Don Carlos Smith

Don Carlos Smith (March 25, 1816 – August 7, 1841) was the youngest brother of Joseph Smith and a leader, missionary, and periodical editor in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Smith was born in Norwich, Vermont, the seventh son of Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. As an adolescent, Smith was an early convert to the Church of Christ that was established by his brother Joseph in 1830. Don Carlos was baptized on June 9 of that year.[1]

Smith was the first editor of the Nauvoo, Illinois-based Latter Day Saint newspaper Times and Seasons. He was also active as an early missionary of the Latter Day Saint church. Smith participated in the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstones of the Kirtland Temple, and he was a member of the temple's construction crew. As a printer and editor, Smith was involved in the printing of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, several editions of the Book of Mormon, and also served as the publisher and editor for the short-lived periodical Elders' Journal.

On January 15, 1836, Smith was selected as the first president of the high priests quorum of the church,[2] a position that is today referred to as a stake president. He represented the high priests of the church when the cornerstones were laid to the Nauvoo Temple in early 1841.

Smith died in Nauvoo, Illinois, of malarial fever at the age of 25. He was survived by his wife Agnes Moulton Coolbrith, who later became a plural wife of Joseph Smith. Don Carlos Smith was the father of Ina Coolbrith, who became the first poet laureate of California.

See also

Notes
  1. Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations (Lamoni: Herald Publishing House, 1912) pp. 181, 184.
  2. Joseph Smith, B. H. Roberts (ed), History of the Church, 2:205, 370.


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