Helaman Pratt (31 May 1846 – 26 November 1909) was an early leader of

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 ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and later in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Family

Helaman was the son of

Parley P. Pratt Parley Parker Pratt Sr. (April 12, 1807 – May 13, 1857) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith. Named in 1835 as one of the first ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-born wife Mary Wood, the father of missionary

Rey Pratt Rey Lucero Pratt (October 11, 1878 – April 14, 1931) served the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for 23 years as president of its Mexican Missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mission and for si ...

, the grandfather of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

governor

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gover ...

, and the great-grandfather of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

governor

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

. He was born in a

covered wagon The covered wagon or prairie wagon, historically also referred to as an ambulance or prairie schooner, was a vehicle usually made out of wood and canvas that was used for transportation, prominently in 19th-century America. With roots in the he ...

during a one-hour stopover on the

Mormon Trail The Mormon Trail is the long route from Illinois to Utah that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon ...

near

Mount Pisgah, Iowa Mount Pisgah was a semi-permanent settlement or way station from 1846 to 1852 along the Mormon Trail between Garden Grove and Council Bluffs, in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is located near the small community of Thayer in Jones Township, Unio ...

. Pratt first married Emeline Victoria Billingsly (1852–1910), in 1868. Next he married, as a plural wife,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-born Anna Johanna Dorothy ("Dora") Wilcken ( Dahme, Zarpin,

Rheinfeld Rheinfeld is a hamlet (place), hamlet in Coulee No. 136, Saskatchewan, Coulee Rural Municipality No. 136, Saskatchewan, Canada. The hamlet is located on Saskatchewan Highway 379, Highway 628 9 km north of Saskatchewan Highway 363, Highway 3 ...

Ostholstein Ostholstein (; da, Østholsten) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Stormarn, Segeberg and Plön, the Baltic Sea and the city of Lübeck. History The district was es ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

, 25 July 1854 –

Colonia Dublán Colonia Dublán began as a Mormon colony, located in the state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a part of Nuevo Casas Grandes Municipality. It is one of two surviving Mormon colonies in Mexico (the other being Colonia Juárez, C ...

, Galeana, Chihuahua,

, 22 June 1929), 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 ...

, on 20 April 1874. In 1898, he married Bertha Christine Wilcken Stewart (1863–1947), Dora's younger sister. Dora and Bertha were daughters of Carl Heinrich "Charles Henry" Wilcken ( Eckhorst,

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

, Schleswig-Holstein, 5 October 1831 – Salt Lake City, 9 April 1914) and Eliza Christina Carolina Reiche (

Neustadt in Holstein Neustadt in Holstein (; Holsatian: ''Niestadt in Holsteen'') is a town in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on the Bay of Lübeck 30 km northeast of Lübeck, and 50 km southeast of Kiel. History In World War I ...

, Ostholstein, Schleswig-Holstein, 1 May 1830 – Salt Lake City, 13 August 1906). Eliza was the first of Wilcken's four wives. Carl had first come to Utah as part of

Johnston's Army The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US go ...

but later joined

Church leader

In 1869, when the first LDS branch was organized in

Overton, Nevada Overton is a community that is part of the unincorporated town of Moapa Valley in Clark County, Nevada. Overton is on the north end of Lake Mead. It is home to Perkins Field airport and Echo Bay Airport. History Overton was originally settle ...

, Pratt served as branch president. From 1872 to 1873, he was president of the Glenwood Branch in

Glenwood, Utah Glenwood is a town in Sevier County, Utah, United States. The population was 464 at the 2010 census. History Glenwood was established in 1863 by Mormon pioneers. It was named for an early pioneer, Robert Wilson Glenn. The settlement's origi ...

. He then was the head of the group which founded

Prattville, Utah Prattville was a location in Sevier County, Utah, Sevier County, Utah, United States, settled under the leadership of Helaman Pratt in 1873. Pratt served as the first branch president at this location. The settlement was largely abandoned in 1878, ...

Andrew Jenson Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, (December 11, 1850 – November 18, 1941) was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for much of the ea ...

, ''Encyclopedic History of the Church'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1937)

Missionary in Mexico

Pratt was one of the first missionaries to Mexico, and in 1876 at

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo Municipality, Her ...

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

, Pratt and Meliton Trejo performed the first baptisms recorded by the LDS Church in that country. Pratt was later

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 the Mexican

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

based in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

from 1884 to 1887. He succeeded

Anthony W. Ivins Anthony Woodward Ivins (September 16, 1852 – September 23, 1934) was an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and was a member of the church's First Presidency from 1921 until his death. Early life and fa ...

in this position and was succeeded by Horace S. Cummings. After his release he moved to

in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. He also for a time owned and resided at the Cliff Ranch outside Cave Valley, Chihuahua. In 1895, when the Juarez Stake was organized in Mexico, Pratt, along with Henry Eyring, was called to serve as one of President Ivins' counselors, a post he held until 1908 when the stake was reorganized with Pratt's son Junius as president. Dora Wilcken

References

External links

Bio
at pratt-family.org

at pratt-family.org

by

Todd Compton Todd Merlin Compton (born 1952) is an American historian in the fields of Mormon history and classics. Compton is a respected authority on the plural wives of the LDS Church founder, Joseph Smith. Biographical background Compton is a member of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Helaman 1846 births 1909 deaths People of Utah Territory American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in Mexico American emigrants to Mexico Mission presidents (LDS Church) People from Iowa Pratt family (Latter-day Saints) 19th-century Mormon missionaries People from Colonia Dublán American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent

Family

Church leader

Missionary in Mexico

See also

References

External links