John Whitmer was a member of the famed Whitmer family who played important roles in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”). Although all but the mother of the Whitmer family, who died early, eventually either officially left the church or simply stopped participating in it, the family members are still respected for their early and essential contributions and for consistently confirming their testimonies even after they left.

John Whitmer was born on August 27, 1802, in Pennsylvania. His parents, Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman, were members of the German Reformed Church in New York, where they moved just before 1810. John was the third child and, like his brothers, grew up working the family farm. John was confirmed a member of the German Reformed Church on April 5, 1822, with his brothers Christian and Jacob.

John Whitmer’s Introduction to Mormonism

John’s brother David met Oliver Cowdery while visiting Palmyra, New York. The two learned of a man named Joseph Smith, who was translating an ancient record recorded on gold plates. David and Oliver were both very curious about this document, and Oliver decided to travel to meet Joseph Smith in person in order to learn more. He did so and sent three letters to David testifying of the truthfulness of these religious documents. Oliver asked David if he and Joseph Smith could come to live in the Whitmer home for a time to continue the translations. Cowdery was now assisting Joseph in the role of scribe and persecutions were making the work difficult.

Although the family was at first hesitant (mainly because David would need to go and get the two men, taking him from his farm work), a small miracle showed them God wanted this to happen. David was able to finish several days’ work in one day. He went for Joseph and Oliver, with Joseph’s wife, Emma, joining them later.

Mary Whitmer, David and John’s mother, was burdened by the extra work inherent in having additional people in her home. She received a heavenly visitor who showed her the plates on which the records were written. She never again felt overwhelmed by the work and she, unlike most of her family, retained her faithfulness in the gospel her entire life.

John Whitmer: Witness to the Book of Mormon

All the Whitmers eventually gained testimonies of the work. John served for some time as a scribe for Joseph Smith, helping to move the work of translation along much more quickly. In 1829, Oliver Cowdery baptized John Whitmer, probably in Senaca Lake in Senaca, New York. John and seven others, many of whom were related to him, were chosen by God to be witnesses of the work, were allowed to see and handle the gold plates, and were instructed to record their official testimonies of them. John’s testimony is recorded in the front of the Book of Mormon:

Testimony of the eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon

When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized on April 6, 1830, John was one of the people (of whom six were required by New York law to organize a new church) who was blessed to become an official member that day. John received revelations through Joseph Smith specifically for himself and also received a call to missionary work. He was instructed by revelation to carry out his regular labors and to study the scriptures as well.

John went with Joseph Smith back to Pennsylvania, where Joseph normally lived at that time, to assist in copying revelations received. While they were there, they learned that Oliver Cowdery wanted to change a revelation that had been received. Not entirely understanding the role of a prophet in God’s church, Oliver felt that he could command the prophet to change the revelation in the name of God, essentially placing himself in the position of a prophet.

Joseph and John returned to New York to find that most of John’s family sided with Oliver Cowdery. They liked his version of the revelation better than the one Joseph had actually received. Joseph worked to teach them that there could be only one living prophet in order to avoid the confusion the world already faced in religion and that we had to accept the word of God even when we preferred something different than what God taught. Eventually, they all understood the importance of a single prophet.

Unfortunately, the Whitmers and Oliver again fell prey to false doctrine. This time it was Hiram Page who claimed to be receiving revelations through a seer stone. He managed to convince the Whitmers and Oliver that he really was receiving them from God, even though his “revelations” contradicted established doctrine and the New Testament. Joseph spent most of a night before a church conference in prayer to God in order to learn how to handle the problem.

At the conference a revelation was read explaining that only Joseph Smith could receive revelation for the entire church. Everyone can receive it for issues relating to his or her own sphere of influence, but not for the entire church. Each person attending the conference had this revelation confirmed to them personally by the Holy Ghost and accepted it, even Page himself.

John Whitmer: Serving the Lord

Despite these lapses, which would occur again, the Whitmers were valiant workers in organizing the church. They provided tireless service and made it possible for the church to function.

John Whitmer received, in 1830, a missionary call to serve in Ohio.

In 1831, John received a call to replace Oliver Cowdery as Church historian and recorder. He was hesitant to accept the call, admitting that he would rather not do it. However, he also noted that if God really wanted him in the position, he would accept it. Joseph Smith prayed and received a revelation concerning the call.

Behold, it is expedient in me that my servant John should write and keep a regular history, and assist you, my servant Joseph, in transcribing all things which shall be given you, until he is called to further duties. Again, verily I say unto you that he can also lift up his voice in meetings, whenever it shall be expedient. And again, I say unto you that it shall be appointed unto him to keep the church record and history continually; for Oliver Cowdery I have appointed to another office. Wherefore, it shall be given him, inasmuch as he is faithful, by the Comforter, to write these things. Even so. Amen (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 47).

From 1831 to about 1847, John Whitmer worked on writing a history of the Church. In 1833, he married Sarah Maria Jackson in Missouri, where the Mormons had gathered. A few months later, a mob converged on Independence, Missouri, where many Mormons lived, and began threatening them as the mob searched out church leaders. John and several other leaders offered to go peacefully if the mob would spare the rest of the community.

John and the others were ordered to leave the city. John moved to Clay County, where he was, in 1834, named assistant president of the church in that area, serving under his brother David. He attended the Kirtland Temple dedication in Ohio and was also appointed to oversee the sale of some church-owned property.

John Whitmer: Weakened by Trials and Temptation

As persecution and trials increased, many valiant people began to falter. John and his brother David, as well as William W. Phelps, were charged with appropriating properties they were to buy for the church with church funds. They put the titles to some of these lands in their own names. They ignored repeated warnings against such behavior, and so were excommunicated on March 10, 1838. As church historian and recorder, John had possession of important church documents, which he refused to return, even after several warnings and a revelation commanded him to do so.

In 1838, John participated in an event that made even himself ashamed. Joseph Smith received a revelation that was merely a command, not a prophecy. The apostles were instructed to gather at the temple lot near the end of April to receive instructions for departures to various missionary assignments. John Whitmer joined with a member of the mobs that had persecuted the Mormons (including John himself before he had left the church) and several other people who had left the church. They went to the Committee on Removal and read the revelation aloud to Theodore Turley, mocking it as a false revelation because the apostles would not all be able to arrive by that date. They announced that if the apostles did, by chance, arrive in time, they would kill them. They tried to convince Turley to denounce Joseph Smith. When he refused, they mocked him intensely. John was ashamed, by this time, of his participation in this meeting. Theodore Turley, knowing John had been a witness to the gold plates, asked John if he still held to the testimony he had once given. John said he did and knew the Book of Mormon was true.

When the Mormons were forced out of the city again by the mobs, John Whitmer stayed behind. Mormons were forced to sell their properties for minimal amounts, and John took advantage of these sales, refusing to pay a fair price for the properties he purchased. However, although he never returned to the church, he continued to uphold his statement about having seen the gold plates.

Confirmed Testimony of the Book of Mormon

In 1861, a missionary visiting him heard his testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of Joseph Smith’s role as a prophet, and even a commitment to Brigham Young’s work as a prophet. He simply couldn’t bring himself to ask forgiveness, even though he was sorry he had ever left. Shortly before his death, a missionary from the Reorganized Church, an offshoot of the main church, challenged him to become a Mormon again. John had tears in his eyes as he expressed a hope that the time would come when they would all see eye to eye. In the history of the church, which he had refused to return to the church, he wrote after his excommunication, “Therefore I close the history … hoping that I may be forgiven of my faults … not withstanding my present situation, which I hope will soon be bettered and I find favor in the eyes of God and all men his saints.”

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, The Whitmers: A Family That Nourished the Church, Ensign, August 1979

Keith W. Perkins, “True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers,” Ensign, February 1989

The Joseph Smith Papers

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

The descendants of Joseph Smith are gradually returning to their roots. Joseph Smith was the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes nicknamed Mormons.

Joseph’s descendants spent many generations away from the Church. The children of some of his brothers’ families were members—largely those of brother Hyrum—but most had gone in other directions.

The division of the family began early on. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by mobs in 1844. This led to a division in the Church over who should become the next prophet. In the end, a miracle led to the people recognizing Brigham Young as the new prophet, but not everyone was happy with that. Several splinter groups formed. The mainstream group of Mormons fled Illinois and headed for what later became Utah, following Brigham Young. Hyrum’s widow took his children and joined the Saints in the West; this group is the one whose descendants are largely in the Church today.

Joseph Smith’s Descendants Leave Mormonism

Joseph’s widow, Emma, had some disagreements with Brigham Young, possibly fueled by the grieving process and the complex need to separate family and church possessions. When the Saints moved on to Utah, Emma chose to remain behind. Joseph’s mother, who was widowed, also stayed, too old and frail to make the difficult journey, and Emma helped to care for her.

One group of dissidents felt that the Church leadership should be handed down from father to son. They wanted to hold the leadership for Joseph Smith’s oldest surviving son until he was old enough to take over. He was initially not interested, but eventually agreed to accept the position. This church became the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and still operates today, although under a new name and a growing process of distancing itself from its roots.

Joseph’s brother William had been excommunicated and his brother Samuel died just over a month after Joseph and Hyrum died. Samuel had suffered injuries trying to warn his brothers of danger. His widow went west, but continued on to California. Joseph’s other brothers were all dead and the sisters stayed in Illinois.

The family was now scattered around the country and in days of difficult communication, those who did not go to Utah largely did not stay members of the Church or did not raise their families to stay. After a few generations, many had forgotten their roots.

Joseph Smith’s Descendants Becoming Mormon

Then things began to change. Kenny Duke is a descendant of Joseph Smith’s sister Catherine. He learned about his heritage from an uncle who was a leader in the Reorganized Church. Kim Smith learned about Joseph Smith, her direct ancestor, from her grandmother, who had pictures of Joseph and Emma in her home. Kim felt drawn to them and learned that there was a great deal of animosity in the family coming from this lineage. She was taught to hate Brigham Young and was even taught that Brigham had planned Joseph’s murder, but she began to research the subject for herself. The result of this research was that she found the truth, became converted, and became a Mormon.

Michael Kennedy was given a school assignment to write about an ancestor. His father showed him a box of things related to Joseph Smith. It was the first Michael had heard of his third-great grandfather. As he was looking through the box, two men knocked on his door. He answered and learned they were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They asked to speak to his father. While they waited for his father, the missionaries noticed the items spread out and asked about them. He explained they were related to his ancestor, Joseph Smith, who had founded the Mormon Church. He did not know the church the missionaries belonged to was sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church, but the missionaries became quite excited and obtained permission to return with discussions that would help Michael learn about the church his ancestor had led.

The miracle of two missionaries showing up just as he was examining these items was even greater because the missionaries were there only as part of a test designed to decide which areas to open to missionary work. The test determined that his area was not productive enough, since only two families agreed to learn about the church, his and one other. A girl in the other home, Darcy Dodge, was so enthusiastic she wanted to be baptized the day she met the missionaries, although they insisted she finish the lessons.

However, Michael had not had a good relationship with organized religion and quickly lost interest. The missionaries learned that Darcy knew him and asked her to help interest Michael. She got his mother to invite him to stay in the discussions, which he did. However, he told the missionaries he would decide when he was eighteen. He got baptized and then left for college, thinking he was done with the Mormons.

At the very moment his father called to tell his aunt, who had been the person behind collecting the artifacts, about the baptism, a man sent by the prophet to find all of Joseph Smith’s descendants was sitting in her house. He reported the baptism to the prophet, who was then Harold B. Lee. President Lee asked to meet with Michael. In time, he became the first descendant of Joseph Smith to receive the Melchizedek priesthood, fulfilling a prophecy made that said that priesthood would be restored before the family would be gathered together again.

Read Michael Kennedy’s telling of his conversion.

Gradually, other descendants of Joseph began to find their way back to their family’s religion. These descendants also made peace with Brigham Young’s descendants. The Smith descendants now hold regular reunions. Initially, there was an agreement to avoid the topic of religion at these reunions, since most were not Mormons, but today, so many have been baptized that a church service is part of the reunion.

The annual reunions and the gradual return of descendants to the Church are God’s answer to a prayer uttered by Joseph Smith long ago:

O God, let the residue of my father’s house…ever come up in remembrance before thee and stand virtuous and pure in thy presence, that thou mayest save them from the hand of the oppressor, and establish their feet upon the rock of ages, that they may have place in thy house and be saved in thy kingdom, even where God, and Christ is, and let all these things be as I have said, for Christ’s sake. Amen (Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 1:466–467).

Sources:

The Michael Kennedy Conversion Story

Scot and Maurine Proctor, Why Prophets Have Prayed for Joseph Smith’s Posterity, August 9, 2013

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

David Whitmer was born January 7, 1805, near Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. While he was young, his parents, Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman, moved to western New York. A reporter who met his father in 1885 wrote that Peter raised his family as “a hard-working, God-fearing man, a strict Presbyterian [who] brought his children up with rigid sectarian discipline” (Chicago Tribune, 17 Dec. 1885).

David Whitmer

The Whitmer family were active Church goers in the German Reformed Church. David’s mother was born in Germany. David’s three older brothers were confirmed members of that church. However, in 1829, the family began to hear of a young man named Joseph Smith, who was gaining attention for his teachings about a new book of religious scripture called the Book of Mormon. David, still living at home with his parents, met a man named Oliver Cowdery. Both men were curious about Joseph Smith and even more curious about the book. They learned that Joseph Smith was translating the book in Pennsylvania, and Oliver Cowdery decided to go there and find out about the book directly from its translator. He promised to keep David informed as to what he learned.

Oliver wrote three letters to David during this time. In his first letter, he told David he was not only convinced the book was true, but he had volunteered to act as Joseph Smith’s scribe, helping the work advance much more quickly. A second letter also emphasized Oliver’s belief that the book was authentic and quoted portions of it. The third letter changed the lives of the Whitmer family forever. Oliver asked if he and Joseph could come to David’s home to work on the translation. The work and even the life of Joseph Smith was in danger from people who were afraid to let the new book come to light.

Joseph Smith Moves to David Whitmer’s Home

David took the request to his family. His parents were concerned because David had a great deal of work to do and taking time to go for Joseph and Oliver would hamper the family’s efforts. They decided David shouldn’t go unless God required it of him. David accepted his parents’ request but then took the problem to God in prayer. He asked that God help him complete his work in record time. He was able to do two days’ work in one day. This convinced his father that God intended David to bring the men to their home. He told David he could go for them as soon as he’d finished the fertilizing.

Whitmer Home

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery moved into the Whitmer home and Emma, Joseph’s wife, joined them not long after. This created a great deal of work for Mary, David’s mother. One day, as she was going to milk the cows, an angel appeared and told her that because her contribution to the work was so great, she was entitled to receive a personal testimony that what they were doing was truly God’s work. She was shown the gold plates on which the book was written in ancient times. Although her sons would later serve as official witnesses to the reality of those plates, Mary actually saw them before any of the men in her family. She found that the work no longer seemed to be a burden to her.

David Whitmer Sees the Gold Plates

David Whitmer was later permitted to view the plates and other sacred objects as well, while an angel held them. He signed his name to a testimony of this vision. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ in 1829.

David’s home was the center of historically significant events—the work of translation, many visions and revelations, and the first conference of the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which many continue to inadvertently refer to as the “Mormon Church,” was formally organized in the Whitmer home. David was listed as one of the first six members, helping to fill a legal requirement for the organization of churches.

David Whitmer took several missionary trips with Joseph Smith, but after a time, he was chastised by revelation for being too focused on worldly things. He was instructed to return to his father’s home for a time.

The Whitmer family faced some trials in their work with the Church. While Joseph was back in Pennsylvania translating, Oliver Cowdery decided a revelation which had been received needed to be changed. He did not, of course, have that authority, since revelations come from God to a prophet. However, he persisted and also convinced the Whitmers that he was right. Joseph returned to their home and helped them to understand that the revelations must be written as given by God and not according to the desires of men.

However, Hyrum Page, a church member, claimed to be receiving his own revelations through a seer stone. He convinced Cowdery and the Whitmers these were true revelations. They did not yet understand how God worked and that having multiple prophets would only lead to confusion, which is why there could only be one at a time. Page’s so-called revelations contradicted the New Testament and modern revelations. After a revelation came to Joseph Smith explaining how revelation works, Page and the Whitmers, as well as others who had believed them, renounced Page’s claims.

In 1831, David Whitmer married Julia Ann Jolly. Later that year he was called to serve a mission to Missouri. He and his missionary companion, Harvey Whitlock, were to preach as they journeyed to Missouri. Near the end of the year, David traveled to Ohio, where he became a high priest in the Church, and then he and his wife moved to Missouri.

David Whitmer Defends Mormonism at Gunpoint

The Mormons encountered intense persecutions in Missouri. David Whitmer, along with other men, was forced into the ironically named Independence Square with a bayonet at his back, where he had his clothing removed and he was tarred and feathered. He was ordered to denounce the Book of Mormon or face death. Other men clicked their guns to reinforce the order but David boldly testified of the Book of Mormon. The captors let him go.

The Whitmer family moved to Clay County. There, two of David’s brothers died as a result of persecution, one leaving a young wife and the other a wife and small children. A third died later of a leg infection. David’s mother was a faithful member all her life.

The remaining Whitmers began to have problems with their faith as a result of the many trials they had to bear and the new financial challenges arising in the young church. David was appointed to oversee the Church in Missouri and helped to select the first apostles, but when he began to challenge various aspects of Mormon doctrine, his membership was called into question. He was invited to meet with church leaders to work out the problems, but he refused. He was excommunicated for various reasons, including writing letters calling himself the president of the church, even though he’d been removed from his responsibilities in the church. He had become very vocal in his attacks on the church and its leaders.

The Whitmer Family Falters

When the Mormons were forced by mob activity to leave Missouri, the Whitmers stayed behind. David moved to Richmond, where he served as mayor for a year. He retained his testimony of the Book of Mormon, however. In 1878, two Mormon apostles visited him in Missouri. He was asked about his testimony and reiterated the vision in which he was shown the gold plates. Again, in 1882, a young Mormon missionary named Matthias Cowley visited him and also asked to hear his testimony. He gave it, but Cowley wrote that it was given as a duty. He felt that David Whitmer knew what was true but had lost sight of the joy the gospel can bring when it is fully lived.

In 1888, the American Cyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica claimed that David and two other witnesses had denied ever having seen the plates. David was nearing death at that time, but publicly refuted those claims. He testified that none of the witnesses, including those who had left the church, had ever denied those sacred experiences.

It having been represented by one John Murphy, of Polo, Caldwell County, Mo., that I, in a conversation with him last summer, denied my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the ‘Book of Mormon.’

To the end, therefore, that he may understand me now, if he did not then; and that the world may know the truth, I wish now, standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the fear of God, once for all to make this public statement:

That I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof, which has so long since been published with that Book, as one of the three witnesses. Those who know me best, well know that I have always adhered to that testimony. And that no man may be misled or doubt my present views in regard to the same, I do again affirm the truth of all my statements, as then made and published.

‘He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear’; it was no delusion! What is written is written, and he that readeth let him understand. (See Keith W. Perkins, “True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers,” Ensign, February 1989.)

After the Mormons left Missouri, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now known as the Community of Christ, attempted to convince David Whitmer to join with them. However, he felt they were not properly informed of what Joseph had really taught. David disliked centralized authority and felt Joseph had fallen as a prophet just before David left the church. William McClellan and some of his relatives convinced David to join them in forming a new church to continue where they felt Joseph had left off. David became president of this church, but in time, he and the others recognized they were operating without authority from God. The church had only a few members and dissolved after its last surviving member, Jacob Whitmer’s granddaughter, passed away.

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, The Whitmers: A Family That Nourished the Church, Ensign, August 1979

Keith W. Perkins, True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers, Ensign, February 1989

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

The following year he became a member of the first High Council and then traveled with Zion’s Army to try to effect a peaceful rescue of Mormons under attack by mobs in Missouri. Although the group did not achieve its goal, many future church leaders came from this group of courageous volunteers, including Luke S. Johnson. In 1835, at the age of just 27, he was chosen to be an apostle. He spent his first summer in that position traveling in the east, establishing new congregations and carrying out church work. After returning from additional missions to Canada and New York, he saved the prophet Joseph Smith from death or persecution several times.

Unfortunately, the next year his commitment to the church became a bit shakier. He got upset when Joseph Smith needed to offer some chastisement to certain members who were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. Then he got caught up in financial speculation along with some other church members who had grown tired of the poverty that came with constantly abandoning all you had to escape persecution. He, along with others, tried to remove Joseph Smith as the prophet, wanting to replace him with David Whitmer. However, those who left the church could not even cooperate with each other and ended up battling one another as well, failing to establish any new religious movement. Thirteen percent of the members left at this time, but some returned later. Luke wrote later, “My mind became darkened, and I was left to pursue my own course. I lost the Spirit of God, and neglected my duty; the consequence was, that at a Conference held in Kirtland, September 3, 1837, … I was cut off from the Church.”

He and two others were disfellowshipped at the conference, but he asked to be reinstated the next Sunday. His request was accepted, but in April of 1838, he was excommunicated for apostasy due to continuing poor choices.

He began to teach school and then decided to study to become a doctor. In 1846, he returned to Kirtland, Ohio, where the Mormons lived, and set up practice. He had stayed on good terms with the church, despite not being a member, and so his request for rebaptism and restored membership was granted in March of that year.

When the Mormons emigrated to Utah, he traveled with them and became the first bishop in Toole County. He died in 1861, a member in full standing.

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007

Called and Chosen, James A. Faust, October General Conference, 2005

A Warning From Kirtland, Milton V. Backman, Jr., Ensign, 1989

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

David was born November 19, 1799, in Theresa, New York, to Benenio or Benonio Patten and Edith (Abigail) Cole. He had a strong interest in religion and in his early years had a number of dreams and visions in which he saw a number of future events, including the restoration of Christ’s true church in his own lifetime. In 1830, the year The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, he learned of and examined a copy of the Book of Mormon. Mormon is a nickname sometimes applied to members of the Church and the Book of Mormon is used by Mormons in addition to the Bible.

In 1832, his brother John joined the Church in Indiana. He wrote to David W. Patten about the church. David decided to travel to Indiana to discuss it further with his brother. He gained a testimony of the gospel while there and was baptized in June by his brother. He immediately, as was common at that time, began to serve the first of many missions.

David W. Patten had an unusual gift for spiritual healings. During his mission, he had many opportunities to heal those who were sick. He healed so many that people began to travel to him to be healed, including one woman who was instantly healed of an illness she had struggled with for two decades.

In 1832, he went to Kirtland, Ohio, where the Mormons were largely gathered, and spent several months helping build the temple. This temple still stands, although it no longer belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He then left on another mission, lasting seven weeks. He was ill most of the trip, but refused to stop his work. He was then instructed by revelation to return to Kirtland.

On several occasions, he found himself in great danger from those who fought against the Church using violence. One man threatened to slit his throat with a knife. David placed his hand in his left breast pocket and advised the man not to do anything rash. The man, thinking he was pulling out a gun, became frightened and pleaded with David not to shoot him. The man fled. Another time, while serving a mission, an entire mob threatened to shoot him. He invited them to go ahead and shoot, but they unexpectedly ran away. In 1835, he was staying in a home in Tennessee when a mob surrounded the house and arrested him and two other men in the home. The arrest was carried out at the request of a Methodist priest. When they appeared in court, they were not given a trial, but were instead instantly found guilty. David rebuked them, through inspiration, for holding a wicked and illegal trial. The judge accused him of being armed with a concealed weapon if he had the courage to verbally attack an armed court. He responded that he was armed only with the Holy Ghost. The judge decided to let them go in exchange for court costs, which church members paid. They returned to the home to rest, but were visited by an angel and warned that mobs were coming again. The messenger instructed them to leave immediately, which they did.

In 1835, the first Mormon apostles were chosen. David was the fifth apostle chosen, but since all were chosen the same day, they were given seniority by age rather than by when they were called. This left him the second in seniority. He was just thirty years old, which today would be very young for an apostle. Since the role of an apostle is to be a special witness of Jesus Christ, the new apostles left on missions. David W. Patten was sent to the East Coast in the United States and Canada. After returning home for a short time, he left again, this time taking his wife with him. (They had no known children.) In Tennessee, he healed a woman who promised to be baptized. She changed her mind and Elder Patten warned her she needed to repent and be baptized or her illness would return, since it was conditioned on her faith. He left the area, continuing his mission service. When he returned, she was indeed ill again. She promised she would be baptized this time if she were healed. She was healed and then baptized.

In 1838, David W. Patten returned to Missouri and assist Thomas Marsh in overseeing the area until Joseph Smith arrived. He wrote a letter and gave a talk. Listeners did not know they were hearing or reading his final testimony to the world. He was killed that year.

In April, he was given a revelation to settle his business and sell his merchandise in order to serve a mission God had for him.  In October, three Mormons were kidnapped and threatened with murder. The mob that took the men also promised to burn the Mormons out of the area and David was instructed by revelation to lead a group of men to Crooked River to rescue them. A battle began that night. The mob began destroying property, taking prisoners, and committing other crimes. David W. Patten was hit in the battle and was in so much pain, he asked to be left there. The others refused, however, and carried him and another badly wounded man to Log Creek, where they were met by Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum Smith, and Heber C. Kimball, another Church leader. He died an hour after being taken to a home to recover.

Joseph Smith said, “He was one of the Twelve Apostles, and died as he had lived, a man of God, and strong in the faith of a glorious resurrection, in a world where mobs will have no power or place” (History of the Church, 3:171).

Article adapted from Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

In October of that year, he was issued a call to serve as a missionary with Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Oliver Cowdery. Together, the four men walked more than 1500 miles to teach Native Americans near Buffalo, New York. They took a side trip to Ohio in what turned out to be a very inspired diversion. While teaching in Mentor, Ohio, they had the opportunity to share the gospel with many men who would later become important leaders in the church and who would play essential roles in Mormon history. They contacted Sidney Rigdon, who was then a Campbellite preacher. He would later become a counselor to Joseph Smith. Through his willingness to hear the gospel and to encourage others to hear it that day, Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams, Lyman Wight, Newel K. Whitney, Levi Hancock, and John Murdock would be baptized. Two other men who would be important to the church also heard the gospel on that journey, although they did not join until later. They were Edward Partridge and Orson Hyde. Altogether, they brought 130 new members into the Church in the one month they spent in the area.

Fifty of those new converts already lived in Kirtland, Ohio, and it became the center for the Church in Ohio. After some three hundred Mormons were there, the Lord directed Joseph Smith through revelation to make it the new Church center. Mormons from around the country began to gather there.

Doctor Frederick G. Williams joined the four men and they again began to travel. They again taught Native Americans, this time in Sandusky, Ohio, and then moved on. It was a harsh winter and they had to travel on foot, sometimes surviving on frozen pork and bread. The journey was very difficult, but they arrived in Jackson County, Missouri near the end of January.

Three of the men continued their missionary work, but Peter Whitmer and Ziba Peterson opened a tailor shop to earn the funds necessary for the work to continue. In August of 1831, Joseph Smith received a revelation rebuking Peterson for trying to hide his sins. Joseph was instructed to take from Peterson what the church had given him until he repented, including his place as a church elder. Peterson married Rebecca Hooper a few days after this revelation. He was re-ordained an elder in October of 1832 by Lyman White, but was excommunicated by June 25, 1833. Parley P. Pratt wrote that Peterson had turned away from the Church. In 1848 he moved to California and became the sheriff. He served in this position until 1849. He died that year in Hangtown, California, which later became known as Placerville.

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

Morley became a Mormon in 1830, when the Church was new. He was a veteran in the war with Great Britain in 1812.

Isaac Morley was named one of the first High Priests in the church at a special conference. Following this, he became an assistant to Bishop Whitney. The next day he was sent on a mission, through revelation, to Missouri. His missionary companion was Ezra Booth.

In 1831, Isaac and his wife invited Joseph and Emma Smith, to live with them for a while. Joseph Smith was the first Mormon prophet. Later, a small home was built on the property for Joseph and Emma. The property became a gathering place for new converts arriving in the area. It was the site of the reception of a number of revelations and also where Joseph Smith’s twins were born and died on the same day. It is also likely Joseph Smith began his translation of the Bible  there.

In 1833, mobs threatened to attack every Mormon encountered and to destroy their homes. Isaac and several other church leaders offered themselves as ransoms—the mob could take them if they promised to leave the others alone. They entered into negotiations with the mob and agreed church members would leave the county after a reasonable time to prepare. There was no other option given the danger the members were in.

His next mission was to the Eastern states with Bishop Partridge. He returned to Kirtland, Ohio for the temple dedication and then traveled on to Missouri to help settle Far West. The following year, 1837, he became a Church patriarch.

1837 was a difficult year. When Governor Boggs of Missouri issued an extermination order against the Mormons, Isaac Morley and fifty-five other men were collected by the mob, who no longer had anything to fear regardless of what they did to the Mormons, and held them for trial. After a mock trial, they were released, since they had not been arrested for anything other than their faith.

After being forced out of Missouri, the Mormons settled in Illinois. There, Morley settled in Yelrome, which is Morley spelled backwards with an extra “e” at the end. It was often known as Morley’s settlement. Today it is called Tioga. A number of other families moved there as well. He went to work in the coopering industry, employing twelve people. He was called to be the first branch president (lay pastor) when a congregation was organized. The people of the settlement were in constant danger, in part due to the nearby residence of Colonel Levi Williams, who was openly hostile to Mormons and who encouraged hostility in others. There were a number of anti-Mormon mobs in the area. The community was frequently attacked. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and many were murdered. Elder Edmund Durfee was killed by a mob that had placed bets that Durfee could be killed in one shot. The prize to the murderer was a gallon of whiskey. Governor Thomas Ford, who was not Mormon, wrote:

At a Mormon settlement called Morley a few miles from Nauvoo, a band of incendiaries, on the night of September 19th began operations. Deliberately setting fire to the house of Edmund Durfee, they turned the inmates out-of-doors and threatened them with death if they did not at once leave the settlement, Durfee they subsequently killed. The mob continued its nefarious work until Morley was in ashes, and its people homeless.  (See Donald Q. Cannon, Spokes on the Wheel:  Early Latter-day Saint Settlements in Hancock County, Illinois, Feb. 1986.)

He lived there from 1839–1844 and then a mob burned his homes, businesses, property, and grain. He then moved involuntarily to Nauvoo, where the other Mormons were settled, until they were all driven from there as well. He then settled in Winter Quarters, where his wife died. He moved on to Utah, where he led a group of settlers into the Sanpete Valley. He became a senator of the general assembly and then on the legislative council of the territory. The last ten years of his life were finally spent peacefully, carrying out his church work as a patriarch. He died in 1865.

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

The Campbellites attempted to recreate the New Testament Church and that appealed to him, but like many of that sect, he became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes nicknamed Mormons, when it was organized. He was baptized near the end of 1830, the year the Church was organized. He had noted the scriptures about the Holy Ghost and when he met four Mormons, he decided to test their work by discovering whether or not the Spirit would testify to him of the truthfulness of their teachings. He rode twenty miles to Kirtland and that night the Spirit bore witness to him that it was true. He spoke with several recently baptized people and heard their testimonies that the Spirit had been present at their baptisms and conversions. That morning, he asked to be baptized. It was his third baptism, the first two being with the Baptists and the Campbellites, but the first time he felt the power of priesthood authority as the ordinances were performed. When he was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost, he felt that gift enter into him for the first time.

Murdock was so excited he began sharing the gospel with everyone he saw and his work resulted in seventy new members in four months. The requests for missionary lessons and baptisms came so fast he quit his job and joined home with another family to cut expenses.

The next year, his wife died in childbirth. He had five young children, including the newly born twins. John being overwhelmed by having to care for so many little ones, Joseph Smith, the first prophet and president of the Church, offered to take in his twins and raise them with his wife, Emma. Their own twins had just died the day before John’s were born and John knew of Emma’s heartache. Unfortunately, one of these twins, a little boy, would also die, the victim of a mob. The twins were quite ill and the when the girl finally fell asleep, Joseph sent his wife to bed with their daughter to get some rest. Finally, when the boy fell asleep, Joseph placed the child in the cradle near the door and went to rest himself. A mob broke into the house and kidnapped Joseph, tarring and feathering him. They left the door open and the icy wind made the little boy so sick he died.

Two months after the death of John’s wife, John became a high priest and then was called to serve a mission after he had settled his children. The three oldest were sent to stay with Bishop Partridge, while the surviving twin stayed with Joseph and Emma. He sold his property so he could assist these families in caring for his children.

In 1833, he came to live with Joseph Smith, allowing him to be near his daughter. He continued serving the church during this time and that year he had a vision in which he saw the face of the Lord, fulfilling the promise given to him in the revelation that called him to his mission.

When the Mormons moved to Utah, he became the first bishop (lay pastor) of the Salt Lake 14^th ward. A ward is a congregation. He served a variety of missions over the years, including two to Australia. He remarried three times, with the second and third wives also dying (one just a year and a half after their marriage.) The last wife, with whom he adopted a child, outlived him.

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

During his early years, he often prayed intensely, sometimes even being moved to tears. However, in his early twenties, he decided he was uncomfortable with organized religion as it then existed. He disliked the way many ministers portrayed God. He saw God as a loving and wonderful being, but felt modern religion portrayed Him as ugly and uncaring. He continued to study the Bible on his own, comparing any new faith he studied to the words of the Bible and its teachings about God, but chose not to join a church.

He married Lydia Clisbee in 1819. Together, they, like many who would eventually become Mormon, joined the Campbellites, a small religious group that sought to live New Testament practices focusing on baptism by immersion and the gift of the Holy Ghost. He was baptized by Sidney Rigdon, then a Campbellite preacher, but was not certain it was God’s true church.

When three leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are often called Mormons, arrived in Kirtland, Ohio, to preach the newly organized gospel, he listened to them when they came to his door, but sent them away. However, after thinking about it, he asked an employee to find a copy of the Book of Mormon, which Mormons used with the Bible. His wife decided to become a Mormon and was baptized, but Edward was hesitant to make the decision. He went to Manchester to meet Joseph Smith for himself. The Smiths were no longer there, but Edward walked around their property and saw that it was in good order and well-cared for. Then he began interviewing people who knew them. He found no one questioned their integrity in any area other than Mormonism. As a man noted by all who knew him for his honesty and integrity, this was important to him. He returned home.

Sidney Rigdon decided to go to Fayette and Edward accompanied him. They attended a meeting in which anyone who wished to do so was invited to speak. Edward rose and shared his investigation into Joseph’s character and then said he was now prepared to be baptized if Joseph himself would perform the baptism. He was baptized the following day. Edward then asked Joseph what he could do for the church. Joseph Smith prayed, since it was God’s decision as to what Edward’s role was to be and received a revelation directed to Edward. God told him that any man who wanted to be engaged in the ministry could be if he lived the gospel.

Unfortunately, his family was angry at his decision. His sister ordered him out of her house and said she never wanted to see him again. His father thought he was mentally ill and sent a brother to supervise his return home, believing him unable to care for himself.

The following year, Edward Partridge was called by God to be the first bishop of the Church. Mormons have a lay ministry, so this was not a paid position. It was equivalent to a lay pastor. An early revelation directed toward Edward instructed him in the temporal care of the many immigrants joining the church and coming to the United States. He was instructed to create a storehouse where goods could be stored to meet the needs of those who lacked the essentials of life.

He was called to serve in Missouri, where the Mormons were beginning to gather. He went on ahead because some of their children were ill, and later wrote his wife, offering her the choice of staying where she was, or moving to Missouri, where he would be serving. He warned her Missouri was rather primitive and she would not be able to live as comfortably as she was accustomed to living. She bravely packed up her family and headed for Missouri with the Morley family and other immigrants. They were cast off the river when it swelled and were saved by a black family that took them into their two-room cabin for safekeeping.

When they arrived in Missouri, they rented a one-room cabin from the future Governor Boggs, who would later issue an extermination order against the Mormons. They took in a widow and her four children, making the room very crowded until Edward Partridge built them a two-room house.

Persecution became intense. Edward was dragged from his home by a mob and stripped of his clothing on the street. He was ordered to renounce his faith. He responded:

“If I must suffer for my religion, it is no more than others have done before me. I am not conscious of having injured anyone in the county and therefore will not consent to leave. I have done nothing to offend anyone. If you abuse me, you are injuring an innocent man.”

Edward protested being forced to be undressed in public and a few of the less extreme mobbers convinced the others to allow him to put on pants and a shirt. However, they applied an acid to his skin that burned it before applying tar and feathers.

Homes were shot at, people attacked, and fires started. The Mormons were forced again to flee their homes and seek safety elsewhere. They crossed the river into Clay County and Edward worked to help everyone safely across. Then he and another man found an abandoned cabin that had been serving as a stable. They moved their families into it and the sixteen people lived there for two years.

Edward served several missions, keeping him away from home for a number of years. This included trips to collect goods to care for the poor. Because of the constant need to abandon everything they owned, many among the church members were poor.

In 1838, Edward and a number of other men were arrested and accused of anything the mobs could think of, including treason, murder, and robbery. His wife and children fled with other church members, while Edward stayed in prison with the other men for most of a month. They were in a large cold room without blankets, and with minimal heat and food. They determined to cope without complaint.

Eventually, they found themselves in Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Mormons built a beautiful city. He “pitched a tent” under a tree, but eventually moved into a shared home. The hardships of the previous years left him and his family suffering from constant illness. Bishop Partridge continued to serve as a bishop, however, feeling there was too much to do to take time off to be sick. Only his daughter Emily was well enough to work, so she became a school teacher living away from home.

One daughter died at age nineteen. Eleven days later, Edward also died. He was only forty-six years old, but the many hardships had destroyed his body.  Joseph Smith praised him as a man of God without guile.

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

Heber immediately began missionary work and baptisms with Brigham Young and Joseph Young. Early in April, he had the opportunity to meet Joseph Smith, the president and first prophet of the Church, for the first time. He also became a member of Zion’s Camp, initially organized to try to peacefully stop mob attacks on Mormons in Missouri. Many future leaders came from this volunteer group. Later, when the Camp reorganized, he became a bodyguard to Joseph Smith, whose life was in constant danger.

In 1835, Heber became an apostle, following the New Testament model of Christian church leadership. He served a mission in the eastern states and was also able to attend the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in Ohio. He was particularly proud of his wife’s accomplishments in the building of the temple:

Our women were engaged in spinning and knitting in order to clothe those who were laboring at the building, and the Lord only knows the scenes of poverty, tribulation, and distress which we passed through in order to accomplish this thing. My wife toiled all summer in lending her aid towards its accomplishment. She had a hundred pounds of wool, which, with the assistance of a girl, she spun in order to furnish clothing for those engaged in the building of the Temple, and although she had the privilege of keeping half the quantity of wool for herself, as a recompense for her labor, she did not reserve even so much as would make her a pair of stockings; but gave it for those who were laboring at the house of the Lord. She spun and wove and got the cloth dressed, and cut and made up into garments, and gave them to those men who labored on the Temple; almost all the sisters in Kirtland labored in knitting, sewing, spinning, etc. for the purpose of forwarding the work of the Lord  (Instruments in the Hands of God, James E. Faust, General Conference, October 2005).

1837 was a very difficult time in Mormon history. Many people left the church this time, including leaders. However, not once did Heber C. Kimball waver, even during this time period. Despite frequent threats to his life, persecution, and mob violence, he stayed faithful to the Church and to God. While others complained, he went cheerfully off to England as a missionary, where he taught and baptized about 1500 people.

After returning from his mission, he moved with his family to Far West, where the Mormons were currently living in their constant search for freedom of religion. However, a mob invaded that community as well. Heber C. Kimball offered himself as a hostage to protect others. In December of that year, he and a few other leaders petitioned the state of Missouri to protect the Mormons and their constitutional rights. (Instead, Missouri would eventually put out an extermination order against all Mormons.)

A committee had been organized to plan for the safe movement of the Mormons to a new place. In April of the year following the petition, Heber C. Kimball warned the committee to finish up and get out of the area, because their lives were in danger. At about that same time, members of a mob tried to kill him on the street. He took his family and moved to Quincy, Ilinois. He then moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Mormons again tried to found a city.

While Heber was in Washington, DC, trying to seek help from the federal government for the unceasing attacks on Mormons, Joseph Smith was murdered. This set off another round of apostasy as some people rebelled against God’s plan for Church succession, which made the head of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles the new prophet. Heber C. Kimball stayed firm and followed Brigham Young’s leadership.

The Mormons were forced to abandon their city and their homes to flee west, in the historic journey to Utah. Heber C. Kimball was made one of the two captains of the groups that left first—Brigham Young being the second. He was with the first group to reach the Great Salt Lake Valley and one of the first three speakers at the first church service. He offered a revelation that introduced an essential term into Mormon terminology, that of borrowed light:

To meet the difficulties that are coming, it will be necessary for you to have a knowledge of the truth of this work for yourselves. The difficulties will be of such a character that the man or woman who does not possess this personal knowledge or witness will fall. If you have not got the testimony, live right and call upon the Lord and cease not till you obtain it. If you do not you will not stand. …

The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. …

If you don’t have it you will not stand; therefore seek for the testimony of Jesus and cleave to it, that when the trying time comes you may not stumble and fall. (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967, p. 450.)

He became a member of the First Presidency (consisting of the president of the Church and two counselors), making him the second-highest ranking church member. He had the opportunity to help lay the cornerstone of the Salt Lake Temple and to offer the dedicatory prayer.

In 1856, the Mormons were facing potential starvation. Heber and his family chose to eat less so they could share what they had stored with those who were in need. He once wrote that he cared only for things of eternity. He died in 1868. His grandson, Spencer W. Kimball, later became the president of the Church.

This article is adapted from:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.