85 years ago today - Mar 22, 1933

The Quorum of the Twelve unanimously recommends Eldred G. Smith as the new Patriarch to the Church. Since 1932, Heber J. Grant has told the apostles that he wants his son-in-law Willard R. Smith as the new patriarch, but he expects them to nominate him. Otherwise "people would say he had set aside Hyrum G. Smith's son in order to give position to his own son-in-law." President Grant refuses to accept the Twelve's unanimous recommendation of Hyrum G.'s son in 1933, and the stand-off leaves the office vacant for another nine years. Excluding the patrilineal office of Church Patriarch, twenty-nine sons of general authorities are appointed during the first century of the Mormon hierarchy. This accounts for 23.6 percent of the total appointments. Only eight sons of former general authorities are appointed as general authorities from 1932-1996: one in 1938, two in 1941, one in 1942, one in 1945, one in 1969, one in 1975, and one in 1996.

[Source: The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database ( http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase )]]

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