George A. Smith Biography Quotes 17 Report mistakes

Early Life
George A. Smith was born in 1817 in Potsdam, New York, into a family that was soon drawn into the early currents of the Latter-day Saint movement. He was a cousin of Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and grew up amid the frontier migrations and religious ferment that shaped many early American believers. His father, John Smith, known among the Saints as Uncle John Smith, was a respected church patriarch, and the family connection to Joseph and Hyrum Smith placed the young George close to the center of events that defined the new faith. From his youth he was marked by a willingness to travel widely, accept assignments, and record experiences, habits that would become defining features of his public life.

Conversion and Early Service
As a teenager, Smith accepted the restored faith and quickly proved his stamina in service. He joined the 1834 expedition known as Zion's Camp, marching hundreds of miles with others under Joseph Smith's leadership to support church members in Missouri. That trek was a proving ground for future leaders; among his companions were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and Parley P. Pratt, men with whom George A. Smith would labor for decades. In the years that followed, he endured the upheavals in Ohio, Missouri, and later Illinois, contributing to communal defense and rebuilding efforts as the Saints moved from one gathering place to another. In Nauvoo, he supported Joseph Smith's civic and church initiatives while gaining a reputation as an energetic speaker and organizer.

Apostleship and Missionary Work
In 1839, George A. Smith was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, joining a circle that included Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, and Wilford Woodruff. Almost immediately he entered the demanding rhythm of missionary service. He participated in the early British Mission at the turn of the 1840s, laboring alongside senior apostles such as Heber C. Kimball and Parley P. Pratt. Those missions forged ties with converts who later emigrated to the American West and strengthened the leadership corps through shared sacrifice. Smith's sermons from this period were practical and encouraging, reflecting both an affection for ordinary people and a talent for vivid illustration that made him memorable in pulpits from Lancashire to the American frontier.

Crossing to the Great Basin
After the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in 1844 and the ensuing succession crisis, George A. Smith stood with Brigham Young and the majority of the Twelve. He participated in the exodus west, helping move families, wagons, and livestock across the plains. In the Great Basin he contributed to planning and settlement as the church established footholds in what became Utah Territory. Whether or not he traveled with the first vanguard, he was among the early pioneers and helped supervise successive companies and the distribution of resources. His oratory, recorded in journals and later collections, emphasized cooperation, industry, and faith during the austere first seasons in the valley.

Colonization of Southern Utah
Smith is closely linked with the colonization of southern Utah. He led and advised expeditions that founded communities such as Parowan and helped stabilize the Iron County region. Working with leaders like Erastus Snow and in consultation with Brigham Young, he encouraged irrigation projects, road building, and defensive preparedness. He frequently toured settlements, spoke in public meetings, and wrote letters back to church headquarters that detailed crop conditions, relations with Indigenous peoples, and the need for skilled craftsmen. Those tours cemented his role as a bridge between remote communities and the territorial center at Salt Lake City, and they left enduring marks on the civic and ecclesiastical map of the region.

Historian, Recorder, and Territorial Figure
In Utah, George A. Smith dedicated substantial energy to historical work. As Church Historian and Recorder, he oversaw the preservation of documents, the gathering of pioneer narratives, and the preparation of materials that later informed official histories. He cultivated clerks and writers, promoted accurate record-keeping among stakes and missions, and valued diaries as the backbone of institutional memory. Beyond ecclesiastical duties, he also served in territorial affairs, cooperating with Brigham Young and Daniel H. Wells on governance matters. During the tense years surrounding the approach of federal troops in the late 1850s, his public addresses stressed unity, self-sufficiency, and prudent defense, a tone echoed by contemporaries like John Taylor and Orson Pratt.

First Counselor to Brigham Young
In the late 1860s, following the death of Heber C. Kimball, Smith was called to serve in the First Presidency as a counselor to Brigham Young. In this role, he helped coordinate church administration, mediated local concerns brought by bishops and stake leaders, and represented the Presidency on extended tours. He remained a prominent voice in the Tabernacle, where his sermons blended humor with admonition and often connected scriptural themes to the practical demands of frontier life. His partnership with Brigham Young was marked by candor and trust; where Young drove grand strategy, Smith was a stabilizing presence, attentive to the morale of scattered congregations and the details of record-keeping that sustained the enterprise.

Family and Personal Relationships
George A. Smith's family life intersected with broader church history. He entered plural marriage, and among his wives was Bathsheba W. Smith, who later became a general president of the Relief Society and an influential voice in women's leadership. Their son John Henry Smith rose to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and his grandson, also named George Albert Smith, eventually became president of the church, extending the family's multigenerational imprint. These relationships connected him with a network of women and men who shaped the movement's theology, governance, and culture. Friends and colleagues remembered him as approachable and warm, a counselor as ready with encouragement as with correction.

Death and Legacy
George A. Smith died in 1875 in Salt Lake City, having spent nearly four decades in the highest councils of his church and more than three in relentless travel, preaching, and colonization. He left behind a body of sermons, journals, and official correspondence that historians continue to consult for insight into the migration, settlement, and institutional development of Latter-day Saints in the nineteenth century. His long collaboration with Brigham Young, his camaraderie with fellow apostles such as Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, and John Taylor, and his formative work in southern Utah secured him a distinctive place among American religious pioneers. Remembered as a practical idealist and a builder of communities, he helped translate a persecuted movement's aspirations into towns, records, farms, and congregations that endured beyond his generation.

Our collection contains 17 quotes who is written by George, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Nature - Faith - Honesty & Integrity - Happiness.