Other interesting apostolic familial relationships

 

Interesting apostolic family relationships:

  • M. Russell Ballard is the only apostle who had both grandfathers serve as apostles (Melvin J. Ballard and Hyrum Mack Smith).
  • Spencer W. Kimball and J. Reuben Clark were cousins (they had the same grandfather, but not the same grandmother).
  • Heber J. Grant and Anthony W. Ivins were first cousins, their mothers being sisters (Rachel Ivins and Anna Ivins, respectively).
  • Bruce R. McConkie was Joseph Fielding Smith's son-in-law, having married President Smith's youngest daughter, Amelia.
  • Gordon Bitner Hinckley and Joseph Bitner Wirthlin are cousins, having the same grandfather (Breneman Barr Bitner) but different grandmothers.
  • Gordon B. Hinckley's uncle, Alonza Arza Hinckley, served as an apostle in the 1930's. Alonzo was a brother of President Hinckley's father, Bryant Stringham Hinckley.
  • Henry B. Eyring is President Spencer W. Kimball's nephew.  Elder Eyring's father (Henry Eyring) and President Kimball's wife (Camilla Eyring) were brother and sister.
  • N. Eldon Tanner was the nephew of Hugh B. Brown (Hugh's sister, Edna, married Nathan W. Tanner, and they were the parents of N. Eldon Tanner).
  • Heber J. Grant's father (Jedediah M. Grant) and father-in-law (Daniel Hanmer Wells) were both apostles.
  • Elder Dallin H. Oaks' great-great-grandfather, Emer Harris, was the brother of Martin Harris.
  • Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Eldred G. Smith (Emeritus General Authority and former Church Patriarch) are both great-great grandsons of Hyrum Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph. Thus, Elders Ballard and Smith are third cousins.
  • Heber C. Kimball was the step-father of Joseph F. Smith. Heber married Mary Fielding Smith, the widow of Hyrum Smith and mother of Joseph F. Smith, on September 14, 1844.
  • Heber J. Grant is considered a "son of the Prophet Joseph". Rachel Ivins, Heber J. Grant's mother, was sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
  • Andrew Kimball, the father of Spencer W. Kimball, was a twin brother of Alice Kimball Smith, a wife of President Joseph F. Smith. Thus, Spencer W. Kimball was a nephew of Joseph F. Smith and a cousin-by-marriage of Joseph Fielding Smith.
  • Robert L. Simpson was a first cousin, once removed, of Jessie Evans Smith, the wife of Joseph Fielding Smith. Jessie's mother, Janet Buchanan, was a sister of Margaret Buchanan, Elder Simpson's grandmother.
  • Joseph W. McMurrin, who served as a member of the First Council of Seventy for over 35 years, was a great-uncle of Harold B. Lee.
  • Orson Hyde and Luke S. Johnson, two of the original members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, were brothers-in-law. Orson married Miranda Nancy Johnson, Luke's sister, on September 4, 1834 in Kirtland, Ohio. This also means that Orson Hyde was a brother-in-law to Lyman E. Johnson, Luke's brother and another original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.
  • Elder Victor L. Brown, the 10th Presiding Bishop of the church, was closely related to three other General Authorities. Elder Victor L. Brown's father, Gerald S. Brown, was Elder Hugh B. Brown's brother, thus Elder Victor L. Brown was a nephew of Elder Hugh B. Brown. Elder Victor L. Brown was also the 2nd-great-grandson of Samuel C. Lee, as was President Harold B. Lee. Thus, Elder Brown and President Lee were 3rd cousins. Elder Victor L. Brown was also related to President Nathan Eldon Tanner. Elder Brown's 2nd-great-grandfather, Nathan Tanner, was also the great-grandfather of Nathan Eldon Tanner. Thus, Elder Brown and President Tanner were 2nd cousins once removed.
  • Hugh B. Brown married Brigham Young’s grand-daughter, Zina Card.  Zina’s mother was Zina Young Card, daughter of Brigham Young.
  • Elder James E. Faust is a great-great-grandson of Amasa M. Lyman and a 3rd great-grandson of Edward Partridge. Amasa M. Lyman was married to Edward Partridge's daughter, Caroline Ely Partridge.
  • George Q. Cannon was the nephew of President John Taylor. President Taylor was married to Leonora Cannon, George Q. Cannon's aunt. Leonora was the sister of George Cannon, George Q. Cannon's father.
  • Elder Douglas L. Callister, sustained to the Second Quorum of Seventy on April 1, 2000, is the grandson of Elder LeGrand Richards.  Elder Callister’s mother, Norinne Richards Callister, is the daughter of Elder Richards.

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