Richard Ballantyne (August 26, 1817 – November 8, 1898) was the founder of the Sunday School 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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

, having begun the program in December 1849. He was also a

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

and

missionary A missionary is a member of a 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.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. Ballantyne was born in Whitridgebog, Roxburghshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, where he was a Sunday school teacher in the Relief Presbyterian Church. In December 1842, Ballantyne became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, being baptized in the Firth of Forth at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

. In 1843 he and a number of his family members emigrated to Nauvoo,

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, where the majority of the

Latter Day Saint 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 J ...

s were gathering. On February 17, 1847, Ballantyne married Hulda Meriah Clark, and they emigrated to

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

in 1848 with the Mormon pioneers. While living in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, Ballantyne asked for permission from his

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

to establish a Sunday school for some of the

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 ...

children. Having been granted permission, he held the first Church Sunday School meeting in his home on December 9, 1849. Approximately 50 students were in attendance. Sunday School was organized church-wide in 1867. In 1852, Ballantyne was called to serve a church mission to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He worked there with little success from 1853 to 1855. Like many early Latter-day Saints, Ballantyne practiced plural marriage. He married Huldah M. Clark in 1847, Mary Pierce in 1855, and Caroline Sanderson in 1857''The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine.''

Genealogical Society of Utah FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and is closely connected with the church's Family Histo ...

, v.2 1911, p. 172. He was the father of 23 children. His sister Jane was a plural wife of John Taylor, who was president of the Church from 1880 to 1887.

Notes

References

* * Conway B. Sonne (1949). ''Knight of the Kingdom: The Story of Richard Ballantyne'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book)
Latter-Day Saint biographical encyclopedia
a compilation of biographical sketches of prominent men and women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1, pag
703
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballantyne, Richard 1817 births 1898 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saints British Latter Day Saints Converts to Mormonism from Presbyterianism Mormon missionaries in India Mormon pioneers People from the Scottish Borders Scottish Latter Day Saints Scottish Mormon missionaries Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish expatriates in India Scottish leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Sunday School (LDS Church) people

See also

Notes

References

External links