Person:David Smith (1)

Watchers
Browse
David Hyrum Smith
d.29 Aug 1904 Elgin, Kane, Illinois
m. 18 Jan 1827
  1. Alvin Smith1828 - 1828
  2. Julia Murdock Smith - 1880
  3. Joseph Murdock Smith
  4. Louisa Smith1830 - 1830
  5. Thaddeus Smith1830 - 1830
  6. Joseph Smith, III1832 - 1914
  7. Frederick Granger William Smith1836 - 1862
  8. Alexander Hale Smith1838 - 1909
  9. Don Carlos Smith1840 - 1841
  10. Son SMITH1842 - 1842
  11. Boy SMITH1842 - 1842
  12. David Hyrum Smith1844 - 1904
Facts and Events
Name David Hyrum Smith
Gender Male
Birth? 18 Nov 1844 Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois
Death? 29 Aug 1904 Elgin, Kane, Illinois
Reference Number? Q5235307?


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

David Hyrum Smith (November 17, 1844 – August 29, 1904) was an American religious leader, poet, painter, singer, philosopher, and naturalist. The youngest son of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith, he was an influential missionary and leader in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church). He was born approximately five months after the murder of his father. Joseph told Emma before he died what the child's name should be. From December 1847, David was raised by his mother and her second husband, Lewis C. Bidamon.

Smith was a highly effective missionary for the RLDS Church. From 1865 to 1873, he conducted missionary trips throughout the Midwest, Utah Territory, and California, debating preachers of different theologies, including representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). From 1873 to 1885, Smith was a counselor to his brother Joseph Smith III in the First Presidency of the RLDS Church. Later David's son Elbert A. Smith became a member of the First Presidency and a Presiding Patriarch in the RLDS Church.

Smith was called the "Sweet Singer of Israel" because many who knew him, who heard him sing and joined him in song, said that he was the most inspiring singer of God they had encountered. The Joseph Smith Historic Site, maintained by the Community of Christ, houses Smith's original paintings of Nauvoo, Illinois.

In a 1998 biography of Smith, From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet, author Valeen Tippetts Avery describes Smith's mental deterioration, starting with a probable breakdown early in 1870. In an 1869 letter to his mother, Emma Smith Bidamon, Smith had written at age 24:

Mother I must tell you ... I feel very sad and the tears run out of my eyes all the time and I don't know why. ... strive as I will my heart sinks like lead. ... I must tell someone my troubles.

Smith was confined to Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane beginning in 1877. He was held there for most of 27 years, and died in the hospital in 1904. Avery's biography draws on a large body of Smith's correspondence and poetry to examine both his personality and his emotional state.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at David Hyrum Smith. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.