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By Christine Rappleye, Church News
The birthplaces and childhood homes of the presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints include everywhere from England to Idaho. Some locations have markers noting they are birthplaces, while some homes have been replaced by other structures.
Here’s a look at the early homes and homesites of presidents of the Church. (Sources include biographical information from the “Teachings of Presidents of the Church” manuals on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center, the Church News archives and the “Picturing History” (formerly “Portraits of the Past”) series by Kenneth Mays on Deseret.com)
1. Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. was born December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, on property owned by Solomon Mack, her father. He was the fifth of 11 children of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith.
His family moved several times during his childhood, including to Royalton, Vermont; New Hampshire; back to Vermont and then to New York, as they faced economic difficulties.
In Lebanon, New Hampshire, during a typhoid epidemic, 7-year-old Joseph’s leg was infected. Parts of the bone were removed in an experimental operation that saved the limb.
The family moved to Norwich, Vermont, before moving to western New York in 1816. By 1819, the family had earned enough money to put a down payment on a farm near Palmyra, in modern Manchester Township, and they built a log home on the property. Later, Joseph’s older brother Alvin started work on a frame home not far from the log home.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Joseph Smith” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith”; “The Early Years, 1805-19,” in “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer” on rsc.byu.edu; and Mays’ “Portraits of the Past: Monument at Sharon,” “Portraits of the Past: Villages in Vermont,” “Picturing History: West Lebanon, New Hampshire,” “Portraits of the Past: Arriving in Palmyra,” “Portraits of the Past: Palmyra, N.Y.,” “Portraits of the Past: Smiths’ Log Home,” “Portraits of the Past: Smith Farm” and “Portraits of the Past: Smith’s Frame Home in Manchester” on Deseret.com.)
2. Brigham Young
Brigham Young was born June 1, 1801, in Whitingham, Vermont, fewer than 100 miles from Sharon, and was the ninth of John and Abigail “Nabby” Young’s 11 children. The family moved to Sherburne, New York, in 1802 and then would move every few years. When he was 14, Brigham began work as an apprentice to learn carpentry and other skills. By the time he was 16, he began to support himself. When he moved to Port Byron, New York, to find work, he met Miriam Works and they married on October 8, 1824. His father had settled in Mendon, New York, and Brigham and Miriam moved there in 1828. In Mendon, Brigham Young was baptized.
(See “The Ministry of Brigham Young” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young”; “Brigham Young — The Early Years,” by Elder S. Dilworth Young; and Mays’ “Picturing History: Birthplace and Early Sites of President Brigham Young in Vermont, New York”; “Picturing History: Whitingham, Windham County, Vermont”; “Picturing History: Brigham Young Home” and “Picturing History: John Young Home, Mendon, New York.”)
3. John Taylor
John Taylor was born on November 1, 1808, in Milnthorpe, Westmorland, England, to James Taylor and Agnes Taylor. He was christened in St. Peter’s Church, the Church of England’s parish church at Heversham. The family moved to Liverpool in 1814 for five years and moved back to Westmorland in the village of Hale. He attended grammar school in Beetham. At 16, he had joined the Methodist church and served as a lay preacher. He and his wife later joined the Church in 1836 in Canada.
(See “The Life and Ministry of John Taylor” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor”; “John Taylor: Prophets of the Restoration” and Mays’ “Picturing History: President John Taylor Sites — Childhood in England.”)
4. Wilford Woodruff
On March 1, 1807, Wilford Woodruff was born in Farmington, Connecticut, the third son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson Woodruff. His mother died of spotted fever when he was 15 months old. His father remarried about three years later and added six more children to the family. Young Wilford went to school, worked on his family’s farm and father’s sawmill, and enjoyed fishing. By 1833, he was living in Richland, Oswego County, New York, with his brother, Azmon, and sister-in-law, Elizabeth, when missionaries came through the area. He was baptized on December 31, 1833, in Grindstone Creek.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Wilford Woodruff” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff”; and Mays’ “Picturing History: President Wilford Woodruff Sites — Ancestry and Birth,” “Picturing History: President Wilford Woodruff Sites — Conversion and Early LDS Church Membership” and “Picturing History: Wilford Woodruff Baptismal Site.”)
5. Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow became the first son and fifth child of Oliver and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone Snow when he was born on April 3, 1814, in Mantua, Ohio, one of the westernmost settlements at the time. One of his older sisters is Eliza Roxcy Snow. The family, which included seven children, worshipped at a nearby Campbellite church. He worked on his family’s farm and attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, about 60 miles west of Mantua. On a journey to Oberlin, Lorenzo met missionaries.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Lorenzo Snow” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow” and “Picturing History: President Lorenzo Snow — Sites of His Birth, Childhood, Conversion.”)
6. Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith was born on November 13, 1838, in Far West, Missouri, to Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith. Church members were under an extermination order. Hyrum was under arrest and would spend that winter in Liberty Jail. After Hyrum Smith was killed with his brother Joseph Smith in 1844, the family went west. They settled in the Millcreek area of the Salt Lake Valley and were able to construct a two-room adobe home before Mary died in 1852. When Joseph F. Smith was 15, he served a mission in the Sandwich Islands, now known as Hawaii.
(See “The Ministry of Joseph F. Smith” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith”; “Joseph F. Smith: Prophets of the Restoration” and “Picturing History: President Joseph F. Smith Sites — Early Years in Missouri, Nauvoo and Going West.”)
7. Heber J. Grant
The first president of the Church born in Utah, Heber Jeddy Grant was born on November 22, 1856, to Jedediah Morgan Grant and Rachel Ridgeway Ivins Grant. His father, a counselor in the First Presidency to President Brigham Young, died nine days after young Heber was born. As a widow, his mother worked as a seamstress and took in boarders. When he was 15, he worked as a bookkeeper in an insurance office and also earned money after hours by writing cards and invitations and making maps.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Heber J. Grant” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant”; and “Picturing History: President Heber J. Grant — Sites in and Around Salt Lake City.”)
8. George Albert Smith
George Albert Smith was born April 4, 1870, in Salt Lake City to John Henry and Sarah Farr Smith. His father later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency. His grandfather George A. Smith was a cousin to Joseph and Hyrum Smith, an Apostle and a counselor to President Brigham Young. His great-grandfather John Smith was a patriarch to the Church and brother of Joseph Smith Sr. George attended Brigham Young Academy when he was 12, and at 13 years old, he started working at Zion’s Co-operative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI).
(See “The Life and Ministry of George Albert Smith” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith”; “George Albert Smith” in “Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation” and “Picturing History: President George Albert Smith — Sites in Illinois, Vermont, Canada and Utah.”)
9. David O. McKay
David Oman McKay was born on September 8, 1873, in Huntsville, Utah, and was the third of six children born to David McKay of Scotland and Jennette Eveline Evans McKay of Wales. His older sisters died in 1880 within days of each other. About a year later, when he was 7 years old, his father received a mission call to Scotland. When he returned home, David McKay was called as bishop. When he was a deacon, David O. McKay was called to serve as his quorum president. After finishing school in Huntsville, he attended Weber State Academy in Ogden for two years.
(See “The Life and Ministry of David O. McKay” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay” and “Picturing History: President David O. McKay Sites — Early Life and Mission to Great Britain.”)
10. Joseph Fielding Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. was born on July 19, 1876, to Joseph F. and Julina Lambson Smith in Salt Lake City. His father was a counselor in the First Presidency when Joseph was born. Joseph and his brothers worked on the family-owned farm in Taylorsville, Utah. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. was also responsible for keeping up with his school studies. His mother was a midwife, and he would drive around her with a horse and buggy. When he was a teenager, he worked at ZCMI. On April 6, 1893, he attended the first dedicatory session of the Salt Lake Temple.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Joseph Fielding Smith” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith”; and “Picturing History: President Joseph Fielding Smith Sites — Marriage, Temples, Church History and Missions.”)
11. Harold B. Lee
Harold Bingham Lee was born in Clifton, Idaho, on March 28, 1899, to Samuel and Louisa Bingham Lee and was the second of six children. “We had everything money could not buy,” he later said. His childhood was filled with church, school, family and chores. He attended the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston, and Albion State Normal School in Albion, where he earned his teaching certificate.
(See “The Ministry of Harold B. Lee” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee” and “Picturing History: President Harold B. Lee Sites — Childhood to Missionary Service.”)
12. Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer Woolley Kimball was born on March 28, 1895, in Salt Lake City to Andrew and Olive Woolley Kimball and was the sixth of 11 children. When he was 3 years old, his father was called to be president of the St. Joseph Stake in the Gila Valley, Arizona. The family moved to Thatcher, Arizona, where they had a farm. When Spencer was 11, his mother died. (His father later remarried.) He attended high school at the Gila Academy and learned to play the piano by ear.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Spencer W. Kimball” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball” and “Picturing History: President Spencer W. Kimball Sites — Ancestors in Illinois, Childhood in Utah, Arizona.”)
13. Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson was born on August 4, 1899, in Whitney, Idaho, and was the oldest of 11 children born to George Taft Benson Jr. and Sarah Dunkley Benson. He grew up on the family’s farm and went by the nickname of “T.” When Ezra was 12, his father was called to serve a mission, and Ezra took on many of the responsibilities of running the farm. He also attended the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Ezra Taft Benson” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson” and “Picturing History: President Ezra Taft Benson Sites — Childhood and Schooling in Idaho.”)
14. Howard W. Hunter
Howard William Hunter was born on November 14, 1907, in Boise, Idaho, and was the oldest of two children born to John William “Will” Hunter and Nellie Rasmussen Hunter. Although his father wasn’t a member of the Church, his mother was active and raised her children in the gospel. Howard was 12 years old and his sister, Dorothy, was 10 when their father gave permission for them to be baptized. He was ordained a deacon and could pass the sacrament. He had learned to play several instruments and, at 16, formed a music group called Hunter’s Croonaders.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Howard W. Hunter” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter”; “Prophets of the Restoration: Howard W. Hunter” and “Picturing History: President Howard W. Hunter Sites — Life, Ministry and an Experience in the Mesa Arizona Temple.”)
15. Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was born on June 23, 1910, to Bryant Stringham and Ada Bitner Hinckley in Salt Lake City. Bryant and his first wife, Christine, had eight children, and he married Ada Bitner after Christine’s death. Four more children followed Gordon.
After Gordon had a bout of whooping cough when he was 2 years old, the doctor told Ada the best remedy was clear country air. The family bought a five-acre farm in East Millcreek.
At 12, he went to a stake priesthood meeting with his father, and his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith grew. He graduated from high school in 1928 and attended the University of Utah. After graduation, he was called to serve in the European Mission, and his first area was in Preston, Lancashire, England.
(See “The Life and Ministry of Gordon B. Hinckley” in “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley” and “Picturing History: President Gordon B. Hinckley Sites — Childhood in Utah and Mission in England.”)
16. Thomas S. Monson
Thomas Spencer Monson was born on August 21, 1927, and was the first son and second child of G. Spencer and Gladys Condie Monson. The family grew to include six children. He grew up on the west side of Salt Lake City in a home near 500 South and 200 West, not far from railroad tracks, and on the same block as many of his mother’s relatives. In general conference, he told stories of being the rowdy child his Primary teacher would ask to help others be reverent and giving part of a prized Christmas train to another boy who didn’t have any gifts. He was fascinated by pigeons and began raising them, along with other animals.
(See “Prophets and Apostles: Thomas S. Monson”; “President Thomas S. Monson (1927-2018): Prophet and Friend” and “Part 1: Thomas S. Monson Learned Compassion in His Youth.”)
17. Russell M. Nelson
Russell Marion Nelson was born on September 9, 1924, in Salt Lake City, and was the second of four children to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson. At the time, his parents were living southeast of Liberty Park; when he was 7 years old, the family moved to another home in the East Liberty Park area.
During his younger years, while his parents weren’t active in the Church, they sent him to Sunday School. He continued to attend church, and with the ministering efforts of his bishop and teachers, he and his three siblings were baptized when he was 16 years old.
(See “A Sneak Peek Into Sheri Dew’s New Book, ‘Insights From a Prophet’s Life’” and “Prophet, Physician, Husband and Father: A Look at the Life of President Nelson” on TheChurchNews.com)
— Kenneth Mays, a retired instructor in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Department of Seminaries and Institutes, contributed to this article. His image collection is available at catalog.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Correction: An earlier version of this article noted that David O. McKay’s older sisters died in 1850. They died in 1880.
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