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 ...

. 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 Community of Christ, known legally and 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 ...

(

Community of Christ Community of Christ, known legally and 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 ...

) 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 Pla ...

, 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, a denomination of the Latter Day Saint move ...

, 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. It also offers undergraduate and graduate programs online. The universi ...

from 1898 to 1900 and later received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in law from Lincoln-Jefferson University of

Hammond Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in Sout ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. From 1911 to 1913 he served as a Republican 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 ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

tour, visiting members of the Church in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

. In 1952, he toured branches of the Church in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Smith died in a car accident on June 14, 1958, while driving north along

U.S. Highway 69 U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway in the central United States. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's ...

from

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It 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 Unite ...

, to Lamoni, Iowa. After his death, the First Presidency continued to function, composed of the two counselors

W. Wallace Smith William Wallace Smith ( – ) was a grandson of Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith Jr. and Prophet-President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Community of Christ), from October 6, 1958, to April 5, 1978, when he retire ...

and F. Henry Edwards until a World Conference of the church confirmed W. Wallace Smith as his brother's successor later that fall.

Notes

General references

* * * {{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) 20th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly