Heber C. Kimball: The Most Humble of Giants

Heber C. Kimball was one of the most prophetic of any of the early apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, yet he was the least educated.

Heber accomplishments many great and important things in his lifetime, first being baptized into his beloved church on April 16, 1832 by Alpheus Gifford. Shortly after, he was ordained an elder by Joseph Young, in which he started converting much of western New York. In 1835, he became the fourth apostle in seniority in the re-established modern-day Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. After the death of David Patten and the excommunication of Thomas B. Marsh, Heber became the second-in-seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve in 1839. In 1847, after the reorganization of the First Presidency under Brigham Young, Heber became the First Counselor in the First Presidency, a position that he held until his death on June 22, 1868.

During his tenure in the First Presidency, Heber was appointed the Chief Justice and Lt. Governor of the newly formed “State of Deseret”, the provisional government created by the Church in 1849. After the creation of the Utah Territory, Heber served as a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature (“the Territorial Council”) from 1851 to 1858, much of which was served as the President of the Territorial Council.

However, these magnificent accomplishments never stunted his humility. When asked to comply with Joseph Smith’s new revelation on polygamy in the Nauvoo Era, he and his wife graciously accepted the revelation. These polygamous marriages created dozens of noted and later famous descendents, such as future church leaders Spencer W. Kimball, Orson F. Whitney, and Quentin L. Cook and politicians such as the Udall family.

You know the rest.