HYRUM, Utah — In a town in northern Utah named after Hyrum Smith, who was martyred in Carthage Jail with his brother, the Prophet Joseph, Elder M. Russell Ballard dedicated a newly erected bronze statue to Hyrum, his great-great-grandfather, on July 4.

Several hundred townspeople attend-ed the brief evening service that followed Hyrum City's Star Spangled Celebration Patriotic Program at the city park. Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve was the keynote speaker at the program, conducted by Gordon Olson, mayor of this agricultural community just south of Logan in Utah's Cache Valley.

"I am particularly pleased to be invited to represent the Smith family — and pleased to have my cousin, Eldred G. Smith [emeritus General Authority and former patriarch to the Church] on the stand with me this evening — to participate in the dedication of the statue to my great-great-grandfather, Hyrum Smith, the man for whom your community is named," Elder Ballard said at the patriotic program.

"As I understand it, the name Hyrum was suggested by an early settler, David Osborne. This community was to be developed as a sister city to another one named Joseph in honor of the Prophet Joseph Smith. However, the other settlement never materialized."

(The city Joseph was to have been located at present-day College Ward, west of Hyrum, according to Alex Morris, president of the local Lion's Club, which spearheaded the raising of the $30,000-plus to pay for the statue.)

Elder Ballard gave a life sketch of Hyrum Smith, noting that he was the second son of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith and was born Feb. 9, 1800, almost six years before his younger brother, Joseph.

"As he grew to adulthood, he had a healthy body of work-hardened muscles, a seemingly endless reservoir of energy and a litheness of movement," Elder Ballard said of Hyrum. "He was a handsome man, of much the same build as his younger brother Joseph."

It is fitting that Hyrum be honored on July 4, Independence Day for the United States, because the Smiths were true patriots, Elder Ballard commented. He mentioned several accomplishments of some of Hyrum's ancestors, including settlement in Boston in 1638, service in the Revolutionary War and service in governmental bodies in Massachusetts.

He quoted Asael Smith, grandfather of Joseph and Hyrum, as saying, " 'It has been borne upon my soul that one of my descendants will promulgate a work to revolutionize the world of religious faith.' "

Elder Ballard added, "That heritage brought strong feelings of patriotism to the Smith family, especially as they read of the revelations recorded in the Book of Mormon describing this land as 'choice above all other lands' and a 'land of promise.'

" 'Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.' " (Ether 2:12, emphasis added.)

Hyrum sustained his younger brother Joseph in all things, and it was Joseph who penned the 12th Article of Faith that declares belief in obeying honoring and sustaining the law, Elder Ballard said. "It was their desire to be law-abiding citizens that caused them to make the trip to Carthage and surrender themselves into the care of Gov. Ford of Illinois. Even in giving their lives for the cause they espoused, Joseph and Hyrum did not speak against this great nation or its constitutional government; they only decried the mobocracy of those who refused to abide by its laws."

Such loyalty is reflected in the actions of the Latter-day Saints who, after being forced from Nauvoo, honored a U.S. government request to provide 500 men as inductees into the army, Elder Ballard noted.

"What can we learn from the great patriots of the past?" he asked. "What is it we need to do to protect the legacy of freedom that they have passed forward to us? First and foremost, we need to reaffirm our faith in the God of this land, even the Savior Jesus Christ."

Noting that this is a day of political and social unrest, he said: "Many Americans have lost sight of the truth that personal righteousness is an indispensable ingredient to liberty. Money and new government programs do not solve the problems of disintegrating morality in our homes and communities.

"The buzz words family values are being incorporated in almost every politician's favorite 30-second sound bite. But what does that phrase really mean? Whose values are we going to embrace: The values of politicians? The values the media tell us we should cherish? The values of interest groups and organizations? Obviously, it would not be politically expedient to say that the values that our Founding Fathers drew upon are eternal, unchanging values. But that is a fact. The values that made America great are, in reality, the commandments of God. They provide the foundation upon which our republic was built. and if American democracy seems shaky today, it's only because that foundation has been eroded and weakened."

The Smith family understood the divine power that watched over America, Elder Ballard said, and quoted President John Taylor's description of Hyrum as "an embodiment of all that is noble in human form."

"So in the city named in his honor, I turn to Hyrum Smith as an example to all of us of a great man of faith, loyalty, integrity and strength," Elder Ballard declared.

"Personal tragedy was a part of Hyrum's life. His 3-year-old daughter Mary died in his arms in 1832. . . . In 1838, while Hyrum was away from the family serving one of several missions for the Church, his wife, Jerusha, died shortly after giving birth to their sixth child. Then in 1842, he watched Hyrum, his namesake, die at age 7, probably of malaria or typhoid. Through it all, he never faltered in his convictions."

Imprisoned with Joseph on false accusations and under harsh conditions his faith in God remained firm, Elder Ballard noted.

"As with Hyrum in his day, so it is with us today," he declared. "And there is no better place than in this wonderful community . . . for a people to declare that our trust is in God and we will look to His commandments and teachings for values that will fortify and give direction to our lives."

Those values must include reaching out in unselfish service to others, he said.

"Again, we can look to Hyrum's life as providing a great example of love and service. That attitude of service became evident even when Hyrum was just a young man of 13 and Joseph was only 7 years old."

He related that Joseph had contracted typhoid fever, resulting in a badly diseased leg and eventual excruciating operation without benefit of anesthetics. Hyrum sat beside Joseph almost day and night for over a week helping him endure the pain, even holding the affected part of the leg and pressing it with his hands in an attempt to relieve suffering.

"America is a great nation because the men and women who established and built her believed in her, loved her and sacrificed for her," Elder Ballard reflected. "That same patriotism and effort, if emulated in our own lives and in the lives of our children, just as it was exemplified in the life of Hyrum Smith, will yet preserve us as a nation. If we would maintain the independence and freedom the Founding Fathers intended, we must work to preserve and protect the moral foundation upon which they built our government. We must stand boldly for righteousness, integrity and truth."

Brother Morris, the Lion's Club president and a member of the Church, noted it was almost a year ago that someone questioned why the town did not have a monument to acknowledge for whom it was named. "It seemed like maybe it was time we did something about it," he said.

The Lion's Club endorsed the idea, and the community was receptive to it, with 261 donors providing money and many others contributing materials, time and work, he said.

The sculpture was created by D.J. Bawden of Provo, Utah. This and previous well-known works of art reflect his extensive study into the likenesses of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.