Abraham Owen Smoot

Abraham Owen Smoot (February 17, 1815 – March 6, 1895) was an American pioneer, businessman, religious leader, and politician. He spent his early life in the Southern United States and was one of seven children. After being baptized a member of the Church of Christ, predecessor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Smoot served as a missionary in Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, and England. He received no formal education, but learned to read as a child and later attended the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio. Like other early members of the LDS Church, Smoot practiced plural marriage, eventually marrying six women and having 24 children. After migrating west to Utah Territory, he was elected as the second mayor of Salt Lake City and maintained this position from 1857 to 1866.

Smoot was then assigned by Brigham Young to move to Provo, where he served as stake president and mayor from 1868 to 1881. He assisted financially in the construction of the Provo Tabernacletoday the Provo City Center Templeas well as the Utah Southern Railroad. Smoot was the first president of the board of trustees of Brigham Young Academy (BYA)which later developed into Brigham Young University (BYU). He was an early financial supporter of the institution and was nicknamed the "foster father" of the academy. His goal was to make education available to young Latter-day Saints. The Smoot Administration Building at BYU was named after him until it was demolished in 2025.

Early life Abraham Owen Smoot was born on February 17, 1815, in Owenton, Kentucky, to George W. Smoot and Nancy Ann (née Rowlett) Smoot. He was of Scottish, Irish, and English descent. He had two brothers and five sisters. His family moved twice in his childhood, first to southwestern Kentucky and then to the banks of the Blood River in Tennessee. As a young boy, he worked as a farmer and was not educated. and her son followed suit on March 22 of that same year. Warren Parrish baptized him, and David W. Patten performed his confirmation. He befriended Wilford Woodruff, who began preparing him for missionary work. then traveled to Kirtland, Ohio, together to attend the School of the Prophets. After arriving in November 1836, the two began learning Latin and Greek. This experience instilled the knowledge of the value of education in Smoot. This first mission lasted nine months. Smoot met both hostile mobs and people who readily accepted baptism. in addition to twice serving as a bishop.

In 1880, when he was 65 years old, Smoot was assigned by John Taylor to travel with his son, Reed Smoot, to the Hawaiian Islands. This was partly a mission for the church and partly a trip designed to improve Smoot's health. While in Hawaii, he met with King Kalakaua and taught him about the faith. He married her on November 11, 1838 in Far West, Missouri while a prisoner of war. Adkinson then accompanied Smoot on the way to his mission in South Carolina; the couple stopped in Tennessee and, after visiting with her family, Adkinson returned north to Nauvoo. She later traveled with him to Alabama for his mission there. in 1886 in Logan, Utah. He reportedly went to prison for a time because of his plural marriages. Brigham Smoot, missionary in Samoa; and Ida Smoot Dusenberry, member of the Relief Society General Board. Another of his daughters, Zina Beal Smoot, was married to apostle Orson F. Whitney. They were the second group of pioneers to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley. and while proselyting with Wilford Woodruff in July 1836, Smoot read the April issue of the Messenger and Advocate to refute accusations of their being abolitionists. However, as a Latter-day Saint missionary in 1844, he actively supported Joseph Smith's presidential platform, which called for the gradual elimination of slavery. On a mission to Tennessee, Smoot tried to have 3,000 copies of Smith's presidential platform printed, but the printer refused, since it was illegal to distribute abolitionist literature in the state.

Later, in Utah Territory, Abraham and Margaret Smoot became slaveholders, owning at least two men and one girlTom, Jerry, and Lucy. Tom died in 1862, still a slave.

Smoot was later involved in the 1879 discussions among church leaders about the origins of the priesthood and temple restrictions for black Latter-day Saints. He hosted a gathering at his home in Provo, Utah, with John Taylor, Brigham Young Jr., Zebedee Coltrin, and L. John Nuttall. Smoot remembered that when Patten, Parrish, and Thomas B. Marsh were missionaries in the South in 1835 and 1836, they took the question of ordaining black men to Joseph Smith. Southern slave codes limited the ability of enslaved people to assemble or preach. Smoot recalled, "his decision as I understood, was that they were not entitled to the Priesthood, nor yet to be baptized without the consent of their Masters. In [later] years ... I became acquainted with Joseph myself in Far West about the year 1838. I received from Joseph substantially the same instructions. It was on my application to him what should be done with the Negro in the South as I was preaching to them. He said I could baptize them by the consent of their Masters, but not to confer the Priesthood upon them." Pertaining to this statement, professor Gordon C. Thomasson has remarked: "It is extremely difficult to imagine [Smoot] inventing his oft-cited testimony, nor is it likely that the statements can be attributed totally to prejudice acquired or reinforced while serving as [a missionary]."

Leadership in Utah

Salt Lake City Smoot led companies of pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, 1852, and 1856. Alongside Shadrach Roundy, Jedediah M. Grant, and John S. Fullmer, Smoot started the Great Salt Lake Valley Carrying Company, a business venture that involved the transportation of goods and people across the Great Plains during the California Gold Rush. Smoot himself led thirteen such trips. Smoot was re-elected and served as mayor until 1866. During this time, he was also a bishop in Salt Lake City. Smoot thought that church service should come before personal interests; while writing about this experience of moving to Provo, Smoot concluded: "We should be willing to be dictated by the priesthood in all our ways." His motto as the political and religious leader of Provo was: "Ye Elders of Israel, know that ye are right and then go straight ahead." In January 1884, a fire destroyed the Lewis Building, BYA's place of operation. Smoot quickly convened a meeting and was able to arrange school to be held that evening; thus, "only one day was lost". He appealed for financial support from the church multiple times, but this request was not granted during his lifetime. Smoot was survived by two of his wives and nineteen of his children.

In 1962, BYU's administration building was named after Smoot. In 2015, he was remembered and celebrated at BYU's homecoming events. In 1994, it was recorded that Smoot had "more than 3,000 descendants." He has been called "one of the most prominent and influential men in the history of the State [of Utah]." A collection of 257 manuscripts documenting Smoot's life, including his journals, letters, patriarchal blessing, and mission call, is included in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library.