George Albert Smith was born in 1870 to John Henry Smith and Sarah Farr Smith in Salt Lake City Utah.
George Albert Smith was the fourth generation of his family to serve as a General Authority! He and his father, John Henry Smith, served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the same time! (It was the only time in the history of the Church for this to occur.)
George’s father served as an apostle and counselor for President Joseph F. Smith. His grandfather George A. Smith(who he was named after) served as a counselor to the prophet Brigham Young.
George attended Brigham Young Academy and then University of Deseret which is now known as the University of Utah.
While attending University George suffered a sunstroke as he surveyed at the University. This left him with only one eye that saw well. Later, as President of The Church he would have someone read him his mail and write letters for him.
George worked as a salesmen and would often travel by wagon. He also worked for ZCMI in the factory.
When George Albert Smith was twenty-two he married Lucy Emily Woodruff, Wilford Woodruffs granddaughter. The Woodruff family and the Smith Family lived close to one another, and George and Emily had been friends for their whole lives.
He said he would go out and chase Emily. In school George would dip Lucy's pigtails in the inkwell on his desk, he liked her very much, even then.
In 1892, George Albert Smith accepted a call to the Southern States Mission and was engaged to be married. The young couple was sad to be separated so early in their marriage. Both were overjoyed when Lucy received a call to go to the mission with her husband. Her assignment was to work in the mission office alongside her husband. The mission president of their mission was J. Golden Kimball.
At the age of thirty-three, George was called as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Joseph F. Smith.
They estimate that George traveled over 30,000 miles a year and was in attendance at over ten Church meetings a week!
President Smith was also loved and honored his ancestors. He spent much of his spare time working in organizations that honored his ancestors like the Mayflower Society, the Son’s of the American Revolution, and the Son’s of the Utah Pioneers.
George Albert Smith was assigned to work with the youth of the Church. He was the one who brought the Boy Scouts program into the Church by recommending the program to President Joseph F. Smith.
George Albert Smith served as mission president to the European Mission between 1913 and 1918. He was also able to visit the Hawaiian Islands, Fiji Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Tonga and Samoan Missions.
George Albert Smith was also one of the men who helped buy the Smith Family Farm in Palmyra New York for the Church.(You can read more about that here).
President George Albert Smith was sustained President of The Church on 21 of May 1945. J. Reuben Clark Jr. and David O. McKay as his counselors.
George Albert Smith dedicated the Idaho Falls, Idaho Temple on the 23rd of September 1945.
On April 4, 1951, George Albert Smith died on his eighty-first birthday of Lupus. He served as prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for six years.
More Blog Posts:
Get to know the Prophet Lorenzo Snow
Get to know the Prophet John Taylor
Get to know the Prophet Brigham Young
Purchasing the Smith Home land, and the “Fighting Preacher.”
Places to Visit:
Salt Lake Temple
Idaho Falls Temple
Sacred Grove
Joseph Smith Family Home