Older brother of Joseph Smith; born in Tunbridge, Vermont; moved with his family to New York, where his brother founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon; imprisoned with his brother in Liberty Jail during the winter of 1838–1839; while residing in Nauvoo, Illinois, became Church Patriarch, Assistant Church President, and member of city council; went with his brother to Carthage, Illinois, to answer charges regarding the city council’s order for the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor in June 1844; killed along with his brother in Carthage Jail. (See Bruce A. Van Orden, “Smith, Hyrum,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1329–31; O’Driscoll, Hyrum Smith; Corbett, Hyrum Smith; GQC journal, Mar. 23, 1851; June 10, July 22, 1854.)