“[Father Smith] ordained his son [Hyrum] to be a Patriarch, and pronounced great blessing upon all his children before he died.” — Vilate Kimball¹

Hyrum Smith was one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, a member of Zion’s Camp, and a leader in the early Church. In Missouri, he was imprisoned with his brother Joseph Smith at Liberty Jail.² In Nauvoo, Hyrum was called by revelation to succeed his father, Joseph Smith Sr., as the patriarch of the Church, now recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 124.³ Hyrum would later serve in the Nauvoo City Council, the Nauvoo Legion, the Nauvoo Temple committee, the Council of Fifty, and as vice mayor of Nauvoo, and as an assistant president of the Church.^2,4 Hyrum practiced the doctrine of plural marriage while still in Nauvoo and married Mercy Rachel Fielding Thompson and Catherine Phillips in 1843, in addition to his wife at the time, Mary Fielding.^2,4 In June 1844, Hyrum was killed by a mob, along with his brother Joseph, in Carthage, Illinois.⁴

1. Vilate M. Kimball letter to Heber C. Kimball, October 11, 1840, catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org

2. “Smith, Hyrum,” josephsmithpapers.org

3. Doctrine and Covenants 124:91-96

4. “Hyrum Smith,” churchofjesuschrist.org