110 years ago today - May 9, 1912

[James E. Talmage]

Today Elder Hyrum Gibbs Smith, who, on April 6th last was sustained by the general conference as the Presiding Patriarch of the Church, was ordained a High Priest and a Patriarch, and set apart as Presiding Patriarch of the Church by President Joseph F. Smith... The new Patriarch was born July 8th 1879 at South Jordan, Salt Lake County, Utah, and is the son of Hyrum Fisher Smith, still living in Provo, Utah; and the grandson of the former Presiding Patriarch, John Smith, lately deceased. The matter of selecting a successor to John Smith in this exalted office was referred to the Council of the Twelve, and after investigation, that Council nominated to the First Presidency, Hyrum Gibbs Smith. As is understood by all students of our system of Church organization, the office of Presiding Patriarch of this dispensation, and is indeed the only hereditary office in the Church. In this instance the son of the late Patriarch, and father of the new Patriarch, viz., Hyrum Fisher Smith, was not considered worthy of this high ordination. The newly ordained Patriarch is understood to have been a man of honorable life and not one who needs reformation to make him eligible. We all rejoice that this high office is again filled. [The traditionally hereditary office of Presiding Patriarch is discontinued on Oct. 6, 1979.]

[James E. Talmage, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

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