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Birthplaces of Church Leaders (1830-1840)

S. Kent Brown

The early Latter-day Saint movement centered chiefly in New York and Ohio, and initial missionary activity focused on the northeastern United States. Consequently, most early Mormon leaders resided in this region. Moreover, when they heard the missionaries' message, many lived no farther than a few hundred miles from their places of birth.

The Prophet Joseph Smith was born December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, the third son of Joseph Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack. Emma Hale, wife of the Prophet, was born July 10, 1804, in Harmony (now Oakland), Pennsylvania, the seventh of nine children of Isaac and Elizabeth Lewis Hale. She and Joseph married January 18, 1827.

The Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon became prominent in ecclesiastical affairs at an early date. In June 1829 they received a divine charge to choose twelve apostles, a task finally completed on February 14, 1835. Of the Three Witnesses, Martin Harris was the first to have contact with Joseph Smith--in Palmyra, New York, where the Smith family had moved in 1816. Harris was born May 18, 1783, in Easton, New York. Oliver Cowdery, another of the witnesses, met Joseph Smith on April 5, 1829, and became the chief scribe for the Book of Mormon. Cowdery was born in Wells, Vermont, on October 3, 1806. The last, David Whitmer, came to know the Prophet when he and Oliver Cowdery moved to the Whitmer farm in Fayette, New York, to finish translating the Book of Mormon (June 1829). Whitmer was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1805.

The initial First Presidency of the Church was organized in March 1832. It included Joseph Smith as president, and Sidney Rigdon and Jesse Gause as counselors. After the excommunication of Gause later that year, Frederick G. Williams was selected as second counselor. Rigdon was born February 19, 1793, in St. Clair Township, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In August 1844, following the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, Rigdon tried to convince church members to select him as guardian of the Church, holding the slain Joseph Smith as the only Prophet. While little is known about Gause's birth, it is certain that he was born to William and Mary Beverly Gause about 1785 in Pennsylvania. Williams was born October 28, 1787, in Suffield, Connecticut. He turned against the Prophet and the Church in 1838 during the period of rising tensions in Missouri.

The original Quorum of Twelve Apostles was organized February 14, 1835, in Kirtland, Ohio. The quorum's first president was Thomas B. Marsh, who was born in Acton, Massachusetts, on November 1, 1799 (some sources say 1800). He apostatized from the Church in 1839, but rejoined in 1857. The second member of the quorum was David W. Patten, born November 14, 1799, in Theresa, New York. He was killed at the Battle of Crooked River in a clash with Missouri settlers on October 25, 1838. Brigham Young followed David Patten in seniority, and was the senior apostle when Joseph Smith was killed on June 27, 1844. Young was born on June 1, 1801, at Whitingham, Vermont.