People from the past...

So this post might be a little weird to some people, but I think its awesome! It is random, I will admit that. So I have a Saturday class once a month and i get a pretty long lunch. So Chad and I finished lunch early the first time and didn't know what to do to kill time. So we just kind of drove around in the avenues.

Then Chad remembered that there was a really cool cemetery up there so we decided to take a look at it. It was so cool we went back a second time last Saturday and this is what we found.


I think the inscription on this one is very inspiring.

• James Edward Talmage (September 21, 1862 – July 27, 1933) born in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1911 until his death in 1933.

I copied this straight form wikipedia.... so hopefully its acurate!

• John Smith (22 September 1832 – 6 November 1911), was the fifth Presiding Patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). His father was Hyrum Smith, the older brother of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism.

• George Albert Smith (June 26, 1817 – September 1, 1875) (commonly known as George A. Smith to distinguish him from his grandson of the same name) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency. Son of John Smith.

• John Henry Smith (September 18, 1848 – October 13, 1911) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was a prominent politician in Utah and played an important role in the process whereby Utah made the transition from a Territory to a State of the United States. Son of George A. Smith.
  

• George Albert Smith, Sr. (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was the eighth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Biographer and historian S. George Ellsworth has called Smith "an example of Christlike living."^{[1] His father is John Henry Smith and his grandfather is George A. Smith.}

Here is George Albert Smith's actual solitary headstone.





So I was really excited to see this one.... I thought it was Parley P. Pratt at first, but it turned out to be his brother Orson. I looked up where Parley died and here is what i found...

• Parley P. Pratt-12 April 1807 – 13 May 1857)^[1] was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt. He was a missionary, poet, religious writer and longtime editor of the religious publication The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star. Scenic Parley's Canyon in Salt Lake City, earlier known as Big Canyon, was renamed in his honor.

• On 13 May 1857, he was killed by Hector McLean on a farm northeast of Van Buren, Arkansas. Pratt was buried near Alma, Arkansas, despite his personal desire to be buried in Utah. (Huh-- I never knew this. Very interesting.)

• Orson Pratt (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. He was born in Hartford, New York, USA, the son of Jared and Charity Dickenson Pratt.

  Orson Pratt died of complications from diabetes on October 3, 1881, the last surviving member of the original Council of the Twelve.

• Wilford Woodruff, Sr. (March 1, 1807 – September 2, 1898) was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1889 until his death. Woodruff's large collection of diaries provide an important record of Latter Day Saint history.

• Heber Jeddy Grant (November 22, 1856 – May 14, 1945) was the seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was ordained an apostle on October 16, 1882, on the same day as George Teasdale. Grant served as church president from November 23, 1918 to his death in 1945, which makes him the longest-serving church president during the twentieth century.

• John Taylor (November 1, 1808 – July 25, 1887) was the third president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1880 to 1887. Taylor was born in Milnthorpe, Westmorland (now part of Cumbria), England, the son of James and Agnes Taylor.

David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was the ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), serving from 1951 until his death. Ordained an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, McKay was a general authority for nearly sixty-four years, longer than anyone else in LDS Church history.





And last but not least...

• Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader who served as the fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 12, 1995 until his death. He was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.^[1] As president of the church, he was considered by its members to be a prophet, seer, and revelator.

There was so much history in this cemetery it amazes me!! And I am sure we didn't even get to all the apostles and prophets buried there yet. Stay tuned for a second installment of whose buried in the Avenues cemetery!