Alexander Hale Smith | |
---|---|
Presiding Patriarch of the RLDS Church |
|
April 1897 – August 12, 1909 | |
Called by | Joseph Smith III |
Predecessor | William Smith |
Successor | Joseph R. Lambert |
President of the Council of Twelve Apostles | |
April 15, 1890 | – April 12, 1897|
Called by | Joseph Smith III |
Successor | William H. Kelley |
Council of Twelve Apostles | |
April 10, 1873 | – April 12, 1897|
Called by | Joseph Smith III |
Predecessor | Samuel Powers |
Successor | Isaac N. White John W. Wight R. C. Evans |
Personal details | |
Born |
Far West, Missouri |
June 2, 1838
Died | August 12, 1909 Nauvoo, Illinois |
(aged 71)
Resting place | Rose Hill Cemetery 40°37′30″N 93°56′51″W / 40.625°N 93.9475°W |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Kendall |
Children | 9 |
Parents |
Joseph Smith Emma Hale Smith |
Alexander Hale Smith (June 2, 1838 – August 12, 1909) was the third surviving son of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith. Smith was born in Far West, Missouri, and was named after Alexander Doniphan, who had once refused an extermination order to execute Joseph Smith, then had acted as Joseph's defense attorney during Joseph's incarceration at Liberty Jail. Alexander eventually became a senior leader of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church, now Community of Christ). Smith served as an apostle and as Presiding Patriarch of the church. He became religiously inclined after the April 1862 death of his older brother Frederick G. W. Smith (b. 1836), who had not been baptized, and was baptized on May 25, 1862, in Nauvoo, Illinois, by another older brother, Joseph Smith III.
Alexander was ordained an apostle on April 10, 1873, and "served a mission to the Pacific Slope" with David Hyrum Smith in 1875. He was ordained president of the Council of Twelve on April 15, 1890, at Lamoni, Iowa. He was called to be a counselor to his brother, Joseph Smith III, and also a patriarch and evangelical minister on April 12, 1897. He went on a mission to Australia, Hawaii, and the Society Islands in 1901. Smith was a partner in a photograph gallery before becoming a carpenter.
Smith married Elizabeth Agnes Kendall in Nauvoo, on May 23, 1861. A History of Decatur County, Iowa, published in 1915, provides many details about his life and his personality: