Daniel Avery (July 1, 1798 – October 16, 1851) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was a leader of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—usually distinguished with a parenthetical (Strangite)—is one of the several organizations that claim to be the legitimate continuation of the church founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. I ...

after the

succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession. Examples include (see List of wars of succession): *Multiple periods dur ...

of 1844.

Background

Avery was born at Edson Corners,

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...

, on 1 July 1797. The date of his baptism into the early

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 ...

is unknown, but he was present with the Latter Day Saints in Missouri when they began to be driven out of that state in 1838. In December 1839, movement founder Joseph Smith called on Avery to organize a

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

of elders in Montrose, Iowa. On January 4, 1840, Avery was ordained president of the elders quorum in Montrose by

Abraham O. Smoot Abraham Owen Smoot (February 17, 1815 – March 6, 1895) was an American pioneer, businessman, religious leader, and politician. He spent his early life in the Southern United States and was one of seven children. After being baptized a member ...

. On December 2, 1843, Avery was kidnapped at Bear Creek Precinct, Hancock County, Illinois, by a group which included

Levi Williams Levi Williams (1794–1860) was a Baptist minister and a member of the Illinois militia. He was active in opposing the presence of the Latter Day Saints in Hancock County, Illinois, during the 1840s. He is one of five defendants who were tried and ...

, John Elliott, and others, who accused him of stealing a horse and colt about four years earlier. Avery spent several weeks in a Missouri prison at Monticello, Lewis County, Missouri, but was released on December 25 after a successful habeas corpus petition. After the

death of Joseph Smith Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, United States, on June 27, 1844, while awaiting trial in the town jail. As mayor of the city of N ...

, Avery became one of the

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

s charged with finishing the construction of the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

. When Brigham Young announced that he would lead the Latter Day Saints to the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...

, Avery chose instead to follow the leadership of

James J. Strang James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, who was gathering Latter Day Saints in Voree, Wisconsin. From 1846 to 1848, Avery was a member of the high council at Voree for Strang's

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The chu ...

. Avery died on 16 October 1851 at Camden, Illinois.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Daniel (Latter Day Saints) 1798 births 1851 deaths American Latter Day Saint leaders Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) members Converts to Mormonism Kidnapped American people Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People from Oswego, New York Religious leaders from New York (state)