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Parley P. PrattParley Parker Pratt was born * April 12, 1807 in Burlington, New York, the son of Jared and Charity Dickenson Pratt. He married Thankful Halsey in Canaan, New York on September 9, 1827. The young couple settled near Cleveland, Ohio on a plot of "wilderness" where Parley had constructed a rude home. In Ohio, Pratt became a member of the Reformed Baptist Society, also called Campbellites, through the preaching of Sidney Rigdon. Pratt decided to take up the Cambellite ministry as a profession, and sold his property. Church service However, while traveling to visit family in western New York, Parley P. Pratt had the opportunity to read a copy of the Book of Mormon owned by a Baptist deacon. He then traveled to Palmyra, New York and spoke to Hyrum Smith at the Smith home. He was baptised in Seneca Lake by Oliver Cowdery on September 1, 1830, formally joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (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 baptised him on September 19, 1930. Pratt then returned to Fayette, New York in the spring of 1831, where he met the LDS Prophet Joseph Smith and was asked to undertake a mission to the local Native American tribes. He was later assigned additional missions to the Eastern United States, the Southern United States, England, the Pacific Islands, and to South America. Parley P. Pratt was instrumental in introducing the Mormon faith to a number of future LDS leaders, including his brother, Orson Pratt, Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams, John Taylor and his wife Leonora, and Joseph Fielding and his sisters, Mary and Mercy Fielding. In addition to serving as a active missionary, Pratt entered the leadership of the early Latter Day Saint movement acting as an original member of The Quorum of Twelve Apostles under Joseph Smith. While on a mission to the British Isles in 1839, Pratt was editor of a newly created periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star. He was also a noted writer and poet, producing an autobiography and the lyrics of three popular LDS hymns, among other works. After the death of Joseph Smith, Pratt and his family were among the church members who emigrated to Utah under the direction of church president Brigham Young. Pratt was involved in establishing the refugee settlements and fields at both Garden City and Mt. Pisguh, Nebraska and personally led a pioneer company along the Mormon Trail to the Salt Lake Valley. On a preaching mission in 1857, Pratt was being tracked by Hector McLean, the disgruntled ex-husband of a woman Pratt had recently married. McLean pressed charges, accusing Pratt of coming between him and the woman who was then his wife. Pratt managed to evade him and his charges, but was finally arrested in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). He was tried before Judge John B Ogden, acquitted and released. However, shortly afterward, Parley P. Pratt was killed by Hector McLean and two other men on May 13, 1857, on a farm northeast of Van Buren, Arkansas. Publications - 1837- A Voice of Warning
- 1840- The Mellennium 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.
- 1855- Key to the Science of Theology
- 1874- The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt (posthumous)
References - Allen, James B. and Leonard, Glen M. The Story of the Latter-day Saints. Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1976. ISBN 0-87747-594-6.
- Ludlow, Daniel H., A Companion to Your Study of the Doctrine and Covenants, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1978. ISBN 1-57345-224-6.
- Ludlow, Daniel H., Editor. Church History, Selections From the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1992. ISBN 0-87579-924-8.
Pratt, Parley P. Pratt, Parley P.
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