Board of Trustees, 1952 to 1975. LeGrand Richards was born February 6, 1886 at Farmington, Utah, a son of George F. Richards and Alice A. Robinson. He was baptized June 11, 1894, and filled two missions to the Netherlands, the first one in 1905-1908. On his second mission, from 1914 to 1916, — when he presided — he was accompanied by his wife, Ina Jane Ashton Richards, who was born Sept. 14, 1886, at Salt Lake City, a daughter of Edward T. Ashton and Cora Lindsay and by whom he would father ten children. Elder Richards was ordained a High Priest and Bishop June 29, 1919, by Charles W. Penrose, and presided over the Sugar House Ward, Granite Stake, from 1920 to 1925. In 1926 he filled a short term mission to the Eastern States. In 1931-1933 he presided over the Hollywood Stake, California, and was set apart Dec. 29, 1933, to preside over the Southern States Mission. (See Improvement Era, Vol. 17, p. 250.) Elder Richards was called as the Presiding Bishop of the Church April 6, 1938, suceeding Sylvester Q. Cannon who had been called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He served in that position until April 6, 1952 when he was suceeded by Joseph Leopold Wirthlin, he himself having been called to follow Elder Cannon into the Quorum of the Twelve and being ordained to this high and holy office by President David O. McKay on the same April 6, 1952. Elder Richards served in the Council of the Twelve until his death January 11, 1983 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of ninety-six.

Board of Trustees, 1939 to 1959. Stephen L. Richards was born June 18, 1879 in Mendon, Cache County, Utah to Dr. Stephen Longstroth Richards and Emma Louisa Stayner Richards. He was a grandson of Willard Richards, who was with Joseph the Prophet at the martyrdom in Carthage, Illinois, and who was one of the early pioneers of Utah. His mother was a daughter of Arthur Stayner, a man of business affairs in the early history of the West, and the man to whom the establishment of sugar works in Utah is largely indebted. He was blessed with an ideal mother and a father of sterling worth who had much to do with his careful training and principles of integrity, truthfulness, honesty, sincerity, kindness, respect for parental authority, devotion to home and the members thereof, and loyalty to God and His work. Elder Richards was baptized when about fourteen years old and was ordained sucessively to the several offices in the Priesthood, except that of a Seventy. From his youth he took great interest in Church activities. The scholastic training of Elder Richards was characterized by the unusually large number of schools which he attended. To begin with he came under the splendid tutorship of Camille Cobb, a woman of rare culture. After that he attended Farmington public school, Davis Stake Academy, Salt Lake county and city public schools, LDS University, Salt Lake High School and University of Utah, while his professional training was obtained in the University of Michigan and in the University of Chicago. From the latter institution he received his LLB degree. After completing Law School, he passed the bar and served as an attorney. One year at the law school of the University at Michigan and two years at the law school at the University of Chicago gave him the foundation work for the success he subsequently attained in his chosen profession. While at the University of Utah he was one of the team of inter-collegiate debaters; he was the first Utah student to be graduated from the department of law at the University of Chicago and was one of the first class ever graduated in law from that institution receiving a cum laude degree. On February 21, 1900, Elder Richards married Irene Merrill, daughter of Clarence Merrill and Bathsheba Smith), who was born June 4, 1874, in Fillmore, Utah. This marriage was blessed with nine children, namely, Lynn Stephen, Irene Louise, Lois Bathsheba, Alice Lula, Helen Merle, Georgia Gill, Joseph Albert, Philip Longstroth and Richard Merrill. He held many positions in the Church, all of which he filled with honor and integrity. His first official position in the Sabbath school work was that of secretary of the Sugar House Ward Sunday School; later he became a teacher in the same Sunday School. He taught also in the Sunday Schools at Pleasant View and Malad, Idaho, and in the 17th Ward of Salt Lake City. In the Stake Sunday school work he became assistant superintendent of the Salt Lake Stake and later a member of the Granite Stake Sunday School Board. In 1906, at the age of 37, he was called to the Sunday School General Board. Following the death of George Reynolds he was appointed second assistant general superintendent of the Sunday School Union April 6, 1908. He was also chosen as a member of the Priesthood Study Committee and of the Board of Control of the Deseret Gymnasium. In business he served as officer and director in a number of corporations. In Tooele he engaged in farming and in Oneida county, Idaho, in ranching. For some time he also acted as principal of the Malad City public schools and for many years was a successful practising attorney in Salt Lake City, serving also as a member of the law faculty at the University of Utah. Also Religion class work has claimed a portion of his time, and at one time he served as superintendent of Religion Classes in Malad City, Idaho. Whether at home or abroad he kept up a steady and consistent interest in Church work. At Ann Arbor, Michigan, his home was the place where religious meetings were held for the students and members of the Church. While in Chicago he did Sunday school and other Church work with students. In his chosen profession of the law Elder Richards was exceptionally successful. The law firms of which he was a member were always among the foremost. In private practice his work was in the civil as distinguished from the criminal law procedure. He was one of the safest counselors at the Salt Lake bar and was very conscientious in his professional work. For two terms he served as secretary of the Utah State Bar Association. In the midst of his ecclesiastical and secular activities, Stephen L. Richards was chosen as a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, being nominated by President Joseph F. Smith and unanimously sustained by the First Presidency and Apostles in one of their general meetings. He was ordained an Apostle by President Joseph F. Smith on Thursday, Jan. 18, 1917. After his calling to the Apostleship, he was very active in Church affairs, visiting the different Stakes of Zion and attending to ecclesiastical duties generally. On April 9, 1951, President David O. McKay called Elder Richards to become his First Counselor. He held this position until his death May 19, 1959 at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Board of Trustees, 1951 to 1988. Marion George Romney was born September 19, 1897 in Colonia Juarez, Mexico. His family had fled to Mexico to escape the persecutions of those who practiced plural marriage. His parents were George Samuel Romey and Teressa Artemis Redd Romney. He describes his early life as follows: "I'm a Mexican by birth. I was born in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. My parents happened to be down there at the time. I was raised there until I was about fifteen years old. During the last two or three of those years, the Madero Revolution was in progress. The rebels and the federalists were chasing each other through the country, each taking everything we colonists had, by way of arms and ammunition and by way of supplies. Finally we were forced to leave. I came out of Mexico with the Mormon refugees in 1912. I remember I had a very thrilling experience on the way from where we lived to the railroad station about eight miles south of Colonia Juarez. We went in a wagon. . . . I was riding with my mother and her seven children and my uncle (her brother) and his family of about five or six children. . . . We had one trunk -- that was all we were able to bring. I was seated on the trunk in the back of the wagon. The Mexican rebel army was coming up the valley from the railroad station toward our town. They were not in formation. They were riding their saddle horses. Their guns were in the scabbards. Two of them stopped us and searched us. They said they were looking for guns. We didn't have any guns or ammunition. They did find $20 on my uncle -- pesos, not dollars... They took that and then waved us on. They went up the road about as far as from here to the back of this room, stopped, turned around, drew their guns from their scabbards, and pointed them down the road at me. As I looked up the barrels of those guns, they looked like cannons to me. They didn't pull their triggers, however, as evidenced by the fact that I am here to tell the story. That was a very thrilling experience. One of my maturing experiences. The rebels blew up the railroad track after the train we were on passed over it. Later, Father and the rest of the men came out to El Paso, Texas, on horseback. We never returned nor did we recover any of our property while my father lived. Father and I went to work to earn a living for his large family. There were no welfare programs then. We had a difficult time making a living. We had to 'root hog' or die." -- Marion C. Romney, speech at Salt Lake Institute of Religion, October 78, 1974, quoted by James E. Faust, devotional address at BYU, February 21, 1978. Elder Romney married Ida Olivia Jensen, BYH Class of 1910, on September 12, 1924. The couple had three children, of whom only one lived beyond the age of one. After studying law and passing the bar, he became an attorney. Among his Church callings before becoming a General Authority, he was a stake president and managing director of the Church Welfare Program. Of the thirty-eight men called to serve as assistants to the Twelve Elder Marion G. Romney was the first, being called April 6, 1941. He was ordained an apostle ten years later, October 11, 1951 and served faithfully until his death in 1988. On July 7, 1972 he was called to serve as Second counselor to President Harold B. Lee. President Spencer W. Kimball called him as Second Counselor until the death of N. Eldon Tanner, when he was called as First Counselor commencing December 2, 1982. On November 10, 1985, with President Kimball's death, he became President of the Quorum of the Twelve, with Howard W. Hunter serving as Acting President because of President Romney's frailty incident to age and health. President Marion G. Romney died May 20, 1988 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of ninety after forty-seven years as a General Authority, longer than any other General Authority then living.

Board of Trustees, 1897 to 1901. William H. Seegmiller tells of the battle at Pleasant Grove, Utah: "On the evening of April 12, 1863 we camped at Pleasant Grove, Utah County. We had been camped but a short time when a band of Indians, probably fifty, under the leadership of Little Soldier, came to our camp and inquired if we were Americats. We answered no, and he then asked if we knew where the Americats were camped; we told them that we did not know. They then said: "We find them." They passed on down the street towards the center of town. Some of Brigadier General Connor's command from Fort Douglas were in town...Soon we heard a loud report and learned that Connor's men had found out that the Indians were coming for them, and had shot a Howitzer, a small cannon, at them as they were turning south to where the soldiers were located. We were informed that the soldiers went to Samuel Green's house on the east side of the road and asked the people to leave, which they did in a hurry. The soldiers then went into the house, pulled their cannon in with them, pulled up some of the floor and got under it, leaving their wagons in the road and their mules and horses were in a corral on the west side of the street. The Indians dared not follow the troops into the house, but shot into it through the door and window, peppering the back wall with bullets. When the Indians saw they could not successfully rout the soldiers or kill them, they turned their attention to booty. But when the soldiers saw they were going to lose their horses they fired a charge of grape shot from their cannon into the corral at their animals, preferring to kill them to letting the Indians get them. They killed and maimed some; the Indians got those not hurt and loaded them with blankets and supplies, and struck for the mountains very much pleased with their success." ~ ~ ~ ~ William H. Seegmiller served as a Selectman of the Sevier County (Utah) Court from 1882-1883. ~ ~ ~ ~ In 1896 he was a candidate for State Representative for the Democrat Party. He was serving as President of the Sevier Stake in 1896 and in 1901. ~ ~ ~ ~ William Henry Seegmiller was born December 19, 1843 in Branden, Watterloo, Ontario, Canada. His parents were Johann Adam Seegmuller and Anna Eva Kenechtel. He married at least twice. He first married Mary Ellen Laidlaw on November 2, 1867 in Salt Lake City, Utah; and second married Sarah Jane Stewart on January 12, 1874 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He died on September 1, 1923 in Richfield, Utah. Interment, Richfield, Utah.

Class of 1888 ~ Honorary. Board of Trustees, 1945 to 1951. George Albert Smith. Seventh President of the Board of Trustees, 1945 to 1951. Eighth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. George Albert Smith was born in Salt Lake City on April 4, 1870, the son of John Henry Smith and Sarah Farr Smith. His father served as an LDS apostle from 1880 to 1911, and his grandfather, for whom he was named, was also an LDS apostle, from 1839 to 1875, as well as first counselor to Mormon Church President Brigham Young. When George was twelve years of age [1882], his parents helped him to go to Provo to begin to attend the Brigham Young Academy high school to study under Professor Maeser and his associates. He lived with his grandmother Smith for one winter, helping with chores about the house and yard. He walked each day to the Lewis Building on Center Street and Third West. A member of the future BYA high school Class of 1888, George Albert Smith attended Brigham Young Academy through 1884 [he was fourteen]. He then transferred to the high school program at the University of Deseret 1885-1888 [now University of Utah]. While in his teens, one summer he was working on a surveying party for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, east of Green River, when the heat and glare from the sun so impaired his sight that he never fully recovered, and suffered intense headaches all too often. Source: Book, The Sons of Brigham, by T. Earl Pardoe, pp. 161-171. ~ ~ ~ ~ George was a sergeant in the Utah National Guard, worked for ZCMI as a salesman, and was a surveyor for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. While working in the latter capacity, he suffered the permanent injury to his eyesight mentioned earlier. He married Lucy Emily Woodruff in 1892; she bore them three children. Active in the LDS Church, Smith was an officer of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association for most of his life and served three proselyting missions. He supported William McKinley for president in 1896 and was named by him to be receiver of public moneys and special disbursing agent for the U.S. Land Office in Utah. In 1903, at the age of thirty-three, George Albert Smith was named to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, in which capacity he worked with the YMMIA, with church missions, and with scouting, serving as a member of the executive board of the national council. He was also vice-president of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and founding president of the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, and he helped organize the American Pioneer Trails Association. He was president of the International Irrigation and Dry Farm Congress in 1918, president for sixteen years of the Society for Aid to the Sightless, and in 1947 chairman of the state-sponsored commission that celebrated Utah's settlement centennial. In 1945, George Albert Smith became eighth president of the LDS Church, and served until his death on 4 April 1951, at the age of eighty-one. As church president, he also was president of many church-controlled corporations: Beneficial Life Insurance Company, Utah Hotel Company, Utah Home Fire Insurance Company, Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, Utah First National Bank, Zion's Savings Bank and Trust, ZCMI, and Zions Securities Corporation. He was president of the Church Board of Education, which controlled LDS educational institutions, and was also editor of the church's official magazines. He expedited welfare shipments to Latter-day Saints in Europe at the end of World War II, supervised the reconciliation of 1,200 Latter-day Saints in Mexico who had formed a schismatic group, and expanded programs to help American Indians. A person of compassion, he worked especially in the interests of the youth of the church, the troubled, the poor, and the underprivileged. See: Merlo J. Pusey, Builders of the Kingdom: George A. Smith, John Henry Smith, George Albert Smith (1981); and Pusey's chapter in Leonard J. Arrington, ed., The Presidents of the Church: Biographical Essays (1986). ~~ Leonard J. Arrington ~~~~ George Albert Smith: "As a child, thirteen years of age, I went to school at the Brigham Young Academy. It was fortunate that part of my instruction came under Dr. Karl G. Maeser, that outstanding educator who was the first builder of our Church schools. I cannot remember much of what was said during the year that I was there, but there is one thing that I will probably never forget. Dr. Maeser one day stood up and said: 'Not only will you be held accountable for the things you do, but you will be held responsible for the very thoughts you think.' Being a boy, not in the habit of controlling my thoughts very much, it was quite a puzzle to me what I was to do, and it worried me. In fact, it stuck to me just like a burr. About a week or ten days after that it suddenly came to me what he meant. I could see the philosophy of it then. All at once there came to me this interpretation of what he had said: Why of course you will be held accountable for your thoughts, because when your life is completed in mortality, it will be the sum of your thoughts. That one suggestion has been a great blessing to me all my life, and it has enabled me upon many occasions to avoid thinking improperly, because I realize that I will be, when my life's labor is complete, the product of my thoughts." ~~ George Albert Smith, Sharing the Gospel With Others, p.62-63. Bio

Board of Trustees, 1901 to 1911. John Henry Smith. He was the father of LDS Church President George Albert Smith. John Henry Smith was born September 18, 1848 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. His parents were George Albert Smith and Sarah Ann Libby. He married Sarah Farr on October 20, 1866 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. He died October 13, 1911 in Salt Lake City, Utah. ~ ~ ~ ~ John Henry Smith (1848-1911) served as a Mormon apostle for thirty years -- 1880 to 1910 -- and a counselor in the First Presidency until his death the next year. In addition to religious obligations, he was a major stockholder and officer of several prominent businesses -- everything from U & I Sugar to the Co-op Wagon and Machinery Company, as well as the Saltair Beach and Salt Lake Theater Company. Politically he helped found Utah's Republican Party. Following his controversial election to the state constitutional convention, he served as president of the convention. Although a polygamist, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, where he equivocated on the question of post-1890 polygamy.

Board of Trustees, 1901 to 1918. Fifth President of the Board of Trustees, 1901 to 1918. President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph F. Smith was a frequent visitor and speaker at the school. ~ ~ ~ ~ A prophet, the son of a prophet, the grandson of a prophet and the father of a prophet. Few men have enjoyed a more illustrious lineage than Joseph Fielding Smith (Sr.)-- his full name. He was the last President of the Church to have known the Prophet Joseph Smith in mortality, having played on the Prophet's knee as a young child in Nauvoo. Joseph F. Smith was the son of Hyrum Smith and Mary Fielding Smith and the nephew of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was born November 13, 1838 in Far West, Missouri while his father was falsely imprisoned in the dungeon beneath Liberty Jail house. His mother was gravely ill at his birth and unable to tend him, but his aunt Mercy Fielding Thompson had recently given birth and was able to nurse both her own child and the young infant. Scant months later, Joseph F. and his mother were driven through the snows of Missouri as she fled, still on her sickbed, to escape the flames of persecution and the edict of Governor Lilburn W. Bogg's infamous "Extermination Order." The family settled in what became Nauvoo and some months later were joined by Hyrum. Joseph F. Smith was only five when mobs, this time from Illinois, murdered his father Hyrum Smith and uncle, Joseph Smith, Jr. If his father was made of gold, then surely his mother, Mary Fielding Smith, was made of steel. Caring not only for her own two children but five others from Hyrum's deceased first wife, Jerusha, she worked with her sister, Mercy Fielding Thompson to raise the two widows' families and instill in them the principles of the Gospel. Young Joseph F. Smith was only seven when he drove a team of oxen across Iowa in the exodus from Nauvoo. The family spent a year and a half suffering the deprivations of Winter Quarters before pushing on to Salt Lake, young Joseph F. driving a wagon the whole way. Those were hard years and arrival in the Great Basin did little to east the family's need. He tended cattle and sheep, cut wood, and hired out at harvest time. In 1852 at the age of thirteen, Joseph F. Smith lost his mother to overwork and malnutrition. He was devastated and he says in danger for some time. Nevertheless, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and others watched to the needs of the young man. At the age of fifteen, Joseph was called to serve a mission in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Apostle Parley P. Pratt, who led the mission and set him apart, promised him that he would learn the language with success. The Apostle's prophecy was fulfilled and Joseph enjoyed great success laboring under inspired men of God. The mission lasted four years and Joseph returned to find Utah preparing for "Johnston's War." Joseph joined the "Nauvoo Legion", the territory's militia with a thousand others and spent the next several months patroling the east wall of the Rockies. When the hostilities ended, Joseph assisted his relative in resettling their lands from southern Utah whence they had fled. In April 1859, twenty-one-year-old Joseph married his sixteen-year-old cousin, Levira, daughter of Samuel Harrison Smith. With Levira's permission Joseph then married Julina Lambson in plural marriage. Later, he also married Sarah Ellen Richards, Edna Lambson, Alice Ann Kimball, and Mary Taylor Schwartz. He eventually was the father of forty-three children, thirteen of whom preceded him in death. Joseph was a kind and loving husband and father. He was ordained an Apostle July 1, 1866 by Brigham Young and sustained as a Counselor to the First Presidency, which office he held until President Young's death. He was not sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve until the October Conference of 1867. He served as second counselor to presidents John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow, and was sustained as first counselor to President Snow on the death of George Q. Cannon, the previous First Counselor, but never served, because President Snow himself died only four days later. Joseph F. Smith was sustained as President of the Church on 17 October 1901, which position he held for seventeen years, until his death on November 19, 1918. Joseph F. Smith's administration was marked by gradual improvements in the Church's perception, its treatment by the federal government, and in the Church's financial position. He also oversaw a continued growth in the Church. He left a legacy of inspired writings.

Board of Trustees, 1912 to 1972. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., served as the tenth President of the Church. He was born July 19, 1876, in Salt Lake City, the firstborn son of Joseph F. Smith (Sr.), an apostle who would become the sixth President of the Church, and Julina Lambson. Perhaps no General Authority has ever come from a more distinguished lineage, with a father, grandfather, and great grandfather, all of whom held the Presidency. He was called Joseph Fielding to distinguish him from his father who was more generally called Joseph F. He was an inveterate student and scholar, reading and studying extensively. As a result of this he became known as perhaps the most learned theologian and historian in the Church. Young Joseph was married on April 26, 1898 to Emily Louie Shurtliff. The couple had two children before Emily's death, which happened on March 28, 1908. Concerned about his young children's need for a mother, he remarried within a year of wife's death, this time wedding Ethel Georgina Reynolds on November 2, 1908. Ethel bore him nine children. She died August 26, 1937. Joseph Fielding Smith was ordained an Apostle in 1910 and immediately became the object of ridicule by the Salt Lake Tribune, which editorialized that his calling was because of family connections. The criticism, of course, ignored the monumental qualifications and intellect he brought to the calling. During his apostolic tenure, amid many responsibilities and duties, Joseph Fielding Smith was best known, and is best remembered, as a theologian and gospel scholar. President Heber J. Grant called him "the best posted man on the scriptures of the General Authorities of the Church that we have" (Letter to Joseph Fielding Smith, Dec. 31, 1938, HDC). He published more books and articles than any other man who became President of the Church, though it was never his main intent to become an author. Many of his writings were discourses, answers to questions posed to him, instructions for Church leaders, and efforts to clarify common uncertainties. He was a prolific author with many of his works becoming classics in Church literature while others remain a bit too lofty for the popular market. After the death of his second wife, Elder Smith married a third time, this time wedding Jessie Ella Evans on April 12, 1938. Jessie bore him no children, but worked side by side with him as he visited congregations throughout the Church. Elder Smith worked in the Church Historian's Office and later as the Church Historian for many years both before and after his call as a General Authority. Joseph Fielding Smith became President of the Church on January 23, 1970, following the death of President David O. McKay. His two-and-one-half-year tenure was marked by steady missionary growth; the dedication of the Ogden and Provo temples; some significant organizational restructuring, including reorganizations in the Church Sunday School system and the Church Department of Social Services; and a revamping of portions of the Church internal communication systems, which led to the consolidation of all general Church magazines into three. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., died July 2, 1972, in Salt Lake City.

First President of the Board of Trustees of Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah. Abraham Owen Smoot I. Served on Board of Trustees, 1875 to 1895. Honorary Alumnus of BYH. Born: 17 February 1815 in Owenton, Kentucky, to Ann Rowlett and George W. Smoot. Wives: Margaret Thompson McMeans Adkinson, Emily Harris, Sarah Gibbons (div.), Diana Tanner Eldredge, and Anna Kirstine Mouritsen, all married before he became Mayor of Salt Lake City. In the 19th century, Abraham O. Smoot's visionary leadership and personal financial sacrifice maintained the viability of Brigham Young Academy. "My great grandfather, A.O. Smoot, was known as the 'foster father' of Brigham Young Academy because of his devotion to the school and it was one of his most memorable experiences," said Stanley Smoot, his great-grandson. Smoot, Abraham Owen (1815-1895) -- also known as Abraham O. Smoot; A. O. Smoot -- of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah; Provo, Utah County, Utah. Nephew of Daniel Rowlett and Joseph Rowlett; father of Abraham Owen Smoot II (1856-1911) and Reed Smoot; grandfather of Abraham Owen Smoot III and Isaac Albert Smoot. Born in Owen County, Ky., February 17, 1815. Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, 1857-66; mayor of Provo, Utah, 1868-81. Mormon. Died in Provo, Utah County, Utah, March 6, 1895. Abraham Owen Smoot I, was sent to Provo by Brigham Young in 1868, where he presided over the Utah Stake (all of Utah Valley) for 27 years until his death in 1895. He was also the first President of the Board of Trustees of the Brigham Young Academy (1875-1895) and is still the longest standing mayor of Provo. Despite steady growth during its early years, Brigham Young Academy was threatened by a series of financial and physical setbacks. With the help and sacrifice of Abraham O. Smoot I, the campus moved in 1891 to new facilities located on University Avenue. Abraham O. Smoot I, a highly successful businessman, stake president, mayor of Provo, and chairman of the board of Brigham Young Academy, gave his buildings, his land, and mortgaged his home in order to save the institution. He died penniless, having given everything to the school. A. O. Smoot I, in summary, was a dominant figure in the history of Provo and the state of Utah. He was described by his son-in-law, Orson F. Whitney, as "colonizer, financier, civic officer, legislator, missionary, Bishop and Stake President, who frequently sat with the leaders of the Latter-Day Saint Church."

Original BY Academy High School Class in 1876, graduated in the Class of 1880. Reed Smoot. The first of the original 29 students to register on the first day of classes at Brigham Young Academy, January 3, 1876. He graduated in the BYA high school Class of 1880. Board of Trustees, Brigham Young Academy, 1893 to 1938. He is also listed on a list of 59 names of the earliest students of Brigham Young Academy, taken from a file in the BYU Archives, made by an unknown contemporary student. ~ ~ ~ ~ Reed Smoot, Senator from Utah; and Apostle, LDS Church. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 10, 1862; moved with his parents to Provo, Utah County, Utah, in 1874; attended Mormon church schools and academies and completed his studies at Brigham Young Academy high school at Provo in 1879 [no college classes at that time], graduating with the BYA high school Class of 1880; engaged in banking, mining, livestock raising, and in the manufacture of woolen goods; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1902; reelected in 1908, 1914, 1920 and 1926 and served from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1933; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1932; chairman, Committee on Patents (Sixtieth Congress), Committee on Printing (Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses), Committee on Public Lands (Sixty-second and Sixty-sixth Congresses), Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department (Sixty-third through Sixty-fifth Congresses), Committee on Public Lands and Surveys (Sixty-seventh Congress), Committee on Finance (Sixty-eighth through Seventy-second Congresses); co-author of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930; moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1933; retired from active business pursuits; served as one of the twelve apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church) and at the time of his death was next in line to succeed the president of the quorum and third to succeed the president; died in St. Petersburg, Fla. on a visit there, February 9, 1941; interment in Provo Burial Park, Provo, Utah. [The Smoots are Mayflower descendants.] Reed Smoot married Alpha May Eldredge of Salt Lake City on 17 September 1884. They were the parents of six children: Harold Reed Smoot, Chloe Smoot, Harlow Eldredge Smoot [I], Annie K. Smoot, Zella Esther Smoot, and Ernest Winder Smoot. Alpha died on 7 November 1928 and Smoot later married Mrs. Alice Taylor Sheets on 2 July 1930. [Note: Reed Smoot diaries published: http://www.signaturebooks.com/smoot.htm ] ~ ~ ~ ~ Reed Smoot was born on January 10, 1862 in Provo, Utah. His father: Abraham Owen Smoot. He married Alpha May Eldridge, and she died in 1929. Reed Smoot died on February 9, 1941 while on a visit to St. Petersburg, Florida. Interment, Provo City Cemetery. Congressional Biography.

Board of Trustees, Brigham Young Academy, 1891 to 1897. Author of "Root Hog, or Die". Of Spanish Fork. George Dixon Snell was born March 18, 1836 in Sackville, West Morland, New Brunswick, Canada. His parents were Cyrus Snell and Rhoda Barnes Snell. George D. Snell was married four times, as follows: First, to Linia Lucinda Dennis on January 1, 1862; Second, to Sina Lucinda Dennis on January 1, 1863; Third, to Alexandrina McLean or MacLean on October 24, 1868; Fourth, to Thorgerda Bjarnsson on May 1, 1879. He died on March 12, 1911, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Interment, Spanish Fork City Cemetery, Utah.

Board of Trustees, 1901. Fourth President of the Board of Trustees, from May to October 1901, the first Church President to hold that position. Thereafter, Presidents of the Church, rather than local officials, always served in that position. However, local members remained on the board until 1939, when the governing body was composed entirely of General Authorities.

Board of Trustees, 1951 to 1975. Delbert L. Stapley was born December 11, 1896 at Mesa, Arizona. He was married to the former Ethel Davis by whom he fathered three children. He fulfilled a mission in the Southern States, 1915-1917, and was a U.S. Marine during World War I. He served as president of the Phoenix Stake. Before entering the stake presidency he was superintendent of the Stake MIA, high councilor in the Maricopa Stake and counselor in the Phoenix Stake Presidency. Before being called to serve as a member of the Council of the Twelve in 1950, he was a prominent business, civic and church leader. Elder Stapley was president of a hardware and implement firm in Arizona. He is also past president of the Lions Club of Phoenix, Arizona, and of the Phoenix Better Business Bureau, and a former member of the Mesa City Council. He served as president of the Roosevelt Council of the Boy Scouts of America and was member of the National Advisory Board Committee. He was sustained to the Council of the Twelve and ordained an Apostle October 5, 1950 at the age of fifty-three by President George Albert Smith. He served in the Twelve until his death August 19, 1978 at Salt Lake City.

BY Academy High School Class of 1880. ~ ~ BYA Collegiate Class of 1881. Source: The Territorial Enquirer of Provo, Utah, June 22, 1881, "Principal's Report." ~ ~ Faculty & Staff, Training School & Chemistry, 1879-1891. Board of Trustees, 1886 to 1891. ~ ~ ~ ~ Elder Talmage obtained his early schooling in the National and Board schools of his home district in England, and was an Oxford diocesan prize scholar in 1874. He entered the Brigham Young Academy at Provo, Utah in 1876, and followed to completion the high school Normal courses in 1879, graduating in the Class of 1880. At the age of 17 he was a teacher of Elementary Science and English in the institution named. In 1881 James E. Talmage received a collegiate diploma from the BYA Scientific Department, the first such diploma to be issued. His early predilection was for the sciences, and in 1882-1883 he took a selected course, mainly in chemistry and geology, at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennysylvania. Though a special student and not a candidate for a degree, he passed during his single year of residence nearly all the examinations in the four-year course and was later graduated; and in 1883-1884 he was engaged in advanced work at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He returned to Utah in the fall of 1884, in response to a summons from Brigham Young Academy, and served as professor of Geology and Chemistry, with varied activities in other departments, in the Brigham Young Academy from 1884 to 1888. ~ ~ ~ ~ While still a member of the faculty, he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brigham Young Academy. During his residence in Provo, he served successively as city councilman, alderman and justice of the peace. ~ ~ ~ ~ James Edward Talmage was a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, and a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah. He was born Sunday Sept. 21, 1862, at Hungerford, Berkshire, England, the son of James Joyce Talmage and his wife, Susannah Preater. He is the first son and second child in a family of eight. He was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the place of his birth, June 15, 1873, and on the 18th of the following August was ordained a Deacon in the Ramsbury branch of the London conference. The entire family left England May 24, 1876, landed in New York June 5th, and arrived in Salt Lake City on June 14, 1876. In Provo, Utah, where the family had established a home, he was ordained a Teacher on December 17, 1877, and an Elder on June 28, 1880. Elder Talmage obtained his early schooling in the National and Board schools of his home district in England, and was an Oxford diocesan prize scholar in 1874. He entered the Brigham Young Academy high school at Provo, Utah, in 1876. He followed to completion the high school courses and graduated, taking the "normal" courses in preparation for becoming a teacher. At the age of 17 he became a teacher of elementary science and English at Brigham Young Academy. On September 29, 1884, he was ordained a High Priest, and was set apart as an alternate High Councilor in the Utah Stake of Zion. On June 14, 1888 he married Mary May Booth, daughter of Richard Thornton Booth and Elsie Edge Booth, at the Manti Temple, and from this union there came the following children: Sterling B. Talmage, born May 21, 1889; Paul B. Talmage, born Dec. 21, 1891; Zella Talmage, born Aug. 3, 1894, died of pneumonia April 27, 1895; Elsie Talmage, born Aug. 16, 1896; James Karl Talmage, born Aug. 29, 1898; Lucile Talmage, born May 29, 1900; Helen May Talmage, born Oct. 24, 1902, and John Russell Talmage, born Feb. 1, 1911. His early preference was for the sciences, and in 1882-1883 he took a selected course, mainly in Chemistry and Geology, at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Though a special student and not a candidate for a degree, he passed during his single year of residence nearly all the examinations in the four-year course and was later graduated; and in 1883-84 he was engaged in advanced work at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He returned to Utah in the fall of 1884, in response to a summons from Brigham Young Academy, and served as professor of Geology and Chemistry, with varied activities in other departments, in the Brigham Young Academy from 1884 to 1888. While still a member of the faculty, he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brigham Young Academy. During his residence in Provo, he served successively as city councilman, alderman and justice of the peace. In 1888 he was called to Salt Lake City to take the presidency of the Latter-day Saints College, which position he held until 1893. ~ ~ ~ ~ He became President of and Professor of Geology in the University of Utah, 1894-1897. In 1897 he resigned the presidency, but retained the chair of geology, which had been specially endowed; and ten years later (1907) he resigned the professorship to follow the practical work of mining geology, for which his services were in great demand. In 1891 he received the Bachelor of Science degree, and in 1912 the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, from his old alma mater, Lehigh University. In 1890 he was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Science and Didactics by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in 1896 was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree by Illinois Wesleyan University for nonresident work. Dr. Talmage was elected to life membership in several learned societies, and for many years was a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (London), Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (Edinburgh), Fellow of the Geological Society (London), Fellow of the Geological Society of America, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Associate of the Philosophical Society of Great Britain, or Victoria Institute, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Talmage traveled extensively, having traversed most of this country and of Europe many times in the course of scientific pursuits. He was a delegate from the Royal Society of Edinburgh to the International Geological Congress held at St. Petersburg (Petrograd) in 1897, and was a member of the party that crossed the Urals into Siberia. Throughout the period of his professional career as teacher and professor, Dr. Talmage was particularly active and efficient in encouraging scientific study by popular lectures and writings, and for this labor his deep love for science and his exceptional command of language and ability as a public speaker particularly fitted him. Impelled by the same spirit, he took charge of the little Deseret Museum in 1891, and had the satisfaction of seeing the institution become large and influential. He retained the directorship until 1919, when the Deseret Museum ceased to exist as a unified institution, its collections being segregated to form the LDS University Museum, and the LDS Church Museum, respectively. In his teaching work Dr. Talmage was the first to establish courses in Domestic Science and Agricultural Chemistry in the intermountain West. ~ ~ ~ ~ On December 7, 1911, he was appointed and sustained to be one of the Apostles, to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Elder Charles W. Penrose as second counselor in the First Presidency, and on the following day (Dec. 8th) was ordained an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and was set apart as one of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the hands of President Joseph F. Smith, assisted by his counselors and members of the Council of the Twelve. When called to special ministry in the Church he promptly relinquished his profession as a mining geologist and engineer, the practice of which had grown to be extensive and lucrative, and from that time he devoted himself entirely to ecclesiastical service. Dr. Talmage was the author of many scientific and theological works, among which are: "First Book of Nature" (1888); "Domestic Science" (1891); "Tables for Blowpipe Determination of Minerals" (1899); "The Great Salt Lake, Present and Past" (1900); "The Articles of Faith" (1899), a comprehensive exposition of the doctrines of the Church; "The Great Apostasy" (1909); "The House of the Lord" (1912), a discussion of holy sanctuaries, ancient and modern; "The Story of Mormonism" (1907); lectures delivered at Michigan, Cornell and other universities; "The Philosophical Basis of Mormonism" (1915); "Jesus the Christ" (1915); "The Vitality of Mormonism" (1919), and numerous pamphlets and contributions to periodicals. Bishop Orson F. Whitney, author of the "History of Utah", said of him: "Professionally a scientist and a preceptor, with gifts and powers equalled by few, Dr. Talmage is also a writer and speaker of great ability and skill. He is an absolute master of English, both by pen and tongue, and possesses a musical eloquence of marvelous fluency and precision. His style of oratory, though not stentorian, is wonderfully impressive, and his well stored mind, capacious memory, quick recollection and remarkable readiness of speech render him a beau-ideal instructor, in public or in private." Elder Talmage served in the Quorum of the Twelve until his death July 27, 1933 at Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of seventy. [Adapted from the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia.] ~ ~ ~ ~ In 1888 Professor Karl G. Maeser was called as the first Superintendent of Church Schools, although he was not immediately relieved of his duties as Principal of Brigham Young Academy. The following year the Board of Education conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Letters and Didactics at a time when he was busy establishing academies throughout the Church. He was away much of the time, and the B.Y. Academy Board selected James E. Talmage to replace Dr. Maeser as Principal. Talmage, an immigrant from England in 1876, entered the Academy soon after his arrival in Utah and later was employed as a teacher. In 1882 he was given a leave of absence to obtain a bachelor's degree from Lehigh University. Later he studied an additional year at Johns Hopkins University and returned to the B.Y. Academy as teacher of chemistry and geology. Professor Talmage accepted the principalship but never served. He had done little more than outline plans for the ensuing year when he was called by the presiding authorities of the Church to the principalship of the Salt Lake Academy, afterwards the Latter-day Saints College and still later the LDS University. Dr. Karl G. Maeser stayed on as BYA Principal. In 1890 when Benjamin Cluff, Jr., returned from the University of Michigan with his bachelor's degree, he was made Assistant Principal, a position he held until January 4, 1892, when he became Principal. Dr. James E. Talmage went on to become President of the University of Deseret (University of Utah) and an apostle in the Church. Brigham Young University named the James E. Talmage Mathematical Sciences and Computer Building in his honor in 1974. ~ ~ ~ ~ James Edward Talmage was born on September 21, 1862 in Hungerford, England. His parents were Gabriel James Joyce Talmage and Susanna Preator Talmage. He first married Merry May Booth on June 14, 1888 in Manti, Utah. Merry May Booth was his only wife in this life. He was sealed to five other women after their deaths, Zella Lee Webb being the first of such sealings. Zella Lee Webb, a friend, was very seriously burned in September 1886 and was probably bedfast thereafter. Although she and Talmage had a special relationship during the year after her accident, they were not married prior to her death in September 1887. During the months of her illness, she expressed a desire to be sealed to him after her death. He received approval from the First Presidency and was sealed to her after his marriage to Merry Mae Booth. He was sealed after their deaths to Grace Mayhew, Loretta Ann Whitby, Elizabeth ______, and Harriet Doolan. Apostle James E. Talmage died on July 27, 1933 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His interment, Salt Lake City. ~ ~ ~ ~ If The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has ever produced a child prodigy, it is James Edward Talmage.

Board of Trustees, Brigham Young Academy, 1875 to 1897. Myron Tanner was born June 7, 1826, at Bolton Landing, Warren County, New York on the shores of Lake George. He married Mary Jane Mount May 22, 1856, at Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born February 27, 1837, at Toledo, Ohio. The couple had nine children. He was married a second time, May 19, 1866, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Ann Crosby. She was born December 4, 1846, at Manchester, England. The couple had eight children. Myron was the oldest of the children of Elizabeth Beswick and John Tanner. He was born into a home which his mother described as comfortable and wealthy. Myron was very young when the Mormon missionaries came to his home, and his parents and the older members of the family embraced the gospel. The family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in December 1834, when he was just past eight. He went to school for a time in a "little red school house, between his home and the temple," where he received the education available to children of pioneering communities. He attended three short terms at Kirtland, was about all the formal education he ever received, though he did attend school for a short time in Nauvoo. By the time the family moved to Far West, Missouri in 1838, he was twelve. At Far West, Missouri, he tells of being sent with an older brother into Clay County, to secure if possible, sufficient supplies of wheat for food and planting. As wheat was in short supply, they were able to obtain only a limited amount, and the family was always near the hunger line. At this tender and impressionable age Myron witnessed the mobbings and persecutions heaped upon the Saints, and since the entire family was in the midst of the conflict, he knew what it was to come face to face with violence. His closest encounter with tragedy was the day he accompanied his father to a gristmill twelve miles distant to grind corn. The story is told of how his father saw the mob coming and sent Myron to hide in the brush. After spending the night hiding in a neighbor's home, he made his way home to report that his father had been beaten over the head with a gun and severely injured. This young man experience many such incidents from the time he was eight until he enlisted in the Mormon Battalion when he was twenty. By the time the Tanner family moved to Montrose, Iowa, in 1840, Myron was a sizeable lad of fourteen, and beginning to share the hard work of the farm. In 1844 his father, John Tanner, was called on a mission to New York to electioneer for the Prophet Joseph who was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. In his absence from the farm, he left Albert, youngest son of his second wife, and Myron in charge. There are no particulars available as to what happened, but Albert and Myron were unable to work in harmony, and as a consequence Albert left the home of his stepmother and half brothers and went off on his own, leaving Myron with the entire responsibility for managing the farm. By 1844 Myron was eighteen years old. Myron found that managing the large farm and trying to coax work from his younger brothers was a sizable job, and when his father returned in the fall, John was disappointed at the way the farm had been handled. Myron was deeply hurt by his father's displeasure and carried the hurt throughout his life. He felt he had done as well as anyone his age and experience could have been expected to do. He probably had, and John Tanner, now a man of sixty-six, was not handling the generation problem as well as he might. But Myron goes on to say that in the ensuing years all was forgiven on both sides and an even closer bond was forged between them. It was during the last two years the Saints were in Nauvoo that Myron finished his schooldays. "In 1844 I was permitted to attend school seven weeks, and in 1845 ten weeks. That completed my school days," he said. In 1846 when the Saints entered upon their enforced exodus to Utah, Myron, along with his brother Albert, enlisted in the Mormon Battalion for a year's service. Myron became ill and left the Battalion, wintering in Pueblo. He later joined the Saints on the exploring expedition into the Salt Lake Valley. After a short stay in the valley, Myron and several others returned to Winter Quarters. Myron made himself useful around Winter Quarters that fall and winter until time for the folks to go West in 1848. But, George A. Smith requested that he remain another year on the Missouri River, assist him in planting another crop, and then help him move his family to Utah in 1849. George A. Smith's farm was in Kanesville and a good crop was harvested in 1848. Since he had been around farm animals all his life, Myron knew how to manage teams and wagons and was placed in charge of George A.'s Ten. He managed the Ten with such skill, that he was soon placed in charge of the entire train which was under the direction of George A. Smith and Ezra T. Benson. Myron explains one of the improvements he made in the method of travel: Whenever we reached a place where I thought we were likely to be stuck in the mud, I would double my teams and put the wagons through one at a time. Such method was so much more expeditious than waiting until the wagon became fastened in the mud, and then trying to pull it out. Many of the people in the train were not as experienced as Myron, and he must have seemed wise beyond his years. He made proper excuses for the leading brethren in the train saying: "Some of these brethren whose lives had been given largely to the ministry were hardly familiar with team work and many of those who were driving had little experience." Myron had great respect and admiration for George A. Smith, and would have made any sacrifice to assist him. The George A. Smith - Ezra T. Benson wagon train reached Salt Lake in October of 1849, and Myron continued his services to George A. Smith by hauling his winter's wood and doing other chores. Hearing that his father was ill with acute rheumatism, Myron hastened to his home in south Cottonwood. John, seventy-two years old and worn with the cares and labors of the past sixteen years, grasped his hand tightly and whispered his thanks. John was already proud of his son, but Myron would live to do greater honor to the name of his beloved father. Soon after his father's death Myron decided to seek his fortune in the gold fields of California. He knew Brigham was opposed to the Saints leaving Utah for the uncertainties of the gold mines, but he secured the approval of George A. Smith and the loan of a team and set out. Seth, Myron's brother, is not mentioned, but from other sources it is known he accompanied Myron. The boys did quite well at the mines; Myron sent George A. Smith $400 in gold to pay for the team, and a substantial token of his esteem. In two and a half years Myron accumulated $1,250 which he later invested in land and livestock in San Bernardino. It is not known how well Seth did. In the course of a year or two, all of the John Tanner family were living in San Bernardino, except John Joshua and Nathan and their families who remained in south Cottonwood, Utah. Myron indicates that they acquired considerable holdings in livestock and land, and he mentions that they did some trading. It would be interesting to know more about the Tanner's activities in San Bernardino, but little information has been found. This was a period of comparative tranquility and little that was newsworthy occurred. Myron was not in San Bernardino in the fall of 1851 when the fort was built, but came in the fall of 1852. The Beswick children -- Myron, Seth, Freeman, and Joseph -- had some sort of cooperative arrangement until 1856, when Seth withdrew and went to San Diego to prospect for coal. In 1855 Myron and Seth came to Salt Lake with a band of horses for sale, where it was reported there was a good market. Horses were in large supply in California where they could be had for little more than rounding them up. But they required "breaking" before they were ready for the market. All the Tanner men were expert horsemen and made money by converting "wild" horses into tame ones. Most of the horses were of the riding variety. Myron soon met a charming girl named Mary Jane Mount who was living at the home of Henry Lawrence. It is well known that President Young was trying hard to keep the Saints from wandering off to California in search of gold and was "often severe towards those who disregarded the counsels of the Church in this matter." After a whirlwind courtship the couple became engaged and Myron visited President Young to gain his permission to marry his sweetheart according to the rules of the Church. This is Myron's account of his visit to the President: President Young became very angry and raked me over the coals in a lively manner and explained to me the unfortunate circumstances of marrying a girl and taking her off to California to live. This rebuff was too much for me and I saw that President Young was not at all likely to yield, or to be in the least indulgent. My first thought was to turn to George A., for I never had a truer friend than he. His intercession in my behalf not only brought about the desired results, but brought me good counsel through which I made up my mind to leave California as soon as I could close out my interests there. Miss Mount promised to await my return to Salt Lake, and on my return in 1856, we were married on the 26th day of May. Myron's trip to California in the fall of 1855 did not settle his financial affairs in San Bernardino; it would take a number of years before final settlement would be made. But with his marriage he followed through on his determination to settle in Utah and chose Payson as his new home. With the final settlement of the San Bernardino holdings, some exchanges were made for property in Provo and Myron and Jane readily grasped the opportunity to accept the Provo property as Myron's share of the cooperative holdings. In 1860 they moved to Provo, leaving the Payson property to his brothers Freeman and Joseph. Among the various properties he owned while in Provo, a gristmill was probably his most important asset. "When the mining excitement broke out in Montana, the demand for flour brought that commodity up to $25 a sack." This was the time of his greatest prosperity. Myron never gave up his farm when he turned his attention to industrial pursuits, in fact he acquired even more land, but the farm was never his chief source of income. Myron had been in Provo only two years when he was first elected to the City Council, a position he was to hold a total of twenty years. In 1864 he was made bishop of the Provo Third Ward and held that position for twenty-seven years until 1891. The circumstances of this appointment are of interest. Speaking of this he said: "I was in Salt Lake at the time and knew nothing of it. Brother George A. met with the ward, and asked if they would sustain me, and the vote was unanimous. On my return home the news was broken by a neighbor, a Jew by the name of Ben Backman. Learning that I was coming home he came out about four blocks to meet me and greeted me with my new title, 'Bishop.' I was never more surprised in my life and was, perhaps never more severely tried. For three days I did not venture down town. Of all positions I considered that of Bishop in the church most undesirable." Provo was full of rough people, and was probably the toughest town in the territory at that time. "Many of the neighbors ridiculed religion and made the bishop often the butt of their ridicule." Being a bishop in Provo was a most difficult position to fill. It would be exciting if one could say that he brought about an immediate reformation and changed the place into an ideal Latter-day Saint community. Such was not the case; it was a slow and painful process. But when he retired as bishop, he knew that he had left the place much better than he found it. In 1866 Myron married his second wife, Ann Crosby, and brought her to his home. Mary Jane had been prepared for the event, but no amount of preparation or religious indoctrination, can prevent a deep hurt in the soul of a woman when she is called upon to share her husband with another. The new wife was brought to their home where she lived for some time until a new and more commodious house was completed, whereupon the new home was given to Mary Jane and the old one became the property of Ann, the second wife. As if he did not already have sufficient problems, Myron generously provided means to bring a number of Ann's destitute relatives from England, and upon their arrival in Utah, they took up their abode with Ann. Jane's journal is most candid about how she felt: It was a sad day for him [Myron] when they came. Her sister was soon married to Isaak Higbee, but her mother continued to live with her. They had not been there long before they commenced sowing dissention in the family which increased until all intercourse between the two houses ceased. Myron struggled bravely to make a happy life in spite of insurmountable obstacles. It is doubtful he was either the best or the worst of Mormon polygamists. Looking back upon the experience, Jane stated that she believed she and Ann could have made a go of it if Ann's family had not come to drive a wedge between them. There is little doubt that Jane and Ann and Myron all tried hard to be reasonable under circumstances which made reason difficult, but both families turned out well and both wives raised notable sons and daughters. He served honorably for 27 years as bishop of a rough frontier community. At the time of his death Myron Tanner had served 15 years as Selectman for Utah County. He had been a member of the Brigham Young Academy Board of Trustees since its organization, down to about the year 1896. At the time of his death was the only director among the original incorporators of the Provo Woolen Mills, he having served as director of the Mills from the date of their organization to the time of his death. He was also a member of the board of the Co-op store of Provo, and for more than 25 years he served in the City Council. His seventeen children, nine by Mary Jane and eight by Ann, sounds like a very large family, but it is only an average in size when compared with his brothers and the one sister who came West. The number of early deaths -- seven -- is also about average.

Board of Trustees, 1962 to 1982. Nathan Eldon Tanner was born on 9 May 1898 in Salt Lake City, the first of eight children born to Nathan William Tanner and Sarah Edna Brown Tanner, Utahns who had gone to Canada by covered wagon to homestead in Aetna, a tiny settlement near Cardston. His childhood was happy but filled with many responsibilities. As the eldest of eight children, he was expected to help on the farm and was often given responsibilities in the care of his younger brothers and sisters. On one occasion, the entire family was ill with smallpox. For three days and two nights he had no sleep as he tenderly cared for the sick. “An event that happened when he was about fifteen,” wrote President Hugh B. Brown, “is indicative of his character. He was thrown from his horse while herding cattle. When he got to his feet, he discovered that three fingers on his left hand were broken at the knuckle joints and were twisted back against his hand, with the bones of the middle finger protruding through the flesh. With characteristic pluck he grasped his fingers, straightened them, remounted his horse, and rode to a doctor, who marveled at the boy’s spunk. The bones were all correctly in place, and the doctor had only to stitch up the flesh.” (Ensign, Nov. 1972, p. 14.) Such spunk was doubtless responsible for many of his life’s successes. Determined to obtain an education despite heavy responsibilities on the farm, he completed nine grades of schooling in Aetna, attended high school in Cardston, a night academy in Raymond, and later the Calgary Normal School. In 1919, his first teaching position was combined with administration when he became principal of a three-room school at Hill Spring. Here he met and fell in love with one of the teachers at the school, Sara Isabelle Merrill. They were married on 20 December 1919; when the Alberta Temple was dedicated in 1923, they were among the first couples to be endowed and sealed for eternity. With a growing young family, Eldon supplemented his teaching income by running a general store in Hill Spring; he also served as a health officer and participated actively in the community. In 1929 the family moved to Cardston, where he was asked to be principal of a public school and serve on the town council. Heber G. Wolsey, former managing director of the Church Public Communications Department, was a student in that Cardston school where “Mr. Tanner” was principal and eighth grade teacher. On the first day of class, Brother Wolsey recalls, the young educator entered the classroom and said, “Boys and girls, we’ll be together for seven hours a day for the next year. In that time I only want to teach you one thing.” And then he walked to the board and wrote, in two-foot-high letters, THINK!” “To supplement his teaching salary,” wrote Sister Tanner, “he sold suits and insurance, milked cows, raised chickens and a vegetable garden. When he was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1935, in the first Social Credit Government, he was chosen as Speaker of the House. He had never even attended a session of legislature, and was now to act as chairman of that august body of sixty-three members. We were given an elegant suite of rooms in the legislative buildings, to use as we liked, and … it seemed that he had fallen into the ‘lap of the Gods,’ but only he and I knew the hours, day and night, that he spent studying parliamentary procedure. This was the beginning of jobs which he was given, which he said were far beyond his ability to cope with. He has always had favorite sayings and slogans. One was: ‘The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight; but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards in the night.’ And he tried to accomplish what he set out to do by doing just that: By rising at five A.M. to teach himself typing when he was running the store in Hill Spring; by searching the scriptures at the same hour when he was made bishop and later called to the General Authorities of the Church.” Eldon’s perseverance and stability made him a valued asset in both governmental and ecclesiastical circles. In 1936 he was appointed Minister of Lands and Mines in the Provincial Cabinet, a position which was later expanded to include two departments—Mines and Minerals, and Lands and Forests. In this capacity he sponsored legislation to govern development of natural resources, especially petroleum, which became the pattern for other Canadian provinces to follow and helped to make Alberta the first province free from public debt. While acting as Minister in the Alberta government, he earned the well-deserved nickname of “Mr. Integrity” because he refused to compromise by accepting gifts of any kind and was strictly honest in his dealings. That affectionate title followed him through a lifetime of success based on principles of fairness and integrity. After sixteen years of distinguished government service, Eldon Tanner turned his energies to industry, serving first as president of Merrill Petroleum, Ltd., and director of the Toronto Dominion Bank of Canada. In 1954, answering an appeal from government officials, he agreed to become president of Trans-Canada Pipelines, Ltd., and direct construction of a $350 million, 2,000-mile pipeline across Canada from Alberta to Montreal. Upon completion of the project one authority observed, “It was the greatest undertaking since the building of the transcontinental railroad and was accomplished in less than four years.” Overshadowing his governmental and business concerns were always the two most important interests of this remarkable man’s life: family and the gospel. He and Sara reared five daughters. Twenty-four grandchildren and fifty great-grandchildren have also joined the family. Helen Tanner Beaton remembered her father as a warm, compassionate man who cared deeply about his family: “Daddy was branch president in Edmonton, Cabinet Minister in charge of two major government departments, and president of the Boy Scout Association. But he still got up with us in the night if we were sick, prepared breakfast every morning, and set up the washing machine and rinse tubs every Monday morning at 6:00 A.M. If we were new babies, he would get up and bring us to mother and then he would take us back to bed. He did that for five girls.” For many years of his life in Canada, President Tanner was deeply involved in Scouting as a member of the Canadian Scout Committee and as Provincial Scout Commissioner. He received the Silver Acorn and the Silver Wolf awards, the latter being the highest honor given to a Scouter in Canada. Yet he never lost sight of the young people themselves. Once when asked why he was interested in the Boy Scouts when he had no sons, he replied, “Well, I want to help boys to be worthy of my daughters.” From his youngest years, Eldon Tanner was committed to Church service. In 1932 he became counselor to a bishop in Cardston; two years later he was made bishop of the Cardston First Ward. He became president of the Edmonton Branch in 1938, was later called to the high council in the Lethbridge Stake, and in 1953 became the first president of the Calgary Stake, which office he held until his call as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve in 1960. “The Calgary Stake was standing first in the Church,” recalls Sister Tanner, “and now with the pipeline behind him it looked as though everything was just going to be easy. We built our new home, moving into it in May of 1960. On October 8, 1960, President David O.McKay called him in as a General Authority of the Church, which made all of his other accomplishments seem trivial and unimportant. “Now, indeed, he felt inadequate. None of his past seemed to have prepared him for this tremendous task. True, he had been bishop for six years and a branch president for fifteen, and a stake president for seven years, but this work had been principally administrative. He felt that his knowledge of the scriptures was scanty; his public speaking had been mostly on political and technical lines. “His … appointment to the Quorum of the Twelve made him feel even more humble. However, I personally feel that all his past life led up to this point. Every decision, small and great, that he has made has been prayerfully considered with the Church in mind.” The Tanners moved to Salt Lake City on 1 February 1961. As they made plans to furnish their newly purchased home, Eldon Tanner was called to accompany President McKay and President Hugh B. Brown to London to attend the dedication of the new Hyde Park Chapel. Four days later, Elder Tanner was asked to prepare to remain in London as president of the West European Mission. Soon after he became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve in October 1962, Elder Tanner was appointed president of the Genealogical Society of the Church, in which assignment he served enthusiastically until his call to the First Presidency in October 1963. At the death of President McKay in January 1970, he was named Second Counselor to President Joseph Fielding Smith. Following President Smith’s death in July 1972, he became First Counselor to President Harold B. Lee. President Lee’s death in December 1973 brought Spencer W. Kimball to the presidency; President Tanner was sustained as his First Counselor. Part of his devotion to community included becoming a citizen of the United States, which he did on 2 May, 1966. Questioned later about the seeming “desertion” of his native Canada, his response was that “we have responsibilities to the community in which we live. In order to fulfill our obligations, we need to be practicing citizens of the nation which shelters us.” President Tanner’s sense of community complemented his service as a General Authority. He was a member of the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and the Salt Lake Rotary Club, a member of the boards of directors of several Utah corporations, and vice president of the Board of Trustees of Brigham Young University and the Church Educational System. In 1978 his integrity and accomplishments were cited by the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, which saluted him as “a man of superior character, a successful businessman with deep spirituality, a great leader esteemed by millions of people around the world.” He died in 1982.

BYA Class of 1889 ~ Honorary. BYU / BYH Board of Trustees, 1921 to 1939. Thomas Nicholls Taylor (1868-1950) — also known as Thomas N. Taylor — of Provo, Utah County, Utah. Born in 1868. Democrat. Mayor of Provo, Utah, 1900-1903; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Utah, 1912. Died on October 24, 1950. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thomas N. Taylor went to the Franklin Elementary School at 2nd South and 1st West in Provo under the principalships of Anna Larson, L.A. Wilson, and George H. Brimhall. He worked in his father's furniture store beginning at age 10. When Zina Young Williams, daughter of Brigham Young, came to teach at Brigham young Academy, she had two sons, Sterling and Thomas, who became good friends with young Tom. When he went to Brigham Young Academy in the Lewis Building on Center Street, one of his teachers was Aunt Zina, by then Zina Young Card. After the Lewis Building burned on January 27, 1884, Tom was in the group which went to the temporary school in the ZCMI warehouse at the south end of Academy (now University) Avenue. Among the many classes he took was an arithmetic class taught by Karl G. Maeser. Tom had to quit school in 1895, getting as far as our present-day 8th grade when he was seventeen. Had he continued on to graduation, he would have been in the BYA high school senior class of 1889. At the age of seventeen, he went into business for himself. More: See the TNT webpage, under construction.

Board of Trustees, 1962 to 1975. Elder A. Theodore Tuttle, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, was eulogized by President Ezra Taft Benson as “a man with deep spiritual insight, with Christlike attributes” during funeral services at the Cottonwood Creek Stake Center in Sandy, Utah, December 2. Elder Tuttle, who had undergone several months’ treatment for malignancy, died Friday, November 28, 1986 in LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City. President Ezra Taft Benson, who presided over the funeral services, praised Elder Tuttle for the faith, dedication, and love of the gospel he exhibited during his life of service. He is “one whom the Lord loves and has magnified,” President Benson said, adding that “he will be magnified further as he goes into the spirit world.” Other speakers included President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency; Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve; and Elder Marion D. Hanks of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy. President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, conducted the services. President Hinckley characterized Elder Tuttle as “a man of peace and gentleness,” but noted he had also witnessed the misery of war. “He was accorded a measure of renown [because] he was the Marine who went back to get the flag from the landing ship to give to the men who planted it atop Mount Suribachi.” The photograph taken of that flag being raised on Iwo Jima became the most famous photograph of World War II. “He did not shout when he spoke,” President Hinckley added. “He spoke quietly, reasoning methodically, bearing witness with solemnity, and all who heard him were touched by the strength of his testimony.” Elder Tuttle had been a General Authority of the Church since April 1958, when he was called to be a member of the First Council of the Seventy. When the Council was dissolved and the First Quorum of the Seventy organized in 1976, he was called to be a member of the quorum presidency; he served in that capacity until 1980. He had served in administrative positions in several areas of the Church, particularly in South America. At the time of his death he was a managing director in the Priesthood Department and second counselor in the General Presidency of the Sunday School. Albert Theodore Tuttle, the only son of Albert Mervin and Clarice Beal Tuttle, was born March 2, 1919, in Manti, Utah. He served as president of his high school student body and as seminary president. He was active in drama and excelled in debate, an activity he continued while attending Snow College. As a young man, he was called to serve in the Northern States Mission. During this time he served as branch president, district president, and mission recorder. He later attended Brigham Young University, where he was named the outstanding student in religion. After receiving a bachelor’s degree, he went on to earn his master’s degree at Stanford University. While at BYU, Elder Tuttle met Marne Whitaker, from Ellensburg, Washington. They were married in the Manti Temple July 26, 1943. During World War II, Elder Tuttle served two and a half years as a line officer in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater. When he returned from the war, Elder Tuttle taught seminary in Idaho and Utah before being named director of the Institute of Religion at the University of Nevada-Reno. In 1953 he was named supervisor of all seminaries and institutes in the western states. While serving in this capacity, he was called to be a General Authority. Elder Tuttle served as president of the South America West, South America South, and North America Northwest areas, and as president of the Provo Temple. In addition to his wife, Elder Tuttle is survived by four sons and three daughters, twenty-six grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. Clifford U. (June) Gee, Salt Lake City.

Board of Trustees, 1962 to 1972. Elder John Henry Vandenberg, an Emeritus General Authority who served as Presiding Bishop for eleven years, [an Assistant to the Twelve for four years, and in the First Quorum of Seventy for two years] died 3 June 1992 of natural causes. Elder Vandenberg, eighty-seven, began his service as Presiding Bishop in 1961. He was named an Assistant to the Twelve in 1972 and was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976. He received emeritus status two years later. Born in Ogden, Utah, on 18 December 1904, Elder Vandenberg was the fifth child of Dirk and Maria Alkema Vandenberg, a Dutch immigrant couple. He graduated from Weber Academy (now Weber State University) in 1923 and worked as an accountant with John Clyde and Co., livestock commission agents at Ogden Stockyards. In 1925, Elder Vandenberg was called to serve a mission in the Netherlands, where he served a portion of his time as mission secretary. It was on his mission that Elder Vandenberg met his future wife, a young convert named Ariena Stok. She immigrated to Utah some time after Elder Vandenberg returned home. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 10 June 1930. They had two daughters, Lenore V. Mendenhall of Alpine, Utah, and Norine V. Francis of Sandy, Utah. (Sister Vandenberg died on 13 June 1992.) During the early years of his marriage, Elder Vandenberg worked in Salt Lake City for a sheep and wool merchandising firm. He later transferred to Denver, where he continued to work with the same company. While in Denver, he served as stake mission president and counselor in a stake presidency. While serving as Presiding Bishop, Elder Vandenberg was a member of the Church Expenditures Committee, the General Priesthood Committee, and the Correlation Committee. He also served as chairman of the Church Welfare Committee, presided over the Aaronic Priesthood of the Church, and was chairman of the General Scouting Committee and Health Services Corporation. While serving as an Assistant to the Twelve, he served as managing director of the Church’s physical facilities department, supervising three major divisions: real estate, building, and maintenance.

Board of Trustees, 1939 to 1953. Dr. Franklin L. West was a physics professor and dean of the faculty for 28 years at the Agricultural College (now Utah State University). In l934 he was called by President Heber J. Grant to be the Church Commissioner of Education, a position he held until he retired 18 years later. He authored five books. Three are texts for use in the seminaries of the Church: Discovering the Old Testament, Jesus, His Life and Teachings, and The Apostles and the Early Church. His Sunday evening radio addresses were compiled into the book, The Fruits of Religion. He also wrote a biography of his grandfather, Franklin Dewey Richards. Franklin L. West grew up in Ogden, Utah next door to his grandparents, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Franklin D. Richards and Jane Snyder Richards. The Richards were intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was particularly impressed by his gallant ninety-eight pound grandmother who drove her own wagon team during the exodus from Nauvoo because her husband was on a mission. She was the quintessential pioneer woman and her tragic journey to Winter Quarters has been the basis of Sesquicentennial plays in Iowa and in the documentary, "Trail of Hope" where her words, "I only lived because I could not die" represented the courageous spirit of the pioneers. Her words are still inspiring to her descendants whenever they begin to lose heart. Franklin L. West married Violet Madson, who was nurtured by the entire Danish immigrant community in Brigham City, Utah. Everyone was Cousin This and Uncle That. She was known as the most beautiful girl in Box Elder County, and she caught the eye of Franklin West at the annual Peach Day Celebration. She was as beautiful inside as out, and was a wonderful mother to their four children. ~ ~ ~ ~ Franklin Lorenzo Richards West was born February 1, 1885 in Ogden, Utah. His parents are Joseph Alva West and Josephine Richards West. He married three times: First, Gladys Spencer on August 19, 1904 -- later divorced. Second, Violet Madsen. Third, Mrs. Sarah Frances Nelson Malmborg. He died October 21, 1966 in Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Utah. Interment, Logan, Cache County, Utah.

Board of Trustees, 1939 to 1952. John Andreas Widtsoe was a prominent educator in the state of Utah and Elder in the Church, even before being called to serve in the Council of the Twelve. The resident of Logan, Cache County, Utah, was the son of John A. Widtsoe and Anna C. Gaatden, and was born Jan. 31, 1872, on the island of Froen, Trondhjem amt, Norway. He was baptized April 3,1884 by Elder Anthon L. Skanchy, and in 1884 he emigrated to Utah, together with his mother and younger brother. They located in Logan, Cache County. From the time he first became connected with the Church, he took an active part in its affairs, and was always a zealous worker in whatever capacity he has been called to serve. Brother Widtsoe possessed of a keen desire for knowledge, and at an early age he became a student in the Brigham Young College at Logan, from which he graduated in 1891. He then entered Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1894 graduated with the highest honors. During 1894-98 he gave instructions as professor of chemistry in the Agricultural College, Logan. On August 5, 1898, he was ordained to the office of a Seventy and set apart to do missionary work in connection with his studies in Europe. He entered the University of Goettingen, Germany, and after applying himself diligently to his studies he graduated from that institution, with the degrees of A. M. Ph.D. in 1899. Elder Widtsoe also made trips to Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and France in the interests of his studies while abroad. On his return to Utah, in 1900, he was made Director of the Experiment Station of the State Agricultural College, Logan. His special branch of study was chemistry, and he earned a splendid record in that field. A number of his experiments and researches attracted the attention of many scientific men at some of the leading institutions of learning. Professor Widtsoe acted as Director of the Utah Experiment Station from 1900 to 1905, director of the Department of Agriculture in the Brigham Young University at Provo from 1905 to 1907, President of the Utah Agricultural College from 1907 to 1916, and became President of the University of Utah in 1916. He organized and conducted the first farmers' institutes in the State of Utah, served as president of the International Dry Farming Congress at a session held at Lethbridge, Canada, and was chosen as an officer at various times of the Irrigation Congress. He was the senior member of the State Board of Education, was a member (and was for several years president) of the State Board of Horticulture, was a member of the Utah State Conservation Commission from the time of its organization, acted as chairman and member of the Utah Committee to Commemorate irrigation. During World War I he was a member of the Utah State Council of Defense, chairman of the Food Production Committee of Salt Lake City and of the Irrigation Committee of the Food Administration. Dr. Widtsoe contributed much to literature; thus he was the author of "Principles of Irrigation Practice," "Concordance" to the Doctrine and Covenants (published in 1906), "Joseph Smith as a Scientist" (published in 1908), "Dry Farming" (published in 1911), and "Rational Theology" (published in 1915). He wrote several manuals and popular articles on gospel subjects, besides numerous technical and popular articles on scientific subjects, upwards of forty bulletins on irrigation, dry farming, soils, etc. In a Church capacity Dr. Widtsoe acted as secretary of a Priests quorum, counselor in the presidency of an Elders quorum, Stake secretary of Elders, member of a Stake Sunday school board, president of local YMMIA, teacher, officer and superintendent of Ward Sunday schools and teacher and president of a Seventies quorum. For many years he acted as a member of the General Board of YMMIA. Dr. Widtsoe ranked as one of Utah's foremost educators, and was one of the best informed Elders in the Church on doctrine and Church organization. On June 1, 1898 Elder Widtsoe married Leah Eudora Dunford (daughter of Alma Dunford and Susa Young), who was born Feb. 24, 1874, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is a granddaughter of President Brigham Young. Seven children were born to them, namely, Anna G., John Andreas, Karl Marcel, Mark Adriel, Helen, Mary and Leah Eudora. Elder Widsoe was called as President of the British Mission from 1927 to 1928. He was named one of the directors of the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1921. At the age of forty-nine, Elder Widsoe was Ordained an Apostle and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve on March 17, 1921 by President Heber J. Grant. He served with honor and distinction in that body bringing his academic and intellectual credentials along with a great spiritual depth and theological understanding. In 1939 Elder Widtsoe compiled and wrote "Priesthood and Church Government" under the direction of the First Presidency. This work was a compilation of statements and policies concerning the operating organization of the Church and the functioning of the Priesthood therein. For over a generation it was the most authoritative work available to the public and most priesthood bearers had a copy in their homes. It is one of the all-time best sellers in the field of LDS publishing. Elder Widtsoe died November 20, 1952 at Salt Lake City, Utah. He was eighty years of age.

Zina Young Williams -- See Zina YOUNG

Board of Trustees, 1939 to 1941. [The following record is for Arthur Winter who died in August 1940. It is likely correct, although his term on the Board of Trustees extended through 1941.] Arthur Winter was born on December 20, 1864 in Nottingham, England. His parents are Richard Winter and Mary Clowes. He married three times: First, Hannah Bytheway on December 9, 1885 in Logan, Utah. Second, Mary Elvira Truelson on September 1, 1925. Third, Ida Freeman on November 20, 1931. He died August 1, 1940 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Interment City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Board of Trustees, 1917 to 1918. Alonzo Young was born on December 20, 1858 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents are Brigham Young and Emeline Free. He married Mary Ann Richards on December 23, 1879 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They have seven children. He died on March 31, 1918 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Interment, Salt Lake City.

Founder and Namesake of Brigham Young Academy, Brigham Young High School, and Brigham Young University. Born in Wittingham, Windham, Vermont, 1 June 1801. Baptized a member of the LDS Church in 1832. Ordained an Elder in 1832. Appointed Captain in Zion's Camp - 1834. Ordained an Apostle, 1835. President of Quorum of the Twelve, 1838-47. Served a mission to Great Britain, 1839-41. President of the Church, 1847-77. Died August 29, 1877. Prophet, Seer, and Revelator... President of the Church... Frontiersman... Explorer... Territorial Governor... Statesman... Military Commander... these are but a few of the roles played by the remarkable President Brigham Young. He has been called the American Moses for leading the Saints on the Exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Brigham Young was born June 1, 1801 in Wittingham, Windham County, Vermont to John Young and Abigail Howe Young. He was the ninth of eleven children. His parents being Methodist, Brigham affiliated with that sect at the age of twenty-one. He mastered several trades, among them, carpenter, joiner, painter, and glazier. Brigham married Miriam Works in 1824 and the couple settled in the town of Aurelius, New York, only some fifteen miles from Manchester, where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were working on the translation of the Golden Plates. Doubtless he heard rumors of their work and doubtless those rumors were not complimentary. Nevertheless, when given a copy of the Book of Mormon, a year later, by his father, who proclaimed it to be "the greatest work and clearest of error of anything [I have] ever seen, the Bible not excepted," Brigham studied it carefully and prayed for a divine confirmation of its truthfulness, which he received. Brigham was baptized April 14, 1832 and ordained an Elder the same day. In September of the same year, his wife, Miriam, died and after attending to her burial, Brigham determined to join the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. It was there that Brigham met The Prophet for the first time. Both a close friendship and a great love developed between the two men. On the very date of their first meeting, Joseph prophesied that "the time would come when Brother Brigham Young will preside over this Church." Brigham immersed himself in service to the Church, serving a mission to Canada. In 1834 he married Mary Ann Angell, then later the same year joined the Military expedition to relieve the Saints in Missouri known as Zion's Camp. Despite much murmuring and disaffection displayed by others on the March, Brigham remained loyal to the Prophet and often defended him. Joseph never had a more loyal defender than Brigham Young. Through the remainder of Joseph's life, he would often face down the disloyal and the apostates in his defense of Joseph. In 1835, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was organized with Brigham called and set apart as a member. Brigham worked on the Temple during 1835 and 1836 until mob action drove him to join the Saints in Far West, Missouri where he established his residence in 1838. By this time he was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Thomas B. Marsh having been excommunicated for apostasy and David W. Patten having suffered the martyr's fate. Thus when Joseph was imprisoned of false charges, the day-to-day running of the Church largely fell on President Young's shoulders. Brigham directed the evacuation of the Saints from Missouri which resulted in the settling of Nauvoo. This training of leadership in the face of persecution and adversity would stand him in good stead when a few years later, following the murder of Joseph and Hyrum, Brigham would lead the Saints west. During 1840-41 President Young filled a mission to England. Then, after his return to Nauvoo, he was called two years later to another mission, this time in the Eastern States. He returned to Nauvoo October 22, 1843. The Church was thrown into great turmoil by the murder of The Prophet and The Patriarch in Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844. A pattern of succession had not been established and there were conflicting claims to the leadership of the Church. Among these William Marks, President of the Nauvoo Stake, presented himself. William Strang claimed that Joseph had appointed him (Strang) as successor in a lengthy letter supposedly posted just nine days before the Martyrdom. William Smith, The Prophet's brother made a claim based on lineage. Perhaps Sidney Rigdon's claim attracted the most adherents, based on his position as First Counselor in the First Presidency. But when Brigham Young rose to speak and present the Twelve's claim, it was seen by the multitude that the mantle of Joseph fell upon Brigham. He was both heard and seen to speak as Joseph. The question of succession was answered and Brigham as President of the Twelve led the Church from that time forth, though several splinters broke away. The enemies of the Church had believed that with Joseph gone, the Church would fall. When they were disavowed of that belief, the persecution resumed and it was necessary for the Church to abandon Nauvoo in a great exodus to the west. Brigham's life of faith and leadership had prepared him well and on July 24, 1847, the main body of the Pioneer Company entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Later that year the First Presidency was organized with Brigham as President of the Church. Brigham's genius as an empire builder emerged and the desert was seen to blossom as a rose as Saints were sent to settle the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains. Brigham dedicated four temple sites and lived to see the St. George Temple completed. In politics, Brigham served as Governor of the State of Deseret and later of the Utah Territory. He founded the Deseret University, now the University of Utah, and the Brigham Young Academy, and Brigham Young University.