Early life and family
Uriah Smith was born on May 3, 1832, in West Wilton, New Hampshire. His older sister, Annie R. Smith, became an early Adventist poet and hymn writer. In his youth an infection led to the amputation of his left leg, which pointed him toward sedentary work. After the Great Disappointment he lost interest in religion for a time and attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Joining the Sabbatarian Adventists
In December 1852 he accepted the Sabbatarian Adventist message, and in 1853 he began work at the offices of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. He carved some of the first woodcut illustrations published by early Sabbatarian Adventists. The paper moved from Rochester, New York, to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1855.
Editor of the Review and Herald
Smith served as editor of the Review in several terms between 1855 and 1903, working closely with James White until White’s death in 1881. His long service at the paper made him one of the most familiar voices of the early movement.
Church leadership and teaching
- In 1863 he was elected the first secretary of the General Conference at its formation, and he served again as secretary on five later occasions.
- He served as General Conference treasurer in 1876–1877.
- He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1874 and in the same year helped found Battle Creek College, later chairing its board.
- He taught Bible classes and ministerial workshops at the church’s headquarters.
Writings
Smith wrote on prophecy, the state of the dead, the sanctuary and religious liberty. His best-known work is Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, which grew from his commentaries on Revelation (1867) and Daniel (1873) and later appeared as Daniel and the Revelation (1897). Ellen White endorsed it in 1899. Other titles include:
- The Warning Voice of Time and Prophecy (1853)
- The Bible Student’s Assistant (1858)
- The State of the Dead and the Destiny of the Wicked (1873)
- The Sanctuary and the Twenty-Three Hundred Days of Daniel VIII, 14 (1877)
- Modern Spiritualism (1896)
- Looking Unto Jesus (1897)
He also wrote poetry and hymns, and published Poems together with his sisters Rebekah and Annie R. Smith in 1871.
Inventions and public positions
Smith was also an inventor. He patented an artificial leg with a movable ankle and a school desk with an improved folding seat. He advocated religious liberty, the abolition of slavery and noncombatancy for Adventists, and wrote extensively on conditional immortality.
1888 and afterwards
Wikipedia reports that Smith and George I. Butler were the two top leaders who rejected the message of righteousness by faith presented at the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference session, and that he changed his position in 1891. Ellen White also wrote critically of him in 1869, and in 1883 he was one of five people appointed to correct grammatical imperfections in her writings.
Death
Uriah Smith died on March 6, 1903, in Battle Creek, Michigan, after a stroke on his way to the Review office, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery there.
