Joseph Anderson
Born: 20 November 1889
Called as Assistant to the Twelve: 6 April 1970
Called to First Quorum of the Seventy: 1 October 1976
Became Emeritus General Authority: 31 December 1978
Died: 13 March 1992
Called as Assistant to the Twelve: 6 April 1970
Called to First Quorum of the Seventy: 1 October 1976
Became Emeritus General Authority: 31 December 1978
Died: 13 March 1992
Talks on Church WebsiteApr 1971 - Eternal Joy is Eternal Growth
Oct 1971 - The Living Christ Apr 1972 - Man's Eternal Horizon Oct 1972 - Light and Knowledge to the World Apr 1973 - The Rock of Revelation Apr 1974 - Strength of the Spirit Oct 1974 - A Testimony of Christ Apr 1975 - The Road to Happiness Apr 1976 - The Matter of Personal Testimony Oct 1976 - We Are a Covenant-Making People Apr 1978 - Being "Anxiously Engaged" Oct 1986 - Presidents of the Church Image source: Relief Society Magazine, June 1970
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Image source: Improvement Era, May 1970
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Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Improvement Era, May 1970, Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Twelve
Relief Society Magazine, June 1970, Elder Joseph Anderson Called to be the Assistant to the Twelve
Ensign, February 1973, Elder Anderson to Assist in Historical Department
Ensign, July 1983, Elder Joseph Anderson: "Life Is Good Because of the Gospel"
Ensign, January 1987, Elder Anderson Becomes Oldest General Authority
Ensign, February 1990, Elder Joseph Anderson Celebrates 100th Birthday
Ensign, May 1992, Elder Joseph Anderson Eulogized
Improvement Era, May 1970, Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Twelve
Relief Society Magazine, June 1970, Elder Joseph Anderson Called to be the Assistant to the Twelve
Ensign, February 1973, Elder Anderson to Assist in Historical Department
Ensign, July 1983, Elder Joseph Anderson: "Life Is Good Because of the Gospel"
Ensign, January 1987, Elder Anderson Becomes Oldest General Authority
Ensign, February 1990, Elder Joseph Anderson Celebrates 100th Birthday
Ensign, May 1992, Elder Joseph Anderson Eulogized
Jenson, Andrew. "Anderson, Joseph." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 478.
ANDERSON, Joseph, second counselor in the Grant Stake presidency from 1924 to 1933, was born Sept. 7, 1862, in Moroni, Utah, a son of Andrew Anderson and Anna Olsen. He was baptized in 1870, ordained a Seventy Aug. 4, 1884, by Seymour B. Young, filled a mission to Scandinavia in 1885-1887, and was ordained a High Priest and set apart as second counselor May 25, 1924.
ANDERSON, Joseph, second counselor in the Grant Stake presidency from 1924 to 1933, was born Sept. 7, 1862, in Moroni, Utah, a son of Andrew Anderson and Anna Olsen. He was baptized in 1870, ordained a Seventy Aug. 4, 1884, by Seymour B. Young, filled a mission to Scandinavia in 1885-1887, and was ordained a High Priest and set apart as second counselor May 25, 1924.
Zobell, Alfred L., Jr. "Elder Joseph Anderson, Assistant to the Twelve." Improvement Era. May 1970. pg. 7-9.
Joseph Anderson Assistant to the Council of the Twelve By Albert L. Zobell, Jr. Research Editor Joseph Anderson was born at Salt Lake City November 20, 1889, a son of George and Isabella Watson Anderson, Scottish emigrants. His father was a railroad man. In the Roy (Utah) Ward, as a child, Joseph was sustained as secretary of the Primary. This was the first of many positions he has held as a secretary, a position of confidence and important detail to which he has given great dignity and effectiveness. He was graduated from the Weber Academy in Ogden, Utah, in 1905, when David O. McKay was the school's principal. He was called to the Swiss-German Mission in October 1911. Several years ago he recalled the long train ride to Montreal and then the voyage to Europe, noting that a grandson, then in Scotland, was settled and happy in mission routine and well on his way to his first convert in less time than it had taken him to arrive in his field of labor. He served as conference president and secretary of the Swiss- German Mission beginning in June 1912, and completed that mission in May 1914. When he made inquiry about serving as President Grant's secretary in 1921, he was invited to sit in the Tabernacle congregation of the MIA June Conference to take the President's message. He did, turned in his report, and waited. Nothing happened. Later he was notified that President Grant was to speak on his sixty-fifth birthday, November 22, 1921, to Latter-day Saint students in the Assembly Hall,, and that he would like him to come and take down his talk. In the address President Grant "gave me a drilling that just about floored me. I said, 'He talks like a streak of lightning.' When I turned in his address, my work surprised President Grant, who was testing me on purpose. I became his secretary on February 1, 1922, and was with him for 23 years, until he passed away. No two men could have been closer than he and I were. We traveled all over together. We were almost like father and son." He became one of two official conference reporters on April 6, 1922, and clerk of the general conference of the Church six years later. He has written untold thousands of pages of notes at the official meetings of the Church and his other assignments. During most of the time that he served as President Grant's secretary, he was also secretary to the First Presidency, and after President Grant's death in 1945, he continued to serve as secretary to the First Presidency. For many years his duties have included, among many other things, being in attendance at and taking minutes of meetings of the First Presidency and the weekly meetings of the Presidency and the Council of the Twelve in the Salt Lake Temple. "President George Albert Smith was a man of great love," he recalls. "I went to Washington, D.C., with him at the end of World War II. We called on President Harry S Truman and cabinet members, as well as embassy officials stationed there. The Church desired to send welfare supplies to our members in Europe. President Truman said, 'When can you do it?' President Smith replied, 'We can do it immediately. We are ready to go. We only need the ships to send the supplies.' He made a friend of President Truman, and the way was opened for this to be accomplished without delay. "I had a very close acquaintance with President McKay beginning while I was a student at Weber Academy. I've never had a teacher anywhere near the equal of President McKay. He was a man of great personality and vision, one who was greatly admired. Truly, he was a prophet of God. "I've always loved and admired President Joseph Fielding Smith for his knowledge of the gospel and the scriptures and his devotion to the Lord's cause. He is a tender-hearted, lovable man who has felt an obligation to preach repentance to the people: the Lord has said, 'Say nothing but repentance unto this generation.' He has felt that was his responsibility. He is truly the Lord's chosen prophet for this particular time." In speaking at Brigham Young University last July, Elder Anderson said: "The men who have presided over this Church from the beginning have been men raised up by the Lord for the particular time during which they served, men prepared and qualified for the service they were to render and for the leadership they were to give. These men are not mediocre men; they are giants of the Lord, chosen and ordained before they came here to perform the work they have done and will do. Each is different from the others, but all are men of inspiration, of revelation, of devotion, and of faith—prophets of the living God." He enjoys as his leisure-time activities walking and swimming ( and we might add, more Church work—he has been a member of the Bonneville Stake high council for 25 years). He often will walk to a meeting or to work, and frequently refuses invitation of kind friends who wish to give him a ride. He swims—30 to 36 lengths of the Deseret Gymnasium pool—several times a week. It is his philosophy that exercise is important—exercise of the muscles, exercise of the mind, and exercise of the spirit. He is convinced that without exercise, one becomes flabby physically, mentally, and spiritually. Elder Anderson has developed a wide range of interests. He has been secretary-treasurer of Deseret Book Company since its incorporation in 1932. He was formerly vice-president of Gunnison Sugar Company, secretary of the Saltair Beach Company, and a director of a small railroad company. For many years he has been a contributor to the yearbooks of the Encyclopedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana, and was also a contributor to the American People's Encyclopedia. He is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Industry. Elder Anderson married Norma Peterson November 11, 1915, in the Salt Lake Temple. She served on the YWMIA general board from 1942 to 1961. The family has been blessed with two daughters and a son, all of Salt Lake City: Mrs. Bette Peterson, J. Robert Anderson, and Mrs. William C. (Elaine) Card. Sister Anderson says of him: "Perhaps a wife knows her husband better than anyone else knows him, and I must say I am a bit prejudiced about him. He is a man completely without guile. He has never said an unkind word about anyone. He is always considerate of others, and unselfish. His outstanding characteristics are his great faith and love of the gospel, selflessness, patience, generosity, and understanding. He is generous to a fault. There is no generation gap between him and the young. Young people come to him with their problems. He always has time to talk with them. We are happy that our home is a gathering place for young people. Our children, grandchildren, and their friends come, and we have wonderful gospel discussions as well as discussions of personal problems and world affairs. They have great respect for his advice and counsel. As the children have grown older, they feel even closer to their father, and he has grown younger with them. We are grateful for our family relationship and the fun we have together." As Brother Anderson was called to be an Assistant to the Twelve, President Harold B. Lee of the First Presidency noted: "He brings into the General Authorities' circle a background of knowledge and experience seldom equaled and probably never surpassed. "A man in Joseph Anderson's position as secretary to the First Presidency has to be one in whom there is placed implicit trust. A betrayal of that trust would be disastrous and could cause confusion, embarrassment, and undoubtedly criticism were he to exploit the opportunities he has been given as a privileged confidant in matters vital to the Church. Joseph has never betrayed this trust." President Lee summarized Elder Anderson's call as "an evidence that not only are his labors appreciated by the brethren but also as evidence that the Lord has had a watchful eye and has now inspired Joseph Anderson's call to extend all his abilities that the Church also might have the benefit therefrom." |
Front row, left to right: Jean A. Anderson; Ann Card, Elaine Anderson Card, Michael (on floor) and Lane Card; Elder Joseph and Sister Norma Anderson; Scott (baby), Judy and V. Robert Peterson; back row, left to right: Barbara,. Shari, Joseph, and Joseph Robert Anderson; William Card; Bette Anderson Peterson; David, Kimberly (baby), and Kathy Wright, insert: William, Tracy, and Patricia Hoff.
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"Elder Joseph Anderson Called to be the Assistant to the Twelve." Relief Society Magazine. June 1970. pg. 406.
Elder Joseph Anderson Called to Be an Assistant to the Twelve At the Solemn Assembly during General Conference April 6, 1970, Elder Joseph Anderson was sustained as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve. Elder Anderson has served as secretary to the First Presidency since February 1922, when he became secretary to President Heber J. Grant. He served as secretary to the First Presidency with each succeeding President, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, and will continue to serve temporarily in this capacity under President Joseph Fielding Smith. During this service he has been closely associated with all of the General Authorities. Some of his responsibilities have been to attend and keep the minutes of meetings of the First Presidency and the weekly meetings of the Presidency and the Council of the Twelve in the Salt Lake Temple. He has also served as clerk of the General Conference of the Church, being responsible for the recording of conference speeches and proceedings, and has prepared and edited the official Conference Report. Elder Anderson was born in Salt Lake City, November 20, 1889 to George and Isabella Watson Anderson. He was reared in Roy, Weber County, and was a student at Weber Academy under President McKay. He served a mission from 1911 to 1914 in the Swiss-German Mission. Elder Anderson has served for the past twenty-five years as a member of the Bonneville Stake High Council, and prior to that served as a counselor in the 33rd Ward bishopric. For many years he has been director, member of the executive committee, and secretary-treasurer of the Deseret Book Company. On November 11, 1915, he was married to Norma Peterson in the Salt Lake Temple. They are parents of a son, Joseph Robert, and two daughters, Mrs. Bette Peterson and Mrs. Elaine Card. |