Hosea Stout

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Photograph of Hosea Stout, taken in the 1850s.

Hosea Stout (September 18, 1810 - March 2, 1889), was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, and an important Mormon political and military leader. He was a close and zealous associate of both Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young.

In Nauvoo, Illinois, he was a member of the Danites, and later served as a bodyguard for Joseph Smith. He was also a commander in the Nauvoo Legion, and the Chief of Police of Nauvoo. After the Mormon migration to the west, Stout served as the first Attorney General of the territory of Utah.

Hosea was one of the most prolific diarists of his time "Diary of Hosea Stout," (1810-1889) in which he often kept a daily log of events that occurred around him.

Hosea held various governmental positions in Utah: member of the House of Representative in 1849, attorney general in 1850, and was one of the first attorneys admitted to the bar in the territory now known as Utah in 1851, and he was a States Attorney.

In 1852 Hosea was called on a mission to China along with three other brethren: Chapman Duncan, James Lewis, and Walter Thompson.

Later in his life in 1856 he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the code commissioners, a state prosecutor, and U.S. Attorney.

He also helped rescue a snowbound handcart company in November 1856.