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Father Abraham and the Smoot Dynasty

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Father Abraham and the Smoot Dynasty WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 Issue No. 3 The HERITAGE Issue THIS BARCODE DOES NOTHING. thestudentreview.org Thestudentreview.org@YSTUDENTREVIEW STUDENT REVIEW • ISSUE 3 years later he would also marry Diana 17 Caroline Eldredge, Anne Kirstine father Mauritzen and Hannah Rogers. COURTESY, L.TOM PERRY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, HAROLD B. LEE LIBRARY, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, PROVO, UT 84602. When he did leave for Utah, he — abraham and being a Southerner — brought his two the smoot slaves. During his lifetime, Smoot would dynasty sire 27 children and adopt three more, Written by creating a lasting family dynasty. Stephen Owen Smoot His descendants have appropriately given him the loving moniker “Father Photos courtesy of LDS.org additional Abraham,” and today the name Smoot is articles: As the third-great-grandson of Abraham nearly as ubiquitous along the Wasatch O. Smoot, the author of this article front as Romney, Young, Hinckley, submits he is living proof BYU does not Kimball or McConkie. byu engage in nepotism as he is yet to receive While living and working in Provo a single dime in scholarship money on in compliance with Young’s directive, students account of his roots. Smoot was elected mayor of the city. During this time the press tore into He also made significant personal fi- the Church and Smoot in what was explore ABRAHAM O. SMOOT nancial contributions to ensure the arguably the first “Mormon Moment.” A popular story among us Smoots survival of Brigham Young Academy. Smoot eventually succeeded in their is one about an encounter between Upon his assumption of control of the securing his Senate seat against a tide Abraham Smoot and Brigham Young. board of trustees, the institution was of anti-Mormon sentiment. He served heritage It began when Young called Smoot into teetering on total financial oblivion. in the Senate from 1908–33. After his office one day with a new assign- Thanks largely to Smoot’s sacri- losing his seat in 1933, Smoot con- ment to be fulfilled immediately. fice, which took a significant and tinued his work for the Church as an Smoot, a wealthy businessman and lasting drain on his personal wealth, apostle until his death in 1941. former mayor of Salt Lake City, had es- the academy survived and eventually Some of Smoot’s legislation is looked tablished himself as a major local figure. grew into Brigham Young University. In upon favorably, such as the 1916 bill he His family, property and business were gratitude for his sacrifice, BYU named sponsored creating the Nation Park all located in the Valley; thus, it came as its administration building after him Service. Other legislation, such as the a shock when Young instructed him to where a small display honors his legacy. infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, emily sophia move to Provo to become president of Smoot lived the rest of his life in Provo, is credited by some economic histori- tanner richards the Utah Stake and head of the board where he died and was buried in 1895. ans for not only severely exacerbating of trustees of the fledgling Brigham the Great Depression, but also for crip- Young Academy. REED SMOOT pling the already tattered economy of With trepidation, Smoot explained But the story of the Smoot Dynasty Germany and arguably only helping to Born of Nathan Tanner that his life was anchored in Salt Lake does not end with Father Abraham. aid in Adolph Hitler’s rise to chancellor and Rachel Winter Smith — and that it would be impossible to One of his many sons, Reed Smoot, just three years later. the former having served move to Provo. was the center of a fiery controversy as a member of Zion’s Camp — Emily As the story goes, Young responded that launched the Church into national TODAY married the Church’s leading attorney, with a stern growl only he could muster headlines. Looking at the life of my third-great- Franklin S. Richards. Together they had and, pounding his fists on his desk, Known today as the “Smoot grandfather Abraham Smoot, whose five children. bellowed, “Brother Smoot! You can go Hearings,” this controversy sparked middle name I share, and at his son, In 1888, having received permission to Provo, or you can go to hell!” (Today over Smoot’s position as an apostle Reed Smoot, their loyalty and persever- from the leaders of the LDS Church, any Smoots attending the University of at the time he was elected to the U.S. ance stand out to me most. Although Emily formed the Utah Chapter of the Utah sometimes wear T-shirts at family Senate in 1902. As a result, Smoot faced neither of these men were perfect, National Women’s Suffrage Association. reunions sporting a portrait of A. O., as a serious threat to losing his seat. what they accomplished inspires me In 1920, Emily organized the Utah he is affectionately called in the family, Five years earlier, Brigham Henry and makes me proud to be a descen- Chapter of the League of Women with the caption: “I’d rather go to hell.”) Roberts of the First Quorum of the dant of Father Abraham and a part of Voters. ◼ Abraham Owen Smoot was born Feb. Seventy was elected to the House of the Smoot Dynasty. ◼ 17, 1805 in Owenton, KY. His mother Representatives. Roberts, however, converted to The Church of Jesus was stripped of his seat because he Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1833 and was a polygamist. Although Smoot he in 1835. A year after conversion, he was not a polygamist, fears of Smoot was ordained an Elder and served as a taking marching orders from Salt missionary in the Southern states with Lake, or of Smoot wishing to insti- Wilford Woodruff, David Patten and tute a Mormon theocracy, led to a other prominent early LDS figures. bitter three-year set of Congressional Later he would take up arms in the hearings to determine whether Smoot Missouri Mormon War in an effort to was fit for office. Church leaders in- fight for his church and family. cluding President Joseph F. Smith and Before migrating to Utah with the Apostles James Talmage and Francis Mormons, Smoot entered a practice Lyman, among others, were summoned that, to this day, remains controversial. before Congress to give testimony, In 1845-46, he became a polygamist by and portions of the LDS endowment marrying, in addition to his current ceremony were re-enacted during the wife Margaret Thompson McMeans, hearings to see if any anti-American Sarah Gibbens and Emily Hill. Some subterfuge lurked in the secret rite. .
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