George Albert Smith Sr. was an American religious leader, humanitarian. He helped organize the American Pioneer Trails Association.
Background
He was born on April 4, 1870 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, the son of John Henry Smith and Sarah Farr Smith. Both his father, a businessman prominent in Utah Republican affairs, and his grandfather, George A. Smith, a close associate of Brigham Young, served as members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles and as counselors to Mormon church presidents. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was a cousin of Joseph Smith, founder of the church.
Education
After education in private schools in Salt Lake City, Smith attended Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah. In 1888 Smith completed his second year of high school at the University of Deseret, which was then an academy (now the University of Utah); an eye injury, sustained while working as a surveyor, permanently impaired his sight, however, and he left school without graduating. He later took correspondence courses in law.
Career
After academy he worked in the clothing factory of Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI), a church-owned department store for one year. As a youth he was also a farm implement salesman, a surveyor, and a wholesaler for ZCMI.
After a short-term mission as membership recruiter for the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association (YMMIA), the church youth auxiliary, Smith served a two-year proselytizing mission in the southern states. After returning to Utah in June 1894, Smith spent four years as a salesman for ZCMI and served as Sunday school superintendent for the YMMIA.
Active in politics, he vigorously supported William McKinley for president in 1896; and in February 1898 he was rewarded by an appointment as receiver of public moneys and special disbursing agent for the United States Land Office in Utah.
In 1903, when only thirty-three, Smith was named to the Council of the Twelve Apostles, the Mormon administrative body ranking just below the First Presidency. In this post he traveled more than 30, 000 miles each year, visiting conferences and advising local officials. His first major advisory role came in 1904, when he was appointed general board member of the YMMIA. He campaigned for Republican candidates in 1904 and became involved in patriotic ancestry organizations.
His activities were interrupted in February 1909 by a serious illness resulting from overwork and nervous exhaustion. After a long period of recuperation, he returned to his church assignments in 1913. In January 1919 Smith was sent by President Heber J. Grant to preside over the Mormon European Mission, which had headquarters in Liverpool, England.
He returned to the United States in 1921 to become general superintendent of the YMMIA. In this post, which he held until 1935, Smith promoted Mormon involvement in the scouting movement, served on the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and in 1931 was elected to its executive board. He also served seven terms as regional vice-president of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (1922 - 1929), was founding president of the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association (1930). He was chairman of the state-sponsored commission that erected the massive This Is the Place monument for Utah's centennial in 1947.
Following his wife's death in November 1937, Smith undertook a six-month tour of Mormon missions in the South Pacific. He was particularly supportive of the Society for Aid to the Sightless, a Mormon organization formed in 1904, and served as president for sixteen years.
In July 1943 Smith became senior apostle; and on May 21, 1945, he was sustained as eighth president of the Mormon church. He met with President Harry S. Truman to expedite shipment of church welfare supplies to Latter-day Saints in Europe.
He died in Salt Lake City.
Achievements
Personality
In all of his activities he earned a reputation as a man of compassion and understanding for the troubled, the poor, and the underprivileged, characteristics he consciously developed under a personal creed adopted early in life.
Connections
On May 25, 1892 he married Lucy Emily Woodruff, at Manti, Utah; they later had three children. She died in November 1937.