Silas S. Smith
American politician and official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Silas Sanford Smith (October 26, 1830 – October 11, 1910) was a Mormon pioneer, a politician in the Utah Territory, and the leader of the San Juan Expedition that settled San Juan County, Utah.
Smith was born in Stockholm, New York. His father, Silas Sr., was a younger brother of Joseph Smith Sr., which made Silas Jr. and Joseph Smith Jr. first cousins. Silas Sr. was baptized into Smith's Church of the Latter Day Saints in 1835 and the family became followers of Smith. After Silas Sr.'s baptism, the family moved to Kirtland, Ohio. A few years later they joined the Mormon settlers in Missouri and in 1839 they were driven out and settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1847, after Joseph Smith was killed, the family left Nauvoo and crossed the American plains as Mormon pioneers, settling in the Salt Lake Valley.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Silas S. Smith” is american politician and official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Silas, Smith and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american politician and official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7514215. VIAF identifies the subject as 36698533. The Library of Congress control number is no2007075509. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1830, 1910, 1835 and 1839.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Silas S. Smith”, its source revision and the description used here.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Silas S. Smith” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.