Latter Day Saint martyrs are persons who belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) or another church within the Latter Day Saint movement who were killed or otherwise persecuted to the point of premature death on account of their religious beliefs or while performing their religious duties.
Although the term "martyr" is not frequently used in Latter-day Saint terminology, Latter Day Saints recognize a number of prophets, apostles, and other religious persons as recorded in the Bible, including both the Old Testament and New Testament, and Book of Mormon as martyrs within the same religious tradition (albeit at an earlier time) to which they subscribe.[1] For Latter Day Saints, the most notable martyr is Jesus Christ. Other scriptural examples include Abel ("the first martyr"),[2] John the Baptist, James the brother of John, Stephen whose stoning is recorded in the Book of Acts, Abinadi,[3] women and children of Ammonihah,[4] etc.[5] Latter Day Saints also acknowledge as "Early-day Saint" martyrs those early Christians who were killed for their faith prior to or as a result of the Great Apostasy.
The most notable post-Biblical Latter Day Saint martyrs are Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum Smith.[6]
Individuals who die "in the Lord's service" are believed to be rewarded with eternal life: "And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name’s sake, shall find it again, even life eternal."[7] Joseph F. Smith, President of the LDS Church, declared: "I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel ... in the great world of the spirits."[8]
According to LDS Church apostle L. Tom Perry, from 1831 until 1989, "only seventeen LDS missionaries [were] killed by assassins." At the same time, apostle M. Russell Ballard "indicated that of the 447,969 missionaries who have served since the days of Joseph Smith, only 525—about one-tenth of 1 percent—have lost their lives through accident, illness, or other causes while serving. 'When you contemplate that number,' he said, 'it appears that the safest place to be in the whole world is on a full-time mission.'"[9]
Missonaries who died from illness or accident are not listed. However, depending on the circumstances of their death, they could be deemed "martyrs" for having died while in religious service.[10][11][12][13]
Many Mormon pioneers and other early Church members who suffered privation and early death on account of their religious beliefs would likely qualify as "martyrs." However, they are too numerous to list here. This list also does not include early Mormon settlers who were killed in encounters with Native Americans during the Mormon settlement of the American West.
Contents |
Death date | Location | Name | Church | Cause of death | Age at death |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 7, 1832 | Pomfret, Vermont | Joseph B. Brackenbury (missionary) | Church of Christ | Poisoning | 43 |
October 25, 1838 | Battle of Crooked River, Missouri | Gideon Carter | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Killed in battle | |
October 25, 1838 | Battle of Crooked River, Missouri | Patrick O'Banion | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Killed in battle by John Lockhart | |
October 25, 1838 | Battle of Crooked River, Missouri | David W. Patten (apostle)[14] | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Killed in battle | 39 |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Hiram Abbott | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Elias Benner | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | John Byers | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints |
Massacre |
|
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Alexander Campbell | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Simon Cox | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Josiah Fuller | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Austin Hammer | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | John Lee | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Benjamin Lewis | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Thomas McBride | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; shot by Jacob Rogers; body hacked apart with a corn knife | 78 |
November 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Charles Merrick | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; died about 4 weeks afterward from wounds | 9 |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Levi Newton Merrick | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | 30 |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | William Napier | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | George S. Richards | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Sardius Smith | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; top of skull blown off from musket shot by William Reynolds | 10 |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Warren Smith | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | John York | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre | |
May 27, 1840 | Nauvoo, Illinois | Edward Partridge (bishop) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Persecution[15] | 46 |
June 27, 1844 | Carthage Jail, Illinois | Joseph Smith, Jr. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Mob assassination | 38 |
June 27, 1844 | Carthage Jail, Illinois | Hyrum Smith | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Mob assassination | |
July 30, 1844 | Nauvoo, Illinois | Samuel Harrison Smith (one of Eight Witnesses) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Possibly from internal injuries sustained while fleeing a mob on horseback on the day his brothers were murdered[16][17] | 36 |
July 9, 1856 | St. James Township, Beaver Island, Michigan | James Strang (president of the church) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) | Shot on June 16, 1856 by Thomas Bedford, a member who Strang had had flogged for adultery; Strang died in Voree, Wisconsin | 43 |
May 13, 1857 | near Van Buren, Arkansas | Parley P. Pratt (apostle) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Shot and stabbed by Hector McLean, the ex-husband of one of Pratt's plural wives | 50 |
July 21, 1879 | Varnell, Georgia | Joseph Standing (missionary) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Mob murder | 24 |
August 8, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | William S. Berry (missionary) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Mob assassination | |
August 8, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | John H. Gibbs (missionary) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Mob assassination | |
August 8, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | W. Martin Conder | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Mob assassination | |
August 8, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | John Riley Hutson | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Mob assassination | 27 |
May 4, 1912 | Diaz, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico | James D. Harvey | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Shot and killed | 49 |
August 27, 1912 | Colonia Pacheco, Mexico | Joshua Stevens | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Killed by Mexican rebels | |
1915 | San Marcos, Hidalgo, Mexico | Rafael Monroy (branch president)[18] | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Execution by Liberation Army of the South | |
1915 | San Marcos, Hidalgo, Mexico | Vicente Morales[18] | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Execution by Liberation Army of the South | |
October 27, 1942 | Plötzensee Prison, Germany | Helmuth Hübener | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Executed for anti-Nazi activities | 17[19] |
August 20, 1972 | Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico | Joel LeBaron (president of the church) | Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times | Shot and killed by Daniel Jordan on the orders of Ervil LeBaron, Joel's brother and a rival fundamentalist Mormon leader | 49 |
October 1974 | Austin, Texas | Gary Darley (missionary) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Murder by Robert Elmer Kleason; presumably dismembered with chainsaw[20] | 20 |
October 1974 | Austin, Texas | Mark Fischer (missionary) | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Murder by Robert Elmer Kleason; presumably dismembered with chainsaw[20] | 19 |
May 10, 1977 | Murray, Utah | Rulon C. Allred (head of church) | Apostolic United Brethren | Shot and killed by Rena Chynoweth and another women on orders of Ervil LeBaron, a rival fundamentalist Mormon | 71 |
May 24, 1989 | La Paz, Bolivia | Todd Ray Wilson (missionary)[9][21] | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Assassination in terrorist attack by Zarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation | 20 |
May 24, 1989 | La Paz, Bolivia | Jeffrey Brent Ball (missionary)[9][21] | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Assassination in terrorist attack by Zarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation | 20 |
January 2, 2006 | Chesapeake, Virginia | Morgan W. Young (missionary)[22] | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Fatal shooting | 21 |