| Employer of Smith family in New York, early
convert, church purchasing agent in Kirtland, high council member in Missouri,
Zion's Camp, Danite, Council of Fifty, RLDS. |
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| Born |
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October 14, 1791 in Randolph, Windsor Co., Vermont |
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Revelations, 48. |
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August 24, 1786 in Randolph, Windsor Co., Vermont |
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Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
| Died |
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January 28, 1856 in Randolph, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts |
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Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
| Father |
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Ezra Thayer |
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Revelations, 48; Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
| Mother |
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Charlotte French |
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Revelations, 48; Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
| New
York |
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Lives near Canandaigua, New York by 1820. Builds bridges,
dams, and mills in Palmyra area. Hires members of the Joseph Smith Sr.
family. (Ezra was born 15 miles from Joseph Smith Jr.'s birthplace.) |
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Early documents 3:74; W. W. Blair,
48. |
| Baptized |
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October [10], 1830 by Parley
P. Pratt after a meeting in which Joseph Smith speaks in Manchester. |
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Inventing, 134–135; Early documents 3:78n7. |
| Mission call |
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October [18–31], 1830 called on a mission with Northrop Sweet to
preach "unto a crooked and perverse generation." |
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D&C 33 |
| Boards
with Smiths in Williams home |
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May 1831 revelation: board with the Joseph Smith Sr. family
in Frederick G. Williams' house until a house can be built for him. At
the upcoming conference he will be "ordained unto power
from on high" and go to "the western regions … even unto
the borders by <the> Lamanites" to preach the gospel. |
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Revelation of May 1831 |
| Elder |
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June 3–6, 1831 attends first conference in Kirtland
as an elder. |
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| High Priesthood |
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June 3–6, 1831 ordained to the High Priesthood by
Lyman Wight (h) (swh). |
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¶ Minutes
of June [3–6], 1831 |
| Mission call |
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June 6, 1831 called to travel with
Thomas B. Marsh (h) on mission to Missouri. |
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¶ D&C
52:22 |
| Threatened with excommunication |
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June 15, 1831 mission call is revoked because he is not ready in time.
He "must repent of his pride, and of his selfishness, and obey the
former commandment which I have given him concerning the place upon which
he lives."
If he does, he can still go to Missouri, because the [F. G. Williams farm]
land is not going to be divided. Otherwise, his money will be returned,
he will
"leave the place," and be "cut off out of my church, saith
the Lord God of hosts." (He does make it to Missouri.) |
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¶ Thomas
B. Marsh (h)
¶ D&C
56:5, 8–10 |
| From Independence to
Kirtland |
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August 9, 1831 member, Joseph Smith party leaving Independence for Kirtland.
Others include Hyrum
and William Smith, Frederick G. Williams, Orson
Hyde, William
E. McLellin,
Ezra Thayer, Lorenzo Booth, Martin Harris
and his son, Solomon Wilber Denton, Jedediah M. Grant, Jenkins
Salisbury,
Almon W. Babbitt, Seth Johnson, Cyrus Smalling, Harvey Stanley, and George
A. Smith. |
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George A. journal (abridged), 81:287. |
| Rebuked for disrespect |
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October 10, 1831 on behalf of the church conference, W.
W. Phelps reproves Ezra and Joseph Smith Sr. for their "unwise course,"
apparently with regard to arrangements at the Williams farm. Ezra, who
has to be sent for, is to be "sharply rebuked for the disrespect with
which he has treated this conference." He is to stay with his family
in Kirtland
until spring. |
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Minutes
of October 10, 1831 |
| Mission call |
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January 25, 1832 called on a mission with
Thomas B. Marsh (h) to New York, leaving in the summer and returning in the fall. |
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Minutes of January 25, 1832
¶ D&C 75:31 |
| Conference of speaking in tongues and washing
of feet |
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January 22–23, 1833 attends conference in which Joseph
Smith, Zebedee
Coltrin, William Smith, and others, male and female, speak and sing in
tongues. The washing of feet is instituted as part of the founding of the
School of the Prophets. |
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Minutes of January
22–23, 1833
Speaking in Tongues
Feet Washing |
| Word of Wisdom |
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February 27, 1833 present in the School of the Prophets when Joseph presents
the Word of Wisdom (D&C 89). |
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¶ Word of
Wisdom |
| Church agent to purchase farms |
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March 23, 1833 Sidney ordains Ezra and Joseph
Coe general agents "in this eastern branch of the Church" to
purchase three farms in Kirtland, including the French farm "upon
which the saints might build a stake of Zion." |
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Minutes of March
23, 1833 |
| Purchases tannery |
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April 2, 1833 to purchase
Arnold Mason's
tannery in behalf of the church. |
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Minutes of April 2, 1833 |
| Charges muttering elder |
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February 19, 1834 prefers a charge against elder Curtis Hodges Sr.
of "First, an error in spirit; Secondly, an error in address
or communication, which was in loud speaking, and a want of clearness in
articulation which was calculated to do injury to the cause of God; and
also, of contending or persisting, that that was a good or proper spirit
which actuated him thus to speak, all of which I consider unbecoming an
elder in this church, and request a hearing before the high council." |
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¶ Minutes
of February 19, 1834 |
| Zion's Camp |
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May 16, 1834 during Zion's Camp, Ezra
is riding in a wagon with Joseph and Hyrum Smith and George A. Smith when,
as the prophet recalls, |
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| Killing field |
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we came into a piece of thick woods of recent growth, where I told them
that I felt much depressed in spirit and lonesome, and that there had been
a great deal of bloodshed in that place, remarking that whenever a man
of God is in a place where many have been killed, he will feel lonesome
and unpleasant, and his spirits will sink. |
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HC 2:66. |
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¶ |
In about forty rods from where I made this observation we came through
the woods, and saw a large farm, and there near the road on our left, was
a mound sixty feet high, containing human bones. This mound was covered
with apple trees, and surrounded with oat fields, the ground being level
for some distance around. |
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| Cholera |
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June 21, 1834 one of the first to contract cholera in Zion's
Camp at Fishing River. |
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Heber's Accounts of Zion's Camp (1) |
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March 1, 1835 ordination blessing as a seventy: |
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| Seventy |
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Blessed thou art and blessed shalt thou be for thou art one of the 70.
You shall go to the nations and teach them in their own tongues, the things
of the kingdom. You shall be delivered from your enemies and go and preach
from land to land and you shall yet have all the promises that the Lord
has ever given in this church fulfilled. You shall Lead many to Zion and
yet you shall have rejoicings with your family and no man shall take your
blessings. Even so Amen. |
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Kirtland council |
| Suspended |
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May 2, 1835 on a complaint by Oliver Granger, a conference of the Presidency,
Twelve, some of the Seventy and some elders "suspended
[Ezra] as an Elder and member until an investigation could be had before
the Bishop's court." (When he was restored is not known.) |
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¶ Minutes
of May 2, 1835 |
| Adam-ondi-Ahman high council. |
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June 28, 1838 charter member, Adam-ondi-Ahman stake high council. |
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Minutes of June 28, 1838 |
| First Presidency to own land |
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July 26, 1838 A council of "the first presidency, High Council, & Bishops
Court" agrees the First Presidency will take ownership of all consecrated
land "that they can dispose of to their advantage and
support," and the rest will be in the names of the bishops. |
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Minutes
of July 26, 1838 |
| Danite |
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1838 Danite. |
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Mormonism exposed cited in Origins, 522. |
| Nauvoo |
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1839 moves to Nauvoo. |
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Rochester
Firm in the faith |
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July 9, 1840 Heber C. Kimball writes Joseph about staying one
night with Ezra, who lives two miles from Rochester, New York: "He
was glad to see me, and inquired much about you and the rest of the brethren:
he seemed to be firm in the faith of the gospel and has much love for his
brethren. Brother Thayer then took me in his wagon and carried me to Victor
within twelve or fourteen miles of the place where you obtained the record
of the Book of Mormon." |
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"Epistle," July 9, 1840,
Manchester, England in TS 6, no 6 (Apr. 1, 1845):
861. |
| Spiritually dead |
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[October–November] 1842 missionaries Jonathan Crosby and John Riggs call on Ezra in Rochester. Jonathan: "He treated us well, but was dead spiritually." |
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Jonathan Crosby, Autobiography. |
| New York |
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April 6, 1843 counselor to John P. Greene, president, during
the Genesee conference in Batavia, New
York. |
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TS 4, no. 13 (May 15, 1843):
207. |
| Council of Fifty |
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April 18, 1844 included in the list of Council of Fifty members—"those
who have been called upon to form the grand Kingdom of God by revelation." |
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William Clayton journals (Smith), 129–130. |
| Presidential campaign |
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May 9, 1844 leaves on mission with his son, Wilford Woodruff, George
A. Smith, and Jedediah M. Grant to campaign for Joseph Smith as President
of the United States. |
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WWJ 2:394. |
| Kalamazoo conference |
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June 1–2, 1844 attends Kalamazoo conference
in Comstock, Michigan, with apostles Wilford Woodruff,
George A. Smith, three members of the high council, five other high priests
(including Ezra), eight seventies, fourteen elders, two priests, and one
deacon. Charles C. Rich and Harvey Green are appointed "to preside over
the State of Michigan assigned them by the quorum of the Twelve. … General
Rich manifested much wisdom in concoking his plans in carrying
out his work both on politics & religion, in the State of Michigan this
Season." |
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WWJ 2:404–406. |
| Retained in Council of Fifty reorg |
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February 4, 1845 twenty-five members of the Council of Fifty ("Council
of the Kingdom") meet in the Seventies Hall in Nauvoo. Brigham Young "appointed
standing chairman as successor to President Joseph Smith by unanimous
vote." Ezra is one of fifteen absent members who are retained in the reorganization.
Eleven are dropped from the council, leaving, after the martyrdom of Joseph
and Hyrum and the death of John P. Greene, 40 members in the council. |
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William Clayton journals (Smith), 157.
retained: Revelations, 48 mistakenly states Ezra was dropped from the
council on this date.
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| RLDS |
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August 24, 1860 baptized into the RLDS church by
W. W. Blair in Galien, Michigan. |
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W. W. Blair, 39. |
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Conversion |
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¶ |
When Hyrum began to speak, every word touched me to the inmost soul.
I thought every word was pointed to me. God punished me and riveted me
to the spot. I could not help myself. The tears rolled down my cheeks,
I was very proud and stubborn. There were many there who knew me, I dare
not look up. I sat until I recovered myself before I dare look up. They
sung some hymns and that filled me with the Spirit. When Hyrum got through,
he picked up a book and said, 'here is the Book of Mormon.' I said, let
me see it. I then opened the book, and I received a shock with such exquisite
joy that no pen can write and no tongue can express. I shut the book
and said, what is the price of it? 'Fourteen shillings' was the reply.
I said, I'll take the book. I opened it again, and I felt a double portion
of the Spirit, that I did not know whether I was in the world or not.
I felt as though I was truly in heaven. |
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"Testimony of Brother E. Thayre Concerning
the Latter Day Work," True Latter Day Saints' Herald 3,
(Oct. 1862): 79–83. Source // Early documents, 3:75.
Also see Ezra's 1830 visions in ¶ Member
Visions. |
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Martin Harris rushed to me to tell me
that the book was true. I told him that he need not tell me that, for I
knew that it is true as well as he. |
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Family |
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| Wife |
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Polly Wales, md. 1810 |
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Revelations, 48. |
| Wife |
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Polly Wales (b. Apr. 18, 1789 in Braintree, Norfolk
Co., MA; md. Jan. 1, 1810 in Randolph, Norfolk Co., MA; d. June 2, 1822
in Holbrook, Norfolk, MA) |
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Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
| Wife |
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Relief Wales (b. June 28, 1780 in Braintree, Norfolk
Co., MA; md. Sept. 23, 1822 in Holbrook, Norfolk Co., MA; d. May 10, 1862
in Holbrook, Norfolk Co., MA) |
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Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
| Children |
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Andrew |
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Revelations, 48. |
| Children |
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Henry (b. June 12, 1811 in Randolph, Norfolk Co., MA)
Royal (b. Mar. 31, 1813 in Randolph)
E. Wales (b. Aug. 8, 1815 in Randolph)
Mary (b. 1818 in Randolph)
Newton b. 1820 in Randolph) |
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Ancestry.com (subscribers) |
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Biographies
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