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George Reynolds (Mormon)
Encyclopedia
George Reynolds was a general authority
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a longtime secretary to the First Presidency
of the LDS Church, and a party to the 1878 United States Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States
, the first freedom of religion
case to issue from that court.
, England
to George Reynolds and Julia Ann Tautz. He spent much of his childhood under the care of his maternal grandmother. His grandmother employed a maid, Sarah White, who invited nine year old Reynolds to attend a meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her. Reynolds received permission from his grandmother to do so; Reynolds attended a sacrament meeting
of the Paddington
Branch of the Church with White, and almost immediately decided that he wished to become a member of the LDS Church.
However, Reynolds's parents refused to allow him to be baptized
a member of the church. Often, he would evade his parents' wishes and attend the Sunday meetings in Paddington. When Reynolds was 14 years old, he attended the Somers Town
Branch of the church, where he was unknown, and asked to be received into the church by baptism. Not knowing that Reynolds' parents had forbidden the action, the president of the branch
, George Teasdale
, baptized him on May 4, 1856; Reynolds was confirmed a member of the Church by Teasdale on May 11, 1856.
In December 1856, Reynolds was given the Aaronic priesthood and ordained to the office of deacon. In this capacity, he was responsible for opening the doors to the Sunday meetinghouse for the Somers Town Branch and organizing the seating in preparation for sacrament meeting. In May 1857, at the age of 15, Reynolds was ordained to the office of Priest. In this calling, Reynolds engaged in open-air preaching
in the streets of London
, usually with an adult Elder of the church. After Reynolds began street preaching, his parents discovered that he had become a "Mormon
".
In August 1860, Reynolds was given the Melchizedek priesthood and ordained to the office of elder. In May 1861, he was called to be a full-time missionary
of the church in London
. In 1863, Reynolds was reassigned as a missionary to the Liverpool
area to work as a clerk for church Apostle and mission president
George Q. Cannon
. When Cannon returned to the United States
later that year, Reynolds retained his position as a clerk under the new mission president, Apostle and member of the First Presidency
Daniel H. Wells
. As mission clerk, one of Reynolds's primary responsibility was organizing and coordinating the church's efforts to assist European Latter-day Saints in emigrating to Utah Territory
, where the headquarters of the church were located. While acting as mission clerk, Reynolds was asked to serve as the branch president
of the Liverpool Branch of the church.
. He traveled to Salt Lake City with fellow elders of the church William S. Godbe
and William H. Sherman, arriving on July 5, 1865. On July 22, 1865, mere weeks after his arrival in Utah, Reynolds married his first wife, Mary Ann Tuddenham. Soon afterwards, LDS Church President Brigham Young
hired Reynolds as secretary to the First Presidency
of the church. Reynolds was ordained to the priesthood office of Seventy by Israel Barlow on March 18, 1866.
In February 1869, Reynolds was elected by the legislature of the Utah Territory
to be a member of the board of regency of the University of Deseret, which was later renamed the University of Utah
. Reynolds was re-elected to this position by the legislature a number of times.
In May 1871, Brigham Young
asked Reynolds to return to England
to assist Apostle Albert Carrington
in the publication of the Millennial Star
, a church magazine for British
Latter-day Saints. Reynolds did so, and in September of that year Carrington was required to return to the United States
, leaving Reynolds as the de facto mission president
of the church's European Mission. However, Reynolds was suffering from ill health due to a severe case of smallpox
, and when Carrington returned in May 1872, Reynolds was sent home to recover.
Like many early Latter-day Saints, Reynolds practiced the religious principle of plural marriage
. On August 3, 1874, Reynolds married his second wife, Amelia Jane Schofield. At this time, Brigham Young
continued to employ Reynolds as the secretary to the First Presidency
and also appointed him to be the manager of the Salt Lake Theatre. In 1875, Reynolds was elected as a member of the Salt Lake City Council.
in violation an 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
. Confident that the law would be declared to be an unconstitutional violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
to the United States Constitution
, the leaders of the church agreed to furnish a defendant for a test case. Brigham Young
asked Reynolds if he would be willing to serve as the test defendant. Reynolds agreed and was indicted for bigamy by a grand jury on October 23, 1874.
Because it was a test case that the church wished to pursue before the United States Supreme Court, Reynolds completely cooperated with investigators and the trial court, supplying the witnesses and testimony that proved he was married to two women at the same time. Reynolds was found guilty by a jury on April 1, 1875, and was sentenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine of three hundred dollars. On appeal, the indictment was overturned by the Utah Territory's Supreme Court
because the grand jury had not been empanelled in compliance with the Poland Act
. Thus, for the test case to proceed, Reynolds had to be reindicted and retried.
On October 30, 1875, Reynolds was indicted a second time; he was found guilty of bigamy by a jury on December 9 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment at hard labor and a fine of five hundred dollars. On June 13, 1876, the Utah Supreme Court
upheld the conviction. The stage was set for the case to be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States
.
. The court rejected Reynolds's argument that the Latter-day Saint practice of plural marriage
was protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
to the Constitution
. Thus, Reynolds's conviction was upheld, as was the constitutionality of the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
. (The court did rule that the hard labor clause of Reynolds's sentence was not permitted by law; as a result, this clause of Reynolds's sentence was lifted.)
State Penitentiary in Lincoln
, where he became U.S. Prisoner Number 14 and was appointed to be the bookkeeper in the knitting department. Reynolds only remained in the Nebraska penitentiary for twenty-five days, after which he was transferred to the Utah Territory Penitentiary, where regulations were more primitive and vermin more abundant. Reynolds reported that the prisoners were not permitted to have a fire for fear that the prison would burn down; as a result, on many winter mornings he would awake and his beard would be one solid mass of ice. Reynolds was released from prison on January 20, 1881, having served his full sentence, less 5 months for good behavior.
of the church; he also became an active organizer within the church's Sunday School program, acting as the editor of and writing many articles for the Juvenile Instructor
, the LDS Sunday School's official publication. On April 25, 1885, Reynolds married his third and final wife, Mary Goold.
In 1890, Church President Wilford Woodruff
asked Reynolds to become one of the seven members of the First Council of Seventy, a calling in the church hierarchy that ranked just below the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Reynolds agreed, and on April 10 Reynolds was set apart
to this position by Lorenzo Snow
, who was then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
. Reynolds continued in this position and as the secretary to the First Presidency until his death in 1909.
Reynolds was a gifted writer and after his release from prison he became active in writing church literature. His most famous works are his Story of the Book of Mormon (1888); Complete Concordance to the Book of Mormon (1900); and Dictionary of the Book of Mormon (1910).
Reynolds suffered a nervous breakdown in 1907 as a result of stress incident from overwork. He died from meningitis
at Salt Lake City at the age of 67. Reynolds had a total of three wives and thirty-two children.
General authority
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church...
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a longtime secretary to the First Presidency
First Presidency (LDS Church)
The First Presidency is the presiding or governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is composed of the President of the Church and his counselors. The First Presidency currently consists of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors, Henry B...
of the LDS Church, and a party to the 1878 United States Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States, , was a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that religious duty was not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment...
, the first freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
case to issue from that court.
Early life
Reynolds was born in MaryleboneMarylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to George Reynolds and Julia Ann Tautz. He spent much of his childhood under the care of his maternal grandmother. His grandmother employed a maid, Sarah White, who invited nine year old Reynolds to attend a meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her. Reynolds received permission from his grandmother to do so; Reynolds attended a sacrament meeting
Sacrament meeting
Sacrament meeting is the weekly worship service held on Sunday in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .Sacrament meetings are held in individual wards or branches in the chapel of the meetinghouse. The bishop or branch president of the ward or branch presides, unless a higher authority...
of the Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
Branch of the Church with White, and almost immediately decided that he wished to become a member of the LDS Church.
However, Reynolds's parents refused to allow him to be baptized
Baptism (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, baptism is recognized as the first of several ordinances of the gospel.-Overview:Much of the theology of Mormon baptism was established during the early Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr...
a member of the church. Often, he would evade his parents' wishes and attend the Sunday meetings in Paddington. When Reynolds was 14 years old, he attended the Somers Town
Somers Town, London
Somers Town, was named for Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers. The area in St Pancras, London, was originally granted by William III to John Somers, Lord Chancellor and Baron Somers of Evesham. It was to be strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston , St...
Branch of the church, where he was unknown, and asked to be received into the church by baptism. Not knowing that Reynolds' parents had forbidden the action, the president of the branch
Branch President
A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, the branch president presides over a branch...
, George Teasdale
George Teasdale
George Teasdale born in London, England, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
, baptized him on May 4, 1856; Reynolds was confirmed a member of the Church by Teasdale on May 11, 1856.
In December 1856, Reynolds was given the Aaronic priesthood and ordained to the office of deacon. In this capacity, he was responsible for opening the doors to the Sunday meetinghouse for the Somers Town Branch and organizing the seating in preparation for sacrament meeting. In May 1857, at the age of 15, Reynolds was ordained to the office of Priest. In this calling, Reynolds engaged in open-air preaching
Open-air preaching
Open-air preaching, street preaching or public preaching is the act of publicly proclaiming a religious message to crowds of people in open places...
in the streets of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, usually with an adult Elder of the church. After Reynolds began street preaching, his parents discovered that he had become a "Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
".
In August 1860, Reynolds was given the Melchizedek priesthood and ordained to the office of elder. In May 1861, he was called to be a full-time missionary
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
of the church in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1863, Reynolds was reassigned as a missionary to the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
area to work as a clerk for church Apostle and mission president
Mission president
Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...
George Q. Cannon
George Q. Cannon
George Quayle Cannon was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and served in the First Presidency under four successive presidents of the church: Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow...
. When Cannon returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
later that year, Reynolds retained his position as a clerk under the new mission president, Apostle and member of the First Presidency
First Presidency (LDS Church)
The First Presidency is the presiding or governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is composed of the President of the Church and his counselors. The First Presidency currently consists of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors, Henry B...
Daniel H. Wells
Daniel H. Wells
Daniel Hanmer Wells was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the third mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States....
. As mission clerk, one of Reynolds's primary responsibility was organizing and coordinating the church's efforts to assist European Latter-day Saints in emigrating to Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, where the headquarters of the church were located. While acting as mission clerk, Reynolds was asked to serve as the branch president
Branch President
A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, the branch president presides over a branch...
of the Liverpool Branch of the church.
Life in America
In May 1865, Reynolds was released as a missionary and invited to emigrate to UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. He traveled to Salt Lake City with fellow elders of the church William S. Godbe
William S. Godbe
William Samuel Godbe was a British convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
and William H. Sherman, arriving on July 5, 1865. On July 22, 1865, mere weeks after his arrival in Utah, Reynolds married his first wife, Mary Ann Tuddenham. Soon afterwards, LDS Church President Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
hired Reynolds as secretary to the First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...
of the church. Reynolds was ordained to the priesthood office of Seventy by Israel Barlow on March 18, 1866.
In February 1869, Reynolds was elected by the legislature of the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
to be a member of the board of regency of the University of Deseret, which was later renamed the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
. Reynolds was re-elected to this position by the legislature a number of times.
In May 1871, Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
asked Reynolds to return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to assist Apostle Albert Carrington
Albert Carrington
Albert Carrington born in Royalton, Vermont, was an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was ordained as an apostle on July 3, 1870.Carrington served in the Utah Territorial Legislature in 1869...
in the publication of the Millennial Star
Millennial Star
The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star was the longest continuously published periodical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, being printed from 1840 until 1970....
, a church magazine for British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
Latter-day Saints. Reynolds did so, and in September of that year Carrington was required to return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, leaving Reynolds as the de facto mission president
Mission president
Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...
of the church's European Mission. However, Reynolds was suffering from ill health due to a severe case of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, and when Carrington returned in May 1872, Reynolds was sent home to recover.
Like many early Latter-day Saints, Reynolds practiced the religious principle of plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
. On August 3, 1874, Reynolds married his second wife, Amelia Jane Schofield. At this time, Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
continued to employ Reynolds as the secretary to the First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...
and also appointed him to be the manager of the Salt Lake Theatre. In 1875, Reynolds was elected as a member of the Salt Lake City Council.
Party to polygamy test case
In 1874, strong efforts were being made to prosecute Latter-day Saints who practiced polygamyPolygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
in violation an 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
. Confident that the law would be declared to be an unconstitutional violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
The Free Exercise Clause is the accompanying clause with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause together read:...
to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, the leaders of the church agreed to furnish a defendant for a test case. Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
asked Reynolds if he would be willing to serve as the test defendant. Reynolds agreed and was indicted for bigamy by a grand jury on October 23, 1874.
Because it was a test case that the church wished to pursue before the United States Supreme Court, Reynolds completely cooperated with investigators and the trial court, supplying the witnesses and testimony that proved he was married to two women at the same time. Reynolds was found guilty by a jury on April 1, 1875, and was sentenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine of three hundred dollars. On appeal, the indictment was overturned by the Utah Territory's Supreme Court
Utah Supreme Court
The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, USA. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice, and three justices. All justices are appointed by the governor...
because the grand jury had not been empanelled in compliance with the Poland Act
Poland Act
The Poland Act of 1874 was an act of the United States Congress which sought to facilitate prosecutions under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act by eliminating the control members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exerted over the justice system of Utah Territory. Sponsored by Senator...
. Thus, for the test case to proceed, Reynolds had to be reindicted and retried.
On October 30, 1875, Reynolds was indicted a second time; he was found guilty of bigamy by a jury on December 9 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment at hard labor and a fine of five hundred dollars. On June 13, 1876, the Utah Supreme Court
Utah Supreme Court
The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, USA. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice, and three justices. All justices are appointed by the governor...
upheld the conviction. The stage was set for the case to be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
.
Reynolds v. United States
Arguments were heard in Reynolds's case before the Supreme Court on November 14, 1878. On January 6, 1879, the Court issued its unanimous decision for Reynolds v. United StatesReynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States, , was a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that religious duty was not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment...
. The court rejected Reynolds's argument that the Latter-day Saint practice of plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
was protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment
The Free Exercise Clause is the accompanying clause with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause together read:...
to the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. Thus, Reynolds's conviction was upheld, as was the constitutionality of the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
. (The court did rule that the hard labor clause of Reynolds's sentence was not permitted by law; as a result, this clause of Reynolds's sentence was lifted.)
Imprisonment
Reynolds had been imprisoned in Utah since his second conviction was confirmed by the Utah Supreme Court in June 1876. After his failed appeal to the Supreme Court, Reynolds was transferred from a jail in Utah to the NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
State Penitentiary in Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
, where he became U.S. Prisoner Number 14 and was appointed to be the bookkeeper in the knitting department. Reynolds only remained in the Nebraska penitentiary for twenty-five days, after which he was transferred to the Utah Territory Penitentiary, where regulations were more primitive and vermin more abundant. Reynolds reported that the prisoners were not permitted to have a fire for fear that the prison would burn down; as a result, on many winter mornings he would awake and his beard would be one solid mass of ice. Reynolds was released from prison on January 20, 1881, having served his full sentence, less 5 months for good behavior.
Life after release from prison
Upon his release from prison, Reynolds resumed his position as secretary to the First PresidencyFirst Presidency (LDS Church)
The First Presidency is the presiding or governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is composed of the President of the Church and his counselors. The First Presidency currently consists of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors, Henry B...
of the church; he also became an active organizer within the church's Sunday School program, acting as the editor of and writing many articles for the Juvenile Instructor
Juvenile Instructor
The Juvenile Instructor was an official periodical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1901 and 1930. It was first published in 1866 as a private publication...
, the LDS Sunday School's official publication. On April 25, 1885, Reynolds married his third and final wife, Mary Goold.
In 1890, Church President Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
asked Reynolds to become one of the seven members of the First Council of Seventy, a calling in the church hierarchy that ranked just below the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Reynolds agreed, and on April 10 Reynolds was set apart
Setting apart
Setting apart is an ordinance or ritual in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whereby a person is formally chosen and blessed to carry out a specific calling or responsibility in the church....
to this position by Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow was the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1898 to his death. Snow was the last president of the LDS Church in the nineteenth century.-Family:...
, who was then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is a priesthood calling in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In general, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve is the most senior Apostle in the church, aside from the President of the Church...
. Reynolds continued in this position and as the secretary to the First Presidency until his death in 1909.
Reynolds was a gifted writer and after his release from prison he became active in writing church literature. His most famous works are his Story of the Book of Mormon (1888); Complete Concordance to the Book of Mormon (1900); and Dictionary of the Book of Mormon (1910).
Reynolds suffered a nervous breakdown in 1907 as a result of stress incident from overwork. He died from meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
at Salt Lake City at the age of 67. Reynolds had a total of three wives and thirty-two children.
See also
- 1890 Manifesto1890 ManifestoThe "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
- Alice Louise ReynoldsAlice Louise ReynoldsAlice Louise Reynolds was a Brigham Young University professor who is rated among the top-10 BYU professors of the 20th century.-Biography:...
- Edmunds ActEdmunds ActThe Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont...
- Edmunds-Tucker ActEdmunds-Tucker ActThe Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was passed in response to the dispute between the United States Congress and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding polygamy. The act is found in US Code Title 48 & 1461, full text as 24 Stat. 635, with this annotation to be interpreted as Volume...
- Reed Smoot hearings
- Ruth H. FunkRuth H. FunkRuth Hardy Funk was the seventh general president of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972 to 1978.-Biography:...
- Second ManifestoSecond ManifestoThe "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of the land and set down the principle that those entering into or...