Christian Whitmer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christian Whitmer (1798–1835) was the eldest son of Peter Whitmer, Sr. and Mary Musselman. He is primarily remembered as one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates.

Born January 18, 1798 in Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA, Whitmer moved with his parents' family to New York in 1809. On February 22, 1825, he married Ann Schott (1801–1866) in Fayette, New York. In June of 1829, Christian Whitmer, along with several of his brothers became a special witness of the Book of Mormon. On April 11, 1830, he and Ann were baptized into the newly organized "Church of Christ", as this was original name of the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." They subsequently moved to Jackson County, Missouri, where Whitmer was appointed a leading elder of the church.

By 1835, Whitmer and his family had relocated to the new Latter Day Saint settlement of Far West, Missouri, where Whitmer sat on the "High Council." He died there in 1835, leaving no children. His widow Ann eventually returned to Fayette.