Lesson recap: Lesson #3 from the George A. Smith manual

"I say to you Latter-day Saints, there are no other people in all the world who have all the information that we have with reference to the divinity of the Savior; and if we did not believe in Him we would be UNDER GREATER CONDEMNATION than the others that have never had that information.

I can never measure up.

I once had an old guy in northern Utah [even older than me - long dead, I'm sure!] tell me that he knew George A. Smith very well, and always felt, along with many others, that he [The Prophet George A. Smith] was 'a little fringy' with his sexuality. Has anyone else heard any similar questions raised about him?

What a wonderful way to liven up one of those excruciatingly boring meetings that deal with the 'Lives of the Prophets'...

Who we talking about? George A. Smith or George Albert Smith. I would assume the latter except that everyone keeps saying George A. Smith. Even worse, the "A." still stands for Albert, so...

"Like many Mormon leaders in the nineteenth century, George A. Smith practiced plural marriage. Known for his somewhat bombastic speaking style, Smith once said: We breathe the free air, we have the best looking men and handsomest women, and if they (Non-Mormons) envy us our position, well they may, for they are a poor, narrow-minded, pinch-backed race of men, who chain themselves down to the law of monogamy, and live all their days under the dominion of one wife. They ought to be ashamed of such conduct, and the still fouler channel which flows from their practices; and it is not to be wondered at that they should envy those who so much better understand the social relations. (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 291)

In addition to his first wife Bathsheba, Smith married Lucy Smith, Nancy Clement, Sarah Ann Libby, Hannah Maria Libby, Zilpha Stark and Susan E. West. His wives bore him twenty children, eleven of whom were still living when Smith died."
(Wikipedia)

Gotta love the JoD!

I've heard it said that ChurchCo tried to collect all the copies; is that Factual?

aren't they now available in Libraries or online?

George A. Smith was a contemporary of Brigham Young and was his first counselor in the First Presidency.

George Albert Smith was president of the church from 1945 to 1951.

He was the first president of the church to have never been polymously married.

He was also the first president of the church who was unmarried during his presidency (his wife had died in 1937.

Apikoros wrote:
"I once had an old guy in northern Utah [even older than me - long dead, I'm sure!] tell me that he knew George A. Smith very well, and always felt, along with many others, that he [The Prophet George A. Smith] was 'a little fringy' with his sexuality. Has anyone else heard any similar questions raised about him?"

Yes, it has been suggested that Smith had problems with his sexuality, although he did marry and have three children. I have read an incident where a gay Mormon man consulted him about being gay, and Smith put him at ease about it. Perhaps he was sympathetic to gays, or perhaps he was trying to be more Christ-like.

Whatever his sexual orientation, Smith while prophet had serious mental health issues, presumably with clinical depression. TSCC got a home for him in Laguna Beach CA, where he spent much of his presidency "convalescing".

I have heard about his menatl problems before and in certain references it seems like the church went to great lengths to hide the issue.

Typical that the church would not face the issue head on. Rather than acknowledge the issue, hide it from the masses and cover it up as if it did not exist.

You can read about his 1st illness begging here: http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/2012/01/george-albert-smith-jan-7-1909.html

He had two other episodes later in life, the 2nd when his daughter was in trouble for not supporting the primary president (mid 1930s) and another episode during his presidency.