He became embroiled in a controversy over Supreme Directional Control of the Church that led to a major loss in membership. Frederick M. Smith became the first president of the church to submit notice of resignation. However, he never ceased to be president of the church on account of the fact that the General Conference who he submitted his resignation to, rejected it.
He died in 1946, and was succeeded by his brother, Israel Alexander Smith.
The Frederick Madison Smith Library is one of two libraries belonging to Graceland University, and is located on their Lamoni campus. It opened in 1966.
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