Sylvester Smith

(1806–80)

Sylvester Smith was born in Tyringham, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Frank in 1827. By June 1831, he had been baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained an elder. Later that year, he was ordained a high priest by Oliver Cowdery. In 1832 Smith served a mission to New England with Gideon Carter (see Doctrine and Covenants 75:34). By 1834 Smith moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where he became a member of the Church’s first high council (Doctrine and Covenants 102:3, 34). The same year, he participated in the Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri. He was later tried by the Kirtland high council for making false charges against Joseph Smith, but after he made a confession, he retained his membership. In 1835, he was appointed a president of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and in 1836 he became a temporary scribe to Joseph Smith. By 1838, he had left the Church.

References in the Doctrine and Covenants

Doctrine and Covenants 75, 102

Additional Information

Biographical facts and sources, The Joseph Smith Papers

Saints, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth

Revelations In Context

• The Acceptable Offering of Zion’s Camp