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Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807 – September 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 plural marriage among members of the LDS Church in 1890.
Woodruff joined the Latter Day Saint church after studying Restorationism as a young adult. He met Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement in Kirtland, Ohio, before joining Zion's Camp in April 1834. He stayed in Missouri as a missionary, preaching in Arkansas and Tennessee before returning to Kirtland. He married his first wife, Phebe, that year and served a mission in New England. Smith called Woodruff to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July 1838, and he was ordained in April 1839. Woodruff served a mission in England from August 1839 until April 1841, leading converts from England to Nauvoo. Woodruff was away promoting Smith's presidential campaign at the time of Smith's death. After returning to Nauvoo, he and Phebe traveled to England, where Woodruff preached and supported local members. The Woodruffs returned to the United States just before the Saints were driven out of Nauvoo, and Woodruff oversaw forty families in Winter Quarters, where he was sealed to his first plural wives. He joined the advance company that traveled to the Salt Lake Valley without his family in 1847. After returning to Winter Quarters, Woodruff and Phebe left to preside over the Eastern States Mission.
Woodruff and his family arrived in Salt Lake City on October 15, 1850. He served in the Utah territorial legislature and was heavily involved in the social and economic life of his community. He worked as an Assistant Church Historian and as Church Historian from 1856 to 1889. He was married to three more wives between 1852 and 1853. In 1877, he became president of the St. George Temple, where endowment ordinances were first performed for the dead as well as the living. Woodruff helped standardize the temple ceremony and decreed that church members could act as proxy for anyone they could identify by name. He also ended sealings of members to unrelated priesthood holders. In 1882, Woodruff went into hiding to avoid arrest for unlawful cohabitation under the Edmunds Act. In 1889, Woodruff became the fourth president of the LDS Church. After government disenfranchisement of polygamists and women in Utah Territory and seizure of church properties, which threatened to extend to temples, Woodruff ended the church's official support of new polygamous marriages in the 1890 Manifesto. Woodruff died in 1898 and his detailed journals provide an important record of Latter Day Saint history.
Woodruff was one of four sons born to Beulah Thompson and Aphek Woodruff. Beulah died of "spotted fever" in 1808 at the age of 26, when Wilford was fifteen months old. Aphek married Azubah Hart in 1809. In 1826, Aphek lost his mill and moved from Northington (now Avon, Connecticut) to Farmington, Connecticut. Woodruff attended school until he was 18 years old, which was unusual at the time. He survived having typhus and numerous accidents. At age 20, Woodruff left home to manage a flour mill for his aunt, and after three years, operated mills for other people until moving to Richland, New York, with his brother, Azmon, in 1832. During his time as a mill operator, he studied religion and became interested in Restorationism. Woodruff had his local Baptist minister, Mr. Phippen, baptize him without making him a member of the local congregation. Woodruff joined Smith's original Church of Christ on December 31, 1833. He was impressed with how the missionaries (Zerah Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney) preached their message voluntarily and free of charge, and how they purported to heal the sick.
Woodruff left his home in Richland after members recruited him to join Zion's Camp in April 1834. He met prominent church leaders, including Joseph Smith, in Kirtland, Ohio, before leaving with Zion's Camp for Missouri in May. When Zion's Camp left Missouri, Woodruff stayed to help members in Clay County, Missouri. He was ordained as a priest in 1834 and volunteered to serve a mission. After donating all his belongings to the church, Woodruff left Kirtland on January 12, 1835, preaching without "purse or scrip" in Arkansas and Tennessee. Woodruff's original companion was Harry Brown, who later left Woodruff to return to his family in Kirtland. Most of the mission, Woodruff preached in small towns and villages in western Kentucky and Tennessee and supported new members there. Warren Parrish ordained Woodruff as an elder in June 1835, and Woodruff heard in February 1836 that Smith had called him as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy.
Woodruff was dedicated to the Latter Day Saint Church, which distanced him from his family, who did not believe in the church. He returned to Kirtland in November 1836, where he studied Latin and Greek grammar at the Kirtland School, a school for adult education, which met in the attic of the Kirtland Temple. In January 1837, Smith called Woodruff to join the First Quorum of the Seventy. Three months later, over a period of five days, he participated in washing and anointings in the Kirtland Temple, accompanied by prolonged fasting and prayer and Charismatic experiences, such as speaking in tongues and prophecy.
Like many early Latter-day Saints, Woodruff practiced plural marriage. Woodruff was married to ten women in total, although not at the same time. His first wife, Phebe, stated that she thought plural marriage was "the most wicked thing I ever heard of", but she eventually embraced it.
His wives:
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Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff Sr. (March 1, 1807 – September 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 plural marriage among members of the LDS Church in 1890.
Woodruff joined the Latter Day Saint church after studying Restorationism as a young adult. He met Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement in Kirtland, Ohio, before joining Zion's Camp in April 1834. He stayed in Missouri as a missionary, preaching in Arkansas and Tennessee before returning to Kirtland. He married his first wife, Phebe, that year and served a mission in New England. Smith called Woodruff to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in July 1838, and he was ordained in April 1839. Woodruff served a mission in England from August 1839 until April 1841, leading converts from England to Nauvoo. Woodruff was away promoting Smith's presidential campaign at the time of Smith's death. After returning to Nauvoo, he and Phebe traveled to England, where Woodruff preached and supported local members. The Woodruffs returned to the United States just before the Saints were driven out of Nauvoo, and Woodruff oversaw forty families in Winter Quarters, where he was sealed to his first plural wives. He joined the advance company that traveled to the Salt Lake Valley without his family in 1847. After returning to Winter Quarters, Woodruff and Phebe left to preside over the Eastern States Mission.
Woodruff and his family arrived in Salt Lake City on October 15, 1850. He served in the Utah territorial legislature and was heavily involved in the social and economic life of his community. He worked as an Assistant Church Historian and as Church Historian from 1856 to 1889. He was married to three more wives between 1852 and 1853. In 1877, he became president of the St. George Temple, where endowment ordinances were first performed for the dead as well as the living. Woodruff helped standardize the temple ceremony and decreed that church members could act as proxy for anyone they could identify by name. He also ended sealings of members to unrelated priesthood holders. In 1882, Woodruff went into hiding to avoid arrest for unlawful cohabitation under the Edmunds Act. In 1889, Woodruff became the fourth president of the LDS Church. After government disenfranchisement of polygamists and women in Utah Territory and seizure of church properties, which threatened to extend to temples, Woodruff ended the church's official support of new polygamous marriages in the 1890 Manifesto. Woodruff died in 1898 and his detailed journals provide an important record of Latter Day Saint history.
Woodruff was one of four sons born to Beulah Thompson and Aphek Woodruff. Beulah died of "spotted fever" in 1808 at the age of 26, when Wilford was fifteen months old. Aphek married Azubah Hart in 1809. In 1826, Aphek lost his mill and moved from Northington (now Avon, Connecticut) to Farmington, Connecticut. Woodruff attended school until he was 18 years old, which was unusual at the time. He survived having typhus and numerous accidents. At age 20, Woodruff left home to manage a flour mill for his aunt, and after three years, operated mills for other people until moving to Richland, New York, with his brother, Azmon, in 1832. During his time as a mill operator, he studied religion and became interested in Restorationism. Woodruff had his local Baptist minister, Mr. Phippen, baptize him without making him a member of the local congregation. Woodruff joined Smith's original Church of Christ on December 31, 1833. He was impressed with how the missionaries (Zerah Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney) preached their message voluntarily and free of charge, and how they purported to heal the sick.
Woodruff left his home in Richland after members recruited him to join Zion's Camp in April 1834. He met prominent church leaders, including Joseph Smith, in Kirtland, Ohio, before leaving with Zion's Camp for Missouri in May. When Zion's Camp left Missouri, Woodruff stayed to help members in Clay County, Missouri. He was ordained as a priest in 1834 and volunteered to serve a mission. After donating all his belongings to the church, Woodruff left Kirtland on January 12, 1835, preaching without "purse or scrip" in Arkansas and Tennessee. Woodruff's original companion was Harry Brown, who later left Woodruff to return to his family in Kirtland. Most of the mission, Woodruff preached in small towns and villages in western Kentucky and Tennessee and supported new members there. Warren Parrish ordained Woodruff as an elder in June 1835, and Woodruff heard in February 1836 that Smith had called him as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy.
Woodruff was dedicated to the Latter Day Saint Church, which distanced him from his family, who did not believe in the church. He returned to Kirtland in November 1836, where he studied Latin and Greek grammar at the Kirtland School, a school for adult education, which met in the attic of the Kirtland Temple. In January 1837, Smith called Woodruff to join the First Quorum of the Seventy. Three months later, over a period of five days, he participated in washing and anointings in the Kirtland Temple, accompanied by prolonged fasting and prayer and Charismatic experiences, such as speaking in tongues and prophecy.
Like many early Latter-day Saints, Woodruff practiced plural marriage. Woodruff was married to ten women in total, although not at the same time. His first wife, Phebe, stated that she thought plural marriage was "the most wicked thing I ever heard of", but she eventually embraced it.
His wives:
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