenile Instructor, February 1918, Elder Hyrum M. Smith
Improvement Era, March 1918, Hyrum Mack Smith
Improvement Era, March 1918, In Memoriam
Improvement Era, March 1918, In Honor of Hyrum M. Smith
Relief Society Magazine, March 1918, The Passing of Apostle Hyrum M. Smith
Young Woman's Journal, March 1918, Hyrum M. Smith
Young Woman's Journal, March 1918, Elder Hyrum M. Smith
Young Woman's Journal, March 1918, Apostle Hyrum M. Smith
My own research and opinion
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 3
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Juvenile Instructor, 15 November 1901, Lives of Our Leaders: The Twelve Apostles - Hyrum M. Smith
Improvement Era, September 1913, Portrait of Elder Hyrum M. Smith
Juvenile Instructor, February 1918, Elder Hyrum M. Smith
Improvement Era, March 1918, Hyrum Mack Smith
Improvement Era, March 1918, In Memoriam
Improvement Era, March 1918, In Honor of Hyrum M. Smith
Relief Society Magazine, March 1918, The Passing of Apostle Hyrum M. Smith
Young Woman's Journal, March 1918, Hyrum M. Smith
Young Woman's Journal, March 1918, Elder Hyrum M. Smith
Young Woman's Journal, March 1918, Apostle Hyrum M. Smith
My own research and opinion
Jenson, Andrew. "Smith, Hyrum Mack." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 1. pg. 772-773.
SMITH, Hyrum Mack, junior member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, is the eldest son of Pres. Joseph F. Smith and Edna Lambson, and was born March 21, 1872, in Salt Lake City, Utah. In his youth he was very carefully guarded by his mother, who was loath to let him go out of her sight, and who never permitted him or his younger brothers to go beyond the confines of the garden gate alone. Long after he reached the age of hundreds of the boys—and girls, too—that we now see playing in the streets until late at night, he was safely tucked into bed. His father, Pres. Joseph F. Smith, father who must still kiss him and tuck the covers snugly around him. Even to-day, whenever father and son meet, in the home, on the street, in the office, it matters not where, they meet with an affectionate and holy kiss. Hyrum was taught to love his home, and there he could always be found when no duty called him away. He attended the public schools, and later the Latter-day Saints' College, from which he graduated in June, 1894. On the 15th of November, 1895, he married Miss Ida Bowman, of Ogden, and on the evening of the next day he departed on a mission to Great Britain. Upon arriving at Liverpool he was appointed to labor in the Leeds conference, where he engaged in regular missionary work. In October, 189G, he was called to preside
over the Newcastle conference, which position he held until he was honorably released to return home in February, 1898. Upon arriving home he was at once set apart as a home missionary. He also acted as assistant teacher and as corresponding- secretary 'if the 24th quorum of Seventy. He was employed at Z. C. M. I., where he remained until Oct. 30, 1901. When the Salt Lake Stake was divided he became a resident of Granite Stake. Here also he labored as a home missionary and later was called to act as Stake secretary of the Sunday schools, which office he filled to the satisfaction of the Stake authorities. He was called by the quorum of Twelve Apostles to become one of that body, on Oct. 24. 1901, and was ordained to that high and holy calling by his father on the same day. Hyrum M. Smith is a youngman who has striven to profit by the excellent teachings received from his parents. He gives them and the Lord the credit for enabling him to say that up to the present he has never tasted tea, coffee, tobacco nor intoxicating drinks of any kind; that he has never
taken the name of God in vain, nor befouled his mouth with profanity; that he has never In his life spoken disiespectfully of his parents, but that he honors and loves them with all his souI; that he has always defended the principles of the gospel and the servants of the Lord; that he has a testimony for himself that God lives, and that Joseph Smith was the Prophet through whom he restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days, and that he hopes, by the help of the Lord, to ever be found working diligently or battling, if need be, in defense of the truth.—Matthias F. Cowley.
SMITH, Hyrum Mack, junior member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, is the eldest son of Pres. Joseph F. Smith and Edna Lambson, and was born March 21, 1872, in Salt Lake City, Utah. In his youth he was very carefully guarded by his mother, who was loath to let him go out of her sight, and who never permitted him or his younger brothers to go beyond the confines of the garden gate alone. Long after he reached the age of hundreds of the boys—and girls, too—that we now see playing in the streets until late at night, he was safely tucked into bed. His father, Pres. Joseph F. Smith, father who must still kiss him and tuck the covers snugly around him. Even to-day, whenever father and son meet, in the home, on the street, in the office, it matters not where, they meet with an affectionate and holy kiss. Hyrum was taught to love his home, and there he could always be found when no duty called him away. He attended the public schools, and later the Latter-day Saints' College, from which he graduated in June, 1894. On the 15th of November, 1895, he married Miss Ida Bowman, of Ogden, and on the evening of the next day he departed on a mission to Great Britain. Upon arriving at Liverpool he was appointed to labor in the Leeds conference, where he engaged in regular missionary work. In October, 189G, he was called to preside
over the Newcastle conference, which position he held until he was honorably released to return home in February, 1898. Upon arriving home he was at once set apart as a home missionary. He also acted as assistant teacher and as corresponding- secretary 'if the 24th quorum of Seventy. He was employed at Z. C. M. I., where he remained until Oct. 30, 1901. When the Salt Lake Stake was divided he became a resident of Granite Stake. Here also he labored as a home missionary and later was called to act as Stake secretary of the Sunday schools, which office he filled to the satisfaction of the Stake authorities. He was called by the quorum of Twelve Apostles to become one of that body, on Oct. 24. 1901, and was ordained to that high and holy calling by his father on the same day. Hyrum M. Smith is a youngman who has striven to profit by the excellent teachings received from his parents. He gives them and the Lord the credit for enabling him to say that up to the present he has never tasted tea, coffee, tobacco nor intoxicating drinks of any kind; that he has never
taken the name of God in vain, nor befouled his mouth with profanity; that he has never In his life spoken disiespectfully of his parents, but that he honors and loves them with all his souI; that he has always defended the principles of the gospel and the servants of the Lord; that he has a testimony for himself that God lives, and that Joseph Smith was the Prophet through whom he restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days, and that he hopes, by the help of the Lord, to ever be found working diligently or battling, if need be, in defense of the truth.—Matthias F. Cowley.
Jenson, Andrew. "Smith, Hyrum M." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 3. pg. 779-780.
SMITH, Hyrum Mack, a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles (continued from Vol. I: 772). As a young Apostle it fell to the lot of Bro. Smith to travel extensively in the Stakes of Zion, assisting the older members of the quorum to organize and re-organize Stakes of Zion, dedicate meeting houses, attend Mutual Improvement conventions, etc., and he grew rapidly to understand the many duties pertaining to his high and holy calling in the Priesthood. In February, 1904, he was summoned to Washington, D. C, together with other prominent officers of the Church, to appear as a witness in the Smoot investigation case before the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. In December, 1905, he accompanied President Joseph F. Smith and his party to Vermont and took part in the dedicatory services held Dec. 23, 1905, when a monument was dedicated in honor of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In 1913 he was called to preside over the European Mission and together with his wife and four children he arrived in Liverpool, England, Sept. 30, 1913. When the great world war broke out he was in Germany on a tour of the missions under his direction, and he experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining passage back to England. He met with signal success and capability every exigency of that trying period, directed the movement of the Elders in every mission under his presidency, called them in and modified their work according to the situation; and the work of the Lord, under his guiding hand, went on with as little interruption as possible. Bravely he faced the ordeal with valor and with a courage unflinching. He instilled into the hearts of the missionaries laboring under him, from presidents of missions to the humble traveling Elder, a love of mankind and a burning eagerness to preach the gospel to a war-torn world. His utterances from the pulpit and in conversation were keen disquisitions on the great war. He had studied the causes of the war and was fearless in his denunciation of unrighteousness as a
contributing factor; but he was kind and forbearing in his pity for mankind for the plight into which the world had been plunged. On his mission as president, he was ably assisted by his wife, Ida B. Smith, who worked with him untiringly. After filling a most successful mission, Bro. Smith and family returned to America Sept. 15, 1916, and he immediate ly resumed his former labors in the Stakes of Zion and continued thus until he was stricken with his last sickness from the effects of which he died in the Latter-day Saints hospital. Salt Lake City, Jan. 23, 1918. His wife, Ida Bowman Smith, after giving birth to a son, died in Salt Lake City Sept. 24, 1918. The following was published in the "Deseret News" at the time of Apostle Smith's demise: "A great sorrow comes to this community, the Church as well as the State, in the death of Hyrum M. Smith, eldest son of President Joseph F. Smith, and himself an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was known and beloved throughout the length and breadth of the intermountain country, every part of which he has traversed as an earnest, vigorous, sincere and impressive preacher of righteousness, the uncompromising opponent of evil, a stalwart, worthy native son of Utah, and a patriotic citizen through and through. Few men have lived a purer life, few have so stoutly resisted from boyhood up the blandishments of the world that tempt from the path of rectitude, few could go to face their account with so little to regret or wish otherwise. And yet, to those who knew this excellent man, it would seem that few could be so ill-spared at this time, because there are so few to take his place. His loss will be most keenly felt, and he will be truly mourned. To his revered father, than whom no man ever loved his children more devotedly, this deep bereavement will be especially severe. His mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, his close associates and his host of acquaintances are plunged in a sorrow the measure of which will correspond to the degree of their intimacy with him. The finite mind gropes in vain for a reason why one so good and useful, so valiant and strong, one for whom life seemed to hold so much in store, should thus be torn away in the very prime and vigor of manhood. But though this mystery we may not explain, nor its purport comprehend, to the soul surcharged with grief there comes relief in the assurance that the great Father above will sanctify all sorrow to His children's good, and that He does all things well."
SMITH, Hyrum Mack, a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles (continued from Vol. I: 772). As a young Apostle it fell to the lot of Bro. Smith to travel extensively in the Stakes of Zion, assisting the older members of the quorum to organize and re-organize Stakes of Zion, dedicate meeting houses, attend Mutual Improvement conventions, etc., and he grew rapidly to understand the many duties pertaining to his high and holy calling in the Priesthood. In February, 1904, he was summoned to Washington, D. C, together with other prominent officers of the Church, to appear as a witness in the Smoot investigation case before the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. In December, 1905, he accompanied President Joseph F. Smith and his party to Vermont and took part in the dedicatory services held Dec. 23, 1905, when a monument was dedicated in honor of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In 1913 he was called to preside over the European Mission and together with his wife and four children he arrived in Liverpool, England, Sept. 30, 1913. When the great world war broke out he was in Germany on a tour of the missions under his direction, and he experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining passage back to England. He met with signal success and capability every exigency of that trying period, directed the movement of the Elders in every mission under his presidency, called them in and modified their work according to the situation; and the work of the Lord, under his guiding hand, went on with as little interruption as possible. Bravely he faced the ordeal with valor and with a courage unflinching. He instilled into the hearts of the missionaries laboring under him, from presidents of missions to the humble traveling Elder, a love of mankind and a burning eagerness to preach the gospel to a war-torn world. His utterances from the pulpit and in conversation were keen disquisitions on the great war. He had studied the causes of the war and was fearless in his denunciation of unrighteousness as a
contributing factor; but he was kind and forbearing in his pity for mankind for the plight into which the world had been plunged. On his mission as president, he was ably assisted by his wife, Ida B. Smith, who worked with him untiringly. After filling a most successful mission, Bro. Smith and family returned to America Sept. 15, 1916, and he immediate ly resumed his former labors in the Stakes of Zion and continued thus until he was stricken with his last sickness from the effects of which he died in the Latter-day Saints hospital. Salt Lake City, Jan. 23, 1918. His wife, Ida Bowman Smith, after giving birth to a son, died in Salt Lake City Sept. 24, 1918. The following was published in the "Deseret News" at the time of Apostle Smith's demise: "A great sorrow comes to this community, the Church as well as the State, in the death of Hyrum M. Smith, eldest son of President Joseph F. Smith, and himself an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was known and beloved throughout the length and breadth of the intermountain country, every part of which he has traversed as an earnest, vigorous, sincere and impressive preacher of righteousness, the uncompromising opponent of evil, a stalwart, worthy native son of Utah, and a patriotic citizen through and through. Few men have lived a purer life, few have so stoutly resisted from boyhood up the blandishments of the world that tempt from the path of rectitude, few could go to face their account with so little to regret or wish otherwise. And yet, to those who knew this excellent man, it would seem that few could be so ill-spared at this time, because there are so few to take his place. His loss will be most keenly felt, and he will be truly mourned. To his revered father, than whom no man ever loved his children more devotedly, this deep bereavement will be especially severe. His mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, his close associates and his host of acquaintances are plunged in a sorrow the measure of which will correspond to the degree of their intimacy with him. The finite mind gropes in vain for a reason why one so good and useful, so valiant and strong, one for whom life seemed to hold so much in store, should thus be torn away in the very prime and vigor of manhood. But though this mystery we may not explain, nor its purport comprehend, to the soul surcharged with grief there comes relief in the assurance that the great Father above will sanctify all sorrow to His children's good, and that He does all things well."
Jenson, Andrew. "Smith, Hyrum M." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 246, 318.
SMITH, Hyrum M., a member of the General Board of Y. M. M. I. A. from 1901 to 1918, died Jan. 23, 1918. (See Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 772, and Vol. 3, p. 779.)
SMITH, Hyrum M., president of the British Mission from 1913 to 1916. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 772, and Vol. 3, p. 779.)
SMITH, Hyrum M., a member of the General Board of Y. M. M. I. A. from 1901 to 1918, died Jan. 23, 1918. (See Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 772, and Vol. 3, p. 779.)
SMITH, Hyrum M., president of the British Mission from 1913 to 1916. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 772, and Vol. 3, p. 779.)
M. F. C. "Lives of Our Leaders: The Twelve Apostles - Hyrum M. Smith." Juvenile Instructor. 15 November 1901. pg. 672-674.
LIVES OF OUR LEADERS. THE TWELVE APOSTLES—HYRUM M. SMITH. HYRUM MACK SMITH was the first son of his parents—Joseph F. and Edna Lambson Smith—and was born on the 21st day of March, 1872, in Salt Lake City. He was very carefully guarded by his mother, who was loath to let him out of her sight, and who never permitted him or his brothers, that came after, to go beyond the confines of the garden gate alone. Long after he reached the age of hundreds of the boys—and girls too—that we now see playing in the streets until late at night, he was safely tucked into bed. His mother, a woman of strong character and great faith, often gathered her children, and many of the children of her neighbors, round the hearth stone and spent hours relating to her never-tiring listeners the stories of the Bible, Book of Mormon, and of the history of the restoration of the Gospel and early rise of the Church. The lives of Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, our Savior and His Apostles were vividly contrasted with those of Pharaoh, Saul, Judas, Herod and Nero. The great faith and obedience of Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Mormon and Moroni were clearly portrayed to be vastly better and more acceptable to the Lord than the doubt, wickedness and murderous apostasy of Laman, Lemuel, Sherem, Korihor and Gadianton. The visions of Joseph Smith, his trials and persecutions; the rise of the Church; the patient toilings of the Saints in building a city and temple to the Lord, only to be driven by a murderous mob of wicked men, beyond the boundaries of civilization, there to build another city and temple; the final cruel murder of the Prophet Joseph and his brother, “the grandfather of you children;" the destruction of and expulsion from their beautiful city of Nauvoo; the long, weary march across the desolate plains, and the halt upon the most desolate, forbidding spot of all, where their prophet leader, striking his cane into the parched soil exclaimed, “It is enough; this is the right place,” were all most vividly described and indelibly imprinted upon the minds of the little ones. All these things Hyrum eagerly drank in and pondered upon. His father, President Joseph F. Smith, would also gather round him his boys and teach them to shun evil, to be honest and truthful, associate with no bad companions, and with picture and narrative show them the results of doing right and wrong. Thus were Hyrum and the other children made the companions of their parents, friends unto whom they could go at all times, and pour out the in most secrets of their hearts in full confidence. He grew up, developing to a marked degree the boundless love and impartial affection which he had been accustomed to see his father and mother mete out to their children, and his father to his wives. Until he left the paternal roof of his parents he would be visited by that ever loving father who must still kiss him and tuck the covers snugly around him. Even today, whenever father and son meet, in the home, on the street, in the office, it matters not where, they meet with an affectionate and holy kiss. I have heard his wife banter him and say, “Hyrum is the biggest baby I ever saw; I believe he would die if he could not go home and see his mother every day.” He was taught to love his home, and there he could always be found when no duty called him away. He attended the public schools, and later the Latter-day Saints College, from which he graduated in June, 1894. On the 15th of November, 1895, he was married to Miss Ida Bowman, of Ogden, and on the evening of the next day he departed on a mission to Great Britain. Upon arriving at Liverpool he was appointed to labor in the Leeds Conference, where he engaged in regular missionary work. In October, 1896, he was called to preside over the Newcastle Conference, which position he held until he was honorably released to return home in February, 1898. Upon arriving home he was at once set apart as a home missionary. He also acted as assistant teacher and as corresponding secretary of the twenty-fourth quorum of Seventy. He was employed at Z. C. M. I., where he remained until October 30, 1901. When the Salt Lake Stake was divided he became a resident of Granite Stake. Here also he labored as a home missionary and later was called to act as stake secretary of the Sunday Schools, which office he filled to the satisfaction of the stake authorities. He was called by the quorum of Apostles to become one of that body, on October 24, 1901, and was ordained by his father on the same day. He is a young man who has striven to profit by the excellent teachings he has received from his parents. He gives his parents and the Lord the credit for enabling him to say that up to the present he has never tasted tea, coffee, tobacco nor intoxicating drinks of any kind. That he has never taken the name of God in vain, nor befouled his mouth with profanity. That he has never in his life spoken disrespectfully of his parents, but that he honors and loves them with all his soul. That he has always defended the principles of the Gospel and the servants of the Lord. That he has a testimony for himself that God lives, and that Joseph Smith was the Prophet through whom He restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days, and that he hopes, by the help of the Lord, to ever be found working diligently or battling, if need be, in defense of the truth. M. F. C. |
APOSTLE HYRUM M. SMITH.
|
"Elder Hyrum M. Smith." Improvement Era. September 1913. pg. 1145.
ELDER HYRUM M. SMITH As he appeared in 1895-8 when on his first mission to Great Britain. Elder Smith was born March 21, 1872, became a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, October 24, 1901, and was chosen to preside over the European Mission, August 14, 1913. |
Parry, Edwin F. "Elder Hyrum M. Smith." Juvenile Instructor. February 1918. pg. 62-64.
Elder Hyrum M. Smith By Edwin F. Parry Fourteen months ago Francis M. Lyman, president of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away ; and on the 23rd of January last the Church lost another staunch member of that same body of priesthood — Hyrum M. Smith. The loss of this useful man will be keenly felt. Earnest hopes were entertained for his continued service in the high office to which he was appointed, as he was in the prime of manhood when suddenly called to another sphere of activity. From his young manhood Elder Smith had rapidly developed in spiritual and intellectual strength, and he might indeed be regarded as a firm pillar of the Church. He was of sturdy character, pure in his life. He had a strong conviction of the truth of the gospel, and was fearless in advocating and defending its doctrines. Being taught and trained from his infancy in the principles of right living—of strict honesty, truthfulness and chastity, and having the will power to observe these parental teachings, he could not compromise with evils or wrong doing of any kind. Often he was severe in denouncing sin, but he had sympathy and consideration for the sinner. His heart was full of tenderness, kindness and love. He manifested many of the fine traits of his honored father and was a worthy son of noble parentage. As a worker he was industrious, thorough and conscientious in everything he undertook to do. Altogether he was a splendid model showing the products of "Mormonism"— the fruits of the teachings of the gospel of Christ. What the Lord said concerning the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph, might be applied to Hyrum M., the grandson of that noble martyr: "Blessed be my servant Hyrum Smith, for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me" (Doctrine and Covenants 124:15). The life of Hyrum M. Smith serves to prove that it is possible for boys to live good lives, to keep themselves free from the sins of the world, and yet enjoy all the wholesome pleasures of youth. To him life was enjoyed to the highest degree, for it is only those who pursue the proper course of conduct that get real satisfaction out of this earthy existence. Hyrum Mack Smith was the oldest son of President Joseph F. Smith and Edna Lambson Smith. He was born March 21, 1872, in Salt Lake City. He was fortunate in being reared amid ideal surroundings—not in a home of luxury, but in one of love, of harmony and industry. Nor was his home training left to chance. Together with his brothers and sisters he was nurtured under the strictest watchcare and loving kindness ; and the beneficial result of such training was manifest throughout his career. Tt was said of him that he never tasted tea, coffee, liquor, or tobacco, never profaned the name of Deity, and never was guilty of disrespect to his parents. The schooling he received was in his native city, and in 1894 he graduated from the Latter-day Saints High School. He was not afraid of manual labor, and was employed as a boy in the book-binding department of the Deseret News; later he worked for Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution. November 15, 1895, he married Miss Ida Bowman, a very estimable young lady who proved to be a worthy helpmeet to him, and their married life was ever happy and their home one of peace, love and devotion. The day following his marriage, Elder Smith started for a mission to Great Britain. For some nine months he labored as a traveling elder in the Leeds conference. He was then appointed president of the Newcastle conference. In this position he continued until his release to return home in February, 1898. Upon his return home he became active in the quorum of Seventy to which he belonged, in the Mutual Improvement Association and as a home missionary. On October 24, 1901, he was called to the apostleship, and was ordained by his father. In this calling his labors were extended to all the stakes 01 Zion. On September 18, 1913, he left for his second mission abroad, this time to take charge of the Church work in Europe. In this important position he labored with success for three years. Upon this mission he was assisted by his wife, whose work with the Relief Societies of the mission met with wide recognition. In secular affairs Elder Smith was a director of Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, and the Utah State National Bank, also chairman of the board of control of the Deseret Gymnasium. Brother Smith's family consists of his wife and four children—one son and three daughters. Beautiful and imposing funeral services for Elder Smith were held in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on Sunday, January 27, 1918, upon which occasion the vast building was filled to overflowing with sympathizing relatives and friends. |
"Hyrum Mack Smith." Improvement Era. March 1918. pg. 377-378.
HYRUM MACK SMITH Hyrum Mack Smith, eldest son of President Joseph F. Smith and his wife> Edna Lambson Smith, was born in Salt Lake City, March 21, 1872. In his youth he was carefully reared under the watchcare and love of his father and mother, which extended also into his manhood. He grew up a man of honor, unblemished and pure, a typical product of his father's home where ideals of honor are uppermost. He received his education in the public schools of Salt Lake City, and the Latter-day Saints University from .which he graduated in the class of 1894. As a student he was keen and active, a favorite among his classmates and friends. He married Miss Ida Bowman, of Ogden, November 15, 1895, and on the evening of the next day departed for his first mission to Great Britain, laboring there as an ordinary elder in the Leeds conference. In October, 1896, he was set apart to preside over the New Castle conference which position he filled with honor until released to return home in February, 1898. At home he became an active missionary in the Salt Lake stake where his talents and energy were recognized by those who watched his progress. He was called to fill various Church positions in all of which, including his quorum activities, he was zealous and faithful. On the division of the Salt Lake stake he became a resident of that part known as the Granite stake where he continued his active missionary and quorum labors. He became the first stake Sunday School secretary of the Granite stake. In temporal affairs he developed marked ability, and was for a time connected with Z. C. M. I. and in later life with a number of leading business concerns. On October 24, 1901, he was ordained an apostle by President Joseph F. Smith, he having been chosen a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, being recognized by them as a man fit in every way for that responsible position. At the time of his death he stood fourth in point of seniority in the Council as then organized, President Heber J. Grant, Elders Rudger Clawson and Reed Smoot being his seniors. On September 18, 1913, he was called to succeed Elder Rudger Clawson as President of the European Mission and was in Germany on a missionary tour, at the time of the outbreak of the war. He met with signal success in calling in the missionaries, arranging their movements, and modifying their work according to the war situation. Returning home on September 15, 1916, he continued his work with renewed energy and enthusiasm, added power and comprehensiveness, and his utterances from the pulpit and in conversation were keen disquisitions on the doctrines of the gospel, the work of the Loid, as well as upon the great war. On his mission his wife aided him ably and untiringly. His middle name, Mack, was a family name given him by his father in honor of Lucy Mack Smith, who was the mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the Patriarch Hyrum Smith who was President Joseph F. Smith's father. Hyrum M. Smith was a strict observer of the word of wisdom, never having tasted tea, coffee, tobacco or strong drinks. In every way, he not only lived in harmony with the principles of truth, but was one of the strongest teachers of the gospel among his brethren. He often reproved with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, but afterwards, in conformity with the word of God, showed forth an increase of love toward him or them whom he bad reproved, lest they might deem him an enemy. On earth he was a teacher of righteousness, an advocate of justice, and an exemplar of purity. In the world to come, glory, immortality and eternal life are his. |
HYRUM MACK SMITH
Bom, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 21, 1872; ordained an Apostle, October 24, 1901; died, January 23, 1918. |
"In Memoriam." Improvement Era. March 1918. pg. 379-396.
In Memoriam
Hyrum Mack Smith, an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
With the pulpits of the great Tabernacle covered in beautiful flowers, with every seat in the vast building occupied by representative men and women, not only from in and around Salt Lake City, but from many distant parts of the Church, the funeral services for Elder Hyrum M. Smith, of the Council of Twelve Apostles, were held on Sunday, January 27, 1918, at 1 o'clock p. m.
It was a remarkably memorable occasion in which the outpourings of love and sympathy for the bereaved were freely given, the Holy Spirit was keenly felt and enjoyed, and just praise for the departed freely expressed from every heart. The keen grief of President Joseph F. Smith, and .the mother of Hyrum, Mrs. Edna Lambson Smith, and Hyrum's wife and children, must have been sweetly assuaged by the love, sympathy, and homage paid to them, and to their beloved son, husband, and father, by the speakers, the vast congregation, and by letters and telegrams of condolence from all parts of the Church.
Church officials, including presidents of stakes, bishops, and heads of the auxiliary and temple organizations were seated in bodies, in regular order.
The floral tributes were exquisite in beauty and arrangement, shedding a rich fragrance throughout the great building.
Members of the Council of the Twelve, led by President Heber J. Grant, acted as pallbearers. As they entered with the casket at the north door, the congregation arose to their feet and remained standing until the family were seated in front of the flower-bedecked pulpits at the foot of which the casket was placed in the midst of a wilderness of bloom.
President Anthon H. Lund presided over the services, announcing the opening hymn, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," which was sung by the Tabernacle choir.
Bishop Jacob Mauss, of Waterloo, of whose ward Elder Hyrum M. Smith was a member, offered the prayer, a humble and fervent appeal to the Lord to bless and comfort, in their grief, the parents, wife and family of the departed.
The choir sang the hymn, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." Then followed the announcement, by President Lund, of the speakers whose eulogies of the departed and whose doctrinal sermons of comfort are given herewith in full:
President Heber J. Grant
I earnestly desire the benefit of the faith and prayers of the evidence, that I may be able to say something encouraging and comforting to those who mourn upon this sad occasion. I rejoice in knowing that my Redeemer lives. I rejoice in the knowledge that our brother, whose body lies before us, had a perfect knowledge of the divinity of the mission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I rejoice in knowing that there were none of the principles of life and salvation but what he received with all his heart, and that each and all of the wonderful and marvelous blessings, which are beyond the language of man to fully tell, which will come to those who have a knowledge of the Savior and who live the gospel of Jesus Christ, will come to our beloved brother. I rejoice in a knowledge that he has gained the highest of all the blessings that God can give to man, namely, life eternal in the presence of our Father, and our Redeemer, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the faithful ones who have died before. I know of none of the brethren, with whom I have been associated, who had a more perfect and absolute knowledge of the Gospel, or who took more real pleasure in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know of no one who was more faithful in the calling that came to him as a special witness of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, than was Brother Hyrum M. Smith. It has fallen to my lot, in connection with the other members of his quorum, to travel with him and to listen to his inspired words in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Saints, and I have been able to remark to my family and to others, that in all my travels, week after week, no man of our quorum has ever fed me the bread of life, touched my heart, and caused me to rejoice more in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that you and I have espoused, than did our dearly beloved brother whose remains lie before us today. His death comes as a great shock to each and every member of the Council to which he belonged. Such a thing as his being called from us, in his young manhood, had never entered our hearts. We had never thought of anything of this kind. In our thoughts we had builded for him a future of great labor in this Church, and this had given us almost perfect faith that his life would be preserved to the people for many years yet to come.
I pray, with all the power that I possess, that God will comfort and bless and strengthen his father, his mother, his wife and all of his family, and all who mourn upon this occasion. If you and I can be as faithful, as loyal, as true, from day to day, and as diligent and willing to labor, as our brother has been, then our future happiness and salvation in this life and in the life to come will be assured. That God may help us to so live that when the battle of life is o'er, we shall be permitted to meet Brother Hyrum in our Father's kingdom, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Orson F. Whitney
I have no words for this occasion. My heart is too full. Speech seems almost like a desecration. I feel like one who is wandering in a painful dream and who thinks he will soon awaken. I wish I could. I was not prepared for the sad event that has robbed us, for a time, of the society of our dear brother, Hyrum M. Smith. I loved this man. He was my friend, and I was his friend; and we are still friends.
I am glad that I could be one of those who were with him almost in his last hours. I was with him and his brother, Joseph F., Jr., on Friday, five days before his death. We were associated in committee work; and as Hyrum arose to depart, he complained of a slight pain in the abdomen. But in his genial way he passed it off with a half jocular remark and proceeded homeward. That was the last I saw or heard of him until early Sunday morning, when, with Elder James E. Talmage, I was summoned to his bedside. It was about one o'clock, and the message that came stated that Brother Hyrum was seriously ill. We were the only members of the Council of the Twelve then available; the others being engaged elsewhere. We hastened to his home, and found him suffering very intensely. We administered to him repeatedly the healing ordinance of the Church, and he became easier and finally slept. We remained with him until morning. As soon as practicable he was taken to the hospital to undergo an operation, and after I had a little rest I went to the hospital for the purpose of blessing him again, but he had just been taken to the operating room and was even then under the influence of the anesthetic. I returned in the evening and gave him my blessing, administering in conjunction with Elder Joseph F. Smith, Jr. After Sunday night it was not deemed wise to admit anyone to the sick room. Consequently that was the last I saw of Hyrum until I looked upon his lifeless form this morning.
I have known him for many years, first as a lad, or stripling, a newly fledged elder of the Church. It was in the chapel of the Eighteenth ward, when I was bishop there, that he made his "maiden speech" as a home missionary. I remember receiving a note from his father, President Smith, on that occasion, asking me to take a kindly interest in his "little boy" who was about to make his first address in that capacity. I was glad to give him all the encouragement I could. After that I lost track of him for a time. He went to foreign lands on a mission. Our paths were apart, and I did not know him intimately until I was called into the Council of the Twelve, in April, 1906, he being already a member of that body. We soon became acquainted and learned to love each other. There was a bond of genuine affection between us. We traveled and preached together; conversed and read and served on committees together; and in various ways were quite companionable.
One thing that drew me to Hyrum was the keen sense of humor that he possessed. He was anything but frivolous and light-minded. On the contrary, he was generally serious, and at times severe. Such was his hatred of vice and wrong-doing, that he could not look upon it with the least degree of allowance, and he was unsparing in his denunciation of evil in every form; but he had a kind and noble heart and was not lacking in charity and brotherly love. There was a rich vein of humor in him. He could unbend—could see the funny side of things, and enjoy a good laugh, a good joke, a good story; but those jokes and stories had to be clean and wholesome, or he would not countenance them. For he had a pure heart, a clean mind, and a lovable disposition. I thank God that he found in me something congenial and companionable. He always said just what he thought and felt, and was frank and fearless in expressing himself. Ever respectful to authority, but never a sycophant, he was fast developing into a great man, and I looked for big things in his future.
To most of his friends his death will come as a shock. It will be considered an untimely end, and is so from our human viewpoint. But we are hardly qualified, with our present knowledge, to pass judgment upon such matters. We must leave them in the hands of Him who doeth all things well. The length or brevity of a man's life is not always to be determined by the number of years he passes in mortality.
"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
So said an English poet. Judged by this standard, Hyrum M. Smith, stricken down in his prime, had lived a long life; for his thoughts, his feelings and his acts were noble. There are some natures that are capable of living longer than others in the same period of time. It was remarked, I believe, by President Brigham Young, at the funeral of Jedediah M. Grant, his counselor, away back in the fifties, that Brother Grant, with his sensitive nature, his capacity for feeling, his great receptivity, his comprehension of the principles of truth and righteousness and his congeniality therewith—could live in ten years a longer life than other men could in twenty or fifty years. Perhaps Hyrum M. Smith was that kind of a man. I believe he was. I believe he has experienced more in his forty-six years of mortal life, than many another man now tottering on the brink of the grave, up among the seventies or eighties. Why he was taken, and why others remain, is a question we must leave in the hands of God.
This thing called death—what is it? Charles Frohman, standing on the deck of the doomed Lusitania, just before she plunged into ocean depths, remarked: "Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life." This from the lips of a man born and bred in the atmosphere of the theatre, the Temple of Thespis, the playhouse! Surely a people dwelling in the shadow of God's Temple, worshiping Jehovah, possessing the fulness of the gospel, wielding the powers of the eternal Priesthood and living in the light of divine revelation, which turns conjecture and surmising into absolute certainty and perfect confidence—surely they, of all people, are capable of reasonable, resigned, beautiful and sublime views of life and death. No people that I know of are so well qualified as the Latter-day Saints to solve the mysteries of past, present and future. We are followers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, who proclaimed Himself sent forth from God, and declared that he would return to his Father after he had completed his work below. We follow him. He is our model. We are here to do his will, to do the things that we were sent to do, and then—go home; school being out, the mission ended, and an honorable release having been earned.
I shall leave doctrinal themes to those who follow me. I have spoken long enough. I feel for President Smith; God bless him! I feel for Hyrum's wife; God bless her! And for his mother, and his children, and all his kindred and friends. With a heart full of sympathy and love for him and them, I invoke "the peace that passeth understanding" to descend like the dews of heaven upon their sorrowing souls. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder James E. Talmage
This is to me a most solemn and hallowed hour. I, too, loved our brother. I have watched him develop from the time he was a student of mine. I have rejoiced in his success in godliness and in the blessing his life has proved to the people of the Church; and I feel at this moment as I think I have never before so intensely felt that, after all, funeral services are not held for those who go but for us who are left. We could not change his status or his record, if we would, and so far as I know him and of him I would have no desire to change it. I only hope my own may approach his in devotion, in fearlessness in proclaiming the gospel as a practical thing and not a mere theory to please the mind.
He has gone. Elders are needed on the other side, and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ are wanted there. Although I do not bring myself to the thought that lives are cut short, and men and women taken in their prime, or youths on the threshold of maturity, because there is a dearth of men and women beyond, yet I read of the Lord Jesus Christ going, as soon as his spirit left his pierced and tortured body on the cross, to minister unto the spirits on the other side. Just as He inaugurated the missionary service that shall lead men into the path of salvation, upon the earth, and then left his ordained servants to carry on the work which He had begun, so in the spirit world those who have died, bearing the Holy Priesthood, and worthy thereof, are following in the footsteps of the great Master in preaching the gospel and declaring the message of salvation to the disembodied. I cannot think of Hyrum M. Smith as being otherwise employed. I cannot conceive of him as being idle. I cannot think of him having no regard for those among whom he is called to associate. And where is he now? So far as the revealed word of God has made the condition of the departed known to us, in ever so small degree, we are justified in concluding that he has gone to join the apostles who departed before him, to share with them in the work of declaring the glad message of redemption and salvation unto those who for lick of opportunity, or through neglect, failed to avail themselves of those wondrous and transcendent blessings upon the earth. I do not sympathize with him, because I know that with him all is well; but my heart goes out to those who are nearest and dearest to him and who will feel, as others cannot feel, the loss. For while his father has not lost his son, while his mother should not feel that she has lost him, nor his wife that she has lost a husband, nor the children that they have lost a father, they have lost his association and the blessing of his presence, for a time, because he has gone ahead of them.
With all our assurances concerning the blessing that comes through advancement which can be made under existing conditions only through the portals of death, I feel that it would be a sad reflection upon us if we steeled our hearts and did not mourn for the loss of the presence and companionship of those who go. The Lord has made plain the fact that the tears shed under such bereavement as this are sacred in his eyes. He has commanded us that we shall have regard for those who go and that we weep for them because they are not longer with us. Therefore, let us not be ashamed of emotion and tears on such an occasion as this, but let our tears be those of resignation and acknowledgment of the hand of God, in the assurance that he will bring good out of even this great trouble and burden.
All Israel mourns today, and rightly so, for one of the presiding servants of the Lord placed to minister among the people has been taken from us in the very prime of his service. I find comfort in the assurance given of God that all is well with those who pass away, after all that he has directed be done has been done.
On Wednesday evening last, with some of my brethren and his, I took part in administration and prayer. I have acknowledged and confessed to some of those to whom we are most nearly related in service, that I struggled, with all my power, to make my desire develop into assurance, and to feel that he would be raised up; but I did not feel it. On the contrary, there came into my heart the conviction that he was about to leave and that all was well. As I pondered and prayed there came to my mind, with comfort and assurance, the utterance of the Lord himself that after the ordinances of the Church have been duly administered unto those who are afflicted and who seem near unto death, "if they die, they die unto me, saith the Lord;" and in such wise our brother has passed.
May the peace that God alone can give dwell in the household that still is his, and be in the hearts of children and wife, of mother and father, of brothers and sisters, and, since we all claimed him, may that peace be in the hearts of all of us, to our betterment and to the glory of God, I humbly ask in the Mastor's name. Amen.
Elder Frank Y. Taylor, President of the Granite Stake of Zion
I pray, my brethren and sisters, that the same good spirit may accompany my remarks that has characterized the remarks of my brethren. With you all, I feel and have felt very keenly the separation from my friend and brother, Hyrum M. Smith. I have loved him ever since I first knew him, as a boy. It was Friday, I think, that I was crossing over the city street. Being on the opposite side, he hurriedly walked over and met me. He took me by the hand, passed the time of day, and said some very tender and kind things to me. He walked with me across the road again and down the street, still holding my hand. I could not comprehend why he was so solicitous of me on that occasion, but as soon as I heard of his sickness and operation, a cold chill came over me, and I felt in my soul that he was bidding me good-bye on the street that day. Like Brother Talmage, I felt much concerned, did not have the faith that I ought to have had, and I felt uneasy all the time he was in the hospital.
I have known Brother Hyrum intimately for many years. We have been neighbors, and as a neighbor I have known him best. I would like to speak of this phase of his life. We have been in the mountains together, fishing and hunting. I have had the pleasure of entertaining him, numerous times, at our little place in the mountains, and there is where f knew him best. We got closer together on occasions of that kind. We have slept in the same bed. We have told one another our secrets, our ambitions, and our hopes. I want to say to this congregation—you already know it—that I never knew a cleaner, sweeter, more wholesome man than Hyrum M. Smith. I never knew him to indulge in a frivolity that was unbecoming to his place and position in the Church and as a father in Israel. I never knew a more devoted couple than he and his wife. There were perfect love and union and harmony existing in his home. We were frequently invited there, and it was a great pleasure to me to witness his splendid example as a father and as a husband. How he loved his wife, and how tender, courteous and kind he was, and what deference he always showed her! It seemed to me that he was anxious, all the time, to be doing something that would give pleasure to his loved ones.
We shall miss him, down in our stake. He lived in our midst, and he was a splendid, good example in our community. Personally I feel that I have indeed lost, for the present—I will not say that I have lost him altogether—a very dear friend; because we were close personal friends. It was always a pleasure to me to meet him and take him by the hand. There was something so sincere and real about him—nothing put on. I don't think that Brother Hyrum could dissemble to anybody. He was a fearless defender of the truth. He upheld it both in example and in precept. He loved the work of the Lord, and he loved those who love the cause of truth in the earth. He did not seem to have patience with those who were sinning and doing that which is wrong, but he was anxious for their uplift and for them to repent and to do better, to do good. We shall miss him exceedingly, and I am sure all Israel will miss the presence of this staunch defender of the work of the Lord; but our heavenly Father's work on the other side will be a gainer by it.
I have been thinking in my mind why it was necessary that this splendid, good boy should be taken from our midst and go to the other side. Yet, we are all here for an experience, for an education; and I have seen men, in my life, who, it seemed to me, had graduated, so to speak, from this stage of existence and who were prepared for the work on the other side. I am sure of this, that there is no one of my acquaintances who is better prepared to go into the presence of the Lord our God than this man. I believe that he has graduated; I believe he has attained the knowledge and experience required of him, and he has gone to continue his work in the presence of the Lord our God.
I feel keenly for his wife and the children, for his father and mother, and the boys and the girls. Whenever I come to an occasion of this kind I know their aching hearts, their sorrow, and the grief that is upon them, and I always feel, 0, I would to the Lord that I had the power to comfort them, and to bless them, and to heal up their wounds! I do know this, however, that our Father in heaven is able to comfort and to bestow his peace, and I am sure he will do so on this occasion. That he will bless and comfort President Smith and the mother, the wife, and the children, and I pray that the blessings of our heavenly Father may rest down upon all the kindred and friends, and that His comfort and peace may come to all the people in the Church, because we all mourn today! I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The choir sang, "What Voice Salutes the Startled Ear?" solo sung by Miss Edna Gotberg.
Bishop Charles W. Nibley
This splendid outpouring of the multitudes of Latter-day Saints, and our friends also who are not members of our Church, is a great testimonial to the life and character of our departed brother. The people in this congregation are not here merely for a show of respect, but they are here with love in their hearts, with sympathy in their souls, with affection deep and strong for the family of Elder Hyrum M. Smith, for President Smith and for the entire family. I know this—and I know that you feel it is true, and never have I known on any occasion of this kind, and never have I felt more strongly, at a funeral of one of our leaders, this feeling of love, of reverence and sympathy which we experience here today and which is felt everywhere today, among the Latter-day Saints, throughout the Church ; for they know, as we all know, that a mighty man has fallen in Israel. As President Grant has said, most of the people could see a great future for Hyrum; he was so humble withal, so earnest, so devoted that everyone who had the honor and pleasure of his acquaintance knew what manner of man he was. O, how much I sorrow for his departure, and yet when I look around, even on this stand where there are men who are surely among the best of all Israel, I can see no one more fit and seasoned and ready to go to the presence of his Maker than was Elder Hyrum M. Smith. Yet the parting is sad; we take it as a great affliction; but it may be counted for good.
I have known Hyrum from his very childhood. I have lived in the home with his family. Not many men, few indeed, they who have had the privilege of being reared in a family like this—a large family. Not many men had as many' mothers, so to speak, as he had the privilege of having; for he scarcely knew the difference, as he grew up, between his own mother and Aunt Julina, or Aunt Sarah, and the others, the wives of President Smith. It is a united family, and every member is a worker. I have seen Hyrum, and those who know him have seen him as soon as he got home, where there was work to do in his garden or around his place, his overalls and jumper went on, and he was hard at work, doing manual labor. He loved to work; he was not an idler—he was a worker; and so you will find it with every member of this large family ; for, let it be said to the credit of President Smith and the family, every one of these boys and girls, too, are workers. They work in the Church; they work in the fields, and on the farm. Such a family, their like cannot be found! Hyrum's home life was ideal—a model to us all. No one of all my acquaintance can touch it, in its perfection, in its love, in its beauty and grandeur. In all things, I believe, so far as I know, he was acceptable to God. He was a brave man, if the occasion arose and his Church was assailed, or his father was assailed; and he has proved it, too,—he was ready, with the strength of his right arm, to make good what he stood for. No slanderer could treat him or his loved ones in that kind of a way! So he was a man of courage, a valiant man, a true man in every sense. I have loved him more than a brother. Happy the father who can claim such a son—not sorrowful. Happy the mother who bore and reared such a son as this. Happy the wife who can say: This was my husband—a model, the paragon of all. Happy the children who can claim him for a father. "He was a man, take him for all in all. We shall not look upon his like again." Amen.
Elder Richard R. Lyman
My place this afternoon is really not here among the speakers. I belong among the mourners. It is now almost thirty years since the mother of this excellent young man shed tears with me at the grave of my dear mother. His mother and mine spent their childhood and practically all of their lives in the most intimate kind of friendship. They were bare-foot girls together, west of the Jordan. In this community, in those pioneer days, there was in every heart love, in every home poverty, and in every life pleasure. Those who thus lived formed a love for one another that will last forever. This is why I belong among the mourners.
We have lying before us this afternoon, a worthy son of a noble and illustrious sire—a worthy grandson of a noble and martyred grand-sire. This man, for his conviction, for his Church, for what he believed to be the right, "could have gone to the stake without the quiver of an eyelash." Death came because of the continued fortitude and resistance to pain put forth by his iron will. Because of the steel that was in his makeup, he resisted until it was too late.
Nor was his strong nature his most prominent characteristic. He was a hand of steel with a glove of velvet. Like his distinguished father, this young man "in every storm of life was oak and rock, but in the sunshine, he was vine and flower." His father possesses what is perhaps a matchless tenderness and chivalry for children and for women. My father, President Smith's life-long and intimate associate, has said: "No child — not even a waif in a foreign land—ever uttered a cry of distress, or a cry of sorrow, in vain, if that cry reached the ear of Joseph F. Smith."
From President Joseph F. Smith, I think no woman—no child, has ever received an unkind look or an unkind word. He is chivalry itself in its highest form. Find his equal in this respect, if you can, in any church, in any country, in any clime.
Like his father, Hyrum M. Smith had a tender, loving, gentle nature, which well nigh reached perfection in his home life. To his wife and children he was affectionately devoted. Than he and his wife, perhaps no two ever loved each other more. There was no labor he would not perform, no sacrifice he would not make, for her sake. His greatest pleasure was giving joy to her and to their children.
To Hyrum M. Smith, his wife was a living, a perpetual support and inspiration. It is said of him that during the recent trip of the President's party through the south, Hyrum spoke almost as human tongue was never known to speak. Much of his inspiration came from that devoted wife who sat before him.
"This is the sixth out of my ten children I have followed to the grave," said this man's mother; "but," she continued, "I propose to hold on to the tree of life. God's will, not mine, be done." Blessed, indeed, the person who possesses such a faith. May it be in the hearts of all these kindred, now.
Hyrum M. Smith lived in strict conformity with his own highest ideals, and in perfect accord with the teachings, the desires, and the wishes of his distinguished father.
"By their fruits," the scriptures say, "ye shall know them." This man, with his exemplary life, is a product of the "Mormon" Church. The lives of the other members of his father's family are much like his. Measured by the world's highest Christian standards these lives are near perfection. If these are samples of the products of the "Mormon" Church, I am proud today to be one of its members.
It is the spirit of the "Mormon" Pioneers and the "Mormon" Church.—the inspiration of the Great Master—that perfected this man's life. Let those who are interested in the purity and the perfection of home life examine this example. And when they have discovered all its beauty, all its purity, and all its joy, may they be fair enough and frank enough to acknowledge concerning the lives of the Latter-day Saints, that they have been mistaken as were those of old who said, "Can any thing good come out of Nazareth?"
President Charles W. Penrose
This opportunity afforded me is both a privilege and a task. I appreciate very much the opportunity of saying a few words on this occasion but feel my inability to say that which is in my heart. We have heard many very fine things today, during these services. All have been fitly spoken ; all are expressive of the feelings of those who have addressed us, and they, in a small degree, depict the noble character and efficient services and glorious future of our dear departed brother, Hyrum M. Smith. One of the poetic writers of the Bible likened words fitly spoken to apples of gold in pictures of silver. Surely we have had a display today and a great feast of fine things which should comfort our hearts, gladden our souls, and enable us to appreciate the fact that all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things; not that he, our Eternal Father, is personally engaged in taking away our dear ones from us, but that in his providence all these things occur. The eternal laws of the universe are his laws, and those effects that come from natural causes are inevitable and in accordance with the things that are eternal. President Joseph F. Smith appreciates, as I hope we all do, the words that have been spoken this day in regard to the life and character of his departed son. He is thankful for them, also; for all the good things that have been said for his comfort and consolation, which have come by letter and by telegraph and by telephone and by personal visitations from numerous friends. For all these expressions our beloved President is grateful today and desires to convey this to the people, that they may know he does appreciate their efforts for his consolation.
One of the gems of scripture and of that glorious Sermon on the Mount, as it is called, among the utterances of Jesus, our Redeemer, is the saying, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." That seems a strange expression to use; that those who mourn are blessed; but we shall find in our experience hereafter, if we do not now, that the saying is exactly correct. It is a blessing for people to have cause to mourn. If there was no mourning in our hearts our education on this globe would not be complete. If our sympathies were not drawn out through the affliction of others we should not be properly developed. We have in us, as the children of the Most High, those glorious but undeveloped attributes which shine forth in their perfection in the personality of Deity. We are the children of our God, and that we might walk in his footsteps and arrive at a fit condition to dwell in his presence and enjoy his immediate society, it is necessary that every faculty and attribute which we have inherited from him shall receive development; and those things that are called the laws of life, the sufferings in mortality, those things that are needful to develop us, come to us as blessings. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted;" and how shall they be comforted? How can we be comforted today, when we think of the life and character of our brother who has gone, and what we anticipated for him in our narrow conceptions of the lives of men? When we think that he is taken from our midst, and that those with whom he was immediately associated in the family capacity are bowed down in sorrow because of his absence, the question naturally arises, how shall those who mourn be comforted? There are a great many things that might be said in that line, if there were time. I do not wish to detain this great congregation too long—a congregation that is representative today of the hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints who mourn with us the departure of our beloved brother, who know about his labors in their midst, who have known of his labors abroad as well as his labors at home, and of the splendid example that he has set to them, in the family capacity, in vigorous manhood, in individual characteristics of a true elder in Israel, an apostle of Jesus Christ, a servant of the Most High God. We come here today and represent all those masses of members of this Church who mourn the departure of our brother.
There are a great many things which are very comforting to us because of that knowledge which has come to us, and has been mentioned by some of the speakers today. In the first place, we know from the revelations of God to us, to say nothing of the ancient scriptures which have been handed down to us — the Holy Bible, the Old and the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations that came to the ancients, but we know today, by the revelations of God in our own time, that all does not end with death; that all did not have a beginning with our birth; that we lived before; that we shall live after, and that this is but an episode in our great everlasting existence. The spirit of man is the offspring of God. It came from above. The body of man is formed out of the earthly elements; it came from beneath. The spirit and body joined together, inseparably, can obtain a fulness of joy; but when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. It takes the body through which pleasure, joy, power, dominion and increase shall come to the individual, from material things as we call them; and it takes the immortal spirit of man to receive from above the rich treasures of knowledge and wisdom and light and intelligence which will develop us into the full measure of the status of Deity. From the heights above and the depths below, when the spirit of man and the body of man are joined together, inseparably, as they will be, as we have learned, we can receive from all parts of God's great universe, from every element, from every source, everything that there is to develop and make great and mighty and glorious the sons and daughters of the living God.
God has revealed that to us. He has also revealed to us the eternity of all the elements, spiritual and physical, the elements that compose the body, drawn from the earth and the air and the materials around us—all these elements are eternal, without beginning and without end. The organization began at birth and, for the time being, it appears to have ended when death comes; but the elementary particles never had any commencement, and they will never perish. Fire cannot burn them; water cannot drown them. They may be scattered to the four winds, but they remain, for they are eternal. That being the case they can, by the great organizing power of Deity, be brought together again. They can be separated but still abide and continue in their elementary condition. This is the beginning of the philosophy of the resurrection, which our dear brother whose remains lie here believed in with all his heart. He had the testimony that when death comes it merely separates the spirit and the body; that all the essential elements to perfection in the worlds to come, in worlds without end, are in the human being, and they can be brought together again upon natural, eternal principles, to endure forever in their reorganized condition and state. Christ is the magnet of the resurrection. He died and lived again. As he died and lived again, so can all persons who are in him and upon whom he exercises the power God gave him, all power on earth and in the heavens, as he proclaimed when he returned and manifested himself to his disciples. Life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel. They always existed, but they were brought clearly to light in the personality and life and atonement and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth who died on the cross, who is our great Comforter. Comfort comes to us when we mourn, if we know these simple facts that I have been briefly speaking upon; if we know that we are eternal beings and that the intelligent spirit that dwells in the body is not mortal; that it came from God; that it will go back to God; that it is capable of endless development, everlasting progress, worlds without end. With this knowledge we are comforted when we see the form of our dear one, young or old as the case may be, lie before us in death.
Hyrum M. Smith still lives, that brave spirit who has been spoken of this morning. All the good things said concerning him I bear testimony to. That bright spirit has gone from the body with all the experience gained while in mortality, with all the experiences gained in the sphere before he came here, and he will have other experiences in the Paradise of God to which he has gone, to associate with his kind, his class, his quorum, his proper associates. Greater experiences still will come to him. He will be prepared, in the morning of the resurrection day, when "the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in his wings," to come forth and inherit the glory, power and dominion promised to him and sealed upon his head in the ordinances of the House of God. Not only that, but here are the family to which he belongs. Here is his noble father, whom we all love and revere, whom we regard with such veneration that we could not express it in words. He stands at the head of his household. He knows as well as anybody knows that he has not lost a son. He has gone away, but he will come back again. His body will be placed in the ground, but the substantial, necessary, fundamental elements to the perfection of that body can be and will be called together in the resurrection of the just, and he will stand up again upon his feet to inherit the glory of the Redeemer's kingdom. He knows that, and he is comforted with that assurance. Not only that, but Brother Hyrum had and has a loving wife, as we have heard. I testify to the truth of all that has been said concerning her as well as him. She is his. She understands it. She has been sealed to him by a sacred and holy ordinance, for time and for all eternity, an everlasting bond that shall not be broken, that cannot be broken except through transgression. And the offspring of that union belong to them, and they will come forth in their place. This family, disrupted for the present, will be reunited, and it will endure, increase and multiply forever and ever, worlds without end; and in that there is comfort and joy. She knows that she will receive her husband to her bosom again. The father and the mother of that good son know that they will meet with him again; they have no doubt about it. The gospel has brought that to light.
Life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel, in the latter days, by the revelations of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith. These things are comforting to us; and we, his brethren, with whom he labored in council, wherein he showed forth capabilities that made us believe there was a wonderful future for him in this life, we who have associated with him in council, who have traveled with him throughout the various stakes of Zion, who have known of his work, who have with him sat in committees where work is done that the public generally know very little about; in that hard mental work in those committees we have met with him, and we know of his qualifications, his patience, his faith, his endurance, his promptitude, his punctuality, and the fearlessness with which he was always ready to express his views and opinions, and yet, at the same time, willing to coincide with his brethren if he found he was mistaken. He was a noble character, a great man, and we look for a development of that kind of men in time to come, that I need not talk about here today.
But he has gone from our midst. Is he dead? Not in the full sense of the term. He is dead because the body and the spirit have separated. "As the body without the spirit is dead," James the apostle said, "so faith without works is dead." Yes, the dead body is there; but the elements that belong to it, that have had experience in their intercourse and association, that are fundamental to the body and do not pass away with the outlets that there are to the human system, they belong to one another. They belong to him; they are his; and he will have power to come back, as the Savior did, and receive that body, quickened by the Spirit of God and glorified by the power of God. So in these things there is comfort. Comfort comes to those who mourn. Shall those that mourn today be comforted with these? Yes, and many other things that I have not time to talk about. I know that they believe in them with all their hearts. It is not a mere theory; it is not an idle dream. The convictions of it are stamped upon their souls by the revelations of the Spirit of God to them individually. God bless this family. I know that he will. I know that he will sustain and comfort our dear brother who presides over the Church, and the mother of this boy that has gone. She will be comforted, because she understands these things; and that dear wife of his, who has been so great a comfort and a strength to him, at home and abroad. She knows it too; and the children, as their minds develop, will come to an understanding of these things. So those who mourn shall indeed be comforted.
I bear testimony to all the good things that have been said this morning, concerning Brother Hyrum M. Smith. I hope to meet him; I believe that I shall, and that we will enjoy each others' society again. We sometimes sing in one of our funeral hymns—"Not dead but sleepeth. Amen." It is one of the most beautiful we have in the collection of hymns. Well, in the true sense of the term he is not dead, and he is not sleeping. These mortal remains sleep, and they shall sleep in peace—the peace of God be upon them—but Hyrum is not sleeping; he could not be. He will be active; he will be at work. He will carry with him, as I have said, into the world where he has gone, all those great qualities exhibited here in mortality, and all the knowledge that he has accumulated, all the experience he has had, and all those good characteristics that have been talked about today. They go with him; they are part of him; they will be exercised in the world to which he has gone, to aid in the great work of redemption of the whole human race, under the direction of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
May this conviction be in the hearts of my dear friends. God bless them, every one, and all Israel. Let all the people be comforted who have lost their dear ones for a time. They live; they are not sleeping. Their bodies slumber in the dust, but even they shall be awakened in the glorious resurrection day and come forth, and then shall the broken families be reunited; for they belong to one another, through the ordinances of God's House, and there is a future for them all, never-ending, ever increasing, in life, in glory, in power, in dominion and extension. God is over all. He directs all things according to his will; and all that occur in our history, while we dwell on the earth, will eventually contribute to our greatness and glory and our happiness and joy in the presence of our Eternal Father. May God bless the family and all who are bereaved, and help us emulate the good works of our dear brother, and may we all have the joy of meeting him in the world to come, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
President Anthon H. Lund
In behalf of President Joseph F. Smith and the family, I desire to thank this great assemblage for this mark of their sympathy and love for our departed friend and brother, Hyrum M. Smith; also the speakers who have given us so many comforting words, and have spoken concerning the splendid character of this our brother. We thank them; and I can bear testimony to the truth of all they have said. We also thank the Choir for the beautiful singing, and those who have taken part in arranging the details of this funeral—the bishopric and the committees.
The choir sang, "O My Father," and benediction was pronounced by Elder A. W. Ivins.
At the cemetery the Ariel quartet sang, "Rest on the Hillside, Rest," and the grave was dedicated by Elder George Albert Smith.
In Memoriam
Hyrum Mack Smith, an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
With the pulpits of the great Tabernacle covered in beautiful flowers, with every seat in the vast building occupied by representative men and women, not only from in and around Salt Lake City, but from many distant parts of the Church, the funeral services for Elder Hyrum M. Smith, of the Council of Twelve Apostles, were held on Sunday, January 27, 1918, at 1 o'clock p. m.
It was a remarkably memorable occasion in which the outpourings of love and sympathy for the bereaved were freely given, the Holy Spirit was keenly felt and enjoyed, and just praise for the departed freely expressed from every heart. The keen grief of President Joseph F. Smith, and .the mother of Hyrum, Mrs. Edna Lambson Smith, and Hyrum's wife and children, must have been sweetly assuaged by the love, sympathy, and homage paid to them, and to their beloved son, husband, and father, by the speakers, the vast congregation, and by letters and telegrams of condolence from all parts of the Church.
Church officials, including presidents of stakes, bishops, and heads of the auxiliary and temple organizations were seated in bodies, in regular order.
The floral tributes were exquisite in beauty and arrangement, shedding a rich fragrance throughout the great building.
Members of the Council of the Twelve, led by President Heber J. Grant, acted as pallbearers. As they entered with the casket at the north door, the congregation arose to their feet and remained standing until the family were seated in front of the flower-bedecked pulpits at the foot of which the casket was placed in the midst of a wilderness of bloom.
President Anthon H. Lund presided over the services, announcing the opening hymn, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," which was sung by the Tabernacle choir.
Bishop Jacob Mauss, of Waterloo, of whose ward Elder Hyrum M. Smith was a member, offered the prayer, a humble and fervent appeal to the Lord to bless and comfort, in their grief, the parents, wife and family of the departed.
The choir sang the hymn, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." Then followed the announcement, by President Lund, of the speakers whose eulogies of the departed and whose doctrinal sermons of comfort are given herewith in full:
President Heber J. Grant
I earnestly desire the benefit of the faith and prayers of the evidence, that I may be able to say something encouraging and comforting to those who mourn upon this sad occasion. I rejoice in knowing that my Redeemer lives. I rejoice in the knowledge that our brother, whose body lies before us, had a perfect knowledge of the divinity of the mission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I rejoice in knowing that there were none of the principles of life and salvation but what he received with all his heart, and that each and all of the wonderful and marvelous blessings, which are beyond the language of man to fully tell, which will come to those who have a knowledge of the Savior and who live the gospel of Jesus Christ, will come to our beloved brother. I rejoice in a knowledge that he has gained the highest of all the blessings that God can give to man, namely, life eternal in the presence of our Father, and our Redeemer, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the faithful ones who have died before. I know of none of the brethren, with whom I have been associated, who had a more perfect and absolute knowledge of the Gospel, or who took more real pleasure in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know of no one who was more faithful in the calling that came to him as a special witness of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, than was Brother Hyrum M. Smith. It has fallen to my lot, in connection with the other members of his quorum, to travel with him and to listen to his inspired words in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Saints, and I have been able to remark to my family and to others, that in all my travels, week after week, no man of our quorum has ever fed me the bread of life, touched my heart, and caused me to rejoice more in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that you and I have espoused, than did our dearly beloved brother whose remains lie before us today. His death comes as a great shock to each and every member of the Council to which he belonged. Such a thing as his being called from us, in his young manhood, had never entered our hearts. We had never thought of anything of this kind. In our thoughts we had builded for him a future of great labor in this Church, and this had given us almost perfect faith that his life would be preserved to the people for many years yet to come.
I pray, with all the power that I possess, that God will comfort and bless and strengthen his father, his mother, his wife and all of his family, and all who mourn upon this occasion. If you and I can be as faithful, as loyal, as true, from day to day, and as diligent and willing to labor, as our brother has been, then our future happiness and salvation in this life and in the life to come will be assured. That God may help us to so live that when the battle of life is o'er, we shall be permitted to meet Brother Hyrum in our Father's kingdom, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Orson F. Whitney
I have no words for this occasion. My heart is too full. Speech seems almost like a desecration. I feel like one who is wandering in a painful dream and who thinks he will soon awaken. I wish I could. I was not prepared for the sad event that has robbed us, for a time, of the society of our dear brother, Hyrum M. Smith. I loved this man. He was my friend, and I was his friend; and we are still friends.
I am glad that I could be one of those who were with him almost in his last hours. I was with him and his brother, Joseph F., Jr., on Friday, five days before his death. We were associated in committee work; and as Hyrum arose to depart, he complained of a slight pain in the abdomen. But in his genial way he passed it off with a half jocular remark and proceeded homeward. That was the last I saw or heard of him until early Sunday morning, when, with Elder James E. Talmage, I was summoned to his bedside. It was about one o'clock, and the message that came stated that Brother Hyrum was seriously ill. We were the only members of the Council of the Twelve then available; the others being engaged elsewhere. We hastened to his home, and found him suffering very intensely. We administered to him repeatedly the healing ordinance of the Church, and he became easier and finally slept. We remained with him until morning. As soon as practicable he was taken to the hospital to undergo an operation, and after I had a little rest I went to the hospital for the purpose of blessing him again, but he had just been taken to the operating room and was even then under the influence of the anesthetic. I returned in the evening and gave him my blessing, administering in conjunction with Elder Joseph F. Smith, Jr. After Sunday night it was not deemed wise to admit anyone to the sick room. Consequently that was the last I saw of Hyrum until I looked upon his lifeless form this morning.
I have known him for many years, first as a lad, or stripling, a newly fledged elder of the Church. It was in the chapel of the Eighteenth ward, when I was bishop there, that he made his "maiden speech" as a home missionary. I remember receiving a note from his father, President Smith, on that occasion, asking me to take a kindly interest in his "little boy" who was about to make his first address in that capacity. I was glad to give him all the encouragement I could. After that I lost track of him for a time. He went to foreign lands on a mission. Our paths were apart, and I did not know him intimately until I was called into the Council of the Twelve, in April, 1906, he being already a member of that body. We soon became acquainted and learned to love each other. There was a bond of genuine affection between us. We traveled and preached together; conversed and read and served on committees together; and in various ways were quite companionable.
One thing that drew me to Hyrum was the keen sense of humor that he possessed. He was anything but frivolous and light-minded. On the contrary, he was generally serious, and at times severe. Such was his hatred of vice and wrong-doing, that he could not look upon it with the least degree of allowance, and he was unsparing in his denunciation of evil in every form; but he had a kind and noble heart and was not lacking in charity and brotherly love. There was a rich vein of humor in him. He could unbend—could see the funny side of things, and enjoy a good laugh, a good joke, a good story; but those jokes and stories had to be clean and wholesome, or he would not countenance them. For he had a pure heart, a clean mind, and a lovable disposition. I thank God that he found in me something congenial and companionable. He always said just what he thought and felt, and was frank and fearless in expressing himself. Ever respectful to authority, but never a sycophant, he was fast developing into a great man, and I looked for big things in his future.
To most of his friends his death will come as a shock. It will be considered an untimely end, and is so from our human viewpoint. But we are hardly qualified, with our present knowledge, to pass judgment upon such matters. We must leave them in the hands of Him who doeth all things well. The length or brevity of a man's life is not always to be determined by the number of years he passes in mortality.
"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
So said an English poet. Judged by this standard, Hyrum M. Smith, stricken down in his prime, had lived a long life; for his thoughts, his feelings and his acts were noble. There are some natures that are capable of living longer than others in the same period of time. It was remarked, I believe, by President Brigham Young, at the funeral of Jedediah M. Grant, his counselor, away back in the fifties, that Brother Grant, with his sensitive nature, his capacity for feeling, his great receptivity, his comprehension of the principles of truth and righteousness and his congeniality therewith—could live in ten years a longer life than other men could in twenty or fifty years. Perhaps Hyrum M. Smith was that kind of a man. I believe he was. I believe he has experienced more in his forty-six years of mortal life, than many another man now tottering on the brink of the grave, up among the seventies or eighties. Why he was taken, and why others remain, is a question we must leave in the hands of God.
This thing called death—what is it? Charles Frohman, standing on the deck of the doomed Lusitania, just before she plunged into ocean depths, remarked: "Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life." This from the lips of a man born and bred in the atmosphere of the theatre, the Temple of Thespis, the playhouse! Surely a people dwelling in the shadow of God's Temple, worshiping Jehovah, possessing the fulness of the gospel, wielding the powers of the eternal Priesthood and living in the light of divine revelation, which turns conjecture and surmising into absolute certainty and perfect confidence—surely they, of all people, are capable of reasonable, resigned, beautiful and sublime views of life and death. No people that I know of are so well qualified as the Latter-day Saints to solve the mysteries of past, present and future. We are followers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, who proclaimed Himself sent forth from God, and declared that he would return to his Father after he had completed his work below. We follow him. He is our model. We are here to do his will, to do the things that we were sent to do, and then—go home; school being out, the mission ended, and an honorable release having been earned.
I shall leave doctrinal themes to those who follow me. I have spoken long enough. I feel for President Smith; God bless him! I feel for Hyrum's wife; God bless her! And for his mother, and his children, and all his kindred and friends. With a heart full of sympathy and love for him and them, I invoke "the peace that passeth understanding" to descend like the dews of heaven upon their sorrowing souls. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder James E. Talmage
This is to me a most solemn and hallowed hour. I, too, loved our brother. I have watched him develop from the time he was a student of mine. I have rejoiced in his success in godliness and in the blessing his life has proved to the people of the Church; and I feel at this moment as I think I have never before so intensely felt that, after all, funeral services are not held for those who go but for us who are left. We could not change his status or his record, if we would, and so far as I know him and of him I would have no desire to change it. I only hope my own may approach his in devotion, in fearlessness in proclaiming the gospel as a practical thing and not a mere theory to please the mind.
He has gone. Elders are needed on the other side, and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ are wanted there. Although I do not bring myself to the thought that lives are cut short, and men and women taken in their prime, or youths on the threshold of maturity, because there is a dearth of men and women beyond, yet I read of the Lord Jesus Christ going, as soon as his spirit left his pierced and tortured body on the cross, to minister unto the spirits on the other side. Just as He inaugurated the missionary service that shall lead men into the path of salvation, upon the earth, and then left his ordained servants to carry on the work which He had begun, so in the spirit world those who have died, bearing the Holy Priesthood, and worthy thereof, are following in the footsteps of the great Master in preaching the gospel and declaring the message of salvation to the disembodied. I cannot think of Hyrum M. Smith as being otherwise employed. I cannot conceive of him as being idle. I cannot think of him having no regard for those among whom he is called to associate. And where is he now? So far as the revealed word of God has made the condition of the departed known to us, in ever so small degree, we are justified in concluding that he has gone to join the apostles who departed before him, to share with them in the work of declaring the glad message of redemption and salvation unto those who for lick of opportunity, or through neglect, failed to avail themselves of those wondrous and transcendent blessings upon the earth. I do not sympathize with him, because I know that with him all is well; but my heart goes out to those who are nearest and dearest to him and who will feel, as others cannot feel, the loss. For while his father has not lost his son, while his mother should not feel that she has lost him, nor his wife that she has lost a husband, nor the children that they have lost a father, they have lost his association and the blessing of his presence, for a time, because he has gone ahead of them.
With all our assurances concerning the blessing that comes through advancement which can be made under existing conditions only through the portals of death, I feel that it would be a sad reflection upon us if we steeled our hearts and did not mourn for the loss of the presence and companionship of those who go. The Lord has made plain the fact that the tears shed under such bereavement as this are sacred in his eyes. He has commanded us that we shall have regard for those who go and that we weep for them because they are not longer with us. Therefore, let us not be ashamed of emotion and tears on such an occasion as this, but let our tears be those of resignation and acknowledgment of the hand of God, in the assurance that he will bring good out of even this great trouble and burden.
All Israel mourns today, and rightly so, for one of the presiding servants of the Lord placed to minister among the people has been taken from us in the very prime of his service. I find comfort in the assurance given of God that all is well with those who pass away, after all that he has directed be done has been done.
On Wednesday evening last, with some of my brethren and his, I took part in administration and prayer. I have acknowledged and confessed to some of those to whom we are most nearly related in service, that I struggled, with all my power, to make my desire develop into assurance, and to feel that he would be raised up; but I did not feel it. On the contrary, there came into my heart the conviction that he was about to leave and that all was well. As I pondered and prayed there came to my mind, with comfort and assurance, the utterance of the Lord himself that after the ordinances of the Church have been duly administered unto those who are afflicted and who seem near unto death, "if they die, they die unto me, saith the Lord;" and in such wise our brother has passed.
May the peace that God alone can give dwell in the household that still is his, and be in the hearts of children and wife, of mother and father, of brothers and sisters, and, since we all claimed him, may that peace be in the hearts of all of us, to our betterment and to the glory of God, I humbly ask in the Mastor's name. Amen.
Elder Frank Y. Taylor, President of the Granite Stake of Zion
I pray, my brethren and sisters, that the same good spirit may accompany my remarks that has characterized the remarks of my brethren. With you all, I feel and have felt very keenly the separation from my friend and brother, Hyrum M. Smith. I have loved him ever since I first knew him, as a boy. It was Friday, I think, that I was crossing over the city street. Being on the opposite side, he hurriedly walked over and met me. He took me by the hand, passed the time of day, and said some very tender and kind things to me. He walked with me across the road again and down the street, still holding my hand. I could not comprehend why he was so solicitous of me on that occasion, but as soon as I heard of his sickness and operation, a cold chill came over me, and I felt in my soul that he was bidding me good-bye on the street that day. Like Brother Talmage, I felt much concerned, did not have the faith that I ought to have had, and I felt uneasy all the time he was in the hospital.
I have known Brother Hyrum intimately for many years. We have been neighbors, and as a neighbor I have known him best. I would like to speak of this phase of his life. We have been in the mountains together, fishing and hunting. I have had the pleasure of entertaining him, numerous times, at our little place in the mountains, and there is where f knew him best. We got closer together on occasions of that kind. We have slept in the same bed. We have told one another our secrets, our ambitions, and our hopes. I want to say to this congregation—you already know it—that I never knew a cleaner, sweeter, more wholesome man than Hyrum M. Smith. I never knew him to indulge in a frivolity that was unbecoming to his place and position in the Church and as a father in Israel. I never knew a more devoted couple than he and his wife. There were perfect love and union and harmony existing in his home. We were frequently invited there, and it was a great pleasure to me to witness his splendid example as a father and as a husband. How he loved his wife, and how tender, courteous and kind he was, and what deference he always showed her! It seemed to me that he was anxious, all the time, to be doing something that would give pleasure to his loved ones.
We shall miss him, down in our stake. He lived in our midst, and he was a splendid, good example in our community. Personally I feel that I have indeed lost, for the present—I will not say that I have lost him altogether—a very dear friend; because we were close personal friends. It was always a pleasure to me to meet him and take him by the hand. There was something so sincere and real about him—nothing put on. I don't think that Brother Hyrum could dissemble to anybody. He was a fearless defender of the truth. He upheld it both in example and in precept. He loved the work of the Lord, and he loved those who love the cause of truth in the earth. He did not seem to have patience with those who were sinning and doing that which is wrong, but he was anxious for their uplift and for them to repent and to do better, to do good. We shall miss him exceedingly, and I am sure all Israel will miss the presence of this staunch defender of the work of the Lord; but our heavenly Father's work on the other side will be a gainer by it.
I have been thinking in my mind why it was necessary that this splendid, good boy should be taken from our midst and go to the other side. Yet, we are all here for an experience, for an education; and I have seen men, in my life, who, it seemed to me, had graduated, so to speak, from this stage of existence and who were prepared for the work on the other side. I am sure of this, that there is no one of my acquaintances who is better prepared to go into the presence of the Lord our God than this man. I believe that he has graduated; I believe he has attained the knowledge and experience required of him, and he has gone to continue his work in the presence of the Lord our God.
I feel keenly for his wife and the children, for his father and mother, and the boys and the girls. Whenever I come to an occasion of this kind I know their aching hearts, their sorrow, and the grief that is upon them, and I always feel, 0, I would to the Lord that I had the power to comfort them, and to bless them, and to heal up their wounds! I do know this, however, that our Father in heaven is able to comfort and to bestow his peace, and I am sure he will do so on this occasion. That he will bless and comfort President Smith and the mother, the wife, and the children, and I pray that the blessings of our heavenly Father may rest down upon all the kindred and friends, and that His comfort and peace may come to all the people in the Church, because we all mourn today! I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The choir sang, "What Voice Salutes the Startled Ear?" solo sung by Miss Edna Gotberg.
Bishop Charles W. Nibley
This splendid outpouring of the multitudes of Latter-day Saints, and our friends also who are not members of our Church, is a great testimonial to the life and character of our departed brother. The people in this congregation are not here merely for a show of respect, but they are here with love in their hearts, with sympathy in their souls, with affection deep and strong for the family of Elder Hyrum M. Smith, for President Smith and for the entire family. I know this—and I know that you feel it is true, and never have I known on any occasion of this kind, and never have I felt more strongly, at a funeral of one of our leaders, this feeling of love, of reverence and sympathy which we experience here today and which is felt everywhere today, among the Latter-day Saints, throughout the Church ; for they know, as we all know, that a mighty man has fallen in Israel. As President Grant has said, most of the people could see a great future for Hyrum; he was so humble withal, so earnest, so devoted that everyone who had the honor and pleasure of his acquaintance knew what manner of man he was. O, how much I sorrow for his departure, and yet when I look around, even on this stand where there are men who are surely among the best of all Israel, I can see no one more fit and seasoned and ready to go to the presence of his Maker than was Elder Hyrum M. Smith. Yet the parting is sad; we take it as a great affliction; but it may be counted for good.
I have known Hyrum from his very childhood. I have lived in the home with his family. Not many men, few indeed, they who have had the privilege of being reared in a family like this—a large family. Not many men had as many' mothers, so to speak, as he had the privilege of having; for he scarcely knew the difference, as he grew up, between his own mother and Aunt Julina, or Aunt Sarah, and the others, the wives of President Smith. It is a united family, and every member is a worker. I have seen Hyrum, and those who know him have seen him as soon as he got home, where there was work to do in his garden or around his place, his overalls and jumper went on, and he was hard at work, doing manual labor. He loved to work; he was not an idler—he was a worker; and so you will find it with every member of this large family ; for, let it be said to the credit of President Smith and the family, every one of these boys and girls, too, are workers. They work in the Church; they work in the fields, and on the farm. Such a family, their like cannot be found! Hyrum's home life was ideal—a model to us all. No one of all my acquaintance can touch it, in its perfection, in its love, in its beauty and grandeur. In all things, I believe, so far as I know, he was acceptable to God. He was a brave man, if the occasion arose and his Church was assailed, or his father was assailed; and he has proved it, too,—he was ready, with the strength of his right arm, to make good what he stood for. No slanderer could treat him or his loved ones in that kind of a way! So he was a man of courage, a valiant man, a true man in every sense. I have loved him more than a brother. Happy the father who can claim such a son—not sorrowful. Happy the mother who bore and reared such a son as this. Happy the wife who can say: This was my husband—a model, the paragon of all. Happy the children who can claim him for a father. "He was a man, take him for all in all. We shall not look upon his like again." Amen.
Elder Richard R. Lyman
My place this afternoon is really not here among the speakers. I belong among the mourners. It is now almost thirty years since the mother of this excellent young man shed tears with me at the grave of my dear mother. His mother and mine spent their childhood and practically all of their lives in the most intimate kind of friendship. They were bare-foot girls together, west of the Jordan. In this community, in those pioneer days, there was in every heart love, in every home poverty, and in every life pleasure. Those who thus lived formed a love for one another that will last forever. This is why I belong among the mourners.
We have lying before us this afternoon, a worthy son of a noble and illustrious sire—a worthy grandson of a noble and martyred grand-sire. This man, for his conviction, for his Church, for what he believed to be the right, "could have gone to the stake without the quiver of an eyelash." Death came because of the continued fortitude and resistance to pain put forth by his iron will. Because of the steel that was in his makeup, he resisted until it was too late.
Nor was his strong nature his most prominent characteristic. He was a hand of steel with a glove of velvet. Like his distinguished father, this young man "in every storm of life was oak and rock, but in the sunshine, he was vine and flower." His father possesses what is perhaps a matchless tenderness and chivalry for children and for women. My father, President Smith's life-long and intimate associate, has said: "No child — not even a waif in a foreign land—ever uttered a cry of distress, or a cry of sorrow, in vain, if that cry reached the ear of Joseph F. Smith."
From President Joseph F. Smith, I think no woman—no child, has ever received an unkind look or an unkind word. He is chivalry itself in its highest form. Find his equal in this respect, if you can, in any church, in any country, in any clime.
Like his father, Hyrum M. Smith had a tender, loving, gentle nature, which well nigh reached perfection in his home life. To his wife and children he was affectionately devoted. Than he and his wife, perhaps no two ever loved each other more. There was no labor he would not perform, no sacrifice he would not make, for her sake. His greatest pleasure was giving joy to her and to their children.
To Hyrum M. Smith, his wife was a living, a perpetual support and inspiration. It is said of him that during the recent trip of the President's party through the south, Hyrum spoke almost as human tongue was never known to speak. Much of his inspiration came from that devoted wife who sat before him.
"This is the sixth out of my ten children I have followed to the grave," said this man's mother; "but," she continued, "I propose to hold on to the tree of life. God's will, not mine, be done." Blessed, indeed, the person who possesses such a faith. May it be in the hearts of all these kindred, now.
Hyrum M. Smith lived in strict conformity with his own highest ideals, and in perfect accord with the teachings, the desires, and the wishes of his distinguished father.
"By their fruits," the scriptures say, "ye shall know them." This man, with his exemplary life, is a product of the "Mormon" Church. The lives of the other members of his father's family are much like his. Measured by the world's highest Christian standards these lives are near perfection. If these are samples of the products of the "Mormon" Church, I am proud today to be one of its members.
It is the spirit of the "Mormon" Pioneers and the "Mormon" Church.—the inspiration of the Great Master—that perfected this man's life. Let those who are interested in the purity and the perfection of home life examine this example. And when they have discovered all its beauty, all its purity, and all its joy, may they be fair enough and frank enough to acknowledge concerning the lives of the Latter-day Saints, that they have been mistaken as were those of old who said, "Can any thing good come out of Nazareth?"
President Charles W. Penrose
This opportunity afforded me is both a privilege and a task. I appreciate very much the opportunity of saying a few words on this occasion but feel my inability to say that which is in my heart. We have heard many very fine things today, during these services. All have been fitly spoken ; all are expressive of the feelings of those who have addressed us, and they, in a small degree, depict the noble character and efficient services and glorious future of our dear departed brother, Hyrum M. Smith. One of the poetic writers of the Bible likened words fitly spoken to apples of gold in pictures of silver. Surely we have had a display today and a great feast of fine things which should comfort our hearts, gladden our souls, and enable us to appreciate the fact that all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things; not that he, our Eternal Father, is personally engaged in taking away our dear ones from us, but that in his providence all these things occur. The eternal laws of the universe are his laws, and those effects that come from natural causes are inevitable and in accordance with the things that are eternal. President Joseph F. Smith appreciates, as I hope we all do, the words that have been spoken this day in regard to the life and character of his departed son. He is thankful for them, also; for all the good things that have been said for his comfort and consolation, which have come by letter and by telegraph and by telephone and by personal visitations from numerous friends. For all these expressions our beloved President is grateful today and desires to convey this to the people, that they may know he does appreciate their efforts for his consolation.
One of the gems of scripture and of that glorious Sermon on the Mount, as it is called, among the utterances of Jesus, our Redeemer, is the saying, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." That seems a strange expression to use; that those who mourn are blessed; but we shall find in our experience hereafter, if we do not now, that the saying is exactly correct. It is a blessing for people to have cause to mourn. If there was no mourning in our hearts our education on this globe would not be complete. If our sympathies were not drawn out through the affliction of others we should not be properly developed. We have in us, as the children of the Most High, those glorious but undeveloped attributes which shine forth in their perfection in the personality of Deity. We are the children of our God, and that we might walk in his footsteps and arrive at a fit condition to dwell in his presence and enjoy his immediate society, it is necessary that every faculty and attribute which we have inherited from him shall receive development; and those things that are called the laws of life, the sufferings in mortality, those things that are needful to develop us, come to us as blessings. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted;" and how shall they be comforted? How can we be comforted today, when we think of the life and character of our brother who has gone, and what we anticipated for him in our narrow conceptions of the lives of men? When we think that he is taken from our midst, and that those with whom he was immediately associated in the family capacity are bowed down in sorrow because of his absence, the question naturally arises, how shall those who mourn be comforted? There are a great many things that might be said in that line, if there were time. I do not wish to detain this great congregation too long—a congregation that is representative today of the hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints who mourn with us the departure of our beloved brother, who know about his labors in their midst, who have known of his labors abroad as well as his labors at home, and of the splendid example that he has set to them, in the family capacity, in vigorous manhood, in individual characteristics of a true elder in Israel, an apostle of Jesus Christ, a servant of the Most High God. We come here today and represent all those masses of members of this Church who mourn the departure of our brother.
There are a great many things which are very comforting to us because of that knowledge which has come to us, and has been mentioned by some of the speakers today. In the first place, we know from the revelations of God to us, to say nothing of the ancient scriptures which have been handed down to us — the Holy Bible, the Old and the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations that came to the ancients, but we know today, by the revelations of God in our own time, that all does not end with death; that all did not have a beginning with our birth; that we lived before; that we shall live after, and that this is but an episode in our great everlasting existence. The spirit of man is the offspring of God. It came from above. The body of man is formed out of the earthly elements; it came from beneath. The spirit and body joined together, inseparably, can obtain a fulness of joy; but when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. It takes the body through which pleasure, joy, power, dominion and increase shall come to the individual, from material things as we call them; and it takes the immortal spirit of man to receive from above the rich treasures of knowledge and wisdom and light and intelligence which will develop us into the full measure of the status of Deity. From the heights above and the depths below, when the spirit of man and the body of man are joined together, inseparably, as they will be, as we have learned, we can receive from all parts of God's great universe, from every element, from every source, everything that there is to develop and make great and mighty and glorious the sons and daughters of the living God.
God has revealed that to us. He has also revealed to us the eternity of all the elements, spiritual and physical, the elements that compose the body, drawn from the earth and the air and the materials around us—all these elements are eternal, without beginning and without end. The organization began at birth and, for the time being, it appears to have ended when death comes; but the elementary particles never had any commencement, and they will never perish. Fire cannot burn them; water cannot drown them. They may be scattered to the four winds, but they remain, for they are eternal. That being the case they can, by the great organizing power of Deity, be brought together again. They can be separated but still abide and continue in their elementary condition. This is the beginning of the philosophy of the resurrection, which our dear brother whose remains lie here believed in with all his heart. He had the testimony that when death comes it merely separates the spirit and the body; that all the essential elements to perfection in the worlds to come, in worlds without end, are in the human being, and they can be brought together again upon natural, eternal principles, to endure forever in their reorganized condition and state. Christ is the magnet of the resurrection. He died and lived again. As he died and lived again, so can all persons who are in him and upon whom he exercises the power God gave him, all power on earth and in the heavens, as he proclaimed when he returned and manifested himself to his disciples. Life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel. They always existed, but they were brought clearly to light in the personality and life and atonement and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth who died on the cross, who is our great Comforter. Comfort comes to us when we mourn, if we know these simple facts that I have been briefly speaking upon; if we know that we are eternal beings and that the intelligent spirit that dwells in the body is not mortal; that it came from God; that it will go back to God; that it is capable of endless development, everlasting progress, worlds without end. With this knowledge we are comforted when we see the form of our dear one, young or old as the case may be, lie before us in death.
Hyrum M. Smith still lives, that brave spirit who has been spoken of this morning. All the good things said concerning him I bear testimony to. That bright spirit has gone from the body with all the experience gained while in mortality, with all the experiences gained in the sphere before he came here, and he will have other experiences in the Paradise of God to which he has gone, to associate with his kind, his class, his quorum, his proper associates. Greater experiences still will come to him. He will be prepared, in the morning of the resurrection day, when "the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in his wings," to come forth and inherit the glory, power and dominion promised to him and sealed upon his head in the ordinances of the House of God. Not only that, but here are the family to which he belongs. Here is his noble father, whom we all love and revere, whom we regard with such veneration that we could not express it in words. He stands at the head of his household. He knows as well as anybody knows that he has not lost a son. He has gone away, but he will come back again. His body will be placed in the ground, but the substantial, necessary, fundamental elements to the perfection of that body can be and will be called together in the resurrection of the just, and he will stand up again upon his feet to inherit the glory of the Redeemer's kingdom. He knows that, and he is comforted with that assurance. Not only that, but Brother Hyrum had and has a loving wife, as we have heard. I testify to the truth of all that has been said concerning her as well as him. She is his. She understands it. She has been sealed to him by a sacred and holy ordinance, for time and for all eternity, an everlasting bond that shall not be broken, that cannot be broken except through transgression. And the offspring of that union belong to them, and they will come forth in their place. This family, disrupted for the present, will be reunited, and it will endure, increase and multiply forever and ever, worlds without end; and in that there is comfort and joy. She knows that she will receive her husband to her bosom again. The father and the mother of that good son know that they will meet with him again; they have no doubt about it. The gospel has brought that to light.
Life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel, in the latter days, by the revelations of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith. These things are comforting to us; and we, his brethren, with whom he labored in council, wherein he showed forth capabilities that made us believe there was a wonderful future for him in this life, we who have associated with him in council, who have traveled with him throughout the various stakes of Zion, who have known of his work, who have with him sat in committees where work is done that the public generally know very little about; in that hard mental work in those committees we have met with him, and we know of his qualifications, his patience, his faith, his endurance, his promptitude, his punctuality, and the fearlessness with which he was always ready to express his views and opinions, and yet, at the same time, willing to coincide with his brethren if he found he was mistaken. He was a noble character, a great man, and we look for a development of that kind of men in time to come, that I need not talk about here today.
But he has gone from our midst. Is he dead? Not in the full sense of the term. He is dead because the body and the spirit have separated. "As the body without the spirit is dead," James the apostle said, "so faith without works is dead." Yes, the dead body is there; but the elements that belong to it, that have had experience in their intercourse and association, that are fundamental to the body and do not pass away with the outlets that there are to the human system, they belong to one another. They belong to him; they are his; and he will have power to come back, as the Savior did, and receive that body, quickened by the Spirit of God and glorified by the power of God. So in these things there is comfort. Comfort comes to those who mourn. Shall those that mourn today be comforted with these? Yes, and many other things that I have not time to talk about. I know that they believe in them with all their hearts. It is not a mere theory; it is not an idle dream. The convictions of it are stamped upon their souls by the revelations of the Spirit of God to them individually. God bless this family. I know that he will. I know that he will sustain and comfort our dear brother who presides over the Church, and the mother of this boy that has gone. She will be comforted, because she understands these things; and that dear wife of his, who has been so great a comfort and a strength to him, at home and abroad. She knows it too; and the children, as their minds develop, will come to an understanding of these things. So those who mourn shall indeed be comforted.
I bear testimony to all the good things that have been said this morning, concerning Brother Hyrum M. Smith. I hope to meet him; I believe that I shall, and that we will enjoy each others' society again. We sometimes sing in one of our funeral hymns—"Not dead but sleepeth. Amen." It is one of the most beautiful we have in the collection of hymns. Well, in the true sense of the term he is not dead, and he is not sleeping. These mortal remains sleep, and they shall sleep in peace—the peace of God be upon them—but Hyrum is not sleeping; he could not be. He will be active; he will be at work. He will carry with him, as I have said, into the world where he has gone, all those great qualities exhibited here in mortality, and all the knowledge that he has accumulated, all the experience he has had, and all those good characteristics that have been talked about today. They go with him; they are part of him; they will be exercised in the world to which he has gone, to aid in the great work of redemption of the whole human race, under the direction of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
May this conviction be in the hearts of my dear friends. God bless them, every one, and all Israel. Let all the people be comforted who have lost their dear ones for a time. They live; they are not sleeping. Their bodies slumber in the dust, but even they shall be awakened in the glorious resurrection day and come forth, and then shall the broken families be reunited; for they belong to one another, through the ordinances of God's House, and there is a future for them all, never-ending, ever increasing, in life, in glory, in power, in dominion and extension. God is over all. He directs all things according to his will; and all that occur in our history, while we dwell on the earth, will eventually contribute to our greatness and glory and our happiness and joy in the presence of our Eternal Father. May God bless the family and all who are bereaved, and help us emulate the good works of our dear brother, and may we all have the joy of meeting him in the world to come, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
President Anthon H. Lund
In behalf of President Joseph F. Smith and the family, I desire to thank this great assemblage for this mark of their sympathy and love for our departed friend and brother, Hyrum M. Smith; also the speakers who have given us so many comforting words, and have spoken concerning the splendid character of this our brother. We thank them; and I can bear testimony to the truth of all they have said. We also thank the Choir for the beautiful singing, and those who have taken part in arranging the details of this funeral—the bishopric and the committees.
The choir sang, "O My Father," and benediction was pronounced by Elder A. W. Ivins.
At the cemetery the Ariel quartet sang, "Rest on the Hillside, Rest," and the grave was dedicated by Elder George Albert Smith.
"In Honor of Hyrum M. Smith." Improvement Era. March 1918. pg. 451-452.
In Honor of Hyrum M. Smith
The following resolution was introduced by Elder Junius F. Wells, and unanimously adopted by the General Board Y. M. M. I. A.:
It is in humility and sorrow that we spread upon the records of the General Board Y. M. M. I. A. the announcement of the death of one of its most valued and zealous members, Elder Hyrum M. Smith, who died on the 23rd of January, in his forty-sixth year.
As a member and officer of our association only words of highest approval and praise can be spoken of him—for with us he was interested, faithful, devoted, exemplary, in every word and act; and he performed his whole duty, with respect to our organization, valiantly and well.
It has been said by those who remember his grandfather, after whom he was named, that Hyrum was like him, to which we testify from his resemblance to the accepted portrait of the martyred patriarch had among us. Moreover, he was strikingly like his grandfather in the strength of his character, in moral uprightness, in singleness of heart to serve the Lord, in physical courage and endurance.
Among the many notable encomiums of the life and character of the Patriarch the following we conceive to be among the most perfect epitaphs ever composed, and one of the finest things ever said of any man: "Hyrum Smith, for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord."
Words multiplied could add nothing more to our appreciation, admiration and love of our dear brother Hyrum than to say he was like his grandfather.
We desire, nevertheless, to record our confident belief that, as God sends forth from his presence his faithful servants as angels to minister to men on earth; so also he calls men from among men to minister elsewhere, as appeareth with him needful and well. In this conviction and that we shall meet again, we bow to the Divine will in this seemingly too early parting, for a season, from our dear and highly valued friend and fellow servant. We sympathize deeply with his greatly beloved father, President Joseph F. Smith, our revered General Superintendent, and with his sorrowing mother, who grievously mourn the separation from their son; and with Hyrum's affectionate and devoted wife and children, who miss him most.
We fervently pray our Father in heaven for the consolation and comfort of his Spirit to be upon them all.
Salt Lake City, January 30, 1918.
In Honor of Hyrum M. Smith
The following resolution was introduced by Elder Junius F. Wells, and unanimously adopted by the General Board Y. M. M. I. A.:
It is in humility and sorrow that we spread upon the records of the General Board Y. M. M. I. A. the announcement of the death of one of its most valued and zealous members, Elder Hyrum M. Smith, who died on the 23rd of January, in his forty-sixth year.
As a member and officer of our association only words of highest approval and praise can be spoken of him—for with us he was interested, faithful, devoted, exemplary, in every word and act; and he performed his whole duty, with respect to our organization, valiantly and well.
It has been said by those who remember his grandfather, after whom he was named, that Hyrum was like him, to which we testify from his resemblance to the accepted portrait of the martyred patriarch had among us. Moreover, he was strikingly like his grandfather in the strength of his character, in moral uprightness, in singleness of heart to serve the Lord, in physical courage and endurance.
Among the many notable encomiums of the life and character of the Patriarch the following we conceive to be among the most perfect epitaphs ever composed, and one of the finest things ever said of any man: "Hyrum Smith, for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord."
Words multiplied could add nothing more to our appreciation, admiration and love of our dear brother Hyrum than to say he was like his grandfather.
We desire, nevertheless, to record our confident belief that, as God sends forth from his presence his faithful servants as angels to minister to men on earth; so also he calls men from among men to minister elsewhere, as appeareth with him needful and well. In this conviction and that we shall meet again, we bow to the Divine will in this seemingly too early parting, for a season, from our dear and highly valued friend and fellow servant. We sympathize deeply with his greatly beloved father, President Joseph F. Smith, our revered General Superintendent, and with his sorrowing mother, who grievously mourn the separation from their son; and with Hyrum's affectionate and devoted wife and children, who miss him most.
We fervently pray our Father in heaven for the consolation and comfort of his Spirit to be upon them all.
Salt Lake City, January 30, 1918.
Gates, Susa Young. "The Passing of Apostle Hyrum M. Smith." Relief Society Magazine. March 1918. pg. 124-127.
The Passing of Apostle Hyrum M. Smith. By Susa Young Gates. In the death of Elder Hyrum M. Smith, on January 23, 1918, there passed from this earth one of the great leaders in Israel who was also a well-nigh perfect son and ideal husband and father. Because of Elder Hyrum M. Smith's great prominence in the Church, as well as for the wonderful opportunities afforded him for noble development, his life and character stand out as a beacon for all men in this Church. Mothers might well seek to mould the characters of their sons upon this model; wives might wisely aim to imitate the virtues and charms of the wife of this able Apostle. Hyrum M. Smith is the eldest son of President Joseph F. Smith and the first born of his mother Edna. He was born into a sheltered home where both parents guarded their offspring with the rigid care and a loving solicitude surpassing all known precedents. He spent his childhood and youth in the glow of constant affection, and basked continually in the light of inspired guidance. From his youth up his mother followed his every footstep, taught him the principles of the gospel, inculcated the fear of the Lord in his soul, and helped him to overcome all youthful temptations, turning errors into experience and making of conquered temptation a bent circle of protection for the future guidance of his own children. His father's exquisite personal attention to each of his children focused itself in the pride and longing for the welfare of this his eldest son. Poverty was a spur to Hyrum's ambition. Stern duty won his keenest incentive. An apt student with a quick mind, he absorbed learning and assimilated the education of life with passing efficiency. Matthias F. Cowley writes of him: "Hyrum grew up. developing to a marked degree the boundless love and impartial affection which he had be accustomed to see his father and mother mete out to their children, and his father to his wives. Until he left the paternal roof of his parents he would be visited by that ever-loving father who must still kiss him and tuck the covers snugly around him. Even today, whenever father and son meet, in the home, on the street, in the office, it matters not where, they meet with an affectionate and holy kiss. Hyrum was taught to love his home, and there he could always be found when no duty called him away." Married on the eve of his departure for Great Britain—November 15, 1895—Hyrum found in his partner, Miss Ida Bowman of Ogden, his soul-mate in very truth. She was his complement and a helpmeet indeed for him; gifted with a sweet, engaging personality, amiable to a fault, she returned the ardor of his constant and pure affection in kind. Rarely hath Israel seen so perfect an example of marital devotion and constancy as this remarkable couple manifested from the first day of. their betrothal to the day of his untimely death. No romance was ever written, no idyl ever conceived in the brain of poet which throbbed and pulsated with the charm and purity of heavenly love shown by this devoted pair of married lovers. When the Utah women went to Rome, in 1914, Sister Ida Smith accompanied the party from Liverpool. Before leaving her home she remarked to her husband that her motherly fears were concerned about her children whom she was leaving behind. "Be at peace," he replied, "for they shall never leave my sight while you are away," and he kept his word. Each day a letter arrived by post from him while his wife was in Rome, and on her birthday, which happened while she was there with us, a lovely basket of flowers came to her room, ordered by telegraph as her husband's greeting of that auspicious day. His letters, too sacred for curious eyes, breathed the tenderest solicitude possible for man to experience or express. As a son his devotion was no less marked and loyal. His mother and his father represented that which he might hope to find in his heavenly parents beyond the veil. In his dying hours he remarked that he was blessed indeed in such a wife and in such a father and mother. As his spirit was about to take its flight he told his watchers that he was weary and would rest. Told that his father had sent word that he must live, he roused himself momentarily and said firmly. "If father says I must live, then I must." Brother Hyrum M. Smith was ordained to the quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 24, 1901, and for sixteen years be exercised his calling with unselfish devotion and the sternest sense of duty. His missionary labors in Great Britain, during the outbreak of the war, permitted the exercise of his highest and best gifts. The sharp edges of his character were mellowed and tempered b}' the terrific blows of adversity and want which spread about his public ministry there in ever-widening circles. His keen sympathy with suffering- and pain, with helpless children and want in any form stretched his heartstrings with quivering response in that maelstrom of war-torn Europe. He received with delight the initial offering of the Salt Lake Temple sisters, raised by his own honored mother, and later the munificent charity of the Church itself, amounting in all to tens of thousands of dollars. He and his wife distributed these amounts with impartial justice to every branch in the mission with as keen delight and as much personal happiness as marked any act of his life or ministry. Much may be learned from the study of the lives of our great leaders. We commend to our sisters everywhere a perusal of the labors and ministry of this great son of a greater father; and in the consideration of Elder Hyrum M. Smith forget not to incite a noble imitation in the breasts of your own children of his tender qualities as a loving son and devoted husband and a true and wise father to his children. All Israel mourns in their own loss which perhaps is even greater than that of his sorrowing parents and his bereaved wife. May the sweet peace of heaven temper every grief and recompense Israel in the loss of this mighty leader. |
APOSTLE HYRUM M. SMITH AND WIFE IDA BOWMAN SMITH
Son, Joseph F., aged 19; daughters, Geraldine, aged 14; Margaret, aged 10; Macksene, aged 7 years. |
Fox, Ruth M. "Hyrum M. Smith." Young Woman's Journal. March 1918. pg. 121.
Hyrum M. Smith.
By Ruth M. Fox.
Let Zion's sons attend, All men give ear!
Here was a man—a prince in Israel’s Court,
Who ever strove, to keep the perfect law--
Who never deigned to touch the unclean thing.
So pure his soul, so absolutely chaste his life;
His body was the temple of the living God;
His heart’s supreme desire was righteousness.
Alas, alas!
That one so just and true,
So full of faith and simple, hopeful trust,
So strong in principle, so brave in its defense.
Should fall a victim to the shaft of death!
Death ever loved a shining mark.
With broken hearts we bow
In meek submission to his crushing blow;
But victory is ours,
Triumphantly, our Brother soars above the silent tomb
Let Zion’s sons attend!
The glorious path he trod.
God bids you follow.
Hyrum M. Smith.
By Ruth M. Fox.
Let Zion's sons attend, All men give ear!
Here was a man—a prince in Israel’s Court,
Who ever strove, to keep the perfect law--
Who never deigned to touch the unclean thing.
So pure his soul, so absolutely chaste his life;
His body was the temple of the living God;
His heart’s supreme desire was righteousness.
Alas, alas!
That one so just and true,
So full of faith and simple, hopeful trust,
So strong in principle, so brave in its defense.
Should fall a victim to the shaft of death!
Death ever loved a shining mark.
With broken hearts we bow
In meek submission to his crushing blow;
But victory is ours,
Triumphantly, our Brother soars above the silent tomb
Let Zion’s sons attend!
The glorious path he trod.
God bids you follow.
Richards, Stephen L. "Elder Hyrum M. Smith." Young Woman's Journal. March 1918. pg. 122-126.
Elder Hyrum M Smith.
A TRIBUTE OF APPRECIATION.
By Elder Stephen L. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve.
Elder Hyrum M. Smith was distinctively a product of the gospel. He was not evolved in a college or university, but in a good home and in the association -of good men and women. Though not extensively trained in schools, he was a scholar and an educated man. He was indebted to the Church for the opportunities of his life which brought to him distinction, the favor of man. and the high privilege of service. He requited the debt nobly. His successful life attests the vitality of “Mormonism.”
His thoughts were profound and directed toward the help of his fellows. His observations were keen and his criticisms poignant, fundamental. and just. The gospel plan was ever his standard of life and judgment. He measured all things by it. He was a powerful speaker, his presence commanding, his voice rich and clear, his language proper and eloquent, his thoughts logical and well organized. His greatest sermon was the sermon of his life. He lived the gospel even more impressively than he expounded it.
With him every principle and every commandment were essential. His sermon at the last semiannual conference of the Church was based upon that doctrine and his interpretation of the New and Everlasting Covenant was the embodiment of it.
He was absolutely uncompromising with sin and on that account was sometimes thought to be somewhat intolerant and harsh in judgment. My personal experience with him convinced me that while he was intolerant of error, he was sympathetic with humanity. He was no more exacting of others than of himself. Would that more men shared his views and his antagonism to wrong doing.
He believed in the gospel of work and faithful punctilious attention to duty. I never, knew him to shirk an appointment, no matter what personal sacrifice it might entail to him. His work, however, was not a burden to him. It was a privilege and a joy.
His pleasures and recreations were few and simple. While highly intellectual and spiritual minded he was at the same time a most able exponent, both by example and teaching, of true physical culture. He scrupulously kept the Word of Wisdom and its benefits were attested in his fine physique and athletic capabilities. After delivering a splendid discourse I have seen him. within a few moments, demonstrate his versatility in the wholesome sport of the hand-ball game. He had much gratification in the accomplishment of the Deseret Gymnasium of whose Board of Control he was the Chairman. It may be truly said that he approached perfect manhood.
Of his many excellent qualities perhaps three chief characteristics predominated; his love for his father and his mother, his devotion to his home, and his scrupulous obedience to the commandments of the Lord.
His love for his father and his father’s love for him was most beautiful. With them there was absolute mutual confidence. The just pride apparent in his father’s eyes as he listened to a beautiful and impressive sermon delivered by Brother Hyrum, was inspiring to see. Their affectionate kiss in greeting, so expressive of their comradeship and love, was a valued lesson to every father and every son. His mother’s tender solicitude for his welfare, and her pride in his achievements were indicative of the deep love she bore him. One of the lessons that has come to the Church and the world from his living is the supreme value of true parental love and the fine influence of a good home in the life of a man.
As might be expected, the love and influence of his parents and their home were reflected in full measure in his own family and his own home. With him home life was a passion. Tt comprehended all the joy. the amusement, the pleasure, and the entertainment that his nature required. He loved his wife with all his great intensive soul. T think I have never known a man who more truly cherished his wife than did he. He was proud of her. He was tender of her. He protected her and he inspired her. She responded, yes, to the noblest and loftiest sentiments of his soul. She reciprocated his love and tender affection even in larger measure. because it is permitted to woman to give the larger part of love. She was his complement and his equal as women may be the equal of their husbands; and if ever man and wife were one flesh, one heart, and one soul in the Lord, these two were and are one.
The lovely union of this man and wife was the foundation of a good and beautiful home. God rewarded their love with the greatest of his blessings—children. Their children have reflected the noble lives of their parents. More than once have I heard Brother Hyrum say: “We teach our children the requirements of the gospel, both by precept and example. We expect them to live the gospel and thank the Lord, they do.” In that brief expression lies the secret of .successful home training. Brother and Sister Smith discovered that secret and the highest success has attended their parenthood.
They have a son. just coming into manhood, bright, capable, studious, faithful, and devoted to the ideals of his father. I recall that only a week or two ago his father, with much pride, reported that his boy had just filled his first speaking engagement to an outside ward with much credit to himself and the cause which he represented. God grant that this young man may be equal to the burden which has fallen upon his shoulders; that he may tread the path his father has trod ; that he may protect and encourage and sustain his dear mother: and that he may be not only an elder brother, but a father indeed to his lovely sisters.
How fortunate is this little group of mother, son, and daughters in the love and affection which bind them so close together for mutual comfort, encouragement, and protection ! How fortunate are they also in this hour of trial in the realization that the large and noble families to whom they are kin, will, with tender solicitude, anticipate their needs and minister in every conceivable way to their comfort and their happiness!
I tell you I believe in the Gospel of Parenthood and Family. In the grief and joy of life, I believe in the home. Nothing can take its place.
But, even more than father, mother, wife, and home, I believe Hyrum M. Smith loved God. I do not know that it is necessary or proper to make such a comparison, however, for with Hyrum, the gospel of the Lord comprehended and included father and mother, wife and children and home just as the gospel with him comprehended and included all that is great and good and beautiful and true and really dear to life. There was with him in this respect no conflicting emotions.
He was obedient to the Lord; not in the sense that obedience may signify servility or meniality. His nature was not of a kind to be submissive to unrighteous authority, or to give obeisance to superior might or force. The obedience which he rendered to God and his servants was of a type that is born of a love of true service. In that sense he felt that it was an honor and a privilege to obey. He knew that from obedience there came power and so. as he rendered obedience to the commandments of (»od liberally, so liberally was he endowed of God with power. That power so acquired by him through obedience has made a lasting and mighty impression upon the people of this Church. It is the supreme lesson of his life. It will continue to help the men and women who have known him to better living longer than his blessed memory will remain in their hearts.
One cannot help but wonder why a man so great and good should be taken away in the very prime of his life and his power in a manner that seems so sudden and so sad. We cannot answer. We do not know. Who can say that he had not completely filled his mission here? While he was comparatively but a young man, yet he had served comparatively a long time in the ministry to which he had been called. For nearly seventeen years he has faithfully discharged the duties of the Holy Apostleship. I find that that is as long a period, lacking but one year, as the average tenure of that office of all who. have held the position during the history of the Church. In very truth he magnified his calling. Was his work here not done?
The day before he was taken ill he. his brother Richards, and I planned to go to the mountains. He loved nature. The call of the woods and the streams and the hills was ever in his heart and he felt that he could not wait until springtime to get away from the city with its worries and work and go up into the canyon to enjoy a little rest in the beauty and grandeur and majesty of our mountains. I had looked forward to this trip with the keenest anticipation of pleasure. not alone for the interesting journey we were to have over the great snow-clad hills, but largely for the enjoyment I knew I should have in the comradeship of mv friend and brother. I cannot tell you of the disappointment and the sadness that came to me as I learned of his sickness which, day by day. more firmly gripped him in its fatal hold. I had the sad satisfaction of being with him in the closing hours of his life. He had been throughout his illness, somewhat despondent over the outcome. His brother David and I, at the request of his wife and mother, pronounced a short blessing upon his head. He smiled and said. “I am not going to leave you. Joy wells up in my soul.” From these words, we took hope, but I think we must have misunderstood his meaning. He soon fell asleep. He went without us to the mountains, the great sacred “mountains of the Lord’s House.” there to take high place in the kingdom of Heaven. When he went, he left behind the dearest wife and children, the noblest father, the tenderest mother, and the most affectionate brothers and sisters. God bless and keep them safe to the day of happy reuniting.
Elder Hyrum M Smith.
A TRIBUTE OF APPRECIATION.
By Elder Stephen L. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve.
Elder Hyrum M. Smith was distinctively a product of the gospel. He was not evolved in a college or university, but in a good home and in the association -of good men and women. Though not extensively trained in schools, he was a scholar and an educated man. He was indebted to the Church for the opportunities of his life which brought to him distinction, the favor of man. and the high privilege of service. He requited the debt nobly. His successful life attests the vitality of “Mormonism.”
His thoughts were profound and directed toward the help of his fellows. His observations were keen and his criticisms poignant, fundamental. and just. The gospel plan was ever his standard of life and judgment. He measured all things by it. He was a powerful speaker, his presence commanding, his voice rich and clear, his language proper and eloquent, his thoughts logical and well organized. His greatest sermon was the sermon of his life. He lived the gospel even more impressively than he expounded it.
With him every principle and every commandment were essential. His sermon at the last semiannual conference of the Church was based upon that doctrine and his interpretation of the New and Everlasting Covenant was the embodiment of it.
He was absolutely uncompromising with sin and on that account was sometimes thought to be somewhat intolerant and harsh in judgment. My personal experience with him convinced me that while he was intolerant of error, he was sympathetic with humanity. He was no more exacting of others than of himself. Would that more men shared his views and his antagonism to wrong doing.
He believed in the gospel of work and faithful punctilious attention to duty. I never, knew him to shirk an appointment, no matter what personal sacrifice it might entail to him. His work, however, was not a burden to him. It was a privilege and a joy.
His pleasures and recreations were few and simple. While highly intellectual and spiritual minded he was at the same time a most able exponent, both by example and teaching, of true physical culture. He scrupulously kept the Word of Wisdom and its benefits were attested in his fine physique and athletic capabilities. After delivering a splendid discourse I have seen him. within a few moments, demonstrate his versatility in the wholesome sport of the hand-ball game. He had much gratification in the accomplishment of the Deseret Gymnasium of whose Board of Control he was the Chairman. It may be truly said that he approached perfect manhood.
Of his many excellent qualities perhaps three chief characteristics predominated; his love for his father and his mother, his devotion to his home, and his scrupulous obedience to the commandments of the Lord.
His love for his father and his father’s love for him was most beautiful. With them there was absolute mutual confidence. The just pride apparent in his father’s eyes as he listened to a beautiful and impressive sermon delivered by Brother Hyrum, was inspiring to see. Their affectionate kiss in greeting, so expressive of their comradeship and love, was a valued lesson to every father and every son. His mother’s tender solicitude for his welfare, and her pride in his achievements were indicative of the deep love she bore him. One of the lessons that has come to the Church and the world from his living is the supreme value of true parental love and the fine influence of a good home in the life of a man.
As might be expected, the love and influence of his parents and their home were reflected in full measure in his own family and his own home. With him home life was a passion. Tt comprehended all the joy. the amusement, the pleasure, and the entertainment that his nature required. He loved his wife with all his great intensive soul. T think I have never known a man who more truly cherished his wife than did he. He was proud of her. He was tender of her. He protected her and he inspired her. She responded, yes, to the noblest and loftiest sentiments of his soul. She reciprocated his love and tender affection even in larger measure. because it is permitted to woman to give the larger part of love. She was his complement and his equal as women may be the equal of their husbands; and if ever man and wife were one flesh, one heart, and one soul in the Lord, these two were and are one.
The lovely union of this man and wife was the foundation of a good and beautiful home. God rewarded their love with the greatest of his blessings—children. Their children have reflected the noble lives of their parents. More than once have I heard Brother Hyrum say: “We teach our children the requirements of the gospel, both by precept and example. We expect them to live the gospel and thank the Lord, they do.” In that brief expression lies the secret of .successful home training. Brother and Sister Smith discovered that secret and the highest success has attended their parenthood.
They have a son. just coming into manhood, bright, capable, studious, faithful, and devoted to the ideals of his father. I recall that only a week or two ago his father, with much pride, reported that his boy had just filled his first speaking engagement to an outside ward with much credit to himself and the cause which he represented. God grant that this young man may be equal to the burden which has fallen upon his shoulders; that he may tread the path his father has trod ; that he may protect and encourage and sustain his dear mother: and that he may be not only an elder brother, but a father indeed to his lovely sisters.
How fortunate is this little group of mother, son, and daughters in the love and affection which bind them so close together for mutual comfort, encouragement, and protection ! How fortunate are they also in this hour of trial in the realization that the large and noble families to whom they are kin, will, with tender solicitude, anticipate their needs and minister in every conceivable way to their comfort and their happiness!
I tell you I believe in the Gospel of Parenthood and Family. In the grief and joy of life, I believe in the home. Nothing can take its place.
But, even more than father, mother, wife, and home, I believe Hyrum M. Smith loved God. I do not know that it is necessary or proper to make such a comparison, however, for with Hyrum, the gospel of the Lord comprehended and included father and mother, wife and children and home just as the gospel with him comprehended and included all that is great and good and beautiful and true and really dear to life. There was with him in this respect no conflicting emotions.
He was obedient to the Lord; not in the sense that obedience may signify servility or meniality. His nature was not of a kind to be submissive to unrighteous authority, or to give obeisance to superior might or force. The obedience which he rendered to God and his servants was of a type that is born of a love of true service. In that sense he felt that it was an honor and a privilege to obey. He knew that from obedience there came power and so. as he rendered obedience to the commandments of (»od liberally, so liberally was he endowed of God with power. That power so acquired by him through obedience has made a lasting and mighty impression upon the people of this Church. It is the supreme lesson of his life. It will continue to help the men and women who have known him to better living longer than his blessed memory will remain in their hearts.
One cannot help but wonder why a man so great and good should be taken away in the very prime of his life and his power in a manner that seems so sudden and so sad. We cannot answer. We do not know. Who can say that he had not completely filled his mission here? While he was comparatively but a young man, yet he had served comparatively a long time in the ministry to which he had been called. For nearly seventeen years he has faithfully discharged the duties of the Holy Apostleship. I find that that is as long a period, lacking but one year, as the average tenure of that office of all who. have held the position during the history of the Church. In very truth he magnified his calling. Was his work here not done?
The day before he was taken ill he. his brother Richards, and I planned to go to the mountains. He loved nature. The call of the woods and the streams and the hills was ever in his heart and he felt that he could not wait until springtime to get away from the city with its worries and work and go up into the canyon to enjoy a little rest in the beauty and grandeur and majesty of our mountains. I had looked forward to this trip with the keenest anticipation of pleasure. not alone for the interesting journey we were to have over the great snow-clad hills, but largely for the enjoyment I knew I should have in the comradeship of mv friend and brother. I cannot tell you of the disappointment and the sadness that came to me as I learned of his sickness which, day by day. more firmly gripped him in its fatal hold. I had the sad satisfaction of being with him in the closing hours of his life. He had been throughout his illness, somewhat despondent over the outcome. His brother David and I, at the request of his wife and mother, pronounced a short blessing upon his head. He smiled and said. “I am not going to leave you. Joy wells up in my soul.” From these words, we took hope, but I think we must have misunderstood his meaning. He soon fell asleep. He went without us to the mountains, the great sacred “mountains of the Lord’s House.” there to take high place in the kingdom of Heaven. When he went, he left behind the dearest wife and children, the noblest father, the tenderest mother, and the most affectionate brothers and sisters. God bless and keep them safe to the day of happy reuniting.
"Apostle Hyrum M. Smith." Young Woman's Journal. March 1918. pg. 167.
Apostle Hyrum M. Smith.
We mourn the loss of Brother Hyrum M. Smith for we loved him and realize that he was indeed a source of strength to his people. The characteristics of the Smith family showed very markedly in his life. He was fearless, faithful to every trust, strong and decided in his views, tender and loving to his people, devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The summons to the Great Beyond came to him in the prime of life. Though his years spent in mortality had been but two score and five, yet measured in deeds of service and uplift and love his has not been a short life. As a son. as a husband, as a father he has been devoted, wise, loving. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ his life has been an example worthy of emulation. As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ he has been a powerful witness for his Master. He has proclaimed the truth forcibly and fearlessly both at home and abroad.
A watchman on the towers has gone. His people will miss him. but his words will ring in their ears, his testimony will burn in their hearts. Verily his works will follow him.
Apostle Hyrum M. Smith.
We mourn the loss of Brother Hyrum M. Smith for we loved him and realize that he was indeed a source of strength to his people. The characteristics of the Smith family showed very markedly in his life. He was fearless, faithful to every trust, strong and decided in his views, tender and loving to his people, devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The summons to the Great Beyond came to him in the prime of life. Though his years spent in mortality had been but two score and five, yet measured in deeds of service and uplift and love his has not been a short life. As a son. as a husband, as a father he has been devoted, wise, loving. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ his life has been an example worthy of emulation. As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ he has been a powerful witness for his Master. He has proclaimed the truth forcibly and fearlessly both at home and abroad.
A watchman on the towers has gone. His people will miss him. but his words will ring in their ears, his testimony will burn in their hearts. Verily his works will follow him.
Hyrum M. Smith
“My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and
forsake not the law of thy mother:” –Proverbs 6:20
forsake not the law of thy mother:” –Proverbs 6:20
Ordained: 24 October 1901 at age 29 by Joseph F. Smith
Biography
Hyrum Mack Smith was born 21 March 1872 in Salt Lake City, the eldest son of later President Joseph F. Smith and Edna Lambson. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, and his great-grandmother, Lucy Mack Smith. He was very close to his parents, who took great pains to raise him and his brothers and sisters in the way they should go.
His affection for his parents was so great, in fact, that his wife would teasingly say, "Hyrum is the biggest baby I ever saw; I believe he would die if he could not go home and see his mother every day." (Cowley 1902, 316) He also said: “… I love, honor and revere my parents, and I trust that my children after me can say the same thing, and God be pleased that their children after them, to the latest generation, can rise up and declare their fathers blessed.” (Smith 1913, 118)
As a child, Hyrum attended the Salt Lake public schools and later the Latter-day Saints University, graduating in 1894. As a young man he was employed in the book binding department of the Deseret News.
Hyrum married Ida Elizabeth Bowman 15 November 1895, departing for a mission to Great Britain the following day. He served as a traveling Elder in the Leeds Conference of the British Mission, and was then called to preside over the New Castle Conference in October 1896. He served in this capacity until he returned home in February 1898.
Back in the Salt Lake Stake, he continued to do active missionary work and was faithful in all callings he was given. When the stake was divided, Hyrum became the first stake Sunday School secretary of the newly-formed Granite stake. He was able to find a job working at ZCMI.
On 24 October 1901, Hyrum M. Smith was ordained an apostle by his father, President Joseph F. Smith. He also served on the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association General Board immediately upon entering the apostleship.
At the time of his calling, he said:
Today I have witnessed the most imposing and impressive ceremony I ever saw, namely, the way in which we have done our voting. It seems to have been a confirmation of my testimony. I could not describe the feelings I had while witnessing the voting.
Brethren and sisters, I feel for the first time since I have been called to this position to be firmly and soundly on my feet again. Nobody knows, save those who are called to undergo the same experience, just how I felt and do feel. (Smith 1901, 84)
Early in his service as an apostle, he traveled a great deal, visiting the Stakes of Zion, assisting older members of the Quorum to organize and re-organize Stakes, dedicate meeting houses, attend Mutual Improvement conventions, etc. He explained: “My labors have been among the Latter-day Saints, and during the last six months I have visited quite a number of the Stakes of Zion, being in attendance at a Stake conference upon each Sabbath day. Consequently, I have visited in that time nearly half of the Stakes of Zion.” (Smith 1904, 61-62)
In February 1904, Elder Smith went to Washington, D.C. to testify in the Reed Smoot investigations. Then, in 1905, he traveled to Vermont with his father to participate in the dedication of a monument to Joseph Smith.
He was talented in business affairs and became director of ZCMI and the Utah State National Bank. He also served as chairman of the board of control of the Deseret Gymnasium.
Elder Smith was called to succeed Elder Rudger Clawson as President of the European Mission on 18 September 1913. President Smith was in Germany on a mission tour at the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, and had difficulty getting passage back to the mission office in England. He was very successful in modifying the missions according to the wartime situation. Many missionaries had to be sent home, but the missions didn't close completely. Hard work, caution and the hand of the Lord allowed missionary work to continue. President Smith tried to alter the missions as little as possible. He helped to instill in the hearts of the missionaries serving at that time the love of mankind in general and a burning desire to preach the gospel to a war-torn world.
This time of trial, however, also gave opportunity to demonstrate his strong love of his wife and family. In 1914, a group of Relief Society sisters decided to take a trip to Rome and Sister Ida Smith, Elder Smith's wife, decided to accompany them from Liverpool to Rome. Before leaving, she expressed her concern about their children in her absence and Elder Smith said, "Be at peace, for they shall never leave my sight while you are away." (Gates 1918, 126) It was a promise he kept. Also, the two of them wrote letters back and forth literally everyday of their separation. Sister Smith had a birthday while in Rome, and on the day of her birthday, a beautiful basket of flowers was delivered to her room, ordered from her husband by telegraph.
While serving as President of the European Mission, Elder Smith also wrote a commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants together with Janne M. Sjödahl. Their work was published for the first time posthumously in 1919 in Liverpool and is still considered the definitive work on the Doctrine and Covenants.
His wife worked alongside him in the mission and both were beloved of the missionaries serving in all the European missions. They returned home 15 September 1916.
Elder Richard West, serving in the Netherlands Mission under President LeGrand Richards at that time, said of him, "[Elder Hyrum M. Smith was] a man of such pleasing address and humble manners as to peculiarly fit him for the calling of special witness of the Lord." (Tate 1982, Chapter 6 Netherlands Mission President 1913-1916)
Upon his return, he seemed to pick up where he left off with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Elder Hyrum M. Smith died suddenly 23 January 1918 of a ruptured appendix at age 45.
Of his death, Elder Orson F. Whitney related:
I am glad that I could be one of those who were with him almost in his last hours. I was with him and his brother, Joseph F., Jr., [Joseph Fielding Smith] on Friday, five days before his death. We were associated in committee work; and as Hyrum arose to depart, he complained of a slight pain in the abdomen. But in his genial way he passed it off with a half jocular remark and proceeded homeward. That was the last I saw or heard of him until early Sunday morning, when, with Elder James E. Talmage, I was summoned to his bedside. It was about one o'clock, and the message that came stated that Brother Hyrum was seriously ill. We were the only members of the Council of the Twelve then available; the others being engaged elsewhere. We hastened to his home, and found him suffering very intensely. We administered to him repeatedly the healing ordinance of the Church, and he became easier and finally slept. We remained with him until morning. As soon as practicable he was taken to the hospital to undergo an operation, and after I had a little rest I went to the hospital for the purpose of blessing him again, but he had just been taken to the operating room and was even then under the influence of the anesthetic. I returned in the evening and gave him my blessing, administering in conjunction with Elder Joseph F. Smith, Jr. After Sunday night it was not deemed wise to admit anyone to the sick room. Consequently that was the last I saw of Hyrum until I looked upon his lifeless form this morning. (Grant, et al. 1918, 381)
His father, President Joseph F. Smith was particularly devastated by his death. He said:
My soul is rent asunder. My heart is broken, and flutters for life! O my sweet son, my joy, my hope! … He was indeed a prince among men. Never in his life did he displease me or give me cause to doubt him. I loved him through and through. He has thrilled my soul by his power of speech, as no other man ever did. Perhaps this was because he was my son, and he was filled with the fire of the Holy Ghost. And now, what can I do! O what can I do! My soul is rent, my heart is broken! O God, help me! (Church History in the Fulness of Times, Student Manual 2003, 493)
Eight months later and only one month before his own death, President Joseph F. Smith received a vision now known as Section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants, President Smith's "Vision of the Redemption of the Dead."
Elder Smith's wife, Ida Bowman Smith, died that same year, 24 September 1918, nine months after the death of her husband of complications related to childbirth after having given birth to a son. They left behind five children, two sons and three daughters. Two of their children became well known in their own right. His oldest son, Joseph Fielding Smith (not to be confused with Elder Smith's brother, Joseph Fielding Smith, later President of the Church) served as patriarch to the Church for a time and his daughter, Geraldine Smith, was the mother of modern Apostle M. Russell Ballard.
Quotes
Elder Hyrum M. Smith’s talks at General Conference were often quite bold, direct and pointed. He had a style of speaking that did not mince words. He often repeated himself in the style of a teacher, but always in a slightly different way that made his entire point easier to understand. His talks often covered more than one topic with one over-arching theme to tie them together.
His personal testimony was bold and strong. “But, so far as I am concerned, I hope I will be able to establish myself so firmly in the Church that though the whole world rise against us, and though it cost my life with the lives of my brethren, I will remain faithful and firm to the testimony which God has given me.” (Smith 1902, 13)
Elder Smith expressed the difficulty of speaking at General Conference several times.
For some time prior to our annual and semi-annual conferences, I experience a good deal of anxiety, as I contemplate the probability of my having to address the conference. The Elders of the Church are not in the habit of making set discourses, but rely upon the Lord and His inspiration, and the inspiration they can gather from the people of God, for what they shall say. I always have more or less fear that I shall be unable to collect my thoughts and put them in an order that shall be profitable and interesting to the Latter-day Saints. As a general thing, however, when a man puts his trust in the Lord, the Lord sustains him. While, as I have said, I have anxiety prior to these conferences because of having to speak at them, I have usually had great cause for thankfulness, when the ordeal is over. (Smith 1909, 72)
Despite this anxiety, he had a way with words that allowed him to express himself eloquently. The following are a few examples of his everyday eloquence.
If it is narrow-minded to say that "straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," it is not my narrowness, but it is the narrowness of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world. But what about this narrow way? Why, brethren and sisters, it is wide enough to contain the whole world, if the people of the world would but enter it and march forward with their attention set upon the gate which is straight. They could walk many thousands abreast, too, without difficulty. (Smith 1906, 51)
My brethren and sisters, no man can find forgiveness for one sin because he is righteous in some other direction. In other words, the payment of tithing will never compensate for the desecration of the Sabbath day. The faithful keeping of the Sabbath day will never make amends for the breaking of the Word of Wisdom. The refraining from murder, and adultery, will not satisfy the law which forbids bearing false witness against neighbors, or coveting their possessions. And the doing of good to men will never blot out the sin of blaspheming the name of the living God. We must keep the commandments, all of them, every one of them, every day of our lives, and then we will prove ourselves wise and of understanding hearts. (Smith 1917, 39)
He felt that the key to young people developing a testimony was to believe the testimonies of the parents.
I want to say to you young men and young women … that belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the very first step; and the only way you will ever come to a knowledge of the truth is by first believing the testimony of your parents and of the servants of God, no matter who or where they are. You have first got to believe their testimony and have faith in their words; then you will come to a knowledge of the truth. The Lord will not condescend to come down in person to each of us to convince us that this is His Church; not by any means. We must believe the words and testimonies. So it has been from the beginning. The sons of Adam had to believe the words of Adam and to put into practice the things taught them before they could know. You young men and young women who may not have a testimony must put into practice what you are taught before you can obtain a witness of the divinity of this work. (Smith 1902, 60)
He hoped to have a strong testimony even when he was old. Unfortunately, he never lived to old age, but his testimony remained.
I was delighted with the testimony of Brother Penrose, and, in listening to the same I was hoping that when I got to be as old as he is I would also have the same testimony to bear, and that I shall have passed the most of my life in preaching the Gospel and trying to do what good I can in my calling. (Turning to Brother Penrose). How old are you Brother Penrose? Over 70 years of age… (Smith 1902, 59)
He was directly related to the founders of the Church, so when he mentioned the history of Joseph Smith, it was personal.
Were not the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother murdered in cold blood by a mob led on by men who claimed to be ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Did not they, in their piety, as the Jews of old, cry out, Away with this fellow? They said, is he not a blasphemer? Is he not teaching false doctrine? Is he not leading away our sons and daughters from the doctrines and traditions of their fathers? Why, if we let this man go on he will turn the whole world upside down. Therefore, away with him; murder him; anything to get him out of the way! And did they not do it? Did they not partake of the same spirit that those who crucified the Son of God had? And did they not prosecute their devilish work even to a culmination? Certainly they did. I feel warm, too, at these things; for my uncle and my own grandfather were the men who were thus slain, and in my veins flows the same blood that was shed then on the soil of Illinois, and that still cries to God for vengeance. (Smith 1902, 12)
At the time his father’s biography was published, Elder Smith shared some personal information with the Church.
Now, I may reveal, perhaps, something that has not been intended necessarily for the public. It is there recorded that he [Joseph F. Smith] exemplified in a most wonderful degree, the principles of justice and impartiality among the members of his household—his wives and his children—so that it could not be discovered, that any one of them was held more dearly and more closely in his affections than any other. There was no favoritism, no injustice, no partiality shown; but on the other hand, as near as it is possible for man to execute judgment, and justice, and mercy, equitably, these things were so imparted to his family. He loved them all with a love akin to the love of God for His children. (Smith 1911, 26)
Having experienced the horrors of World War I personally in Europe, he shared the following with the Saints:
In the countries comprising the European mission there is at the present time, great disturbance, great sorrow and anxiety, and the Latter-day Saints have their portion of these untoward things; yet they are enduring them in patience. They are going through these trying times trusting in the Lord and endeavoring to keep their hearts free from the spirit of hatred and animosity that seems to fill the hearts of the children of men in those troubled lands. I don't believe there is any spirit of anger or hatred in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints of any one of these countries against the people of any other. We have endeavored at least to instil into the hearts of the Saints a spirit of brotherhood and love, and a willingness to pray even for those who are called their enemies, and I believe they have succeeded and are succeeding to a marked degree in keeping their hearts pure from these defilements. (Smith 1916, 41)
He warned against the spreading of hate as the true cause of war.
We stand in the world for peace among men and not war. We detest war; we love peace. Does the world love peace? No. Do they want peace? It is not apparent that they do. The devil reigns in the world, and he has stirred up the hearts of men to anger and to hatred and to bloodshed. It is terrible to contemplate that in certain nations, among millions of the inhabitants of this earth today, infants are drawing from their mothers very breasts the poison of hate of their fellow men. Hatred is being engendered in the hearts of innocent children by the placards posted upon billboards, in streetcar windows, in the newspapers and by cartoons and on moving picture screens. By picture and inscription, the teaching of parents, and even sermons in the church, the people, old and young, are being taught and pledged to the policy of the "absolute and permanent extirpation of all enemies and enemy goods from their countries." After this war is over will there be peace? No, there will be no peace. It will take generations to outlive the impressions of hatred and animosity that are now being made upon the hearts of the children against their fellow men. … Peace to be permanent must come from within as well as to be seen externally. Man must have peace in his heart and love in his heart both for God and man, else there will be no peace. (Smith 1916, 44)
This statement proved to be prophetic of World War II following on the heels of World War I.
Elder Smith also taught the pure doctrines of the gospel. He understood the principle of prayer with a maturity beyond his years.
Pres[iden]t Woodruff often used to say that he had passed the allotted time of man and was kept alive by the faith and prayers of the Latter-day Saints. Here Apostle Brigham Young [Jr.] comes back to us almost from the point of death, and testifies that God raised him up, and that he knew the prayers of the Latter-day Saints were ascending to Him in his behalf. Yet the time came, my brethren and sisters, when all the prayers of the Latter-day Saints, earnest though they were, and accompanied by the faith of the people, did not save President Woodruff from death. The time has come when our prayers in behalf of many of our loved ones have not been answered, but those for whom we have prayed have been taken away. But, my brethren and sisters, because they are taken away, is that any sign that our prayers were not heard by our Father in heaven? Not In the least. It is but an evidence that God knows best, that His will is not our will, and that the time had come when He saw it wiser not to answer that prayer. (Smith 1902, 20-21)
Elder Smith warned against frivolous amusements on Sundays. The following seems overly strict from today’s perspective, but it also shows how direct he could be when he felt strongly about a principle.
The Sunday theaters and amusements are a menace to the morals and welfare of the people, both young and old. So far as I am concerned, I disapprove most emphatically of all such things on the Sabbath day, and I disapprove of some species of amusements on week days as well; I believe they are evil, and their influence is bad. Skating rinks are a menace, and at the present time the desire to frequent them is a craze. They are being introduced in certain Stakes of Zion, and the young people are going wild over this pastime, which they carry to excess. As a result of enthusiasm in relation to this so-called pleasure we mark the downfall of far too many young men and young women. I disapprove of these and other places of amusement where young people are thrown promiscuously into the society of the wicked, who care neither for God nor man, for virtue nor decency. To allow pure girls and virtuous boys to mingle in the society of men and women who are steeped in sin is little short of a crime on the part of parents and guardians of the young. (Smith 1907, 24)
He also warned young mothers to keep the Word of Wisdom to save the health of their children. This was years before a link was shown between smoking and alcohol consumption and the health of an unborn baby.
I would like to suggest to the Relief Society sisters that they keep the Word of Wisdom; and I would like to commence at the very head of the Relief Societies in the Church, and go down through all the Relief Society sisters in the Church and plead with them who are the mothers, and the sisters who will be the mothers, of the children of God, to keep the Word of Wisdom that their children may be endowed with strength and power and vitality and energy, that they may live and not die. (Smith 1912, 36)
Elder Smith could be very bold when he felt that an injustice had been done. In 1909, the citizens of Utah voted in favor of prohibition and a law regulating whether or not a business could open on Sunday. It went through the house legislature without any problems, but was rejected by the senate. This was Elder Smith’s blazing response given in a General Conference address.
We asked for a Sunday law; we were given a stone. We asked for prohibition, and the lower house of the legislature, with a very few dishonorable exceptions, stood as a man, to the last, for virtue and truth, for honesty and sobriety, and would have gladly given unto the people what they asked: viz, lighten our yoke; release us from this bondage that now is destroying our sons and our daughters, and polluting our state.
The senate was just the reverse, with a few very honorable exceptions. Their answer was practically this: We will defeat the House and deny the request of the people. If in the past they have been chastised with whips, we will chastise them with scorpions. We will not only not give them relief but, we will add to their burdens by fastening the whisky yoke more securely upon them. We will deliver the state to the liquor dealer, and the people to the saloon keeper. ...
Well, so far as I am concerned, I still stand for purity of life, for prohibition, the closing of saloons, the prevention of drunkenness, for every virtue and every good thing that will help the people. So far as I have authority to speak for the people of the Church of Christ, the Latter-day Saints still desire relief from this yoke; they desire their burdens to be lightened. We desire the Sabbath day to be kept holy. We desire our children to grow up fearing God and keeping holy His Sabbath day; and we deplore the condition that prevails where legislators arise and make light of, and ridicule the honest, sincere, and devout wish of a mighty people when they ask for relief from this desecration of the Lord's day. I fear for the peace and safety of our commonwealth when our law makers refuse to listen to the voice of the people, and follow the advice of the wicked and immoral instead. I say to you Latter-day Saints, do not lose courage; we have had to fight battles for truth all our lives, and just as the leaven is leavening the lump with reference to some of the doctrines of the Church and Kingdom of God, and as it will eventually leaven it all, so this will be part of it. (Smith 1909, 90-91)
He also lived what he preached. It was said of him that he had never tasted tea, coffee, tobacco or liquor, never profaned the name of Deity and was never guilty of disrespect to his parents. (Parry 1918, 63)
Elder Orson F. Whitney, with whom Elder Smith shared a friendship, described his character as follows:
One thing that drew me to Hyrum was the keen sense of humor that he possessed. He was anything but frivolous and light-minded. On the contrary, he was generally serious, and at times severe. Such was his hatred of vice and wrong-doing, that he could not look upon it with the least degree of allowance, and he was unsparing in his denunciation of evil in every form; but he had a kind and noble heart and was not lacking in charity and brotherly love. There was a rich vein of humor in him. He could unbend—could see the funny side of things, and enjoy a good laugh, a good joke, a good story; but those jokes and stories had to be clean and wholesome, or he would not countenance them. For he had a pure heart, a clean mind, and a lovable disposition. I thank God that he found in me something congenial and companionable. He always said just what he thought and felt, and was frank and fearless in expressing himself. Ever respectful to authority, but never a sycophant, he was fast developing into a great man, and I looked for big things in his future. (Grant, et al. 1918, 382)
Frank Y. Taylor, Elder Smith’s stake president and close friend, said of him:
We shall miss him, down in our stake. He lived in our midst, and he was a splendid, good example in our community. Personally I feel that I have indeed lost, for the present—I will not say that I have lost him altogether—a very dear friend; because we were close personal friends. It was always a pleasure to me to meet him and take him by the hand. There was something so sincere and real about him—nothing put on. I don't think that Brother Hyrum could dissemble to anybody. He was a fearless defender of the truth. He upheld it both in example and in precept. He loved the work of the Lord, and he loved those who love the cause of truth in the earth. He did not seem to have patience with those who were sinning and doing that which is wrong, but he was anxious for their uplift and for them to repent and to do better, to do good. We shall miss him exceedingly, and I am sure all Israel will miss the presence of this staunch defender of the work of the Lord; but our heavenly Father's work on the other side will be a gainer by it. (Grant, et al. 1918, 386)
Conclusion
What kind of man was Hyrum M. Smith? He was a bold and fearless man. He deeply believed the gospel and strived every day of his life to live it. He believed in keeping the commandments and preached them. He loved his family and they returned his devotion. He was a hard worker and was ever engaged in a good cause. Financially, he was never very successful, but he offered his family something more valuable: a virtuous life. He was always teaching the principles of truth. He did all he could to remain close to the Spirit and to serve those around him.
Chase, Randal S. 2013. Church History Study Guide, Pt. 3 Making Precious Things Plain. Kindle Edition. Vol. 6. Washington, Utah: Plain and Precious Publishing.
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Cowley, M. F. 1901. "Lives of Our Leaders: The Twelve Apostles.--Hyrum M. Smith." The Juvenile Instructor, November 15: 673-674.
Cowley, Matthias F. 1902. Prophets and Patriarchs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chattanooga, Tennessee: Ben E. Rich.
Gates, Susa Young. 1918. "The Passing of Apostle Hyrum M. Smith." The Relief Society Magazine, March: 125-127.
Grant, Heber J., Orson F. Whitney, James E. Talmage, Frank Y. Taylor, Charles W. Nibley, Richard R. Lyman, Charles W. Penrose, and Anthon H. Lund. 1918. "In Memoriam. Hyrum Mack Smith, an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." The Improvement Era, March, 21 ed.: 379-396.
Jenson, Andrew. 1899. Church Chronology. A Record of Important Events. Second Edition, Kindle Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News.
—. 1936. Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Salt Lake City: The Andrew Jenson Memorial Association.
—. 1920. Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. Salt Lake City: The Andrew Jenson History Company.
Parry, Edwin F. 1918. "Elder Hyrum M. Smith." The Juvenile Instructor, February, 53 ed.: 62-64.
Smith, Hyrum M. 1906. 76th Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News. 47-52.
—. 1902. Seventy-Second Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 19-23, 59-60.
—. 1907. Seventy-Seventh Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News. 22-25.
—. 1909. The 79th Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 85-91.
—. 1911. 81st Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 25-29.
—. 1912. Eighty-second Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: the Deseret News. 31-37.
—. 1913. Eighty-third Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: the Deseret News. 114-118.
—. 1901. Seventy-Second Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 83-84.
—. 1902. Seventy-Third Semi-Annual of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 11-13.
—. 1904. Seventy-Fifth Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 61-63.
—. 1909. Eightieth Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 72-77.
—. 1916. Eighty-Seventh Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 40-46, 89-92.
—. 1917. Eighty-Eighth Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. 34-39.
Tate, Lucile C. 1982. LeGrand Richards: Beloved Apostle. Kindle Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company.
The Improvement Era. 1918. "Hyrum Mack Smith." March: 377.
The Improvement Era. 1918. "Passing Events." November: 88-93.
Biography
Hyrum Mack Smith was born 21 March 1872 in Salt Lake City, the eldest son of later President Joseph F. Smith and Edna Lambson. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, and his great-grandmother, Lucy Mack Smith. He was very close to his parents, who took great pains to raise him and his brothers and sisters in the way they should go.
His affection for his parents was so great, in fact, that his wife would teasingly say, "Hyrum is the biggest baby I ever saw; I believe he would die if he could not go home and see his mother every day." (Cowley 1902, 316) He also said: “… I love, honor and revere my parents, and I trust that my children after me can say the same thing, and God be pleased that their children after them, to the latest generation, can rise up and declare their fathers blessed.” (Smith 1913, 118)
As a child, Hyrum attended the Salt Lake public schools and later the Latter-day Saints University, graduating in 1894. As a young man he was employed in the book binding department of the Deseret News.
Hyrum married Ida Elizabeth Bowman 15 November 1895, departing for a mission to Great Britain the following day. He served as a traveling Elder in the Leeds Conference of the British Mission, and was then called to preside over the New Castle Conference in October 1896. He served in this capacity until he returned home in February 1898.
Back in the Salt Lake Stake, he continued to do active missionary work and was faithful in all callings he was given. When the stake was divided, Hyrum became the first stake Sunday School secretary of the newly-formed Granite stake. He was able to find a job working at ZCMI.
On 24 October 1901, Hyrum M. Smith was ordained an apostle by his father, President Joseph F. Smith. He also served on the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association General Board immediately upon entering the apostleship.
At the time of his calling, he said:
Today I have witnessed the most imposing and impressive ceremony I ever saw, namely, the way in which we have done our voting. It seems to have been a confirmation of my testimony. I could not describe the feelings I had while witnessing the voting.
Brethren and sisters, I feel for the first time since I have been called to this position to be firmly and soundly on my feet again. Nobody knows, save those who are called to undergo the same experience, just how I felt and do feel. (Smith 1901, 84)
Early in his service as an apostle, he traveled a great deal, visiting the Stakes of Zion, assisting older members of the Quorum to organize and re-organize Stakes, dedicate meeting houses, attend Mutual Improvement conventions, etc. He explained: “My labors have been among the Latter-day Saints, and during the last six months I have visited quite a number of the Stakes of Zion, being in attendance at a Stake conference upon each Sabbath day. Consequently, I have visited in that time nearly half of the Stakes of Zion.” (Smith 1904, 61-62)
In February 1904, Elder Smith went to Washington, D.C. to testify in the Reed Smoot investigations. Then, in 1905, he traveled to Vermont with his father to participate in the dedication of a monument to Joseph Smith.
He was talented in business affairs and became director of ZCMI and the Utah State National Bank. He also served as chairman of the board of control of the Deseret Gymnasium.
Elder Smith was called to succeed Elder Rudger Clawson as President of the European Mission on 18 September 1913. President Smith was in Germany on a mission tour at the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, and had difficulty getting passage back to the mission office in England. He was very successful in modifying the missions according to the wartime situation. Many missionaries had to be sent home, but the missions didn't close completely. Hard work, caution and the hand of the Lord allowed missionary work to continue. President Smith tried to alter the missions as little as possible. He helped to instill in the hearts of the missionaries serving at that time the love of mankind in general and a burning desire to preach the gospel to a war-torn world.
This time of trial, however, also gave opportunity to demonstrate his strong love of his wife and family. In 1914, a group of Relief Society sisters decided to take a trip to Rome and Sister Ida Smith, Elder Smith's wife, decided to accompany them from Liverpool to Rome. Before leaving, she expressed her concern about their children in her absence and Elder Smith said, "Be at peace, for they shall never leave my sight while you are away." (Gates 1918, 126) It was a promise he kept. Also, the two of them wrote letters back and forth literally everyday of their separation. Sister Smith had a birthday while in Rome, and on the day of her birthday, a beautiful basket of flowers was delivered to her room, ordered from her husband by telegraph.
While serving as President of the European Mission, Elder Smith also wrote a commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants together with Janne M. Sjödahl. Their work was published for the first time posthumously in 1919 in Liverpool and is still considered the definitive work on the Doctrine and Covenants.
His wife worked alongside him in the mission and both were beloved of the missionaries serving in all the European missions. They returned home 15 September 1916.
Elder Richard West, serving in the Netherlands Mission under President LeGrand Richards at that time, said of him, "[Elder Hyrum M. Smith was] a man of such pleasing address and humble manners as to peculiarly fit him for the calling of special witness of the Lord." (Tate 1982, Chapter 6 Netherlands Mission President 1913-1916)
Upon his return, he seemed to pick up where he left off with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Elder Hyrum M. Smith died suddenly 23 January 1918 of a ruptured appendix at age 45.
Of his death, Elder Orson F. Whitney related:
I am glad that I could be one of those who were with him almost in his last hours. I was with him and his brother, Joseph F., Jr., [Joseph Fielding Smith] on Friday, five days before his death. We were associated in committee work; and as Hyrum arose to depart, he complained of a slight pain in the abdomen. But in his genial way he passed it off with a half jocular remark and proceeded homeward. That was the last I saw or heard of him until early Sunday morning, when, with Elder James E. Talmage, I was summoned to his bedside. It was about one o'clock, and the message that came stated that Brother Hyrum was seriously ill. We were the only members of the Council of the Twelve then available; the others being engaged elsewhere. We hastened to his home, and found him suffering very intensely. We administered to him repeatedly the healing ordinance of the Church, and he became easier and finally slept. We remained with him until morning. As soon as practicable he was taken to the hospital to undergo an operation, and after I had a little rest I went to the hospital for the purpose of blessing him again, but he had just been taken to the operating room and was even then under the influence of the anesthetic. I returned in the evening and gave him my blessing, administering in conjunction with Elder Joseph F. Smith, Jr. After Sunday night it was not deemed wise to admit anyone to the sick room. Consequently that was the last I saw of Hyrum until I looked upon his lifeless form this morning. (Grant, et al. 1918, 381)
His father, President Joseph F. Smith was particularly devastated by his death. He said:
My soul is rent asunder. My heart is broken, and flutters for life! O my sweet son, my joy, my hope! … He was indeed a prince among men. Never in his life did he displease me or give me cause to doubt him. I loved him through and through. He has thrilled my soul by his power of speech, as no other man ever did. Perhaps this was because he was my son, and he was filled with the fire of the Holy Ghost. And now, what can I do! O what can I do! My soul is rent, my heart is broken! O God, help me! (Church History in the Fulness of Times, Student Manual 2003, 493)
Eight months later and only one month before his own death, President Joseph F. Smith received a vision now known as Section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants, President Smith's "Vision of the Redemption of the Dead."
Elder Smith's wife, Ida Bowman Smith, died that same year, 24 September 1918, nine months after the death of her husband of complications related to childbirth after having given birth to a son. They left behind five children, two sons and three daughters. Two of their children became well known in their own right. His oldest son, Joseph Fielding Smith (not to be confused with Elder Smith's brother, Joseph Fielding Smith, later President of the Church) served as patriarch to the Church for a time and his daughter, Geraldine Smith, was the mother of modern Apostle M. Russell Ballard.
Quotes
Elder Hyrum M. Smith’s talks at General Conference were often quite bold, direct and pointed. He had a style of speaking that did not mince words. He often repeated himself in the style of a teacher, but always in a slightly different way that made his entire point easier to understand. His talks often covered more than one topic with one over-arching theme to tie them together.
His personal testimony was bold and strong. “But, so far as I am concerned, I hope I will be able to establish myself so firmly in the Church that though the whole world rise against us, and though it cost my life with the lives of my brethren, I will remain faithful and firm to the testimony which God has given me.” (Smith 1902, 13)
Elder Smith expressed the difficulty of speaking at General Conference several times.
For some time prior to our annual and semi-annual conferences, I experience a good deal of anxiety, as I contemplate the probability of my having to address the conference. The Elders of the Church are not in the habit of making set discourses, but rely upon the Lord and His inspiration, and the inspiration they can gather from the people of God, for what they shall say. I always have more or less fear that I shall be unable to collect my thoughts and put them in an order that shall be profitable and interesting to the Latter-day Saints. As a general thing, however, when a man puts his trust in the Lord, the Lord sustains him. While, as I have said, I have anxiety prior to these conferences because of having to speak at them, I have usually had great cause for thankfulness, when the ordeal is over. (Smith 1909, 72)
Despite this anxiety, he had a way with words that allowed him to express himself eloquently. The following are a few examples of his everyday eloquence.
If it is narrow-minded to say that "straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," it is not my narrowness, but it is the narrowness of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world. But what about this narrow way? Why, brethren and sisters, it is wide enough to contain the whole world, if the people of the world would but enter it and march forward with their attention set upon the gate which is straight. They could walk many thousands abreast, too, without difficulty. (Smith 1906, 51)
My brethren and sisters, no man can find forgiveness for one sin because he is righteous in some other direction. In other words, the payment of tithing will never compensate for the desecration of the Sabbath day. The faithful keeping of the Sabbath day will never make amends for the breaking of the Word of Wisdom. The refraining from murder, and adultery, will not satisfy the law which forbids bearing false witness against neighbors, or coveting their possessions. And the doing of good to men will never blot out the sin of blaspheming the name of the living God. We must keep the commandments, all of them, every one of them, every day of our lives, and then we will prove ourselves wise and of understanding hearts. (Smith 1917, 39)
He felt that the key to young people developing a testimony was to believe the testimonies of the parents.
I want to say to you young men and young women … that belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the very first step; and the only way you will ever come to a knowledge of the truth is by first believing the testimony of your parents and of the servants of God, no matter who or where they are. You have first got to believe their testimony and have faith in their words; then you will come to a knowledge of the truth. The Lord will not condescend to come down in person to each of us to convince us that this is His Church; not by any means. We must believe the words and testimonies. So it has been from the beginning. The sons of Adam had to believe the words of Adam and to put into practice the things taught them before they could know. You young men and young women who may not have a testimony must put into practice what you are taught before you can obtain a witness of the divinity of this work. (Smith 1902, 60)
He hoped to have a strong testimony even when he was old. Unfortunately, he never lived to old age, but his testimony remained.
I was delighted with the testimony of Brother Penrose, and, in listening to the same I was hoping that when I got to be as old as he is I would also have the same testimony to bear, and that I shall have passed the most of my life in preaching the Gospel and trying to do what good I can in my calling. (Turning to Brother Penrose). How old are you Brother Penrose? Over 70 years of age… (Smith 1902, 59)
He was directly related to the founders of the Church, so when he mentioned the history of Joseph Smith, it was personal.
Were not the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother murdered in cold blood by a mob led on by men who claimed to be ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Did not they, in their piety, as the Jews of old, cry out, Away with this fellow? They said, is he not a blasphemer? Is he not teaching false doctrine? Is he not leading away our sons and daughters from the doctrines and traditions of their fathers? Why, if we let this man go on he will turn the whole world upside down. Therefore, away with him; murder him; anything to get him out of the way! And did they not do it? Did they not partake of the same spirit that those who crucified the Son of God had? And did they not prosecute their devilish work even to a culmination? Certainly they did. I feel warm, too, at these things; for my uncle and my own grandfather were the men who were thus slain, and in my veins flows the same blood that was shed then on the soil of Illinois, and that still cries to God for vengeance. (Smith 1902, 12)
At the time his father’s biography was published, Elder Smith shared some personal information with the Church.
Now, I may reveal, perhaps, something that has not been intended necessarily for the public. It is there recorded that he [Joseph F. Smith] exemplified in a most wonderful degree, the principles of justice and impartiality among the members of his household—his wives and his children—so that it could not be discovered, that any one of them was held more dearly and more closely in his affections than any other. There was no favoritism, no injustice, no partiality shown; but on the other hand, as near as it is possible for man to execute judgment, and justice, and mercy, equitably, these things were so imparted to his family. He loved them all with a love akin to the love of God for His children. (Smith 1911, 26)
Having experienced the horrors of World War I personally in Europe, he shared the following with the Saints:
In the countries comprising the European mission there is at the present time, great disturbance, great sorrow and anxiety, and the Latter-day Saints have their portion of these untoward things; yet they are enduring them in patience. They are going through these trying times trusting in the Lord and endeavoring to keep their hearts free from the spirit of hatred and animosity that seems to fill the hearts of the children of men in those troubled lands. I don't believe there is any spirit of anger or hatred in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints of any one of these countries against the people of any other. We have endeavored at least to instil into the hearts of the Saints a spirit of brotherhood and love, and a willingness to pray even for those who are called their enemies, and I believe they have succeeded and are succeeding to a marked degree in keeping their hearts pure from these defilements. (Smith 1916, 41)
He warned against the spreading of hate as the true cause of war.
We stand in the world for peace among men and not war. We detest war; we love peace. Does the world love peace? No. Do they want peace? It is not apparent that they do. The devil reigns in the world, and he has stirred up the hearts of men to anger and to hatred and to bloodshed. It is terrible to contemplate that in certain nations, among millions of the inhabitants of this earth today, infants are drawing from their mothers very breasts the poison of hate of their fellow men. Hatred is being engendered in the hearts of innocent children by the placards posted upon billboards, in streetcar windows, in the newspapers and by cartoons and on moving picture screens. By picture and inscription, the teaching of parents, and even sermons in the church, the people, old and young, are being taught and pledged to the policy of the "absolute and permanent extirpation of all enemies and enemy goods from their countries." After this war is over will there be peace? No, there will be no peace. It will take generations to outlive the impressions of hatred and animosity that are now being made upon the hearts of the children against their fellow men. … Peace to be permanent must come from within as well as to be seen externally. Man must have peace in his heart and love in his heart both for God and man, else there will be no peace. (Smith 1916, 44)
This statement proved to be prophetic of World War II following on the heels of World War I.
Elder Smith also taught the pure doctrines of the gospel. He understood the principle of prayer with a maturity beyond his years.
Pres[iden]t Woodruff often used to say that he had passed the allotted time of man and was kept alive by the faith and prayers of the Latter-day Saints. Here Apostle Brigham Young [Jr.] comes back to us almost from the point of death, and testifies that God raised him up, and that he knew the prayers of the Latter-day Saints were ascending to Him in his behalf. Yet the time came, my brethren and sisters, when all the prayers of the Latter-day Saints, earnest though they were, and accompanied by the faith of the people, did not save President Woodruff from death. The time has come when our prayers in behalf of many of our loved ones have not been answered, but those for whom we have prayed have been taken away. But, my brethren and sisters, because they are taken away, is that any sign that our prayers were not heard by our Father in heaven? Not In the least. It is but an evidence that God knows best, that His will is not our will, and that the time had come when He saw it wiser not to answer that prayer. (Smith 1902, 20-21)
Elder Smith warned against frivolous amusements on Sundays. The following seems overly strict from today’s perspective, but it also shows how direct he could be when he felt strongly about a principle.
The Sunday theaters and amusements are a menace to the morals and welfare of the people, both young and old. So far as I am concerned, I disapprove most emphatically of all such things on the Sabbath day, and I disapprove of some species of amusements on week days as well; I believe they are evil, and their influence is bad. Skating rinks are a menace, and at the present time the desire to frequent them is a craze. They are being introduced in certain Stakes of Zion, and the young people are going wild over this pastime, which they carry to excess. As a result of enthusiasm in relation to this so-called pleasure we mark the downfall of far too many young men and young women. I disapprove of these and other places of amusement where young people are thrown promiscuously into the society of the wicked, who care neither for God nor man, for virtue nor decency. To allow pure girls and virtuous boys to mingle in the society of men and women who are steeped in sin is little short of a crime on the part of parents and guardians of the young. (Smith 1907, 24)
He also warned young mothers to keep the Word of Wisdom to save the health of their children. This was years before a link was shown between smoking and alcohol consumption and the health of an unborn baby.
I would like to suggest to the Relief Society sisters that they keep the Word of Wisdom; and I would like to commence at the very head of the Relief Societies in the Church, and go down through all the Relief Society sisters in the Church and plead with them who are the mothers, and the sisters who will be the mothers, of the children of God, to keep the Word of Wisdom that their children may be endowed with strength and power and vitality and energy, that they may live and not die. (Smith 1912, 36)
Elder Smith could be very bold when he felt that an injustice had been done. In 1909, the citizens of Utah voted in favor of prohibition and a law regulating whether or not a business could open on Sunday. It went through the house legislature without any problems, but was rejected by the senate. This was Elder Smith’s blazing response given in a General Conference address.
We asked for a Sunday law; we were given a stone. We asked for prohibition, and the lower house of the legislature, with a very few dishonorable exceptions, stood as a man, to the last, for virtue and truth, for honesty and sobriety, and would have gladly given unto the people what they asked: viz, lighten our yoke; release us from this bondage that now is destroying our sons and our daughters, and polluting our state.
The senate was just the reverse, with a few very honorable exceptions. Their answer was practically this: We will defeat the House and deny the request of the people. If in the past they have been chastised with whips, we will chastise them with scorpions. We will not only not give them relief but, we will add to their burdens by fastening the whisky yoke more securely upon them. We will deliver the state to the liquor dealer, and the people to the saloon keeper. ...
Well, so far as I am concerned, I still stand for purity of life, for prohibition, the closing of saloons, the prevention of drunkenness, for every virtue and every good thing that will help the people. So far as I have authority to speak for the people of the Church of Christ, the Latter-day Saints still desire relief from this yoke; they desire their burdens to be lightened. We desire the Sabbath day to be kept holy. We desire our children to grow up fearing God and keeping holy His Sabbath day; and we deplore the condition that prevails where legislators arise and make light of, and ridicule the honest, sincere, and devout wish of a mighty people when they ask for relief from this desecration of the Lord's day. I fear for the peace and safety of our commonwealth when our law makers refuse to listen to the voice of the people, and follow the advice of the wicked and immoral instead. I say to you Latter-day Saints, do not lose courage; we have had to fight battles for truth all our lives, and just as the leaven is leavening the lump with reference to some of the doctrines of the Church and Kingdom of God, and as it will eventually leaven it all, so this will be part of it. (Smith 1909, 90-91)
He also lived what he preached. It was said of him that he had never tasted tea, coffee, tobacco or liquor, never profaned the name of Deity and was never guilty of disrespect to his parents. (Parry 1918, 63)
Elder Orson F. Whitney, with whom Elder Smith shared a friendship, described his character as follows:
One thing that drew me to Hyrum was the keen sense of humor that he possessed. He was anything but frivolous and light-minded. On the contrary, he was generally serious, and at times severe. Such was his hatred of vice and wrong-doing, that he could not look upon it with the least degree of allowance, and he was unsparing in his denunciation of evil in every form; but he had a kind and noble heart and was not lacking in charity and brotherly love. There was a rich vein of humor in him. He could unbend—could see the funny side of things, and enjoy a good laugh, a good joke, a good story; but those jokes and stories had to be clean and wholesome, or he would not countenance them. For he had a pure heart, a clean mind, and a lovable disposition. I thank God that he found in me something congenial and companionable. He always said just what he thought and felt, and was frank and fearless in expressing himself. Ever respectful to authority, but never a sycophant, he was fast developing into a great man, and I looked for big things in his future. (Grant, et al. 1918, 382)
Frank Y. Taylor, Elder Smith’s stake president and close friend, said of him:
We shall miss him, down in our stake. He lived in our midst, and he was a splendid, good example in our community. Personally I feel that I have indeed lost, for the present—I will not say that I have lost him altogether—a very dear friend; because we were close personal friends. It was always a pleasure to me to meet him and take him by the hand. There was something so sincere and real about him—nothing put on. I don't think that Brother Hyrum could dissemble to anybody. He was a fearless defender of the truth. He upheld it both in example and in precept. He loved the work of the Lord, and he loved those who love the cause of truth in the earth. He did not seem to have patience with those who were sinning and doing that which is wrong, but he was anxious for their uplift and for them to repent and to do better, to do good. We shall miss him exceedingly, and I am sure all Israel will miss the presence of this staunch defender of the work of the Lord; but our heavenly Father's work on the other side will be a gainer by it. (Grant, et al. 1918, 386)
Conclusion
What kind of man was Hyrum M. Smith? He was a bold and fearless man. He deeply believed the gospel and strived every day of his life to live it. He believed in keeping the commandments and preached them. He loved his family and they returned his devotion. He was a hard worker and was ever engaged in a good cause. Financially, he was never very successful, but he offered his family something more valuable: a virtuous life. He was always teaching the principles of truth. He did all he could to remain close to the Spirit and to serve those around him.
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