Orson Hyde

Orson Hyde (January 8, 1805 – November 28, 1878) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 to 1875 and was a missionary of the LDS Church in the United States, Europe, and the Ottoman Empire.

Hyde was born on January 8, 1805, in Oxford, Connecticut, to Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. His father served in the War of 1812. His mother died when he was seven years old, and Hyde and his eleven siblings were "scattered among several foster parents." In 1812, he moved to Derby, Connecticut, where he was raised under the care of Nathan Wheeler. When he was 14 years old, Hyde walked from Derby, Connecticut to Kirtland, Ohio, where he settled with Wheeler. He was employed as a retail clerk in Kirtland. Hyde joined the local Methodist church in 1827, and then later affiliated with the Reformed Baptist Society (later Disciples of Christ or Campbellites). He was a Campbellite pastor in Mentor, Ohio, in 1830.

When Oliver Cowdery and other Latter Day Saint missionaries preached in Kirtland in late 1830, Hyde spoke publicly against the Book of Mormon. However, when his former minister, Sidney Rigdon, joined the Church of Christ, Hyde investigated the claims of the missionaries and was baptized by Rigdon in October 1831. Rigdon and Joseph Smith ordained him as an elder later that month, and Oliver Cowdery ordained him as a high priest on the 26th of October. Hyde was called and appointed to serve on a succession of missions for the church, serving alongside Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith, and John Gould. His first mission call was extended in November 1831 to preach the gospel in Orange, Ohio then he was again called in January 1832 to go with Samuel H. Smith to "take their journey into the eastern countries and proclaim" the gospel to the inhabitants there. His mission proved successful as he baptized many during his time in the eastern states, which included Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts. During one trip, Hyde traveled about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) on foot between New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine. He discussed his new faith with his old Campbellite acquaintances during these missions.

Hyde was present for the founding of the School of the Prophets in 1833. He then marched with Zion's Camp in 1834 and became one of the members of the first presiding high council in Kirtland, Ohio. He was ordained an apostle of the church on February 15, 1835, as one of the original Quorum of the Twelve, being fifth in seniority.^{[citation needed]} David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris performed Hyde's ordination. After becoming an apostle, Hyde served additional missions to Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and Canada. He also embarked on a mission with Heber C. Kimball to Great Britain in 1837, returning home in 1838. Their efforts were successful in bringing approximately 1,500 converts to the faith.

Upon returning from Britain, Hyde found the church in a period of persecution and internal dissension. He traveled to Missouri where he fell sick enough to be bed-bound. Thomas B. Marsh and his family took Hyde in and cared for him away from the violence surrounding rest of the church members and, as they did, a grudge they had against the church poisoned his perspective. Marsh then swore out an affidavit before the justice of the peace of Ray County, Missouri saying that the Latter-day Saints there had organized a vigilante group, "who have taken an oath to support the heads of the church in all things that they say or do, whether right or wrong;" that church vigilantes had burned and looted non-Mormon settlements in Daviess County; and that:

The plan of said Smith, the prophet, is to take this State, and he professes to his people to intend taking the United States, and ultimately the whole world. This is the belief of the church, and my own opinion of the prophet's plans and intentions."

Bed-bound, sick and isolated, Hyde swore before the same justice on the same day that he either knew Marsh's statements to be true or believed them to be such.

Because he had signed the Richmond affidavit with Marsh, Hyde was disfellowshipped (disciplined, but not removed from membership) in 1838. On May 4, 1839, he was removed from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The church leadership invited Hyde to explain his actions. On June 27, Hyde returned to the church and publicly explained himself, recanting his affidavit and asking to be restored. He was readmitted into the Quorum the same day in Nauvoo, Illinois.