Elam Luddington, Jr. (also spelled Ludington; November 23, 1806 – March 22, 1893) was a Mormon pioneer, officer in the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...

, first

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 ...

the 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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) to preach in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, and 2nd City Marshall for Salt Lake City. Luddington was born in

Harwinton, Connecticut Harwinton is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,484 at the 2020 census. The high school is Lewis S. Mills. History The town incorporated in 1737. The name of the town alludes to Hartford and Windsor, Con ...

, to Elam Luddington, Sr. and Lena Monger. Luddington traveled to Nauvoo and met

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 ...

in the winter of 1840. On May 16 of that year, he was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

by Smith into the

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 ...

. He was ordained as an Elder that fall, and shortly thereafter Luddington and Eli G. Terrill were assigned as missionaries to the city of New Orleans (making them among the first Mormon missionaries to proselyte in the state of Louisiana). Luddington spent nearly three years in New Orleans. In June 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith, requested that he travel as a missionary to

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

, in order to gather funds for the completion 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 ...

. After Joseph Smith's death, Luddington followed the leadership of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

and the remaining members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In September 1844 Luddington returned briefly to New Orleans together with Theodore Turley per Young's request, though this excursion to Louisiana lasted only 29 days. When he returned to Nauvoo, Luddington was ordained as a High Priest. In January 1845 Luddington was sent on his third mission with William Hyde as his companion, to visit the Saints in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and encourage them to gather at Nauvoo. They fulfilled their objective in less than two months and returned to Nauvoo. Luddington later followed Young and the other Apostles west 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 ...

in Utah Territory. During the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

in 1846 and 1847, Luddington was a 1st lieutenant in the

. Members of his family marched with the battalion (including his wife, Mary, (served as laundress); his mother; daughter (Angeline); and "one other" child. He first reached the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 with the sick detachments of the Mormon Battalion, but quickly crossed the plains once again to return to Winter Quarters. In 1849 Luddington again made the trek, now with his family, as part of Silas Richards' Company, in which Luddington served as a captain of ten. In 1853, Young called four

Latter-day Saint 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 ...

s, Luddington, Chauncey W. West, Franklin Denny and

Levi Savage Levi Savage Jr. (March 23, 1820 – December 13, 1910) is a prominent figure in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was one of the earliest LDS Church missionaries to Asia, and was one of the leaders ...

, to serve LDS Church missions in India and

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

. The four arrived by ship in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, India on April 26, 1853. Luddington and Savage tried to reach Siam via

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, Burma, but the ship sprang a leak and they were forced to return to India. After the ship was repaired, Luddington and Savage arrived in Yangon on August 10, 1853. In late September 1853 Matthew McCune (a member of the British military) and Elder Luddington severed Elder Savage from the church. This forced Elder Savage to depart Rangoon (Yangon) for Maulmain, Burma. While Elder Savage was in Maulmain, Elder Luddington departed Rangoon for Bangkok. Luddington arrived in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

by ship on June 4, 1854, almost a year after he had left the United States. He tried to learn to speak

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, but found it difficult and was forced to limit his preaching to Europeans. During his four months in Siam, Luddington baptized James Trail, the captain of the ship he arrived on, and Trail's wife. Luddington reported that he was stoned twice and

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

ed once by his opponents in Thailand. Luddington returned to Utah Territory in 1855. Luddington 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 ...

and was married to three wives. He died in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

References

Sources

* Journal of Levi Savage Jr. Savage, Levi. "Diaries, 1852-1903" MSS 417, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.

External links

* Joan Porter Ford and LaRene Porter Gaunt
“The Gospel Dawning in Thailand,”
'' Ensign'', September 1995, p. 48 {{DEFAULTSORT:Luddington, Elam 1806 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries Latter Day Saints from Connecticut American Mormon missionaries in the United States American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Converts to Mormonism Members of the Mormon Battalion Mormon pioneers People from Harwinton, Connecticut People from Salt Lake City American Mormon missionaries in Thailand Mormon missionaries in Myanmar American expatriates in Myanmar Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Utah