| John Smith | |
| Birth Date: | 16 July 1781 |
| Birth Place: | Derryfield, New Hampshire, United States |
| Death Place: | Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States |
| Resting Place: | Salt Lake City Cemetery |
| Position Or Quorum1: | 4th Presiding Patriarch |
| President1: | Brigham Young |
| Position Or Quorum2: | Assistant Counselor in the First Presidency |
| President2: | Joseph Smith |
| End Reason2: | First Presidency dissolved upon death of Joseph Smith |
| Poly Date: | 1843 |
| Poly Wives: | 10 |
| List Notes: | Younger brother of Joseph Smith, Sr. and uncle of Joseph Smith. Served as a member of the Council of Fifty, as a counselor in the First Presidency(1837–1844), and as the 4th Presiding Patriarch of the LDS Church (1849–1854). |
| Poly Notes: | Practiced plural marriage and fathered four children. |
John Smith (July 16, 1781 – May 23, 1854), known as Uncle John, was an early leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[1] [2]
Smith was the younger brother of Joseph Smith Sr., uncle of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, father of George A. Smith, grandfather of John Henry Smith, and great-grandfather of George Albert Smith. He served as a member of the first presiding high council in Kirtland, Ohio, as an assistant counselor in the First Presidency under Joseph Smith, and as presiding patriarch under Brigham Young. He was succeeded as presiding patriarch by his great nephew, who was also named John Smith.
Smith served as president of the stake in Lee County, Iowa, during the Nauvoo period.[3] He was also the first president of the Salt Lake Stake, the first stake in Utah Territory, and as such was the leader of the Latter-day Saints in Utah in the winter of 1847–48.
Smith practiced plural marriage and fathered four children.
Smith died at Salt Lake City and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.