George A. Smith

Similar to many other Morman leaders of his time, he was in a plural marriage, where a man can have any number of wives.

The name of his first wife was Bathsheba. His other wives were Lucy Smith, Nancy Clement, Sarah Ann Libby, Hannah Maria Libby, Zilpha Stark and Susan E. West. He fathered twenty children from them.

He died at the age of 58 in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States. He was laid to rest at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

George A. Smith was born in Potsdam, New York, United States, to John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. He was the nephew of Joseph Smith, Sr, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

In 1832, at the age of fifteen, he was baptized at a church that was founded by his cousin, Joseph Smith, Jr.

In 1834, his family settled in Kirtland, Ohio. This was where the headquarters of Joseph Smith, Jr’s church was located and it was there that he met his cousin Smith for the first time.

In 1838, his family relocated along with many other church members to Missouri, United States.

In 1834, when he was sixteen years old he went on a 2000 mile march to Missouri and back to Ohio, along with members of 'Latter Day Saints', a church group.

On March 1, 1835, he was ordained into priesthood as a 'Seventy', a priesthood office in the Melchizedek belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On April 26, 1839, when he was 21 years old, he obtained ordainment as an Apostle, which is a priesthood position of high authority in the Latter Day Saint movement.

On April 26, 1839, he became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which was one of the governing bodies of the church in the Latter Day Saint movement.

After the death of his cousin, Joseph Smith, Jr. and relocation of the Latter Day Saint to Utah, he led 118 volunteers and 30 families to Iron Country, near Little Salt Lake, where they established a colony.

This leader of the Latter Day Saint movement was once believed to have said that people 'chain themselves down to the law of monogamy, and live all their days under the dominion of one wife'.