Heber J. Grant
Encyclopedia
Heber Jeddy Grant was the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was ordained an apostle on October 16, 1882, on the same day as George Teasdale
George Teasdale
George Teasdale born in London, England, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

. Grant served as church president from November 23, 1918 to his death in 1945, which makes him the longest-serving church president during the twentieth century.

In business, Heber J. Grant helped develop the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City. In 1884 he served a term as a representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature.

Early life

Grant was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

, the son of Rachel Ridgeway (née Ivins) and Jedediah Morgan Grant
Jedediah M. Grant
Jedediah Morgan Grant was a leader and an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was member of the First Council of the Seventy from 1845 to 1854. He also served in the First Presidency under Church President Brigham Young from 1854 to 1856...

. Jedediah was a counselor in the first presidency to Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...

. Rachel was a native of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 where she had converted to The Church of Jesus Christ at about age 20. Her cousin and later brother-in-law (he married her older sister Anna) Israel Ivins was the first person baptized a Latter-day Saint in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

.

Jedediah Grant died when Heber was nine days old. After Jedediah's death, Rachael married Jedediah's brother George Grant, but he fell into alcoholism so she divorced him. Rachel became the dominant influence in Heber's life. Rachel served for many years as president of the 13th Ward Relief Society
Relief Society
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...

 in downtown Salt Lake City.

Heber J. Grant was known for his determination in achieving goals seemingly beyond his reach. As a child, he wished to join the baseball team that would win the Utah Territorial championship, although others believed him to be too physically awkward to be a successful baseball player. In response, he purchased a baseball and practiced throwing the ball against his barn until he developed his skill sufficiently to join the baseball team that would win the Utah Territorial championship.

In similar fashion, he expressed a desire to be a successful bookkeeper, although many of his associates criticized his penmanship
Penmanship
Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. The various generic and formal historical styles of writing are called hands, whilst an individual personal style of penmanship is referred to as handwriting....

. He likewise practiced his penmanship until such a point where he was invited to teach penmanship at one of the local academies.

Church service

In 1901, Grant was sent to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 to open the Japanese Mission
Mission (LDS Church)
A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...

 of the LDS Church, and he served as its president
Mission president
Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...

 until 1903 when he returned home but was almost immediately sent to preside over the British and European Missions of the church.
Grant succeeded Joseph F. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

 as president of the LDS Church in November 1918. However, he was not sustained
Common consent
Common consent is a democratic principle established by the Latter Day Saint movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., who taught in 1830 that "all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith." As it is most frequently used by the Church of Jesus Christ of...

 in the position by the general church membership until June 1919, as the influenza pandemic of 1918
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...

 forced a delay of the church's traditional springtime general conference
General Conference (LDS Church)
General Conference is a semiannual world conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held in April and October, where members gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to instruction from Church leaders...

.

During his tenure as president, Grant enforced the 1890 Manifesto
1890 Manifesto
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

 outlawing plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...

 and gave guidance as the church's social structure evolved away from its early days of plural marriage-based families. In 1927, he authorized the implementation of the church's "Good Neighbor" policy
Good Neighbor policy (LDS Church)
The "Good Neighbor" policy is a collective term used to describe a variety of reforms adopted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1927...

, which was intended to reduce antagonism between Latter-day Saints and the United States government. In 1935, Grant excommunicated members of the church in Short Creek, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 that refused to sign the loyalty pledge to the church that included a renunciation of plural marriage. Although he recognized the 1886 Revelation by John Taylor to be in his own handwriting, he denounced it due to the fact that it was not in the archives of the church at the time of his official acknowledgment. The renunciation action signaled the formal beginning of the Mormon fundamentalist movement, and some of the excommunicated members went on to found the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations and one of the largest organizations in the United States whose members practice polygamy. The FLDS Church emerged in the early twentieth century when its founding members left...

.

One of Grant's greatest legacies as president is the welfare program of the LDS Church, which he instituted in 1936. He said, "our primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people help themselves." His administration also emphasized the practice of the LDS health code known as the Word of Wisdom
Word of Wisdom
The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of a section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to consist of revelations from God...

. Until Grant's administration, adherence to the health code was not compulsory for advancement in the priesthood or for entrance to LDS temples
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...

. (Allen and Leonard, p. 524)

Grant died in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

 from cardiac failure as a result of arteriosclerosis
Arteriosclerosis
Arteriosclerosis refers to a stiffening of arteries.Arteriosclerosis is a general term describing any hardening of medium or large arteries It should not be confused with "arteriolosclerosis" or "atherosclerosis".Also known by the name "myoconditis" which is...

. As the final surviving member of the church's Council of Fifty
Council of Fifty
The Council of Fifty was a Latter Day Saint organization established by Joseph Smith, Jr...

, his death marked the formal end of the organization. Grant was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery
Salt Lake City Cemetery
thumb|The northern section of the cemetery at night, looking towards Salt Lake CityThe Salt Lake City Cemetery is in The Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. Approximately 120,000 persons are buried in the cemetery. Many religious leaders and politicians, particularly many leaders of The...

.

Plural marriage

Grant was the last of the LDS Church presidents to practice "plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...

". He married a first time in 1877 and then twice more in 1884.
  • Grant married Lucy Stringham (1858–1893) on November 1, 1877. She was a daughter of Briant Stringham, one of those who came to Utah with Brigham Young
    Brigham Young
    Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...

     in 1847. Briant Stringham also served as a probate judge in Cache County, Utah and was a noted stock raiser in early Utah who for a time had the assignment to oversee the animals that had been given to the LDS Church as tithing. Lucy bore Grant 6 children. She died in 1893, after a long illness during which he gave constant, tender devotion to her, as he had throughout their marriage.

  • He married Hulda Augusta Winters (1856–1952) on May 26, 1884. Augusta bore him one daughter. She accompanied Grant to Japan when Grant was sent to open the Japanese Mission in 1901. She remained with Grant until his death in 1945; she followed in 1952.

  • Grant married Emily Harris Wells (1857–1908) on May 27, 1884. She was a daughter of Daniel H. Wells
    Daniel H. Wells
    Daniel Hanmer Wells was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the third mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States....

    . Emily bore Grant 5 children before she died in 1908. She accompanied Grant during his time presiding over the British and European Mission in 1903. Emily's last child was born in 1899 when she was 42, the same year Grant pleaded guilty to unlawful cohabitation
    Cohabitation
    Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...

     and paid a $100 fine.

Works

LDS Church publication number 35970.

External links

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