Uriah Smith

Who was Uriah Smith?

Uriah Smith was a Seventh-day Adventist author and editor who worked for the Review and Herald for 50 years.

Uriah Smith was a church leader, in addition to being a teacher, writer, editor, poet, hymn writer, inventor, and engraver. When the General Conference was organized in 1863, Uriah Smith was elected as its first secretary. This was a position that he subsequently held five different times. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1874. With the founding of Battle Creek College in 1874, Elder Smith became the Bible teacher, a position he held for the next eight years, the last two of which he was also chairman of the board. Uriah also served as General Conference treasurer from 1876-1877.

Uriah Smith produced many of the first illustrations that appeared in the Review and Herald. He also wrote a number of books, the most famous of which was Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation better known just as Daniel and the Revelation. In addition, Uriah Smith was an inventor who patented such diverse things as an artificial leg with a moveable ankle and a school desk with an improved folding seat. He died in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1903, at the age of 70, from a stroke on his way to the Review office.