Zera Pulsipher (also Zerah) (June 24, 1789 – January 1, 1872) was a
First Seven Presidents of the Seventy 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 ...
(LDS Church). In that capacity, he provided leadership to the early Mormon community, most notably in the exodus of a large group of Saints from Kirtland, Ohio. He was also an active missionary who baptized
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807September 2, 1898) was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1889 until his death. He ended the public practice of ...
into the LDS Church.
Ancestry and youth
Pulsipher was born in
Rockingham, Vermont
Rockingham is a Town in Windham County, on the southeastern Vermont border in the United States, along the Connecticut River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,832. Rockingham includes the incorporated villages of Bellows Falls and Saxt ...
, to John and Elizabeth Pulsipher. He came from a heritage of New England settlers and patriots, including a father and grandfather who fought in the
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...
. He spent much of his childhood working on his parents’ farm. During his early twenties, Pulsipher attempted to study to become a doctor, but decided to return to farming. He married Mary Randall in 1810 and they had a daughter together. Mary died after a year of being married. Pulsipher married Mary Brown a few years later and they raised a large family together.
Religious experience
The Pulsipher family was introduced to the
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 ...
while living in
Onondaga County, New York
Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse.
Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA.
History
The name ''Onondaga'' derives fro ...
, and Pulsipher was baptized on January 11, 1832, by missionary
Jared Carter. For the next two years, Pulsipher presided over the branch of the church in that county
[Mormon History Gazetteer for New York (1831–1839)](_blank)
/ref> and served a number of missions to preach his new-found faith. During one of these missions he taught and baptized future LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807September 2, 1898) was an American religious leader who served as the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1889 until his death. He ended the public practice of ...
. In 1835, the Pulsiphers moved to church headquarters at Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and is the site of the movement's first t ...
, where Pulsipher was ordained as a First President of the Seventy on March 6, 1838, replacing Salmon Gee, who had been released. After the highest leadership of the church fled Kirtland in 1838, Pulsipher and the other First Presidents of the Seventy organized the bulk of the remaining adherents to travel to Far West, Missouri
Far West was a settlement of the Latter Day Saint movement in Caldwell County, Missouri, United States, during the late 1830s. It is recognized as a historic site by the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, added to the register in 1970. It ...
, the new church headquarters. This group of over 500 Latter Day Saints was known as the Kirtland Camp The Kirtland Camp was a migration company made up of several hundred Latter-day Saints that traveled from Kirtland, Ohio to northern Missouri starting in the fall of 1831. The group was led by the third-highest ranking priesthood quorum in the hier ...
and was one of the earliest concerted efforts of mass Mormon migration.
Pulsipher and his family followed the main body of the church membership as they settled in Far West Far West may refer to:
Places
* Western Canada, or the West
** British Columbia Coast
* Western United States, or Far West
** West Coast of the United States
* American frontier, or Far West, Old West, or Wild West
* Far West (Taixi), a term used ...
, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and 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 ...
. He also helped settle Southern Utah
Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...
in his later years. In each of these areas, Pulsipher provided leadership including helping to locate the settlement of Garden Grove, Iowa
Garden Grove is a small town in Decatur County, Iowa, United States. The population was 174 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
On April 24, 1846, emigrants affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the direction ...
; leading a company of 100 to Utah; serving as a city counselor in Salt Lake City for a number of years; and presiding over the settlement of Hebron, Utah
Hebron is a ghost town on Shoal Creek in Washington County in southwestern Utah, United States. Hebron was inhabited from 1862 until 1902, when the already-declining town was mostly destroyed by an earthquake. The present-day city of Enterprise, ...
, from 1863 to 1869.
Pulsipher misused the sealing authority by performing two unauthorized polygamous marriages for William Bailey during the years 1856 and 1861, and was brought to answer before the First Presidency
Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...
on April 12, 1862. At the meeting, Pulsipher was instructed to be rebaptized Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another denomi ...
, released as one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy, and was given the option to be ordained a high priest
The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste.
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...
. Pulsipher was later ordained a patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
, and died in Hebron, Utah
Hebron is a ghost town on Shoal Creek in Washington County in southwestern Utah, United States. Hebron was inhabited from 1862 until 1902, when the already-declining town was mostly destroyed by an earthquake. The present-day city of Enterprise, ...
, in early 1872 as a member in full fellowship in the church.
Family
Pulsipher married four wives over the course of his life and had 17 children:
*Mary or Polly Randall (1789–1812), married November 6, 1810. One child: Harriet Pulsipher.
*Mary Brown (1799–1886), married August 1815. Eleven children: Mary Ann, Almira, Nelson, Mariah, Sarah, John, Charles, Mary Ann, William M., Eliza Jane, and Fidelia.
*Prudence McNanamy (1803–1883), married July 12, 1854. No known children.
*Martha Hughes (1843–1907), married March 18, 1857. Five children: Martha Ann, Mary Elizabeth, Zerah James, Sarah Jane, and Andrew Milton.[See BYU Biographical Registers]
References
External links
*http://www.johnpratt.com/gen/8/7.z_pulsipher.html
*http://www.johnpratt.com/gen/8/z_pulsipher.html
Zera Pulsipher Papers at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulsipher, Zera
1789 births
1872 deaths
19th-century Mormon missionaries
American Mormon missionaries in the United States
American general authorities (LDS Church)
Angelic visionaries
Latter Day Saints from New York (state)
Latter Day Saints from Ohio
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)
People from Rockingham, Vermont
People from Washington County, Utah
Presidents of the Seventy (LDS Church)
Religious leaders from Vermont