In a truly stunning video from 1948, the Clawson brothers depict prophets Joseph F. Smith and Heber J. Grant, bringing to life the valiant MEN we have read about and loved. Listed are several other faces we may not know as well, faces that are attached to legacies that have spawned generations and formed the Church into what it is today.

What is remarkable to me, however, are the smiles. Almost every picture I’ve seen of Joseph F. Smith and early leaders of the church picture them, of course, as unsmiling portrait paintings that depict the gravity of their calling. This video, however, looks beyond the portrait into the man. We see church leaders grinning as they talk with their colleagues, and even in black and white, the light shining from their eyes is palpable.

I’m grateful to have come across this video, because it’s given me the opportunity to get just a glimpse of the humanity behind some of the Church’s giants. Even if you watch only five minutes of this clipping, you’ll walk away with a lighter heart.

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On June 27, 1844, not longer after singing “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” to his cellmates, John Taylor lay suffering on the floor of Carthage Jail. He had endured terrible injury at the hands of an angry mob that had just killed the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. This tragic event became a defining moment in the history of the Church and in the life of John Taylor.

John Taylor, by John Willard Clawson. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

In Witness to the Martyrdom, Mark H. Taylor, a great-great-grandson of John Taylor, revives the only eyewitness account of these events. Below is John Taylor’s eyewitness account:

—–

Soon afterwards I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming round the corner of the jail, and aiming towards the stairs. The other brethren had seen the same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr. Richards already leaning against it. They both pressed against the door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who had come upstairs, and tried to open the door, probably thought it was locked, and fired a ball through the keyhole; at this Dr. Richards and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces towards it; almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering his face and head. At the same instant, another ball from the outside entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch. The ball came from the back, through the jail window, opposite the door, and must, from its range, have been fired from the Carthage Greys, who were placed there ostensibly for our protection, as the balls from the firearms, shot close by the jail, would have entered the ceiling, we being in the second story, and there never was a time after that when Hyrum could have received the latter wound. Immediately, when the ball struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, “I am a dead man!” He never moved afterwards.

I shall never forget the feeling of deep sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him exclaimed, “Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!” He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed, died.

I had in my hands a large, strong hickory stick brought there by Brother Markham, and left by him, which I had seized as soon as I saw the mob approach; and while Brother Joseph was firing the pistol, I stood close behind him. As soon as he had discharged it he stepped back, and I immediately took his place next to the door, while he occupied the one I had done while he was shooting. Brother Richards, at this time, had a knotty walking-stick in his hand belonging to me, and stood next to Brother Joseph, a little farther from the door, in an oblique direction, apparently to avoid the rake of the fire from the door. The firing of Brother Joseph made our assailants pause for a moment; very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls.

It certainly was a terrible scene: streams of fire as thick as my arm passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come, but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm, unruffled, and energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision. It certainly was far from pleasant to be so near the muzzles of those firearms as they belched forth their liquid flame and deadly balls. While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother Joseph said, “That’s right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can.” These were the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.

Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense, as they were unquestionably pressed on by those in the rear ascending the stairs, until the whole entrance at the door was literally crowded with muskets and rifles, which, with the swearing, shouting, and demoniacal expressions of those outside the door and on the stairs, and the firing of guns, mingled with their horrid oaths and execrations, made it look like pandemonium let loose, and was, indeed, a fit representation of the horrid deed in which they were engaged.

After parrying the guns for some time, which now protruded thicker and farther into the room, and seeing no hope of escape or protection there, as we were now unarmed, it occurred to me that we might have some friends outside, and that there might be some chance of escape in that direction, but here there seemed to be none.

As I expected them every moment to rush into the room – nothing but extreme cowardice having kept them out – as the tumult and pressure increased, without any other hope, I made a spring for the window which was right in front of the jail door, where the mob was standing, and also exposed to the fire of the Carthage Greys, who were stationed some ten or twelve rods off. The weather was hot, we all of us had our coats off, and the window was raised to admit air. As I reached the window, and was on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door about mid-way of my thigh, which was struck the bone, and flattened out almost to the size of a quarter of a dollar, and then passed on through the fleshy part to within about half an inch of the outside. I think some prominent nerve must have been severed or injured for, as soon as the ball struck me, I fell like a bird when shot, or an ox when struck by a butcher, and lost entirely and instantaneously all power of action or locomotion. I fell upon the windowsill and cried out, “I am shot!”

Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself falling outside the window, but immediately I fell inside, from some time, at that time, unknown cause. When I struck the floor my animation seemed restored, as I have seen it sometimes in squirrels and birds after being shot. As soon as I felt the power of motion I crawled under the bed, which was in a corner of the room, not far from the window where I received my wound. While on teh way and under the bed I was wounded in three other places; one ball entered a little below the left knee, and never was extracted; another entered the forepart of my left arm, a little above the wrist, and passing down by the joint, lodged in the fleshy part of my hand, about midway, a little above the upper joint of my little finger; another struck me on the fleshy part of my left hip, and tore away the flesh as large as my hand, dashing the mangled fragments of flesh and blood against the wall.

My wounds were painful, and the sensation produced was as though a ball had passed through and down the whole length of my leg. I very well remember my reflections at the time. I had a very painful idea of becoming lame and decrepid, and being an object of pity, and I felt as though I would rather die than be placed in such circumstances.

It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out of the window, Joseph also did the same thing, of which circumstance I have no knowledge, only from information. The first thing that I noticed was a cry that he had leaped out of the window. A cessation of firing followed, the mob rushed downstairs, and Dr. Richards went to the window. Immediately afterward I saw the doctor going toward the jail door, and as there was an iron door at the head of the stairs, adjoining our door which led into the cells for criminals, it struck me that the doctor was going there, and I said to him, “Stop, Doctor, and take me along.” He proceeded to the door and opened it, and then returned and dragged me along to a small cell prepared for criminals.

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, by Gary E. Smith. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Brother Richards was very much troubled, and exclaimed, “Oh! Brother Taylor, is it possible that they have killed both Brother Hyrum and Joseph? it cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them;” and elevating his hands two or three times, he exclaimed, “Oh Lord, my God, spare Thy servants!” He then said, “Brother Taylor, this is a terrible event;” and he dragged me farther into the cell, saying, “I am sorry I can not do better for you;” and, then, taking an old, filthy mattress, he covered me with it, and said, “That may hide you, and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me in a few moments.” While lying in this position I suffered the most excruciating pain.

Soon afterwards Dr. Richards came to me, informed me that the mob had precipitately fled, and at the same time confirmed my worst fears that Joseph was assuredly dead. I felt a dull, lonely, sickening sensation at the news. When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the Prophet of the living God, had fallen, and that I had seen his brother in the cold embrace of death, it seemed as though there was a void or vacuum in the great field of human existence to me, and a dark gloomy chasm in the kingdom, and that we were left alone. Oh, how lonely was the feeling! How cold, barren and desolate! In the midst of difficulties he was always the first in motion; in critical positions his counsel was always sought. As our Prophet he approached our God, and obtained for us his will; but now our Prophet, our counselor, our general, our leader, was gone, and amid the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass through, we were left alone without his aid, and as our future guide for things spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this world, or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth.

These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my mind. I thought, why must the good perish, and the virtuous be destroyed? Why must God’s nobility, the salt of the earth, the most exalted of the human family, and the most perfect types of all excellence, fall victims to the cruel, fiendish hate of incarnate devils?

The poignancy of my grief, I presume, however, was somewhat allayed by the extreme suffering that I endured from my wounds.

Aleah Ingram is a full-time writer, social media manager, and editor who graduated from Southern Virginia University.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

The following article by Scot and Maurine Proctor first appeared on LDSMag.com on February 1, 2017.

In this article, published yesterday, we talked about how Lucy’s Preliminary Notes were extensively edited before they became the book we have had for years in the Church. Many readers asked, “Did Brigham Young edit Lucy’s book, and if so why?” Here’s the answer.

For the most compelling book on Church history you’ll ever find, you need turn no further than Lucy Mack Smith’s own story about her son, Joseph Smith, captured in The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother. If you love Joseph Smith, this is simply a book you can’t miss. It has always been a treasure to us.

As we explained in an article yesterday, Lucy told her story to a scribe, young Martha Knowlton Coray, in the bleak winter following her sons’ deaths at Carthage.

Then Martha and her husband, Howard, substantially edited Lucy’s raw notes, called the Preliminary Manuscript, into essentially the version that we have had for decades. But you might hear the hesitation in the word “essentially”—because there was a long and somewhat dramatic journey from the Coray’s work to the bookshelf.

Though the publishing of Lucy’s book was important—because the clamor to know everything they could about Joseph was great, two other projects consumed the energies and resources of the Saints in 1845.

Their enemies had never let off the persecution. They had formed “wolf packs” to hunt the Saints; they had burned homes beyond Nauvoo, sending a flood of refugees into the city; they had harassed the Twelve with lawsuits and now Nauvoo had been turned into a workshop to build wagons to flee the city. Packing to leave everything they owned while they continued to build a temple absorbed the Saints that winter, and Lucy’s manuscript naturally took a backseat.

Years before Lucy died, some of her effects were left in the hands of her son, William Smith, among them being the manuscript copy of this history prepared by the Corays. The document fell into the hands of Isaac Sheen, who was at one time a member of the Church, in Michigan. When, in September, 1852, Apostle Orson Pratt went on a mission to England, he called on Mr. Sheen on his way East, and being shown the manuscript copy, he purchased it for a certain sum of money, took it to Liverpool with him, where, without revision and without the consent of knowledge of President Young or any of the Twelve, it was published under his direction in 1853..” ⁽¹⁾

The 1853 edition of Lucy Smith’s history was called Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations and quite faithfully followed the Coray’s revised manuscript. It was a popular book among the British Saints, and in 1854 became available in Great Salt Lake City to the applause of the Deseret News: “This new and highly interesting work should be possessed by all Saints who feel in the least degree interested with the history of the latter-day work.” ⁽²⁾

But George A. Smith, Lucy’s nephew and the Church historian, had some major reservations about the book. In an 1859 letter to another nephew of Lucy’s, Solomon Mack, he raised his concerns, suggesting that the “shocking massacre” of her two sons had affected her mind. George A. Smith wrote: “Although she endured this privation in a manner truly astonishing to her friends, yet we could not conceal from ourselves, that these terrible blows had made visible inroads upon her mind, as well as upon her bodily strength…In the last fifteen years, she got events considerably mixed up…I would be pleased to learn your opinion of Mother Smith’s history of her family, as far as you are acquainted with it.” ⁽³⁾

Brigham Young and his counselors expressed a similar reservation, saying that when the history was written, “Mother Smith was seventy years old, and very forgetful.” They suggested that “her mind had suffered many severe shocks” and that “she could, therefore, scarcely recollect anything correctly that had transpired.” ⁽⁴⁾

As George A. Smith continued to study the book and compared it to other sources, he began to feel there were factual mistakes, or at least the need to double-check stories for accuracy. For instance, in Lucy’s history she tells a story about how three strangers showed up unexpectedly and spread David Whitmer’s fields with plaster of paris, thus allowing him to leave for Harmony to meet Joseph Smith for the first time. George A. wrote to David Whitmer to verify the story, but received no response. In the early months of 1859, George A. and assistant historian Wilford Woodruff continued to write inquiries to check the details of the book for accuracy.

Thus, questions about the book had been simmering in the minds of the Brethren for several years before 1865, when Brigham Young decided to recall it. In a rather dramatic gesture the First Presidency said, “We wish those who have these books to either hand them to their Bishops for them to be conveyed to the President’s or Historian’s Office or send them themselves, that they may be disposed of.” ⁽⁵⁾ The First Presidency’s worry seemed to be over perpetuating inaccuracies that they were certain dotted Lucy’s history. “We do not wish incorrect and unsound doctrines to be handed down to posterity under the sanction of great names,” they wrote, “to be received and valued by future generations as authentic and reliable.” ⁽⁶⁾ Brigham Young did not wish to suppress the book permanently, but to revise it and reissue it in what he hoped would be a more correct form.

In a journal entry, Wilford Woodruff detailed what President Young’s intent was: “He said he wished us to take up that work and revise it, correct it; that it belonged to the Historian to attend to it; that there was many false statements made in it, and he wished them to be left out, and all other statements which we did not know to be true, and give the reason why they are left out.” ⁽⁷⁾ Though it is not entirely clear what “false statements” leaped out at Brigham Young, many of his concerns clearly came from doubting Lucy’s capacity at her advanced age and given her health to get the story straight.

Time and scholarship would show that this assessment was refutable. Those who visited Lucy in Nauvoo during the last years of her life often reported her to be alert and mentally acute. Artist Frederick H. Piercy, who drew scenes of the Mormon trail still in use today, stopped by the Mansion House, and carefully observed Lucy. “I could not fail to regard the old lady with great interest. Considering her age and afflictions, she, at that time, retained her faculties to a remarkable degree. She spoke very freely of her sons, and with tears in her eyes, and every other symptom of earnestness, vindicated their reputations for virtue and truth.” ⁽⁸⁾

Enoch Bartlett Tripp, visiting her in November 1855 in one of the last months of her life, also commented on her memory: “I called upon the Prophet’s Mother and found her in a lonely room in the eastern part of the house in her bed and very feeble. Upon approaching her bedside and informing her who I was, she arose in her bed and placing her arms around my neck kissed me exclaiming, ‘I can now die in peace since I have beheld your face from the valleys of the mountains.’ She made many inquiries after the Saints and remarked that she took much comfort in riding out with me and my wife in the days that I taught school here.” ⁽⁹⁾

Far more significant than the anecdotal reports, however, are the modern studies conducted by Richard Lloyd Anderson on Mother Smith’s history. Checking other journals, newspaper accounts, non-Mormon church records, vital records, and independent recollections for verification, he found that the great majority of what Lucy states tests very well.

He noted: “The preliminary and finished manuscripts give about 200 names. With the exception of a small percentage of indefinite names, nearly all can be verified, including some spectacular memories clear from her New England childhood. Her percentage on dates is not as good, probably reflecting her interest in people more than calendar years-yet when mistaken, she is typically within a year or two of the precise time.

“Obviously an event itself was more vivid to her mind than the exact point of its occurrence. So Lucy’s history is reliable but not an infallible source. How to tell? To reiterate a critical point, she will be a prime source when speaking from personal observation and only secondary when relaying what others have told her.” ⁽¹⁰⁾

Beyond accuracy, other factors influenced the 1865 recall of the book. Living in a time as we do today when succession in the Church Presidency is calm and orderly, the death of a prophet, signaling a predictable change, it may be difficult to imagine the splintering confusion, and emotion that followed the death of Joseph Smith for the everyday Saint.

Claims and counter-claims to the Presidency divided parts of the Church, and though the vast bulk of the members followed Brigham Young, fragmented groups congregated around others like Sidney Rigdon, James Strang, and Lyman Wight.

Since William Smith, Joseph’s brother, had made his own rival claim to be Joseph’s successor, Lucy Smith’s positive portrayal of him in her history probably concerned Brigham, and stood as just another evidence to him that the book contained distortions. Through Lucy’s eyes we see William as a valiant missionary, a fighter for the restored gospel, and a recipient of revelation in a dire moment in Missouri. In reality, William was volatile, unstable, and controversial. He had a checkered past, having often been at odds with his prophet brother. Disagreeing with Joseph during a meeting in Kirtland, enraged William attempted to throw him out and inflicted him with an injury that Joseph felt occasionally for the rest of his life. During the dark days at Far West when Joseph was taken to Liberty Jail, William exclaimed, “Damn him, Joseph Smith ought to have been hung up by the neck years ago and damn him, he will get it now anyhow.” ⁽¹¹⁾

In his last encounter with Joseph in spring 1844, William asked him to give him a city lot in Nauvoo near the temple. Joseph said he would do it with great pleasure if he would build a house and live upon it there, but he would not give him this lot, worth one thousand dollars, to sell. William agreed to the terms, and within hours an application was made by a Mr. Ivins to the recorder to know if that lot was clear and belonged to William, for the Prophet’s brother had sold it to him for five hundred dollars. Joseph, hearing this, directed the clerk not to make the transfer, and William’s last words to Joseph were threatening.

After the death of his brothers, a somewhat humbled William petitioned to be ordained the Presiding Patriarch of the Church, a position he had legitimate claim to as the oldest lineal descendant of the Smith family. He was ordained to that position on May 25, 1845, but within a few days, he claimed this gave him the right to succeed Joseph as the leader of the entire Church, and by October 1845, he was excommunicated.

An aspiring man has to find a home for his aspirations, and William went looking. Expelled from the Church, he temporarily became a leader with James Strang’s group. Excommunicated there, by 1850 he began teaching that legitimate leadership for the Church had to come from within the Prophet’s immediate family. Since Joseph Smith III was too young, he suggested he should be sustained as president pro tem “guardian of the seed of Joseph,” until the boy came of age. By 1854 he was seeking to be restored to his former position as an Apostle in the Church, and then after 1860, when Joseph Smith III was sustained as president of the Reorganized Church in Plano, Illinois, he hoped to find a high office in the new organization.

Given this background, no wonder the First Presidency’s 1865 recall of Lucy’s book was so strong in singling out William: “Those who have read the history of William Smith, and who knew him, know the statements made in that book respecting him, when he came out of Missouri, to be utterly false.” ⁽¹²⁾ The timing of the recall was probably also significant, coming so soon after Joseph’s sons had newly organized a church and were advancing succession claims. Brigham didn’t want Lucy’s book to bolster their effort. He may have felt the same way about the book’s rosy portrayal of Emma, who supported her sons in the Reorganized Church.

After the recall, President Young appointed a revision committee consisting of Geroge A. Smith and Judge Elias Smith, both cousins of the Prophet and men who were thoroughly knowledgeable in Church history. George A. had been studying the book for years, and Elias had been an editor of the Deseret News. They poured over the book, consulted with others, made deletions and corrections right in the text and in the margins of copies of the book and completed the work to the satisfaction of President Young. Ironically, after that storm that had whirled around Lucy’s history, only a small amount of the material was changed, and then not significantly. She had not been in the great error previously assumed.

According to Howard Searle these changes primarily included the following: “(1) Several favorable references to William Smith were deleted or changed. (2) Six out of eighteen references to Emma Smith were omitted, although the deletions appear rather incidental. A glowing eulogy of Emma…was left intact. (3) Many corrections were made in dates and names, especially in the genealogical data of chapter nine. (4) Some misstatements and misconceptions of Mother Smith were corrected. Her exaggerated role in the construction of the Kirtland schoolhouse…was revised in both copies of the history which were used by the revision committee. (5) Some profanity and gross statements (made by the Missouri persecutors and reported by Hyrum to a court of law) were edited out of the history. (6) Words were changed to clarify meaning and improve the grammar. (7) A few additions were made to expand parts of the narrative…(8) Statements that seemed unfavorable to the image of Joseph Smith or the Church were omitted. (9) Some references of purely family interest were left out.” ⁽¹³⁾

The version containing George A. and Elias Smith’s revisions lay essentially forgotten until 1901, when the General Board of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association sought to publish it in their monthly magazine, the Improvement Era. President Lorenzo Snow gave his permission as Church President just before he died in October 1901, and the series began in the November 1901 magazine and continued through the next year.

Lucy’s grandson Joseph F. Smith, who had become the prophet, wrote a preface for the history: “By the presentation of this work to the public, a worthy record is preserved, and the testimony of a noble and faithful woman-a mother indeed, and heroine in Israel-is perpetuated.“ ⁽¹⁴⁾ A new generation who did not face the pressures and dissensions of the old, brought a new outlook to the history.

Finally, in order to give Mother Smith’s history a wider audience, it was published again in 1945, edited by Preston Nibley, assistant Church historian, who made very few changes but added a few footnotes for the sake of the context. Today’s reader can find both the 1853 and 1945 edition in libraries and bookstores.

When Lucy sat down with Martha Jane, she certainly had no idea of the controversy that would sizzle around the simple recounting of her life’s story, and the sets of hands it would pass through before it was enjoyed by a large audience. But it may not have surprised her either. Life had taught her that good things always come with a cost.

1. Joseph F. Smith, Introduction to “History of the Prophet Joseph, by His Mother, Lucy Smith,” Improvement Era 5 ( November 1901): 1-2
2. Deseret News, November 16, 1854
3. George A. Smith to Solomon Mack, in Manuscript History of Brigham Young, February 23, 1859, p. 204
4. Millennial Star27 (October 21, 1865):658
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid. p. 659.
7. Wilford Woodruff Journal, February 13, 1859, LDS Church Archives
8. Frederick H. Piercy, Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley (1855; reprint Cambridge, Mass,: Harvard University Press, 1962), p. 94
9. Enoch Bartlett Tripp’s Journal, vol. 1 to December 31, 1844, BYU Special Collections.
10. Richard Lloyd Anderson, “His Mother’s Manuscript: An Intimate View of Joseph Smith,” Brigham Young University Forum address, January 27, 1976.
11. Wilford Woodruff Journal, February 13, 1859, LDS Church Archives
12. Millennial Star 27, (October 21, 1865), 658
13. Searle, “Early Mormon Historiography,” pp. 420, 422.
14. Smith, Introduction to “History of the Prophet Joseph,” p. 3

Original Source:  Article by Scot and Maurine Proctor. Content link: LDSMag.com. 

Megan Finley

In between writing short stories she’ll never finish and marathoning Marvel movies, Megan Finley is often found missing the loves of her life, her two cats Leia and Loki. Her passion for “geek culture” extends into her passion for academics, as she is an optimistic MA student with plans to be the next Professor X (with hair). Her life’s dream is a simple one—to drink a hot chocolate in every Disney park in the world.

Bruce Van Orden is a retired professor of Church History and Doctrine in Religious Education at Brigham Young University. In addition to volunteer work with needy individuals, he is writing a biography of William W. Phelps.

William W. Phelps is most well-known in Mormon history for his uplifting hymns. Less appreciated is his calling soon after he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be “a printer unto the Church.” It was prophesied that “the world [would] receive his writings” and that he, Phelps, would “obtain whatsoever he can obtain in righteousness, for the good of the saints” (D&C  57:11-12). W. W. Phelps fulfilled this revealed duty as he published the Church’s first periodical, The Evening and the Morning Star; helped publish early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants; served as Joseph Smith’s scribe for the Book of Abraham and many other documents; helped publish the first hymnbook (for which he wrote about half the hymns contained in it); and helped compile the Church’s official history. Next to Joseph Smith, during the Prophet’s lifetime W. W. Phelps did more than any other leader to put forward the doctrines of the Kingdom of God.

Kirtland Temple

Any Latter-day Saint who has had the privilege to attend a temple dedication has sung or heard these words: We’ll sing and we’ll shout with the armies of heaven,/Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb! (Hymns, 2). W. W. Phelps composed the anthem “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning” for the first temple dedication in Kirtland in 1836. Often in general conference the Saints have sung or heard: Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.No longer as strangers on earth need we roam./ Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,/ And shortly the hour of redemption will come (Hymns, 3). This was the first of the “hymns of the restoration” written by a Latter-day Saint in this dispensation, by Phelps in 1832 in The Evening and the Morning Star in Independence, Missouri. Phelps has more compositions (fifteen) in the Church’s current hymnbook, published in 1985, than any other author.

William Wines Phelps

William Wines Phelps was born 17 February 1792 in Dover, Morris County, New Jersey. At age eight, he moved with his family to Homer, Cortland County, New York. He was well-educated for his era, although not in a formal university. He had training that he exhibited throughout his life in meteorology, surveying, classical languages, composition, poetry, handwriting, printing, and editing. He entered the newspaper business as a young man in Cortland, New York.

W. W. Phelps was one of the most publicly known early converts. He had helped create a new social, religious, and political organization in 1827 in New York State known as Anti-Masonry. He edited two Anti-Masonic newspapers, in Trumansburgh and in Canandaigua, New York, the latter merely eleven miles from Joseph Smith’s home in Manchester. Through his newspaper connections, he obtained copies of the Book of Mormon two weeks after publication and sold them in his office. He and his wife Sally read this sacred book overnight and became converted to its truthfulness. After struggling with his conscience for over a year, Phelps took his family to Kirtland in June 1831.

Following are the major events in the life of W. W. Phelps in the restored gospel:

• He was directed by revelation to accompany Joseph Smith and others to Missouri to identify the Land of Zion (D&C 55).
• He participated in all the dedicatory events for Zion and the New Jerusalem.
• He was directed to obtain a printing press and set up a business to print Joseph Smith’s revelations (Book of Commandments) and the Church’s first newspaper in Missouri.
• Together with Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer he printed the Book of Commandments and edited The Evening and the Morning Star, wherein he wrote scores of articles promoting new revelations, the Book of Mormon, and preparing the earth for the Second Coming. He authored many hymns in this and future publications .
• His printing office in Independence was raided and the type destroyed in anti-Mormon mob action in July 1833. He and his family were among those Saints persecuted and then hounded out of Jackson County later in the year.
• He frequently represented the Church in petitioning the state of Missouri and the United States government for redress of the Saints’ grievances.
• He was called in 1834 as one of the three Church presidents in Missouri. As such, he was invited to Kirtland, Ohio, to receive his “endowment from on high.”
• While in Kirtland, Phelps help print and write in the Church’s publications including The Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate, the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, and the first hymnbook. He was one of Joseph Smith’s chief scribes. Along with the other “presidents,” he helped govern the Church and set up the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in 1836. All four songs rendered in the dedication were of his composition.
• He helped lay out and found the city of Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri in 1837.
• During a contentious period among various Church leadership organizations in Missouri in 1838, Phelps was labeled a “dissident,” removed from leadership, and ultimately excommunicated. He testified against the illegal “Danite” activities in Missouri at a preliminary hearing in Richmond, Missouri, in 1839, that resulted in Joseph Smith and others being jailed and bound over for trial.
• 

  Joseph Smith

  Phelps asked for forgiveness from the Prophet in 1840 and labeled himself a “prodigal.” Joseph graciously invited Phelps back to the fold of Christ.

• In Nauvoo, Phelps helped write the official history, served in municipal government and publishing activities, and as Joseph Smith’s political scribe.
• He spoke at the funeral for Joseph and Hyrum Smith and then effectively supported the Twelve to succeed as leadership over the Saints.
• Phelps purchased another printing press in Boston that would be used in Utah. He served the Saints in their new mountain home as explorer, educator, surveyor, weather man, almanac editor, justice of the peace, speaker of the territorial legislature, and a “senior statesman” and writer. He passed away 7 March 1872.

William W. Phelps is held in honorable remembrance by his posterity and all Latter-day Saints who are heirs of his hymns and other vital contributions.

His childhood was not pleasant. He was tall and gangly, focused on his studies, and the victim of bullies until he took matters into his own hands and proved he could fight better than his tormentors.

Mormon Conversion

In 1830, Joseph Smith, Sr. and his son Don Carlos visited George’s family. They left behind a copy of the Book of Mormon, which George and his mother read. George did not believe in the book, having important questions about it, but he did defend it to neighbors who mocked it. When Joseph Smith, Sr. returned, George asked his questions, and Joseph Smith, Sr. satisfied George’s concerns. George then gained a testimony of the book and began to teach that it was authentic.

He wasn’t quite sure how to proceed at that point. He attended Congregational revivals, but chose not to be baptized, leading him to be labeled a reprobate by the minister. In 1832, he traveled to New York and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church. Mormon is an appropriate nickname for members, but not for the Church itself.

The following year, he and his parents moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where the Mormons were living at that time. He had the opportunity to be introduced to Joseph Smith, who was the first Mormon prophet as well as George’s cousin. In June, work on the Mormon temple began and George hauled the very first load of stone for it.

Mormon Leader

In 1834, George traveled with Zion’s Camp, a group of volunteers who walked more than 2,000 miles to try to stop mob violence in Missouri aimed at Mormons. From this group came most of Mormonism’s future early leaders, showing it had been an outstanding training ground for leadership and sacrifice.

In 1835, George became the junior member of the Quorum of the Seventy, who had responsibility for missionary work. He left on a mission to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York with his cousin, Lyman Smith. Over the next several years, he would continue to travel east as a missionary.

In 1838, he moved to Daviess County, Missouri, where he became a high counselor in the stake leadership. A stake is similar to a diocese and the high council is a group of twelve who assist the presidency of the stake. Late in the year, George moved to Illinois.

In 1839, he traveled to Far West, Missouri, where he became an apostle in the tradition of Biblical apostles, although he was only 21 years old at the time, replacing one of several excommunicated leaders. He then left on a mission to England. A number of leaders left at the same time and many of them faced challenges getting started. He and those with him upset their wagon in soft ground. Brigham Young was extremely ill, as were several others. However, they managed to set out on their journeys.

After returning from England in 1841, he married Bathsheba W. Bigler. He continued to travel on missions, and was attending conferences and preaching in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan in 1844. While on this journey, he learned Joseph Smith had been murdered by a mob. He returned to Nauvoo, as did other church leaders, in order to work on reorganization needs.

By the next year, it was clear the Mormons would have to leave Nauvoo, Illinois, for their own safety. George helped to make the preparations for the move. He departed with the first group of refugees, in the company that included Brigham Young, the new Mormon prophet. They crossed the Mississippi River and set up a temporary camp where later travelers could rest and prepare for the remainder of the journey.

Mormons Move to Utah

The day after his arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, George spoke at the worship service. He and his family began farming in Kanesville. However, in 1849, he was put in charge of helping the continuing flow of immigrants get from Council Bluffs to the Salt Lake Valley. He and his family traveled to Council Bluffs, and he helped to organize them into manageable groups and send them on their way. When the last group left, he and his family joined them. They traveled from July to October on a very difficult trip.

On his return, he was elected to the senate of the Provisional State of Deseret. Then a group of Mormons was asked to colonize a new area. George settled his family near Payson, Utah. He was appointed Chief Justice with the authority to organize the new settlement. He also became a school teacher.

In 1852, George moved to Utah County, where he was called to oversee Church affairs for the entire area. Two years later he was called as a member of the First Presidency, serving as a counselor to the prophet. In 1872, he traveled to Europe and Asia to do missionary work. He also rededicated Jerusalem for the return of the Jews. He dedicated much of his time back in Utah building the St. George Temple. The city of St. George, Utah, was named for him.

He died in 1875 in his home.

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.

Parley became a Baptist when he was eighteen, although not fully satisfied as to their truthfulness. He married Thankful Halsey on September 9, 1827, and they settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Parley heard Sydney Rigdon speak soon after his marriage and joined his congregation. (Rigdon later became a Mormon apostle, but at that time he was a preacher for a group called the Disciples or Campbellites.) Pratt was thrilled to hear someone actually teaching New Testament gospel, but still worried about the issue of authority. He saw in his own studies that the apostles had been given the authority to continue teaching after Jesus Christ died, and he felt there ought to be apostles with authority today. Despite his concerns, Pratt joined that movement and became a preacher.

Parley P. Pratt Conversion to Mormonism

In 1830 he was preaching in Ohio near Cleveland when he returned home to New York for a visit. There he heard about the Book of Mormon through a Baptist minister. He read part of it and was strongly moved.

I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep. As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists. My joy was now full, as it were, and I rejoiced sufficiently to more than pay me for all the sorrows, sacrifices and toils of my life.

He decided to travel to Manchester to meet Joseph Smith. There, he found Joseph’s brother, Hyrum Smith. On September 1, 1830, Parley went to Fayette with Hyrum to be baptized. He became an elder (priesthood holder) following his baptism and then returned home to teach his family about Mormonism. His brother Orson Pratt became a member of the Church.

Parley P. Pratt was called as one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on February 14, 1835. The twelve men of this quorum, which still exists today, are called to be special witness of Jesus Christ and to preach the gospel throughout the world.

Mormon Missionary

In October he accepted his first call to be a missionary. He was sent to the edge of Missouri to work with Native Americans. As he and his companions traveled there, they took opportunities to teach Mormonism to those they met. While in Kirtland, Ohio, they encountered Sydney Rigdon and shared the religion with him. Rigdon and many others in Rigdon’s congregation, including his wife, were converted. When the missionaries began their work with Native Americans, they taught and converted people in the Catteraugus tribe near Buffalo, the Wyandots in Ohio, and the Delaware, just outside of Missouri.

The following year he would serve several other missions, including one to the Shakers.

In June of 1831, Parley P. Pratt become one of the first High Priests at a church conference. Following this he and his brother traveled to another conference in Missouri, preaching as they traveled.

In 1833, Joseph Smith received a revelation that God was pleased with Parley P. Pratt and that he would continue to lead the school as long as he remained worthy. Shortly thereafter, he and the other Mormons were driven from their homes by mobs that burned their houses, killed their crops, and murdered many of the Church members. They settled across the river for a time.

Persecution of Mormons

In 1834, the Mormons pressured the governor to keep his promise to allow the Mormons to return to their homes and to defend themselves against attack. Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde approached him with this request, but the governor refused to honor his commitment to them and to religious freedom.

The following year, Parley P. Pratt would attain his highest office in the church. When the first group of apostles were named, he was ranked number seven by age. (Today apostles are ranked by length of time in office, but since the first group was called at the same time, they ranked by age.) As an apostle, he had a special calling to testify of Jesus Christ. He traveled to Canada in 1836 to establish several congregations and then went to New York to do the same. His first wife, Thankful, died a few hours after giving birth. Parley briefly lost faith in the church in all the turmoil of family and religious life, complicated by excessive persecutions, but quickly returned and requested forgiveness.

He moved to Caldwell County in 1838, but once again mobs attacked the Mormons. Governor Boggs had issued the infamous extermination order, making it legal to murder Mormons. The Mormons had not yet learned of it, but the mobs had. When the mob militia arrived, the Mormons attempted to negotiate peacefully with them, but the next day, Colonel Hinkle met with General Lucas and, without authorization, promised to deliver Joseph Smith and other church leaders to the mob and allowed church members to be driven from their homes and many to be murdered. The mobs destroyed property valued in the millions of dollars.

Pratt and other church leaders remained in jail for eight months while the Mormons escaped to Illinois. Parley P. Pratt wrote a book about Mormon persecutions while in prison. During the trials for these types of arrests, typically those coming to testify on behalf of the accused were arrested, leaving only people testifying against them and generally chosen from the mobs that placed them in jail. The men were able to escape after a change of venue. Pratt had escaped once before, alone, but returned when he realized it might endanger the other prisoners. One person in the group was re-arrested, but released when it was acknowledged there were no actual charges against any of the men.

In 1840, Parley P. Pratt served a mission in England and began publishing a Mormon newspaper called the Millennial Star. The following year, he was appointed president over all the British conferences. In 1845, he was appointed head of the conferences of the Middle States and New England. Headquartered in New York, he published The Prophet, a periodical.

He returned home to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846, but following the murder of Joseph Smith, the Mormons were forced to leave Illinois. Pratt left ten days after the first group. A month after the arduous journey to Utah ended, Pratt and several other men were sent to England. The two men who oversaw that area of the church had been disfellowshipped (loss of full membership privileges) for misconduct regarding church funds.

When they returned home early the next year, they came to Winter Quarters to meet with Brigham Young and to report on events in England. They were asked to take charge of Winter Quarters and to lead them to Utah, which they did.

Leading in Utah

A provisional government was established in Utah and Parley P. Pratt helped to create the constitution. When Utah was accepted as a United States territory, he was elected to the legislative council. In the following years, he would serve several more missions and also enter into the practice of polygamy. He wrote many tracts, articles, and books, the best-known of which is Key to the Science of Theology.

Parley also worked with George D. Watt in the 1850s to develop the Deseret Alphabet, which worked phonetically and was intended to help many immigrants and converts from different countries to learn English more easily so everyone could communicate more effectively.

In 1856, Parley was called to serve a mission to the eastern States. Parley sensed his approaching death. He wrote home, “I long to do my duty while here and then go to rest in the paradise of God.” Indeed, Parley stated, “I neither dread nor fear death, but I anticipate changing worlds with joy inexhaustible.” On May 13, 1857, shortly after his 50th birthday, Parley was murdered outside the small town of Van Buren, Arkansas, by Hector McLean, former husband of a wife Parley took in a polygamous marriage. Hector was a man who abused both alcohol and his wife. She left him and eventually married Parley in Utah.

McLean felt Parley had stolen his wife and children (rather than recognizing his own abusive nature had driven them away) and pursued him across the country. Parley was arrested for the alleged crime and was found not guilty by a judge who then released him in secret, realizing Parley’s life was in danger.

With two friends on McLean’s side, they tracked Parley down. Parley was shot him six times and stabbed twice, being left to bleed to death. As he lay dying, Parley testified to those who had come to help: “I die a firm believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. … I know that the Gospel is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God, I am dying a martyr to the faith.”

Sources:

This article is adapted from Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007, with additional information from Matthew J. Grow, “The Extraordinary Life of Parley P. Pratt,” Ensign, April 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.

Orson Pratt was born on September 19, 1811, in Hartford, New York, to Jared Pratt and Charity Dickenson. He lived in New Lebanon, Columbia City, New York, from 1814–1822. While there, he attended school in the winter, studying arithmetic and bookkeeping. During the summers, he farmed. In his free time, he studied the Bible.

While attending a boarding school from 1829 to 1830, he took classes in geography, grammar, and surveying. In 1830, he first learned about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes nicknamed Mormons.

His brother Parley P. Pratt became a Mormon and, while Orson was living in Canaan, New York, Parley and another man arrived on a mission trip. They taught the gospel to Orson, who believed their teachings. He agreed to be baptized and this was done on his nineteenth birthday in 1830.

Orson decided to travel to Fayette, New York, to meet Joseph Smith personally, a journey of 200 miles. Joseph received a revelation concerning Orson, which is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 34. He became an elder (a level of lay priesthood) one month later and left to serve his first voluntary, unpaid mission. He felt insecure about this first mission call, believing his testimony was not yet strong enough, but he accepted God’s command and served. He believed this led to the powerful testimony he received in time. Over the next few years, he would travel extensively as a missionary, serving in Missouri, various eastern states, and then to Kirtland, Ohio, where he boarded at Joseph Smith’s home and attended the School of the Prophets, an adult education program run by the Church.

Called as an Apostle of Jesus Christ

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was organized in 1835 and he was called to the quorum. Although today apostles are ranked by time in service, since all of the first twelve were called at the same time, they were organized by age. This placed him tenth in seniority. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve are called to be special witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ and to preach the gospel throughout the world.

In 1836, Orson began teaching school and also took up the study of Hebrew with many other Mormons, including Joseph Smith. He then served a mission in Canada and when he returned home he married Sarah M. Bates. He had baptized her a year before their marriage. Following his marriage, he embarked on a study of algebra, demonstrating a life-long habit of continuing education.

A year or so following his marriage, Orson Pratt moved to New York. However, despite the fact that the Mormons had fled Far West, Missouri, due to intense persecution, he returned there in 1839. A prophecy had been given that apostles would leave from the cornerstone of the temple there (laid their by Saints before being forced to leave) for foreign missions, and he desired to fulfill the prophecy. In July, he helped arrange his brother Parley’s release from prison, where he was being held for being Mormon.

Orson departed for a mission to England and Scotland in 1840 and there wrote the first of many pamphlets teaching the gospel. This pamphlet marked the first time Joseph Smith’s first vision at age fourteen was put into print. It also contained other details about the way the Book of Mormon was obtained that had not yet been recorded.

Struggles with Faith

When he returned home, Orson began to have doubts about Joseph Smith. He requested his name be removed from the church until he could decide whether or not he still had a testimony. During this time an apostate member sent a letter to Sydney Ridgon and asked that it be shown to Orson Pratt. It involved communications with someone who was involved in a false arrest of Joseph Smith. Orson took the letter to Joseph Smith himself, wanting to let him know he was not involved in any way with this plot. Five months later, his testimony was restored and Joseph Smith accepted his request for reinstatement, both as a church member and an apostle.

Orson Pratt traveled to Washington, D.C. to present a petition requesting protection for citizens of any faith traveling to California and Oregon. He then remained in the east, preaching, and was there when word reached him that Joseph Smith had been murdered.

He returned to Nauvoo upon receiving the message. When the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo, Orson joined them in the trek to Utah. He and Wilford Woodruff were asked, through inspiration, to organize one of the companies that would make the journey, which they did. Pratt was, by this time, noted as a scientist. He made certain that each day of the journey someone recorded the temperature and altitude.

Orson Pratt was in the first group to reach the Salt Lake Valley, four days ahead of Brigham Young, who now led the church.

Orson Pratt and Education

Orson Pratt gave a series of lectures on astronomy in Utah which attracted large audiences. They were later transcribed and published in the local newspaper. Pratt also entered politics and served in the legislative assembly, being elected Speaker of the House seven times.In 1848, Orson traveled to England as a missionary. He wrote at least fifteen new pamphlets while there and also edited a successful newspaper that helped to teach about Mormonism.

From 1853 to 1881 he continued to serve missions outside the country and to write new pamphlets. He became the historian and recorder for the church.

He undertook two unusual assignments as he translated the Book of Mormon into the phonetic “Deseret Alphabet” and later into the Pittman Phonetic alphabet. He also made significant changes to the format of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, two books of Mormon scriptures used with the Bible. He divided them into verses with footnotes and references for easier study and classroom use.

Pratt helped to prepare the 1849 edition of the Book of Mormon, but his work as editor of the 1879 edition is considered his greatest work. The changes to that edition were extensive, including smaller chapters, division of longer books into shorter ones, numbering the footnotes, and adding study notes.

Orson Pratt died in 1881, the last of the original apostles. He died with a  reputation for being a great mathematician.

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.

He was initially a reluctant missionary. His mother wanted him to serve, but he didn’t really want to go. In those days, it was easier to find yourself on a mission than it is today. His mother asked him to meet with the prophet about it and he showed up dirty and wearing visible guns and knives on his cowboy clothes. He was sure he’d get sent away, since he looked as unmissionary-like as he could manage. However, he discovered his mother had written ahead and the prophet said that he had known Golden’s father and was sure the son would be as skilled at missionary work as the father had been.

It turned out the prophet was right. Golden was sent deep into the south, where they still killed missionaries and anyone else they didn’t like. He opened his eyes after a prayer once to find himself surrounded by men with guns. Another time a mob tried to disrupt a baptism, but Golden quickly led the Mormons in a hymn that seemed to mesmerize the mob. One even asked him to return later to sing the song again and was eventually converted.

He once told an audience, “His testimony grew as he became more familiar with the workings of the Holy Ghost. “I often wonder when you do have the Spirit of God. I used to think I had it in the Southern States, when I became excited and sensational, and my face was red, and the cords of my neck were swollen—I thought then, in my ignorance, that it was the Holy Ghost. I have learned since that the Spirit of God gives you joy and peace and patience and long-suffering and gentleness, and you have the spirit of forgiveness and you love the souls of the children of men” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1918, p. 29).

Read about one of J. Golden Kimball’s more non-traditional ways of handling problems that arose in church:

Living History: Mormon ‘apostle’ shoots mouth off, gun carriers shut up

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.

Ezra T. Benson is the grandfather of Ezra Taft Benson, a past prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is frequently misnamed the Mormon Church) who was also Secretary of Agriculture in the 1950s. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often referred to as Mormons.

Ezra T. Benson was born in 1811 in Massachusetts. When his grandfather died, his grandmother asked him to take over the farm, which he did until he married. In 1832, he left the farm and bought out his brother-in-law’s hotel. He was successful at this, as he had been as a farmer. He and his brother-in-law also invested in a cotton mill. Through circumstances beyond his control, the mill was not as successful as his other ventures had been, and in time, having lost money on the mill, he bought another hotel and also became the postmaster.

Ezra was restless and wanted to move west. After a number of moves, he found himself in Illinois, where he and another man laid out a new town they named Pike. He still felt restless and somehow knew these places were not meant to be his settling place. Next, he felt impressed to move to Quincy, Illinois, and there he met some Mormons. He was interested in their history of persecution. He listened to some of their sermons and talked to Mormons he met. He boarded with a Mormon family. In every case, he found them to be good people.

In 1840, he attended a debate held between the Mormons and an anti-Mormon speaker. Joseph Smith attended the debate and the Mormons came out victorious. Now convinced they were Christians who believed in the Bible, Ezra and his wife began attending Latter-day Saint church meetings, still largely just curious. His wife gained a testimony first, and the possibility that he might follow her lead worried his friends, who began pressuring him to join another religion quickly. However, a visit to the town by Orson Hyde and John Page convinced him the “Mormon Church” was true and he and his wife were soon baptized.

Benson moved to Nauvoo in 1841, where the Mormons were gathered, and began a lifetime of church leadership and service. He served as a counselor in the stake presidency prior to his move. (A stake is similar to a Catholic diocese and a counselor assists the president of the stake in leading it.) After moving to Nauvoo, he served two missions for the Church, ending the second when he learned of Joseph Smith’s murder. During another mission to Boston, where he led the Mormons there, Ezra was advised to bring as many converts as possible to Nauvoo, which he did. He then helped to build and guard the Nauvoo Temple.

When the Mormons began to leave Nauvoo, Ezra and his family left with the first group. At Mount Pisgah, he learned that John C. Page, who had been instrumental in his conversion, had been excommunicated and that he, Benson, was to replace him as an apostle. He then moved to Council Bluffs to receive that ordination, and followed up by serving one additional mission before heading toward Utah with the pioneers.

Ezra traveled to Utah with Brigham Young, but made several trips back and forth to check on other pioneers and to offer assistance as needed. He traveled east on missions, and on one, became so seriously ill those with him thought he would die. His life was saved by prayer from other members and by healing blessings from the Mormon priesthood.

In 1856, he was given the opportunity to travel to Europe, where he led the British mission for a time. He also served in the Sandwich Islands in 1864, where he and his traveling companions were saved from drowning after their boat capsized. After this time, his remaining missionary work was done in Utah. He died while caring for a horse in 1869.

Sources:

Ezra T. Benson, General Authority

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

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Sidney Rigdon was an early leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often misnamed the “Mormon Church”). He was born in 1793 in Pennsylvania. When he was seventeen, his father died. His mother died when he was twenty-six, but the year prior to that, Sidney became a Baptist and left home to become a preacher. Six years later, in 1824, Sidney Rigdon, Alexander Campbell, and Walter Scott left the Baptist church over the issues of what happened to infants who died without baptism and began meeting together to discuss religion. They were known as Campbellites, although they called themselves Disciples. Sidney Rigdon continued his work as a preacher, but focused on faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost, rather than promoting the doctrines of a specific religion.

In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized and its members were largely known as “Mormons.” One Mormon leader, Parley P. Pratt, had known Rigdon previously, because Pratt had been a missionary for the Campbellites in the past. During a mission trip to the Native Americans, Pratt and his companions visited with Sidney Rigdon and received permission to give a sermon in Rigdon’s church. The sermon had a strong impact on the preacher, and Rigdon and his wife began to pray to know whether or not the Mormons had the truth. They also began to study the new religion. Two weeks after the sermon, the Rigdons were baptized along with more than 100 members of Rigdon’s congregation. The group was formed into a new Mormon congregation and Rigdon was quickly called to the ministry.

In December of that year, Sydney Rigdon was commanded by revelation to become a scribe for Joseph Smith, who had minimal education and used scribes while translating manuscripts. He worked with Joseph on a translation of the Bible that was never completed due to the assassination of Joseph Smith.

Sidney Rigdon was among the first group of men to be ordained as high priests, which made them lay priests and did not correlate to modern views of a professional minister. He served several missions for the church, being called to preach to the Quakers and along the route to several church conferences. He also undertook several journeys to counter false information being distributed by Ezra Booth, a former member of the church. Booth had been upset because the church, which was new and had little money, did not pay for his mission and because he did not experience a continual stream of miracles, which he felt was a required aspect of a true church. He was upset that Joseph Smith played with children (behavior he found not fitting for a prophet of God) and that his own missionary work did not result in a prophecy that he seems to have thought applied to him. Eventually, he began writing letters to newspapers that contained incorrect or slanted information. These letters led to the persecution and even the death of some Saints.

Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw a vision that contained important elements of Mormon belief. It taught them about the Plan of Salvation, the resurrection of the Dead, and the structure of Heaven. They also saw Jesus Christ and God.

In March of that same year, Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith were both dragged from their homes by mobs, leaving Rigdon delirious for a number of days and resulting in the death of one of Joseph Smith’s children who was exposed to the cold when Joseph was taken.

Sidney Rigdon became the First Counselor to the prophet. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is organized with a prophet at the head, who is also the president, serving under Jesus Christ as the Lord’s representative on earth, just as ancient prophets did. The prophet is assisted by two counselors and the three men together are called the First Presidency. They lead the church, assisted by the apostles. When the prophet dies, the First Presidency dissolves, the most senior member of the apostles is sustained as the new president, and he selects his own counselors.

However, Rigdon apparently had problems maintaining his role as a counselor. He had, several times in the past, been chastised for behavior and attention to his role. After a mission trip with the prophet, Joseph Smith said that Sidney tended towards selfishness, which diminished his effectiveness as a leader.

In 1834, Rigdon also became a trustee and conductor of the school the church ran during the winter. In 1838, he and Joseph Smith were forced to flee Kirtland, Ohio, where the Mormons were living, and moved to Missouri.

During this time, Joseph seems to have been fairly quiet, with Rigdon giving most of the sermons and others taking on more leadership—leadership that was more militant than Joseph’s own style.

In Missouri, Joseph Smith received a revelation to begin the building of a temple, but to avoid any further debt for the project. A cornerstone was laid for the temple and Sidney Rigdon was the speaker. Unfortunately, he gave a speech that was so filled with anger against the anti-Mormons that people who were not Mormon became upset.

Tempers rose to the point that mobs threatened the Saints, and negotiations between a government colonel and the mob led to Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and other leaders being handed over to the mob to avoid violence against the Saints. Sidney Rigdon spent November through the following February in jail to satisfy a mob. He was angry with the government when he was released and wanted justice for his illegal imprisonment. In Illinois, he devised a plan to impeach Missouri for violation of freedom of religion and obtained the support of two governors—from Illinois and Iowa. However, the plan withered. Joseph Smith, with others, drafted an appeal to the federal government to recognize their abuse and appointed Rigdon to deliver it. However, Rigdon was losing interest in the project and did not go. Eventually, he was asked again to go, and two other men accompanied him. He became ill on the journey and did not complete it.

By 1834, Sidney Rigdon’s enthusiasm for the church and its trials was waning. In the next General Conference, Joseph Smith expressed a preference for Rigdon to be released, but Joseph’s brother Hyrum, ever the optimistic peacemaker, spoke up for Rigdon and Joseph agreed to keep him on as First Counselor.

As persecution against the Saints increased and the federal government refused to step in and protect their constitutional right to free practice of religion, Joseph Smith began to contemplate a run for president. He understood those who voted in his favor might be throwing away votes, but did not want to vote for someone who would use that vote to further the persecution against the Saints. Although it was a gesture, he received a nomination for president, with Sidney Rigdon as vice-president. Whether or not he thought he could win, he saw it as an opportunity to present the issue of freedom of religion to the public. Their platform did not fit into either party, marking him as an independent. He also ran on an anti-slavery platform, which increased the persecution by pro-slavery advocates, but he had long supported the freedom and education of slaves, stating that doing so would make them the same as white people.

Soon after Rigdon was nominated vice-president, he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was there when Joseph Smith was murdered. At that time, because there was no explicit succession plan in place, many people tried to take over the role of prophet and president, including Rigdon. As the First Counselor, he announced in a meeting held on the eighth he was the Guardian of the Church now that Joseph was gone. However, that afternoon another meeting was held. As Brigham Young stood and began to speak, people saw the face and heard the voice of Joseph Smith transposed on Young. This transfiguration confirmed to the membership that God had chosen Brigham Young, who was the president of the apostles. Today, the most senior member of the apostles becomes the new president of the church upon the death of the previous president.

Many refused to accept the decision the people made to follow what they believed was God’s will, however. Rigdon was angry and refused to sustain the apostles, which led to his excommunication. He then claimed the Spirit had been missing from the church for a long time. He returned to Pittsburgh and organized his own short-lived church. He died in 1876.

This article was adapted from: Price, Lynn F. 1997. Every person in the Doctrine and Covenants. Bountiful, Utah: Horizon.

With additional information from: Bushman, Richard L., and Jed Woodworth. 2005. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

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