Samuel O. Bennion

Samuel Otis Bennion was a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in the First Council of the Seventy.

Bennion was born on June 9, 1874, in Taylorsville, Utah. He and his wife, Charlotte, were the parents of two children. He was a sheep rancher and farmer.

Bennion labored as a traveling elder in the Central States Mission. Within six months he was called to preside over the South Texas conference and was later selected as secretary of the mission. In October 1906 he was called to preside over the Central States Mission, which included Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. In March 1907, under the direction of President Joseph F. Smith and the First Presidency, he moved the headquarters of the mission from Kansas City, Missouri, to Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, which was the first time the Church had an established residence in Independence since the expulsion of the Saints from that county by the mob in 1833. The Central States Mission grew rapidly under his leadership and he served until 1934.

He was called to serve in the First Council of Seventy in 1933. In April 1934, he was appointed manager and vice president of the Deseret News.

He passed away on March 8, 1945, in Salt Lake City, Utah.