Almon Whiting Babbitt (9 October 1812 – c. 7 September 1856) was an early leader in the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

, a Mormon pioneer, and the first

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

and

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the Territory of Utah. He was killed in a raid by

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

Native Americans in Nebraska Territory while travelling on government business between Utah and Washington, D.C.

Early life and church service

Babbitt was born in Cheshire, MassachusettsA. Gary Anderson, "Almon W. Babbitt and the Golden Calf" in H. Dean Garrett (ed.) (1995). ''Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: Illinois'' (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, ) pp. 35–54. to Ira and Nancy Babbitt. He graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and became licensed to practice law in six states. He married Julia Ann Johnson on 23 November 1833 and is thought to have joined the

Latter Day Saint church The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in Sm ...

sometime in 1833. In 1834, he was a member of

Zion's Camp Zion's Camp was an expedition of Latter Day Saints led by Joseph Smith, from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settle ...

, and on 28 February 1835 he was ordained as one of the first

seventies File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

in the church by

Joseph Smith, Jr. Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

Babbitt later became a

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...

in the church. In 1837 and 1838, Babbitt was a missionary for the church in Upper Canada. He attempted to move to Missouri in 1838 but was among the Latter Day Saints who were driven out by unfriendly residents, eventually settling in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...

. At a conference of the church in May 1839, Babbitt,

Robert B. Thompson Robert Blashel Thompson (October 1, 1811 – August 27, 1841) was an associate of Joseph Smith Jr., a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Danite, and an Church Historian and Recorder, official historian of the Church of Christ (Latter Day S ...

, and Erastus Snow were appointed to be a traveling committee that was charged with "gather ngup and obtain ngall the libelous reports and publications which had been circulated against the Church." In 1841, Babbitt was appointed as the president of the church's Kirtland

Stake Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...

, where he was charged with shepherding the Latter Day Saints who did not have the financial resources to move to Nauvoo. In 1843, Babbitt's tenure ended in Kirtland and he began actively practicing law in Nauvoo; he was frequently employed to defend Latter Day Saints in legal disputes. While in Nauvoo, Babbitt was also selected by Joseph Smith, Jr. to become a member of two select groups: the Anointed Quorum and Council of Fifty. In 1844, Babbitt was elected to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

. In February 1846, Babbitt, Joseph L. Heywood and

John S. Fullmer John Solomon Fullmer (July 21, 1807 – October 8, 1883) was an American politician and farmer, born in Huntington, Pennsylvania. He was the younger brother of David Fullmer, another politician, and Desdemona Wadsworth Fullmer Smith, a plural ...

were together given charge over the affairs of the church in Nauvoo after the departure of the church

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

. After the

Battle of Nauvoo The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Sain ...

in September 1846, Babbitt and the two other men signed the treaty that "surrendered" the city of Nauvoo's charter.

Utah political leader

In 1848, Babbitt emigrated to Utah Territory to join the gathering of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), led by Brigham Young. In Utah, Babbitt, a Democrat, became involved in politics. In 1849, he was selected by the provisional General Assembly of the State of Deseret to travel to Washington, D.C. and petition for statehood on behalf of the Assembly.

Milton R. Hunter Milton Reed Hunter (October 25, 1902 – June 27, 1975) was an American author, educator, and religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a member of the church's First Council of the Seventy from 1945 until h ...

(1946). ''Brigham Young the Colonizer'' (2004 reprint, Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, ) p. 126. Instead, the federal government created the Territory of Utah and in 1853 Babbitt was appointed secretary and treasurer of the territory. In this position, Babbitt had frequent clashes with Brigham Young, the territorial governor and the president of the LDS Church.

Leonard J. Arrington Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his man ...

(1986). '' Brigham Young: American Moses'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, ) p. 234–235. These clashes have been attributed in part to Babbitt's tendency to view himself as a representative of the United States federal government rather than an enabler of Young's pro-LDS Church policies. Babbitt led a company of

Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

to Utah in 1851.

Conflict with Latter Day Saint leaders

In addition to his clashes with Brigham Young, Babbitt was involved in a number of conflicts with Latter Day Saint leaders from his early days in the church. On 27 December 1833, Babbitt and his wife were summoned before a disciplinary council on an unspecified complaint; however, when the accusers failed to appear at the council, the charges were dismissed. On 19 August 1835, Babbitt brought before the church's high council on charges that included "not keeping the Word of Wisdom."Joseph Smith (1902,

B. H. Roberts Brigham Henry Roberts (March 13, 1857 – September 27, 1933) was a historian, politician, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He edited the seven-volume ''History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

ed.). '' History of the Church'', vol. 2, p. 252. Babbitt admitted the offence of breaking the Word of Wisdom and stated "that he had taken the liberty to break the Word of Wisdom, from the example of President Joseph Smith, Jun., and others, but acknowledged that it was wrong." The council "reproved" him and "instructed him to observe the Word of Wisdom, and commandments of the Lord in all things". On 28 December 1835,

submitted a complaint before the church's high council that Babbitt had been "misrepresenting" him to a number of Latter Day Saints."Minutes of December 28, 1835"
''Kirtland High Council Minutes (December 1832 – November 1837)''. Babbitt claimed that Smith was angry with him because he had bested him in a debate. The council decided that Babbitt had spoken falsehoods against Smith; Babbitt confessed that he had "done wrong", but refused to confess that he had lied, and the matter was closed. Later, Babbitt was disfellowshipped from the church four separate times, in 1839, 1841, 1843, and 1851, but each time was restored to fellowship shortly thereafter. In an 1841 revelation to Joseph Smith, Babbit is singled out for reproof for "aspir ngto establish his counsel ... ndsett ngup a golden calf for the worship of my people." This was likely a result of Babbitt encouraging Latter Day Saints to settle and remain in the old church headquarters of Kirtland, where he was stake president, as opposed to encouraging Saints to move to Nauvoo, which had been designated by Smith as the new gathering place. The day before Joseph Smith, Jr. was killed in Carthage Jail, Smith instructed his uncle

John Smith John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to: People :''In chronological ...

to "tell Almon W. Babbitt I want him to come and assist me as an attorney at my expected trial". Upon delivering the message a few hours later, Babbitt told John Smith that "You are too late, I am already engaged on the other side."

Murder victim

In April 1856, Babbitt left Salt Lake City for Washington, D.C. on his twenty-second trip on government business from Utah to the capital. On August 31, 1856, Babbitt set out from Florence, in Nebraska Territory, for Salt Lake City. When he arrived at Ft. Kearny (not to be confused with present-day Ft. Kearny), Babbitt learned that his freight train of personal property had been attacked and looted by

Native Americans;"Utah War Chronology"
, utahwar.org, accessed 2008-12-17.
babbitt.info, accessed 2008-12-17. two wagon drivers and a child were killed in the raid, and a Mrs. Wilson was taken hostage. Mrs. Wilson was killed almost immediately after being taken hostage because she was unable to ride horseback and keep up with her captors. Babbitt "stopped a week to gather up what could be found of the scattered property, purchased other teams, obtained drivers and start dthe train again". Babbitt traveled ahead of the team in a carriage with "two attendants", Frank Roland and a Mr. Sutherland. About 120 miles west of Ft. Kearny—at Ash Hollow on the Oregon Trail—the three men were attacked on about August 10.On August 4, 1856, and 12 miles east of Ash Hollow near Pawnee Swamp and Rattlesnake Creek, a group of defecting Latter-day Saints—the Margettses and Cowdys—had also been attacked and murder by Cheyenne. Zelphia Noble Sheffield Margetts was taken hostage and never redeemed. The Cheyenne claimed that they did not kill her, rather she escaped with a nearby government mapping party. Babbitt's obituary in the newspaper he had founded—the ''Council Bluffs Bugle''—described how he was killed by a blow to the head by a tomahawk swung by a Cheyenne Indian. Because all three of Babbitt's party were killed, the information regarding his death came only from the Cheyenne Peace Chiefs who visited Indian Agent Thomas Twiss several times at Dripp's Trading Post after the series of Platte River Road raids in September of 1856. Although rumors blamed Brigham Young, there is no shadow of any doubt that the Cheyenne killed Babbitt and his traveling companions. Fielding, Robert K, Unsolicited Chronicler (1993), p. 335. Upon hearing of his death, Brigham Young commented that Babbitt had "lived like a fool and died like a fool", causing some to suspect that Young or the Mormon Danites were somehow responsible for Babbitt's death.Norman F. Furniss (2005). ''The Mormon Conflict: 1850–1859'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, ) pp. 41, 53.Stuart Martin (1920). ''Mystery of Mormonism'' (2003 reprint, Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger Publishing, ) p. 106. However, it is possible that Young was simply continuing to express his long-standing dislike of Babbitt: in October 1856, Young told the Utah Territorial Legislature, "If Almon Babbitt were here—thank God he is not—he would have found fault with everything."

Family

Babbitt and his wife Julia were the parents of six children, four of which survived to adulthood. Babbitt also practiced

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...

Notes

External links

Biography
at Joseph Smith Papers Project website
Almon W. Babbitt estate record

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Almon W. Babbitt legal documents
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Almon W. Babbitt legal papers
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Almon W. Babbitt receipts
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University {{DEFAULTSORT:Babbitt, Almon W. 1812 births 1856 deaths 1856 murders in the United States 19th-century American politicians 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Canada American lawyers American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American murder victims Converts to Mormonism Doctrine and Covenants people Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Ohio Latter Day Saints from Utah Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Mormon pioneers People from Cheshire, Massachusetts People murdered in Wyoming Utah Democrats Utah Territory officials Harold B. Lee Library-related 19th century articles Deaths from head injury