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Francis Marion Lyman

12 January 1840—18 November 1916

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 12 Jan. 1840 at Good Hope, McDonough Co., Illinois.1 Son of Amasa Mason Lyman and Louisa Maria Tanner.2 Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Elkhorn River by his father, 1 July 1848.3 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Willard Richards pioneer company, arriving 19 Oct. 1848.4 Accompanied his family as they helped establish a settlement in what became San Bernardino, San Bernardino Co., California, 1851.5 Worked as a teamster and made sixteen trips between San Bernardino and Utah Territory.6 Left with his father for a mission to England, 1857, but upon arrival in Salt Lake City the mission was canceled due to the arrival of Johnston’s Army.7 Married Rhoda Ann Taylor, 18 Nov. 1857, in San Bernardino.8 Served a mission to England, 1860–1862.9 With his extended family, helped settle Fillmore, Millard Co., Utah Territory, 1863.10 Served as assistant assessor for the U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue; elected as county probate clerk and recorder superintendent of schools and county prosecutor for Millard Co.11 Participated in plural marriage.12 Served a mission in Europe, 1873–1875.13 Represented Millard Co. in the Utah territorial legislature, 1868–1869, 1876–1878; represented Tooele Co., Utah Territory, 1880–1882; Speaker of the House, 1882.14 Appointed as president of the Tooele Stake when it was organized, 24 June 1877.15 Ordained as an apostle by John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, 27 Oct. 1889.16 EBW stayed at his home while in Tooele, Tooele Co., for meetings.17 President of the British/European mission, 1901–1904.18 Sustained as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 6 Oct. 1903.19 Testified before a U.S. Senate committee during its investigation into the status of Senator Reed Smoot, 1904.20 Died 18 Nov. 1916 in Salt Lake City; buried in Tooele.21

George F. Richards

Francis Marion Lyman was born on 12 January 1840 to Amasa M. Lyman and Louisa Maria Tanner in Goodhope, Illinois. He moved with his family to the Salt Lake Valley in 1848. On 18 November 1857, he married Rhoda Ann Taylor. He also married Clara Caroline Callister in 1869 and Susan Delilah Callister in 1884. Lyman was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature. In 1877 he was called as the president of the Tooele Stake and served in that capacity until he was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 1880. He served as president of the quorum from 1903 to his death on 18 November 1916.22

Footnotes

  1. 1 Albert R. Lyman, Francis Marion Lyman: Apostle (Delta, UT: Melvin A. Lyman, 1958), 2. Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah in Four Volumes (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 4:260. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 6 July 2020), Francis Marion Lyman (KWCK-ZBD). 

  2. 2 Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah in Four Volumes (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 4:260. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1901), 1:136. 

  3. 3 Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1901), 1:136. 

  4. 4 “Francis Marion Lyman,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/, accessed 6 July 2020). Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah in Four Volumes (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 4:260. Albert R. Lyman, Francis Marion Lyman: Apostle (Delta, UT: Melvin A. Lyman, 1958), 9–11.

  5. 5 Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah in Four Volumes (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 4:260.

  6. 6 Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1901), 1:137.

  7. 7 Albert R. Lyman, Francis Marion Lyman: Apostle (Delta, UT: Melvin A. Lyman, 1958), 35–36.

  8. 8 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Genealogical Department, Genealogical Surveys of LDS Members Autobiographies and Ancestors, vol. 18, p. 451, Francis Marion Lyman, microfilm 1059459, DGS 007957169, image 501/1213, FHL.

  9. 9 “Francis Marion Lyman,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary, accessed 15 Apr. 2019).

  10. 10 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Genealogical Department, Genealogical Surveys of LDS Members Autobiographies and Ancestors, vol. 18, p. 451, Francis Marion Lyman, microfilm 1059459, DGS 007957169, image 501/1213, FHL.

  11. 11 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Genealogical Department, Genealogical Surveys of LDS Members Autobiographies and Ancestors, vol. 18, p. 451, Francis Marion Lyman, microfilm 1059459, DGS 007957169, image 501/1213, FHL.

  12. 12 “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. F, 1869–1870, p. 29, line 14083, Francis M. Lyman and Clara Callister, 4 Oct. 1869, microfilm 1149515 (restricted access), FHL. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Genealogical Department, Genealogical Surveys of LDS Members Autobiographies and Ancestors, vol. 18, p. 451, Francis Marion Lyman, microfilm 1059459, DGS 007957169, image 501/1213, FHL.

  13. 13 “Francis Marion Lyman,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary, accessed 15 Apr. 2019). 

  14. 14 “Territory of Utah: Legislative Assembly Rosters, 1851–1894,” pp. 31, 33, 41, 43, 45, 47, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov/research/guides/legislative-assembly.htm, accessed 15 Apr. 2019). “Stormy Sessions Marked Early Utah Assemblies in Statehood Struggle,” Salt Lake Telegram, 9 Jan. 1927, 23, 25.

  15. 15 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Genealogical Department, Genealogical Surveys of LDS Members Autobiographies and Ancestors, vol. 18, p. 451, Francis Marion Lyman, microfilm 1059459, DGS 007957169, image 501/1213, FHL.

  16. 16  Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah in Four Volumes (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 4:261.

  17. 17 EBW, Diary, 11 Aug. 1895.

  18. 18 “Francis Marion Lyman,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary, accessed 15 Apr. 2019).

  19. 19 Andrew Jenson, comp., Church Chronology: A Record of Important Events Pertaining to the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1914), 17.

  20. 20 “Eleven out of Nineteen Subpoenas Served: Mormon Officials Leave in Body for Capital Early Tomorrow,” Salt Lake Telegram, 26 Feb. 1904, 1.

  21. 21 “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849–1949,” p. 377 (1916), Francis Marion Lyman; Salt Lake County Management and Archives, Salt Lake City. “Francis M. Lyman, President of Mormon Church Apostles, Dies,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 18 Nov. 1916, 1, 6.

  22. 22 “Lyman, Francis Marion,” in Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1901), 136–141; “Lyman, Francis Marion,” in Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, vol. 3 (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1920), 755–756; “President F. M. Lyman Dies of Pneumonia,” Millard County Progress Review, 24 Nov. 1916, 1.