Lyman E. Johnson

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Lyman E. Johnson (October 24, 1811–December 20, 1856) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He broke with Joseph Smith, Jr. and Sidney Rigdon during the 1837-38 period when schism divided the early church. He later became a successful pioneer lawyer in Iowa and was one of the town fathers of Keokuk, Iowa.

Lyman Johnson was born in Pomfret, Vermont in 1811 to John Johnson, Sr., and Alice "Elsa" Johnson. The family moved to Hiram, Ohio in 1818, where they established a successful 300-acre farm. Joseph Smith, Jr., and Emma Hale Smith moved into the Johnson home on September 12, 1831. Within a month, Lyman Johnson was ordained an elder and then a high priest of the Latter Day Saint church. In response to a revelation given on January 25, 1832, Lyman joined Orson Pratt on an evangelizing mission which took them through the northeastern United States. The two were highly successful preachers and brought many converts to Mormonism on this and other subsequent missions.

In the summer of 1834, Lyman marched with the Zion's Camp expedition which hoped to restore Latter Day Saints in Missouri to their lands in Jackson County. Although the expedition was a failure, many of the veterans of the expedition were rewarded with high church offices. Among these were Lyman Johnson and his brother Luke Johnson who were among the original twelve men called on February 14, 1835, to be "Special Witnesses" or apostles in a "Traveling High Council" of the church, later known as the Council or Quorum of the Twelve. The chief duty of the apostles was to preside over missionary activities and Lyman Johnson continued to operate as a successful missionary from 1835-1837.

The failure of the Kirtland Safety Society, a wild-cat bank founded by church leaders, led to widespread dissent in 1837. Loyalists to Joseph Smith held a High Council trial on September 3, 1837 which rejected Luke Johnson, Lyman Johnson and John F. Boynton from the Quorum of the Twelve. Boynton explained that his difficulties with the church resulted from "the failure of the bank" which he had understood "was instituted by the will & revelations of God, & he had been told that it would never fail" (Kirtland Council Minute Book, pp. 184-86). Despite these difficulties, Lyman Johnson and the others temporarily reconciled with church leaders and were restored to their apostleship on September 10 (KCMB, pp. 188-89), after which Lyman and his family moved to the Latter Day Saint settlement of Far West, Missouri.

Meanwhile, schismatic strife between the loyalist faction and dissenting faction continued to divide the church in Kirtland. Finally, the dissenters, led by Warren Parrish, Martin Harris, Luke Johnson and John Boynton gained the upper hand. The took control of the Kirtland Temple and they and their High Council excommunicated Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, who fled to Far West.

The schismatic strife followed them there, but in Far West, the loyalists were able to keep control by excommunicating the leadership of the Missouri church David Whitmer, John Whitmer, W.W. Phelps along with Oliver Cowdery, Lyman Johnson and others. In Lyman's case, a list of 7 charges was presented to him by the Far West High Council on April 9, 1838, which included the charge of "...saying he would appeal the suit between him & Brother Phineas Young and take it out of the County..." Lyman replied on April 12, that "I should not condescend to put my constitutional rights at issue upon so disrespectful a point, as to answer any of those other charges until that is withdrawn & until then shall withdraw myself from your society and fellowship." (Far West Record, 173-76).