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Ezra Taft Benson

Ezra Taft Benson

Male 1899 - 1994  (94 years)  Submit Photo / DocumentSubmit Photo / Document    Has more than 100 ancestors and 27 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Ezra Taft Benson 
    Birth 4 Aug 1899  Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Christening 1 Oct 1899  Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Census 1900  Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Initiatory (LDS) 14 Jul 1921  LOGAN Find all individuals with events at this location 
    FamilySearch ID KWCC-C2X 
    Death 30 May 1994  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Burial 4 Jun 1994  Whitney Cemetery, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Headstones Submit Headstone Photo Submit Headstone Photo 
    Person ID i317  mytree
    Last Modified 25 Feb 2024 

    Father George Taft Benson, Jr,   b. 24 Jun 1875, Logan, Cache, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Aug 1934, Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 59 years) 
    Mother Sarah Sophia Dunkley,   b. 29 Jun 1878, Franklin, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1 Jun 1933, Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Marriage 19 Oct 1898  Logan, Cache, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F326  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Ezra Taft Benson,   b. 4 Aug 1899, Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 30 May 1994, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 94 years) 
    Marriage 10 Sep 1926  Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Reed Amussen Benson,   b. 2 Jan 1928, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Aug 2016, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 88 years)
    +2. Mark Amussen Benson,   b. 2 May 1929, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 29 Jul 2012, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 83 years)
    +3. Barbara Amussen Benson,   b. 20 Jun 1934, Boise, Ada, Idaho, United States Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 26 Mar 2020, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, United States Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 85 years)
     4. Beverly Amussen Benson
     5. Bonnie Amussen Benson
     6. Flora Beth Benson
    Family ID F329  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 5 May 2024 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 4 Aug 1899 - Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsChristening - 1 Oct 1899 - Whitney, Franklin, Idaho, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1900 - Preston, Franklin, Idaho, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsInitiatory (LDS) - 14 Jul 1921 - LOGAN Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 10 Sep 1926 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 30 May 1994 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - 4 Jun 1994 - Whitney Cemetery, Franklin, Idaho, United States Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    LDS Prophet Ezra Taft Benson - 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
    LDS Prophet Ezra Taft Benson - 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
    Benson, Ezra T b1899
    Benson, Ezra T b1899

    Headstones
    Benson, Ezra T b1899 - Amussen, Flora S b1901
    Benson, Ezra T b1899 - Amussen, Flora S b1901

    Histories
    Benson, Ezra Taft - Prophet History
    Benson, Ezra Taft - Prophet History

  • Notes 
    • 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

      He was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader w h o served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during bot h p residential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and as the 13th president o f Th e Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 198 5 unti l his death in 1994.

      Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of eleven childr e n. He was the great-grandson of Ezra T. Benson, who was appointed by Br ig ham Young to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1846 . Wh en he was 12 years old, his father was called as a missionary to th e midw estern United States, leaving his expectant mother alone with seve n child ren. Benson took much of the responsibility for running the famil y farm a nd in the words of his sister, "He took the place of father fo r nearly tw o years." Benson began his academic career at Utah State Agri cultural Col lege (USAC, modern Utah State University), where he first me t his futur e wife, Flora Smith Amussen. Benson alternated quarters at US AC and worke d on the family farm.

      Benson served an LDS Church mission in Britain from 1921 to 1923. It w a s while serving as a missionary, particularly an experience in Sheffiel d , that caused Benson to realize how central the Book of Mormon was to t h e message of Mormonism and in converting people to it. Due to local ant ag onism and threats of violence, LDS Church leaders sent apostle David O . M cKay to personally oversee the mission. McKay was impressed with Bens on a nd appointed him as president of the Newcastle Conference.

      After his mission, Benson studied at Brigham Young University and finish e d his bachelor's degree there in 1926. That year he married Flora Smit h A mussen, shortly after her return from a mission in Hawaii. They had s ix c hildren together. Benson received a master of science degree in agri cultu ral economics in 1927 from Iowa State University. Several years lat er, h e did preliminary work on a doctorate at the University of Californ ia a t Berkeley, but never completed it.

      Just after receiving his master's degree, Benson returned to Whitney t o r un the family farm. He later became the county agriculture extensio n agen t for Oneida County, Idaho. He later was promoted to the superviso r of al l county agents and moved to Boise in 1930. Benson encouraged cro p rotati on, improved grains, fertilizers, pest controls, and establishme nt of far mer's cooperatives to market farm commodities.

      While in Boise, Benson also worked in the central state extension offi c e connected with the University of Idaho Extension Service. He also fou nd ed a farmers cooperative. Benson was superintendent of the Boise Stak e Yo ung Men's Mutual Improvement Association and later a counselor in th e sta ke presidency. Benson was a critic of national agricultural policie s impl emented in the 1930s under Franklin D. Roosevelt. In particular, h e objec ted to farm subsidies, and efforts by the Agricultural Adjustmen t Adminis tration to raise prices by paying farmers to destroy crops an d kill lives tock.

      In 1939, he became president of the Boise Idaho Stake. Later that year , h e moved to Washington, D.C., to become Executive Secretary of the Nat iona l Council of Farmer Cooperatives, overseeing around five thousand fa rm co operatives which represented two million farmers throughout the cou ntry.

      Benson became the first president of a new church stake in Washington, D . C.