Ezra Booth
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Ezra Booth (February 14, 1792 – January 12, 1873) was an early member 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 ...
who became an outspoken critic of
Joseph Smith 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, h ...
and the
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...
. He was "the first
apostate Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...
to write publicly against the new Church".Dennis Rowley
"The Ezra Booth Letters"
'' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' 16(3) (Autumn 1983): 133–39.
Before joining the early Church of Christ in 1831, Booth worked as a Methodist Episcopal minister and a farmer in
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
. After his baptism, he moved with his family to Kirtland and served as a
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 ...
, preaching in
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and Ohio. Booth left the church later in 1831, five months after his baptism. He proceeded to write a series of nine letters denouncing Mormonism that were published by the ''Ohio Star.''


Early life

Booth was born in Newtown, Connecticut, on February 14, 1792. He later moved to Ohio and attended the Methodist Episcopal Church. He became a deacon in the church on August 8, 1818 and then became an elder in 1821. Booth studied
Methodist theology Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminianism, Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a Christian theology, theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the Christian ministry, ministry of the 18th-century eva ...
in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
. He married Dorcas Taylor from
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, on November 10, 1819 in Portage County, Ohio. Their only child, a daughter named Almeda, was born on August 15, 1823. Almeda Booth later attended school at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute with future U.S. president James A. Garfield. Booth worked as a minister for the Methodist Episcopal Church before becoming a farmer in Nelson, Ohio around the time Almeda was born. Booth's peers reported that he was an intelligent man; he was an avid reader of books and once "purchased a Greek lexicon" and taught himself the
Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southe ...
so that he could understand the Greek
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
. After witnessing Joseph Smith heal Elsa Johnson's paralyzed arm, he became a convert to the Church of Christ. Booth had originally brought the Johnsons into the Methodist faith in 1826. According to an account by Nancy Marinda Johnson, Booth obtained a copy of the
Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude ...
one night, and he and John Johnson "sat up all night reading it, and were very much exercised over it." Booth was baptized and ordained an
elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...
in May 1831. He then traveled to
Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 18 ...
, with Elsa and John Johnson in 1831.


Involvement in the Latter Day Saint movement

Oh June 4, 1831, Booth was ordained to be a high priest by Lyman Wight in a "log school house" in Kirtland. Booth was reportedly possessed by a "foul spirit" during the meeting, and Joseph Smith "commanded it to depart". On June 6, 1831, he was called to go to
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with Isaac Morley and preach the word “by the way”. He was described as an "urbane" and "articulate" preacher. Many people, such as Symonds Ryder, were baptized as a result of Booth's preaching. On August 4, 1831, Booth was one of fourteen elders attending the conference called "by special commandment of the Lord" in Kaw township, Jackson County, Missouri. He was present for the laying of the cornerstone of the temple to be built at New Jerusalem. While serving as a
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 ...
, Booth did not experience the success he'd expected to have. He had assumed that he would convert people through the performance of miracles, as had been his experience with Joseph Smith. Because this was not the case, Booth began to distance himself from the church. Of Booth's time in the church, Richard Bushman wrote: "every attempt at healing became a test, and, as his faith waned, he noted only failures, overlooking or not witnessing the successful healings recounted by the believers such as John Whitmer."


Separation from the church

On September 6, 1831, Booth was "silenced from preaching as an Elder" by Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, and others. Smith stated that the reasons behind this were Booth's dissension with the leaders of the church and his apparent lack of humility. A
revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on th ...
came to Smith a few days later, and stated that
I, the Lord, was angry with him who was my servant Ezra Booth, and also my servant Isaac Morley, for they kept not the law, neither the commandment; they sought evil in their hearts.… They condemned for evil that thing in which there was no evil; nevertheless I have forgiven my servant Isaac Morley.


The Ezra Booth letters

Less than three days after being "silenced from preaching as an Elder" and after being a member for only five months, Booth renounced
Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to vari ...
in the first of nine letters to be published in the ''Ohio Star'', beginning in November 1831. The letters were addressed to the
Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...
Ira Eddy of the Methodist Church, whom Booth knew from his days as a Methodist minister and "circuit rider". The ''Vermont Telegraph'' reported that Booth's published documents composed "an expose of their
he Mormons' He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
diabolical pretensions and impositions." Booth's letters focused on three main types of criticism: "inconsistencies he saw in the revelations of Joseph Smith, what he called the 'despotic' tendencies of the Church, and the 'manifest weakness' in the personality of Joseph Smith and other leaders." He also criticized Sidney Rigdon in particular and pointed out the failure of Mormonism to establish itself among the
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, despite Smith's revelations that those efforts would succeed. The reasons Booth provided for writing the letters included preventing others from falling victim to the church and responding to requests to expose Mormonism that he'd received. In Norton Township (the area to which Booth was sent on his mission), the effect of Booth's letters was such that "the public feeling was, that 'Mormonism' was overthrown". The letters proved to be popular, and the ''Ohio Star'' printed the nine of them almost weekly. They helped feed the fear of community members in Kirtland and
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"regarding the growing power of the Mormon Church." Booth's letters thus prompted Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon to travel to northeast Ohio to assess the damage done and dissuade the people from believing Booth's words. In 1832, Booth petitioned the ''Ohio Star'' to publish "a vindication of his character from the attacks made upon it by Mr. Ridgon, during his late visit to this place." The newspaper, however, refused Booth's request. His letters were later reprinted by E. D. Howe in his 1834 book '' Mormonism Unvailed''.


Later years, death, and legacy

After leaving the Church of Christ, Booth rejoined the Methodist faith, then became involved in the Millerite Movement. After William Miller's predictions about the
Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
fell flat, Booth associated with the Shakers from 1845 to 1850. He then reportedly "abandoned Christianity and became an agnostic." In 1865, Booth moved to
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. He died on January 12, 1873, at the age of 80. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Cuyahoga Falls next to his wife, Dorcas, and daughter, Almeda. He has been called "the most influential apostate of his time."


Notes


External links


"Ezra Booth"
Joseph Smith Papers *
Wesley Perkins letters
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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Ezra 1792 births 1873 deaths Date of death unknown American Latter Day Saint missionaries American Latter Day Saint leaders Converts to Mormonism from Methodism Critics of Mormonism Doctrine and Covenants people Former Latter Day Saints Latter Day Saint leaders Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States People from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio People from Newtown, Connecticut Harold B. Lee Library-related 19th century articles