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Heber J. Grant

Hebe, Jedediah, Heber Jeddy

22 November 1856—14 May 1945

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 22 Nov. 1856 in Salt Lake City.1 Son of Jedediah Morgan Grant and Rachel Ridgeway Ivins.2 Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph S. Schofield, 2 June 1864.3 Married Lucy Stringham, 1 Nov. 1877, in St. George, Washington Co., Utah Territory.4 Participated in plural marriage.5 Prominent business leader.6 Appointed as president of the stake in Tooele, Tooele Co., Utah Territory, 31 Oct. 1880.7 Ordained an apostle, 16 Oct. 1882.8 Blessed and set apart EBW as a Utah delegate for the National Council of Women Convention in Washington DC, 23 Jan. 1891.9 Administered to Daniel H. Wells, EBW’s husband, on 23 Mar. 1891, four days before his death.10 Set apart EBW prior to her attending the National Council of Women held in Minneapolis, 9 Nov. 1900.11 Opened the Japan mission and served as mission president, 1901–1903.12 Served as president of the European mission, 1903–1906.13 Sustained as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 23 Nov. 1918.14 Dedicated the temple in Laie, Honolulu Co., Hawaii Territory, 27 Nov. 1919.15 Released EBW as general president of the Relief Society, 2 Apr. 1921.16 Presided and spoke at EBW’s funeral, 29 Apr. 1921.17 Dedicated the temple in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, 26 Aug. 1923.18 Dedicated the temple in Mesa, Maricopa Co., Arizona, 23 Oct. 1927.19 Initiated the “Church Security Plan,” later known as the Welfare Program, 2 Oct. 1936.20 Died 14 May 1945 in Salt Lake City.21

George F. Richards

Heber J. Grant was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, on 22 November 1856 to Jedediah Morgan Grant and Rachel Ridgeway Ivins. He married Lucy Stringham on 1 November 1877, Augusta Winters on 26 May 1884, and Emily Harris Wells on 27 May 1884. He served as president of the Tooele Stake from 1880 to 1882 and was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1882. In 1901 he opened the first Latter-day Saint mission in Japan. He served as president of the European Mission from 1903 to 1906. Grant was president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1918 to 1945. He died in Salt Lake City on 14 May 1945.22

Footnotes

  1. 1 “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. H, 10 Nov. 1872–27 Sept. 1878, p. 156, line no. 15, Heber Jeddy Grant, 17 Aug. 1874, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL. Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, North Thirteenth Ward, Part 1, 1907–1940, segment 1, image 87/400, CR 375 8, CHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 14 Oct. 2019), Heber Jeddy Grant (KWCK-4TL).

  2. 2 “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. H, 10 Nov. 1872–27 Sept. 1878, p. 156, line no. 15, Heber Jeddy Grant, 17 Aug. 1874, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL. Missionary Department, Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, vol. C, 1896–1906, p. 145, CR 301 22, CHL.  

  3. 3 Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, North Thirteenth Ward, Part 1, 1907–1940, segment 1, image 87/400, CR 375 8, CHL. Membership Department, Deceased Member Records, 1941–1988, 31 July, CR 298 7, reel 139, CHL. Heber Jeddy Grant, Missionary Department, Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, vol. C, 1896–1906, p. 145, CR 301 22, CHL.

  4. 4 “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1887–1956,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George Temple, vol. A, 11 Jan. 1877–13 Dec. 1886, p. 23, line no. 394, Heber J. Grant and Lucy Stringham, 1 Nov. 1877, microfilm 170579, DGS 4033910 (restricted access), FHL.  

  5. 5 “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. M, 5 Nov. 1883–22 Sept. 1889, p. 56, line 3, Heber J. Grant and Emily Harris Wells, 27 May 1884, microfilm 183402, DGS 5270325 (restricted access), FHL.

  6. 6 Heber J. Grant, Reminiscences of President Heber J. Grant, pp. 38–40, 42, MS 9462, images 75, 77, 79, 83/90, CHL. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 1921–1941 [n.p.: 1941]. “Heber J. Grant Dies,” Daily Herald (Provo, UT), 15 May 1945, 1. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1901), 1, 148.

  7. 7 “Another Appointment,” Deseret News, 3 Nov. 1880, 9. Tooele Utah Stake History, 1847–1900 (Tooele, UT: Tooele Utah Stake Presidency, 1977), 94. 

  8. 8 “Apostleship and Presidency of the Seventies,” Deseret Evening News, 19 Oct. 1882, 2. Andrew Jenson, 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), 110. 

  9. 9 EBW, Diary, 23 Jan. 1891.

  10. 10 EBW, Diary, 23 Mar. 1892. “Utah Death Registers, 1847–1966,” p. 84 (1891), Daniel H. Wells, citing series 21866, from Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City.

  11. 11 EBW, Diary, 9 Nov. 1900. Thomas Hull, “Events of the Month,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1901, 236. “Utah Woman Chosen,” Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Nov. 1900, 1.

  12. 12 Japanese Mission, Manuscript History and Historical Reports, vol. 1, p. 2, LR 4187 box 2 folder 1, image 2/283, CHL. “Heber Jeddy Grant,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary, accessed 11 Mar. 2019). “Opening a Mission in Japan,” Deseret Evening News, 6 Apr. 1901, 9. “Will Open a Mission in Japan,” Deseret Evening News, 14 Feb. 1901, 1.  

  13. 13 “President Lyman Released,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, 22 Oct. 1903, 683. “President Grant’s Arrival,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, 3 Dec. 1903, 788–779. “The Latter-Day Saints and the World,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, 27 Dec. 1906, 825. 

  14. 14 “Grant Sustained as President of the Church of L.D.S.,” Salt Lake Telegram, 23 Nov. 1918, 8. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1920), 3:747–748. 

  15. 15 Rudger Clawson, “Dedication of Hawaiian Temple,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Jan. 1920, 1.

  16. 16 Amy Brown Lyman, “General Conference of Relief Society,” Relief Society Magazine, June 1921, 319, 338, 339. Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 31.

  17. 17 Amy Brown Lyman, Relief Society General Board Minutes, 1842–2007, vol. 12, 1921, p. 66, CR 11 10, CHL.

  18. 18 “Prayer Offered at the Dedication of the Alberta Temple, at Cardston, Canada, August 26, 1923,” Improvement Era, Oct. 1923, 1075–1081.

  19. 19 Program of the Dedicatory Services of the Arizona Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mesa, AZ: Journal Tribune, 1927), 1.

  20. 20 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, One Hundred Seventh Annual Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1936), 2.

  21. 21 “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 7 Feb. 2019); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 794/918 (1945), Heber Jeddy Grant.

  22. 22 “Heber J. Grant Dies at 88,” Salt Lake Tribune, 15 May 1945, 1–2.