Lynn M. Hilton
Encyclopedia
Lynn M. Hilton was a member of the Utah State Legislature
, an education professor, a businessman, Middle East explorer and an author of many LDS and Mormon
books.
Hilton was born in Thatcher, Arizona
and raised in Berkley and Oakland, California
. He served as a pilot on a B-24 bomber in the United States Army Air Corps
during World War II
. After leaving the Army at the end of the war, Hilton served as a missionary (1945–1947)
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the church's New England
Mission
.
In 1952 Hilton earned his Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Chicago
. He then became a professor of education at Brigham Young University
. He later served as associate dean of continuing education and was the founder of the BYU Salt Lake Center. Also among other things at BYU, Hilton helped to develop the first curriculum for genealogy courses.
Hilton served for one term as a member of the Utah House of Representatives
, starting in 1972. In 1974 he ran unsuccessfully as a Republican
candidate for the United States Congress
.
In 1975 Hilton set up a business drilling wells for water in Egypt
. He was also made the District President of the LDS Church over Egypt and Sudan
at this time and worked for the four years he was in Egypt to try to get the LDS Church recognized by the Egyptian government.
By appointment of the LDS Church's Ensign magazine, Hilton was called to organize an expedition of discovery to find the trail of the Book of Mormon
prophet Lehi and his family. The Book of Mormon says that Lehi's group left from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., travelled through the wildnerness to the place called Bountiful
, and there built a ship in which they sailed to their promised land of America. This expedition was partly funded by the LDS Church. The results of Hilton's discoveries were first published in the Ensign in the September and October 1976 editions. Hilton wrote two books on this subject, In Search of the Lehi's Trail and Discovering Lehi. His wife Hope was co-author of each book. In 2008, Hilton published a DVD entitled Lehi's Trail in Arabia, a slide show and narration.
Hilton's first wife was Annalee Hope Averell; she normally went by Hope. They were married 51 years. They had five children. Hope died in 1999. Two years later he married Nancy Goldberg, a Jewish convert to the LDS Church. Goldberg had been a businesswoman in Dallas, Texas
before joining the church in 1996. After this she sold her business and was called on a two-and-a-half year mission to work in the Family History Library
. At the Family History Library, Nancy developed a database of Jewish-related resources in the library that earned her an award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
Since the Hiltons married in 2001 they have served as missionaries for the LDS Church on five separate occasions. The first one was to Sydney
, Australia
, where they served as Regional Employment Directors. The second was a mission in LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah
. The third was ten months in Irbid, Jordan, where Hilton was the branch president
of the Irbid, Jordan branch; his wife did humanitarian work for the church. On this third mission, they also served eight months as the Directors of the Family History Center in Athens, Greece. The fourth and fifth missions were in New York
and Boston
respectively, where they performed family history work.
Hilton also wrote The Kolob Theorem: A Mormon's View of God's Starry Universe and The Pearl of Great Price Concordance. Hilton also served as the editor of The Story of the Salt Lake Stake, the Salt Lake Stake's 125th anniversary history; he did this while serving on the stake's high council. This work was published in 1972. Hilton also compiled an edition of Levi Savage Jr.
's journal. Hilton is a great-grandson of Savage.
Utah State Legislature
The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 Representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 State Senators...
, an education professor, a businessman, Middle East explorer and an author of many LDS and Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
books.
Hilton was born in Thatcher, Arizona
Thatcher, Arizona
Thatcher is a town in Graham County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town is 4,865. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Thatcher is located at ....
and raised in Berkley and Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. He served as a pilot on a B-24 bomber in the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After leaving the Army at the end of the war, Hilton served as a missionary (1945–1947)
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the church's New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
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...
.
In 1952 Hilton earned his Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He then became a professor of education at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
. He later served as associate dean of continuing education and was the founder of the BYU Salt Lake Center. Also among other things at BYU, Hilton helped to develop the first curriculum for genealogy courses.
Hilton served for one term as a member of the Utah House of Representatives
Utah House of Representatives
The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district contains an average population of 35,000 people...
, starting in 1972. In 1974 he ran unsuccessfully as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate for the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
.
In 1975 Hilton set up a business drilling wells for water in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He was also made the District President of the LDS Church over Egypt and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
at this time and worked for the four years he was in Egypt to try to get the LDS Church recognized by the Egyptian government.
By appointment of the LDS Church's Ensign magazine, Hilton was called to organize an expedition of discovery to find the trail of the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
prophet Lehi and his family. The Book of Mormon says that Lehi's group left from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., travelled through the wildnerness to the place called Bountiful
Bountiful (Book of Mormon)
Bountiful is the name of two places described in the Book of Mormon, a religious narrative dictated in 1829 by Joseph Smith, Jr. The first location is set in the Old World near Jerusalem, and the second location is set somewhere in the Americas...
, and there built a ship in which they sailed to their promised land of America. This expedition was partly funded by the LDS Church. The results of Hilton's discoveries were first published in the Ensign in the September and October 1976 editions. Hilton wrote two books on this subject, In Search of the Lehi's Trail and Discovering Lehi. His wife Hope was co-author of each book. In 2008, Hilton published a DVD entitled Lehi's Trail in Arabia, a slide show and narration.
Hilton's first wife was Annalee Hope Averell; she normally went by Hope. They were married 51 years. They had five children. Hope died in 1999. Two years later he married Nancy Goldberg, a Jewish convert to the LDS Church. Goldberg had been a businesswoman in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
before joining the church in 1996. After this she sold her business and was called on a two-and-a-half year mission to work in the Family History Library
Family History Library
The Family History Library is a genealogical research facility in downtown Salt Lake City. The library is open to the public free of charge and is operated by FamilySearch, the genealogical arm of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .-History:The origins of the Family History...
. At the Family History Library, Nancy developed a database of Jewish-related resources in the library that earned her an award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
Since the Hiltons married in 2001 they have served as missionaries for the LDS Church on five separate occasions. The first one was to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where they served as Regional Employment Directors. The second was a mission in LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. The third was ten months in Irbid, Jordan, where Hilton was the branch president
Branch President
A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, the branch president presides over a branch...
of the Irbid, Jordan branch; his wife did humanitarian work for the church. On this third mission, they also served eight months as the Directors of the Family History Center in Athens, Greece. The fourth and fifth missions were in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
respectively, where they performed family history work.
Hilton also wrote The Kolob Theorem: A Mormon's View of God's Starry Universe and The Pearl of Great Price Concordance. Hilton also served as the editor of The Story of the Salt Lake Stake, the Salt Lake Stake's 125th anniversary history; he did this while serving on the stake's high council. This work was published in 1972. Hilton also compiled an edition of Levi Savage Jr.
Levi Savage Jr.
Levi Savage Jr. is a prominent figure in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was the second of fifteen children born in Greenfield, Huron County, Ohio to Levi Savage Sr. and Polly Haynes. He grew up in southern Michigan as a farm boy, exposed to some degree of...
's journal. Hilton is a great-grandson of Savage.