Parley P. Pratt
Encyclopedia
Parley Parker Pratt, Sr. (12 April 1807 – 13 May 1857) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement
and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt
. He was a missionary, poet, religious writer and longtime editor of the religious publication The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
. Having explored, surveyed, built, and maintained the first road for public transportation there, scenic Parley's Canyon
in Salt Lake City, was named in his honor.
, the son of Jared Pratt (Canaan, New York
, 25 November 1769 – Detroit, Michigan
, 5 November 1839) and wife (m. 7 July 1799) Charity Dickinson (Bolton, New York
, 24 February 1776 – St. Joseph, Missouri, 20 May 1849), a descendant of Anne Hutchinson
. He married Thankful Halsey in Canaan, New York
on 9 September 1827. The young couple settled near Cleveland, Ohio
on a plot of "wilderness" where Parley had constructed a crude home. In Ohio, Pratt became a member of the Reformed Baptist Society
, also called "Disciples of Christ", through the preaching of Sidney Rigdon
. Pratt soon decided to take up the Disciples ministry as a profession, and sold his property.
owned by a Baptist deacon
. Convinced of its authenticity, he traveled to Palmyra, New York
and spoke to Hyrum Smith
at the Smith home. He was baptized in Seneca Lake by Oliver Cowdery
on or about 1 September 1830, formally joining the Latter Day Saint church (Mormons
). He was also ordained to the office of an elder in the church. Continuing on to his family's home, he introduced his younger brother, Orson Pratt
, to Mormonism and baptized him on 19 September 1830.
Pratt then returned to Fayette, New York
in October 1830, where he met Joseph Smith and was asked to join a missionary
group assigned to preach to the Native American
(Lamanite
) tribes on the Missouri
frontier. During the trip west, he and his companions stopped to visit Sidney Rigdon
, and were instrumental in converting Rigdon and approximately 130 members of his congregation within two to three weeks.
Pratt was later assigned additional missions to Canada, the Eastern United States, the Southern United States, England, the Pacific islands, and to South America. He moved to Valparaíso, Chile to begin the missionary work there. They left after not much success and the death of his child Omner in 1852. In addition to his brother, Orson Pratt
and Sidney Rigdon, he was instrumental in introducing the Mormon faith to a number of future LDS leaders, including Frederick G. Williams
, John Taylor
and his wife Leonora, Isaac Morley
and Joseph Fielding
and his sisters, Mary
and Mercy Fielding.
In addition to serving as an active missionary, Pratt entered the leadership of the early Latter Day Saint movement
acting as an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. While on a mission to the British Isles in 1839, Pratt was editor of a newly created periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star. While presiding over the church's branches and interests in New England and the mid-Atlantic states, Pratt published a periodical entitled The Prophet from his headquarters in New York City. He was also a noted religious writer and poet. He produced an autobiography, as well as some poems which have become staple LDS hymns
, some of which are included in the current LDS Church hymnal
.
In Nauvoo, Illinois
on 9 September 1844 he married the fourth of his twelve wives Scottish Mary Wood (Glasgow
, 18 June 1818 – Salt Lake City, Utah
, 5 March 1898), daughter of Samuel Wood (baptized Dumfries
, 8 July 1798) and wife (m. Mungo, Dumfriesshire, 18 July 1816) Margaret Orr (baptized Inverchaolin, Argyllshire, 15 August 1793 – 1852), by whom he had Helaman Pratt
.
After the death of Joseph Smith, Pratt and his family were among the Latter Day Saints who emigrated to Utah Territory
and continued on as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) under the direction of Brigham Young
. Pratt was involved in establishing the refugee settlements and fields at both Garden Grove
and Mt. Pisgah, Iowa
and personally led a pioneer company along the Mormon Trail
to the Salt Lake Valley. Sometime in the mid 1850s, working with George D. Watt
, he helped develop the Deseret alphabet
. In 1854, Pratt went to California to preside over the Pacific Mission
of the LDS Church headquartered in San Francisco.
While returning from a horseback missionary trip to the southern United States in 1857, Pratt was being tracked by Hector McLean. McLean was the legal husband of one of Pratt's plural wives
, Eleanor McLean. Pratt had met Eleanor McLean in San Francisco, California
, where Pratt was presiding over a church mission. In San Francisco, Eleanor had joined the LDS Church and had also had her oldest sons baptized. Hector rejected Mormonism and opposed his wife's membership in the church. The dispute over the church led to the collapse of the marriage. Fearing that Eleanor would abscond to Utah Territory
with their children, Hector sent his sons and his daughter to New Orleans to live with their grandparents. Eleanor followed the children to New Orleans, where she lived with them for three months at her parents' house. Eventually, she and the children left for Utah Territory; she arrived in Salt Lake City on September 11, 1855. Eleanor McLean was employed in Pratt's home as a schoolteacher, and on November 14, 1855, she and Pratt underwent a "celestial marriage
" sealing ceremony in the Endowment House
. She was the twelfth woman to be sealed to Pratt. Though for religious reasons Eleanor considered herself "unmarried", she was not legally divorced from Hector at the time of her "celestial marriage
" to Pratt.
Upon learning of his wife's actions, Hector McLean pressed criminal charges, accusing Pratt of assisting in the kidnapping of his children. Pratt managed to evade him and the legal charges, but was finally arrested in Indian Territory
(now Oklahoma
) in May 1857. He and Eleanor were charged only with theft of the clothing of McLean's children. (The laws of that time did not recognize the kidnapping of children by a parent as a crime.) Tried before Judge John B. Ogden
, Pratt was acquitted of the charges because of a lack of evidence. However, shortly after being secretly released, on May 13, 1857, Pratt was shot and stabbed by Hector McLean on a farm
northeast of Van Buren, Arkansas
. As a result of the attack, Pratt died two and a half hours later from loss of blood. As he was bleeding to death, a farmer asked what he had done to provoke the attack. Pratt responded, "He accused me of taking his wife and children. I did not do it. They were oppressed, and I did for them what I would do for the oppressed any where." Pratt was buried near Alma, Arkansas
, despite his personal desire to be buried in Utah
.
Some historians view Pratt's death as simply the act of a jealous husband who was deeply angered by a man that had "run off" with his wife. A 2008 Provo Daily Herald
newspaper article characterized McLean as a man that had "hunted down" Pratt in retribution for "ruining his marriage". A 2008 Deseret News article described McLean as a man that had "pursued Pratt across Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, angry that his estranged wife, Eleanor, had become Pratt's 12th wife." But many Mormons viewed Pratt's death as a martyrdom, a view first expressed in Pratt's dying words. (But according to LDS church records, his dying words were not recorded until 38 years after his death.) In the present day, Pratt's defenders still characterize the circumstances of Pratt's death as religious martyrdom. For example, a 2007 article in the Deseret Morning News
stated that "Pratt was killed near Van Buren, Ark., in May 1857, by a small Arkansas band antagonistic toward his teachings". Historian Will Bagley
reports that McLean and two friends tracked Pratt after he was secretly released by Van Burean's magistrate. Brigham Young
compared Pratt's death with those of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
, and many Mormons blamed the death on the state of Arkansas, or its people.
Due to his personal popularity and his position in the Council of the Twelve, Pratt's murder in Arkansas was a significant blow to the Latter-day Saint community in the Rocky Mountains, when they began hearing about it in June 1857. The violent death of Pratt may also have played a part in events leading up to the Mountain Meadows massacre
a few months later. This massacre resulted in the deaths of 120 people from the Baker–Fancher party travelling to Southern California along the Mormon Road (a portion of the Old Spanish Trail
). After the massacre, some Mormons circulated rumors throughout the southern Utah Territory that one or more members of the party had murdered Pratt, poisoned creek water which subsequently sickened Paiute children, and allowed their cattle to graze on private property.
On April 3, 2008, a judge in Arkansas ruled that Pratt's remains could be moved to Utah for burial as long as other burial sites were not disturbed. Pratt's family planned to rebury Pratt's remains at the Salt Lake City Cemetery
in accordance with modern-day burial techniques. This effort was unfruitful, producing no discernible human remains, probably due to how long ago he was buried, the shallow grave, and a moist clay soil. No further search efforts for Pratt's burial site have been planned.
and had twelve wives. One of Pratt's great-great-grandsons is Mitt Romney
, former Massachusetts governor and candidate
for the 2008 and 2012 Republican presidential nominations. One of his great-great-great-grandsons is Jon Huntsman
, former Utah governor and Ambassador to China, and a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Pratt's grandson, William King Driggs, was the father of the King Sisters.
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy...
from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
. He was a missionary, poet, religious writer and longtime editor of the religious publication The Latter-day Saints' 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....
. Having explored, surveyed, built, and maintained the first road for public transportation there, scenic Parley's Canyon
Parley's Canyon
Parley's Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Utah. The canyon provides the route of Interstate 80 up the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains and is a relatively wide, straight canyon. The lower part of the canyon, however, is relatively twisty and had to be dynamited to make way for...
in Salt Lake City, was named in his honor.
Youth
Parley Pratt was born in Burlington, New YorkBurlington, New York
Burlington is a town in Otsego County, New York, USA. The population was 1,085 at the 2000 census.The Town of Burlington is in the northwest part of the county and is north of Oneonta.-Geography:...
, the son of Jared Pratt (Canaan, New York
Canaan, New York
Canaan is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,820 at the 2000 census.The Town of Canaan is in the northeast part of the county.- History :The first settlers arrived around 1759....
, 25 November 1769 – Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, 5 November 1839) and wife (m. 7 July 1799) Charity Dickinson (Bolton, New York
Bolton, New York
Bolton is a town in Warren County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,117 at the 2000 census. Bolton is on the east border of the county.- History :...
, 24 February 1776 – St. Joseph, Missouri, 20 May 1849), a descendant of Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...
. He married Thankful Halsey in Canaan, New York
Canaan, New York
Canaan is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,820 at the 2000 census.The Town of Canaan is in the northeast part of the county.- History :The first settlers arrived around 1759....
on 9 September 1827. The young couple settled near Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
on a plot of "wilderness" where Parley had constructed a crude home. In Ohio, Pratt became a member of the Reformed Baptist Society
Disciples of Christ (Campbell Movement)
The Disciples of Christ were a group arising during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. The most prominent leaders were Thomas and Alexander Campbell. The group was committed to restoring primitive Christianity...
, also called "Disciples of Christ", through the preaching of Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...
. Pratt soon decided to take up the Disciples ministry as a profession, and sold his property.
LDS Church service
While traveling to visit family in western New York, Pratt had the opportunity to read a copy of the Book of MormonBook of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
owned by a Baptist deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
. Convinced of its authenticity, he traveled to Palmyra, New York
Palmyra (town), New York
Palmyra is a town in Wayne County, New York, USA. The population was 7,672 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the ancient city Palmyra in Syria....
and spoke to Hyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr....
at the Smith home. He was baptized in Seneca Lake by Oliver Cowdery
Oliver Cowdery
Oliver H. P. Cowdery was, with Joseph Smith, Jr., an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836, becoming one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of...
on or about 1 September 1830, formally joining the Latter Day Saint church (Mormons
Mormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
). He was also ordained to the office of an elder in the church. Continuing on to his family's home, he introduced his younger brother, Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
, to Mormonism and baptized him on 19 September 1830.
Pratt then returned to Fayette, New York
Fayette, New York
Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,643 at the 2000 census.The Town of Fayette is on the western border of the county and is southeast of Geneva, New York.- History :...
in October 1830, where he met Joseph Smith and was asked to join a 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...
group assigned to preach to the Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
(Lamanite
Lamanite
According to the Book of Mormon, a Lamanite is a member of a dark-skinned nation of indigenous Americans that battled with the light-skinned Nephite nation...
) tribes on the Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
frontier. During the trip west, he and his companions stopped to visit Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...
, and were instrumental in converting Rigdon and approximately 130 members of his congregation within two to three weeks.
Pratt was later assigned additional missions to Canada, the Eastern United States, the Southern United States, England, the Pacific islands, and to South America. He moved to Valparaíso, Chile to begin the missionary work there. They left after not much success and the death of his child Omner in 1852. In addition to his brother, Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
and Sidney Rigdon, he was instrumental in introducing the Mormon faith to a number of future LDS leaders, including Frederick G. Williams
Frederick G. Williams
Frederick Granger Williams was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and served in the First Presidency as Second Counselor to church president Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1833 to 1837...
, John Taylor
John Taylor (1808-1887)
John Taylor was the third president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1880 to 1887. He is the only president of the LDS Church to have been born outside of the United States....
and his wife Leonora, Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement and a contemporary of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. He was one of the first converts to Smith's Church of Christ...
and Joseph Fielding
Joseph Fielding
Joseph Fielding was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as the second president of the British Mission , coordinating the activities of missionaries in sections of the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. He was the brother of Mary Fielding, the second wife of Hyrum Smith,...
and his sisters, Mary
Mary Fielding Smith
Mary Fielding Smith Kimball was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement, the second wife of LDS Church leader Hyrum Smith and the mother of Joseph F. Smith....
and Mercy Fielding.
In addition to serving as an active missionary, Pratt entered the leadership of the early Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
acting as an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. While on a mission to the British Isles in 1839, Pratt was editor of a newly created periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star. While presiding over the church's branches and interests in New England and the mid-Atlantic states, Pratt published a periodical entitled The Prophet from his headquarters in New York City. He was also a noted religious writer and poet. He produced an autobiography, as well as some poems which have become staple LDS hymns
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hymns
This article is about LDS church hymns in general, for the book, see Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter-day Saint hymns come from many sources, and there have been numerous hymn books printed by the Church since its organization in 1830...
, some of which are included in the current LDS Church hymnal
Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)
Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official hymn book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
.
In Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
on 9 September 1844 he married the fourth of his twelve wives Scottish Mary Wood (Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, 18 June 1818 – Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, 5 March 1898), daughter of Samuel Wood (baptized Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
, 8 July 1798) and wife (m. Mungo, Dumfriesshire, 18 July 1816) Margaret Orr (baptized Inverchaolin, Argyllshire, 15 August 1793 – 1852), by whom he had Helaman Pratt
Helaman Pratt
Helaman Pratt was an early leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico.-Family:...
.
After the death of Joseph Smith, Pratt and his family were among the Latter Day Saints who emigrated 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....
and continued on as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) under the direction of 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...
. Pratt was involved in establishing the refugee settlements and fields at both Garden Grove
Garden Grove, Iowa
Garden Grove is a city in Decatur County, Iowa, United States. The population was 250 at the 2000 census.-History:On April 24, 1846, emigrants affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the direction of Brigham Young established a way station halfway into their trek...
and Mt. Pisgah, Iowa
Mount Pisgah (Iowa)
Mount Pisgah was a semi-permanent settlement or way station from 1846 to 1852 along the Mormon Trail between Garden Grove and Council Bluffs. It is located near the small community of Thayer in Jones Township, Union County, Iowa. This site is now part-of the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail....
and personally led a pioneer company along the Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
to the Salt Lake Valley. Sometime in the mid 1850s, working with George D. Watt
George D. Watt
George Darling Watt was the first convert to Mormonism baptized in the British Isles. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Watt was a secretary to Brigham Young, the primary editor of the Journal of Discourses and the primary inventor of the Deseret Alphabet.Watt was...
, he helped develop the Deseret alphabet
Deseret alphabet
The Deseret alphabet is a phonemic English spelling reform developed in the mid-19th century by the board of regents of the University of Deseret under the direction of Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In public statements, Young claimed the...
. In 1854, Pratt went to California to preside over the Pacific Mission
Mission (LDS Church)
A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...
of the LDS Church headquartered in San Francisco.
Death
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...
, Eleanor McLean. Pratt had met Eleanor McLean in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, where Pratt was presiding over a church mission. In San Francisco, Eleanor had joined the LDS Church and had also had her oldest sons baptized. Hector rejected Mormonism and opposed his wife's membership in the church. The dispute over the church led to the collapse of the marriage. Fearing that Eleanor would abscond 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....
with their children, Hector sent his sons and his daughter to New Orleans to live with their grandparents. Eleanor followed the children to New Orleans, where she lived with them for three months at her parents' house. Eventually, she and the children left for Utah Territory; she arrived in Salt Lake City on September 11, 1855. Eleanor McLean was employed in Pratt's home as a schoolteacher, and on November 14, 1855, she and Pratt underwent a "celestial marriage
Celestial marriage
Celestial marriage is a doctrine of Mormonism, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and branches of Mormon fundamentalism.Within Mormonism, celestial marriage is an ordinance associated with a covenant that always...
" sealing ceremony in the Endowment House
Endowment House
The Endowment House was an early building used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to administer temple ordinances in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. From the construction of the Council House in 1852, Salt Lake City's first public building, until the construction of the Endowment...
. She was the twelfth woman to be sealed to Pratt. Though for religious reasons Eleanor considered herself "unmarried", she was not legally divorced from Hector at the time of her "celestial marriage
Celestial marriage
Celestial marriage is a doctrine of Mormonism, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and branches of Mormon fundamentalism.Within Mormonism, celestial marriage is an ordinance associated with a covenant that always...
" to Pratt.
Upon learning of his wife's actions, Hector McLean pressed criminal charges, accusing Pratt of assisting in the kidnapping of his children. Pratt managed to evade him and the legal charges, but was finally arrested in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
(now Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
) in May 1857. He and Eleanor were charged only with theft of the clothing of McLean's children. (The laws of that time did not recognize the kidnapping of children by a parent as a crime.) Tried before Judge John B. Ogden
John B. Ogden
John B. Ogden was an Arkansas judge.John B. Ogden was the son of Col John B. Ogden and Sarah Buck. His father died in 1813 from the effects of a wound received during the War of 1812. His mother Sarah Ogden died in 1873. John B...
, Pratt was acquitted of the charges because of a lack of evidence. However, shortly after being secretly released, on May 13, 1857, Pratt was shot and stabbed by Hector McLean on a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
northeast of Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren is the second largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interstate 40 - Interstate 540 junction...
. As a result of the attack, Pratt died two and a half hours later from loss of blood. As he was bleeding to death, a farmer asked what he had done to provoke the attack. Pratt responded, "He accused me of taking his wife and children. I did not do it. They were oppressed, and I did for them what I would do for the oppressed any where." Pratt was buried near Alma, Arkansas
Alma, Arkansas
Alma is a city in Crawford County located in the western part of U.S. state of Arkansas, along I-40 about 13 miles from the Oklahoma border. Alma's population is 4,734, making it the sixth largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, despite his personal desire to be buried in Utah
Utah
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...
.
Some historians view Pratt's death as simply the act of a jealous husband who was deeply angered by a man that had "run off" with his wife. A 2008 Provo Daily Herald
Provo Daily Herald
The Daily Herald is a daily newspaper that covers news and community events in Utah County, central Utah. Much of the coverage focuses on the Provo-Orem metropolitan area in Utah Valley....
newspaper article characterized McLean as a man that had "hunted down" Pratt in retribution for "ruining his marriage". A 2008 Deseret News article described McLean as a man that had "pursued Pratt across Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, angry that his estranged wife, Eleanor, had become Pratt's 12th wife." But many Mormons viewed Pratt's death as a martyrdom, a view first expressed in Pratt's dying words. (But according to LDS church records, his dying words were not recorded until 38 years after his death.) In the present day, Pratt's defenders still characterize the circumstances of Pratt's death as religious martyrdom. For example, a 2007 article in the Deseret Morning News
Deseret Morning News
The Deseret News is a newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is Utah's oldest continuously published daily newspaper. It has the second largest daily circulation in the state behind The Salt Lake Tribune. The Deseret News is owned by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of...
stated that "Pratt was killed near Van Buren, Ark., in May 1857, by a small Arkansas band antagonistic toward his teachings". Historian Will Bagley
Will Bagley
Will Bagley is a historian specializing in the history of western United States. Bagley has written about the fur trade, overland emigration, American Indians, military history, frontier violence, railroads, mining, and Utah and the Mormons....
reports that McLean and two friends tracked Pratt after he was secretly released by Van Burean's magistrate. 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...
compared Pratt's death with those of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.
The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...
, and many Mormons blamed the death on the state of Arkansas, or its people.
Due to his personal popularity and his position in the Council of the Twelve, Pratt's murder in Arkansas was a significant blow to the Latter-day Saint community in the Rocky Mountains, when they began hearing about it in June 1857. The violent death of Pratt may also have played a part in events leading up to the Mountain Meadows massacre
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
a few months later. This massacre resulted in the deaths of 120 people from the Baker–Fancher party travelling to Southern California along the Mormon Road (a portion of the Old Spanish Trail
Old Spanish Trail (trade route)
The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route which connected the northern New Mexico settlements near or in Santa Fe, New Mexico with that of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately long, it ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is...
). After the massacre, some Mormons circulated rumors throughout the southern Utah Territory that one or more members of the party had murdered Pratt, poisoned creek water which subsequently sickened Paiute children, and allowed their cattle to graze on private property.
On April 3, 2008, a judge in Arkansas ruled that Pratt's remains could be moved to Utah for burial as long as other burial sites were not disturbed. Pratt's family planned to rebury Pratt's remains at the Salt Lake City Cemetery
Salt Lake City Cemetery
thumb|The northern section of the cemetery at night, looking towards Salt Lake CityThe Salt Lake City Cemetery is in The Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. Approximately 120,000 persons are buried in the cemetery. Many religious leaders and politicians, particularly many leaders of The...
in accordance with modern-day burial techniques. This effort was unfruitful, producing no discernible human remains, probably due to how long ago he was buried, the shallow grave, and a moist clay soil. No further search efforts for Pratt's burial site have been planned.
Family
Pratt practiced plural marriagePlural 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...
and had twelve wives. One of Pratt's great-great-grandsons is Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, former Massachusetts governor and candidate
Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008
Mitt Romney was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election. On January 3, 2007, two days before he stepped down as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission...
for the 2008 and 2012 Republican presidential nominations. One of his great-great-great-grandsons is Jon Huntsman
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Meade Huntsman, Jr. is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 16th Governor of Utah. He also served in the administrations of four United States presidents and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.Huntsman worked as a White House staff assistant for...
, former Utah governor and Ambassador to China, and a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Pratt's grandson, William King Driggs, was the father of the King Sisters.
Memorials
People in Columbia, Missouri have commemorated Parley P. Pratt's escape from the Columbia Jail on July 4, 1839, with a freedom run each Independence day since the 1970s. There is a 4 mile run and a 1 mile fun run/walk. At the 2010 fun run/walk, children got to chase Parley.Publications
- A Voice of Warning (1837)
- The Millennium and Other Poems (1840)
- Late Persecutions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: With a Sketch of Their Rise, Progress and Doctrine (1840)
- Key to the Science of Theology (1855)
- The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt (1874, posthumous)
See also
- LDS fictionLDS fictionLDS fiction is an American niche market of fiction novels featuring themes related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
- Pratt-Romney familyPratt-Romney familyThe Pratt–Romney Family is the name of a U.S. political family. It is linked by marriage to the Smith Family and the Matheson Family.The Pratt–Romney Family is the name of a U.S. political family. It is linked by marriage to the Smith Family and the Matheson Family.The Pratt–Romney Family is the...
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in ArkansasThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in ArkansasAs of year-end 2007, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 25,296 members, 5 stakes, 56 Congregations , and 1 mission in Arkansas.-History:...
External links
- History of Parley P. Pratt from gordonbanks.com
- Parley P. Pratt Grave Site from angells.com
- Documents about Parley P. Pratt at pratt-family.org
- Official website of the Parley P. Pratt Memorial Freedom Run/Walk