Richard R. Lyman

Who was Richard R. Lyman?

Richard Roswell Lyman was an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1918 to 1943. He was excommunicated in 1943 for adultery, a result of a polygamous relationship. In 1954 Lyman was rebaptized. His full priesthood blessings were restored posthumously in 1970. Lyman is the most recent LDS Church apostle to have been excommunicated.

Lyman was born 1870 in Fillmore, Utah Territory, and was closely related to many early leaders of the LDS Church. His father, Francis M. Lyman, was the son of Amasa M. Lyman, both of whom served as LDS Church apostles. His mother was Clara Caroline Callister, whose grandfather was John Smith, Joseph Smith's uncle, and a church Presiding Patriarch. Clara's mother was Caroline Smith Callister, the only sister of apostle George A. Smith, who served with Brigham Young as a counselor in the church's First Presidency.

Lyman was ordained an elder on August 29, 1891 by Joseph F. Smith. He graduated from high school at Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah in 1889 with a Normal Certificate, taught at Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah, and later studied at the University of Michigan.