Benjamin Winchester (August 6, 1817 – January 25, 1901) 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 ...

. Winchester was the youngest adult 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 ...

, an original member of the first

Quorum of the Seventy Seventy is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Traditionally, a church member holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister" and an "especial witness" of Je ...

, editor of the first independent

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

periodical, the '' Gospel Reflector'',

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of a large

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

of the church in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, a zealous

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

who baptized thousands, a

Rigdonite A Rigdonite is a member of the Latter Day Saint movement who accepts Sidney Rigdon as the successor in the church presidency to the movement's founder, Joseph Smith Jr. The early history of the Rigdonite movement is shared with the history of the ...

Apostle 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 ...

, and ultimately a dissenter who repudiated Mormonism altogether. The ''Gospel Reflector'' was published in Philadelphia, twice a month, between January 1, 1841, and June 15, 1841. Winchester moved to

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 ...

, in October 1841 where he worked at the ''

Times and Seasons ''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...

'' until January 1842. Winchester also wrote pamphlets and two significant books on Latter Day Saint topics. Hi
''Synopsis of the Holy Scriptures, and Concordance''
published in 1842, was the first categorization of Bible scriptures from a Mormon perspective and included a detailed analysis of the Christian apostasy. His ''A Brief History of the Priesthood from the Beginning of the World to the Present Time'',https://archive.org/details/historyofpriesth03winc
/ref> published in 1843, was the first book to focus on the topic of the Mormon priesthood.

References

*Benjamin Winchester (ed.), ''The Gospel Reflector'', reprint of the original 1841 Philadelphia edition by Richard Drew for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), 1993. *Elizabeth Proctor Kiddle ''et alia'' (ed.), ''The Family of Auer Winchester Proctor'', Provo, Utah: 1978. *David J. Whittaker, ''Early Mormon Pamphleteering'',

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' is an academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abstracted ...

, 2003.
''The Gospel Reflector''
(PDF scans), L. Tom Perry Special Collections,

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gr ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. 1817 births 1901 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saint leaders American Latter Day Saints American Mormon missionaries in the United States Converts to Mormonism Editors of Latter Day Saint publications Former Latter Day Saints Latter Day Saint leaders Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church) Rigdonites {{LDS-stub