Francis Marion Lyman (January 12, 1840 – November 18, 1916) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1903 until his death.
Lyman's father and son were also apostles in the church: his father was Amasa M. Lyman and his son was Richard R. Lyman. Both his father and son were excommunicated from the church while serving as apostles (although they were later re-baptized).
Early life
Francis M. Lyman was born as the first son of Amasa M. Lyman and Louisa Maria Tanner in Good Hope, Illinois. That spring, the family moved to Iowa. About one year later, they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, to be with the main gathering of Latter Day Saints. In 1843, they moved again to Alquina, Indiana. In 1844, after the death of Joseph Smith, they moved back to Nauvoo.
Lyman's father left with the first group to travel on the Mormon Exodus to the West. His family moved to Winter Quarters in June 1846 under the care of his maternal grandfather. His family set out to the Salt Lake Valley in 1848. Though only 8 years old, Lyman helped drive a yoke of cattle and the wagon. He was baptized by his father in the Elkhorn River on July 1, 1848, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on October 19, 1848.
By 1851, when Lyman was 11 years old, his father and Charles C. Rich purchased land in San Bernardino, California. Lyman helped drive the animals from Salt Lake to southern California. Lyman was present at the laying of the cornerstone of the Salt Lake Temple on April 6, 1853.
Adult life and service
In 1856, at about 16 years of age, Lyman received the Melchizedek priesthood and was ordained an elder by his father. In 1857, he was called on a mission to Great Britain. He was stopped at Salt Lake City and told to turn back to bring the settlers in California to Utah. The outbreak of the Utah War had prevented his mission.
Lyman married Rhoda Ann Taylor on November 18, 1857.
In 1859, Lyman and his family settled in Farmington, Utah. He was ordained to a seventy on January 7, 1860, by John S. Gleason. He built a cabin in Beaver, Utah, for his wife and son, and he left on his delayed mission in the spring of 1860.
Mission in England
En route to New York City, Lyman stopped in Kirtland, Ohio, and was shown through the Kirtland Temple by Martin Harris. Lyman left the United States through the port of New York and arrived by steamer in Liverpool, England, on July 27, 1860.
Lyman served as a missionary for roughly two years. Upon release from his mission, he accompanied about 800 immigrants back to the United States; they arrived in New York on June 25, 1862, where he was appointed the president of the group. By early July, they had arrived in Florence, Nebraska. Lyman was reunited with his wife in Beaver, Utah, in the middle of October.
Fillmore
In March 1863, LDS Church president Brigham Young asked Lyman to settle in Fillmore, Utah. The next fourteen years of his life were spent there, where he engaged himself in leadership in church, politics, business, and manufacturing. Among his positions and honors were: assistant assessor of United States internal revenue lieutenant-colonel of the first regiment of militia in the Pauvan District at 25 member of the House of the General Assembly of the State of Deseret a member of the 17th, 18th, 22nd and 23rd sessions of the Utah Territorial legislature county clerk and recorder superintendent of schools prosecuting attorney
When a stake was formed in Fillmore, Lyman was ordained to the office of high priest. Later he was called to be a member of the stake high council.
On October 4, 1869, Lyman married his first plural wife, Clara Caroline Callister. Her grandfather was John Smith, Joseph Smith's uncle. Lyman and Callister's son Richard R. Lyman would serve as an apostle from 1918 to 1943.
Lyman was called on a second mission to England and left Salt Lake City on October 20, 1873, arriving in Liverpool on November 12. During this mission, he also visited and proselytized in Wales, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and France. He returned to Utah with 300 immigrating Latter-day Saints in October 1875.
Tooele County
In April 1877, Lyman was called to preside over the Tooele Stake, which was organized June 24, 1877, in Tooele County, Utah. He involved himself in the politics of that county as well. By August 1878, Lyman was elected county recorder and representative to the territorial legislature.