Algernon Sidney Gilbert (December 28, 1789 – June 29, 1834) was a merchant best known for his involvement with Latter-day Saint history and his partnership with Newel K. Whitney in

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 ...

. He is mentioned in seven sections of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Ch ...

. He was ordained as 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 ...

in the state of Missouri 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 ...

in the United States.Biography
of Algernon Sidney Gilbert, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed January 6, 2012)

Personal life

Gilbert was born on December 28, 1789, at

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 ...

, to Eli Gilbert and Lydia Hemingway. He married Elizabeth Van Benthusen, September 30, 1823, in Chagrin (later Willoughby), Ohio. The two had one son. Gilbert moved to

Mentor, Ohio Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Me ...

, which was very close to Kirtland, around 1819, and took out a large loan, which he struggled to pay off until 1826. He moved to Kirtland in 1826 and was a partner with Newel K. Whitney in the N. K. Whitney & Co. store by 1827. In 1831 he moved to

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 ...

, opened a store there, and was appointed

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 ...

's agent.

Latter-day Saint

Gilbert was baptized into 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 ...

in the spring of 1831 and church founder

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 ...

ordained him 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 ...

on June 6, 1831. He was ordained a high priest by Smith on April 26, 1832, in Kirtland and appointed one of seven high priests in the

presiding high council In the Latter Day Saint movement, there are two presiding high councils, one said to be "standing," and the other "traveling." The traveling high council is generally known as the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Both councils, at least in theory, presi ...

in Missouri. He served as a missionary in the eastern United States from June to December 1832. Gilbert was appointed to start a store in Missouri in 1831, where Whitney and Company purchased land at a central intersection. Whitney probably sent money to help support the store. Open conflict with earlier settlers in

Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (after St. Louis County). Although Independence retains ...

, ensued after members began moving there, driven by religious and cultural differences, and the perception by

pro-slavery Proslavery is a support for slavery. It is found in the Bible, in the thought of ancient philosophers, in British writings and in American writings especially before the American Civil War but also later through 20th century. Arguments in favor ...

Missourians that the "

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

" "Mormons" were

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. Vigilantes in the public and private sector used force to drive individual Latter-day Saints from Jackson to nearby counties within Missouri; eventually, Latter-day Saints were given until the end of November 6, 1833, to leave the county ''en masse''.Saints:LDS History Ch 17
/ref> Gilbert condemned church leaders in a letter in 1832; the church leaders promised Gilbert that God would bless him with prosperity if he was faithful. A mob came to Independence, Missouri, in July 1833 and destroyed many things. Gilbert sold what he could before leaving Missouri. On November 4, 1833, Gilbert was arrested and imprisoned for seven days at Independence and was among the Latter-day Saints driven from Jackson into Clay County, Missouri, later that month. He died of cholera in Clay County on June 29, 1834.

Sources

External links

Newel Kimball Whitney legal documents

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 speci ...

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gra ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Algernon Sidney 1789 births 1834 deaths American Latter Day Saint missionaries Businesspeople from New Haven, Connecticut Doctrine and Covenants people Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States Latter Day Saints from Ohio Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People from Kirtland, Ohio Religious leaders from Ohio Harold B. Lee Library-related 19th century articles

Personal life

Latter-day Saint

See also

Sources

External links