Israel Alexander Smith (February 2, 1876 – June 14, 1958) was the fourth son of

Joseph Smith III Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...

and a grandson of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...

. Israel A. Smith succeeded his brother, Frederick M. Smith, as

Prophet-President In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed succe ...

of the

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

(now known as Community of Christ) on April 9, 1946.

Biography

Smith was born in

Plano, Illinois Plano is a city near Aurora in Kendall County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 11,847 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, being about 55 miles (90 km) from Chicago. The city was home to the Plano Har ...

, on February 2, 1876, the third son and fourth child of

and his second wife Bertha Madison. In 1881, he moved with his family to

Lamoni, Iowa Lamoni is a city in Decatur County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,969 at the time of the 2020 Census. Lamoni is the home of Graceland University, affiliated with the Community of Christ, and the city was the church's headquarters fro ...

, the site of a growing colony of Latter Day Saints of the Reorganization. He attended

Graceland College Graceland University is a private university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The university offers degree completion and master's degree programs at satellite campuses in Centerville and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Trento ...

from 1898 to 1900 and later received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in law from Lincoln-Jefferson University of Hammond,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. From 1911 to 1913 he served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

.Israel Smith
Smith's brother, Frederick, became Prophet-President in 1914. Smith became a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric in 1920. In 1922, many believed that Smith would be called to fill a vacancy in the

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

, but Frederick instead called Floyd M. McDowell. Frederick also introduced the concept of " Supreme Directional Control" regarding authority over leadership and finances, which Israel opposed as contrary to the teachings of their father, Joseph Smith III. In 1925, Israel was released from the Presiding Bishopric. Meanwhile, Supreme Directional Control and other changes related to Frederick's leadership precipitated a schism. Many members including Otto Fetting renounced the Reorganization and joined with the

Church of Christ (Temple Lot) The Church of Christ, informally called Hedrickites and the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri, on what is known as the Temple Lot. The nickname for members of ...

. From 1929 to 1940, Israel served as the church's general secretary and in 1940, he was finally called to fill a vacancy as First Counselor in the

. Frederick also designated Israel as his successor at this time. In 1946, upon Frederick's death, Israel became Prophet-President of the Church. The end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, saw further expansion of the Church overseas. In 1950, Smith went on a

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

tour, visiting members of the Church in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

. In 1952, he toured branches of the Church in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Smith died in a car accident on June 14, 1958, while driving north along U.S. Highway 69 from

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020, ...

, to Lamoni, Iowa. After his death, the First Presidency continued to function, composed of the two counselors W. Wallace Smith and F. Henry Edwards until a World Conference of the church confirmed W. Wallace Smith as his brother's successor later that fall.

References

*Norma Derry Hiles, ''Gentle Monarch: The Presidency of Israel A. Smith'', Herald House: 1991. *Richard P. Howard, ''The Church Through the Years,'' Herald House: 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Israel A. 1876 births 1958 deaths American Latter Day Saints American leaders of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants people Graceland University alumni Members of the First Presidency (Community of Christ) Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives People from Lamoni, Iowa People from Plano, Illinois Prophet-Presidents of the Community of Christ Religious leaders from Iowa Road incident deaths in Iowa Smith family (Latter Day Saints)