Cornelius Peter Lott (September 22, 1798 – July 6, 1850) was an early member of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...

, father of one of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

's plural wives, a member of the

Council of Fifty "The Council of Fifty" (also known as "the Living Constitution", "the Kingdom of God", or its name by revelation, "The Kingdom of God and His Laws with the Keys and Power thereof, and Judgment in the Hands of His Servants, Ahman Christ") was a La ...

and a

Danite The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigilante group and took a ...

leader.

Early life and marriage

Lott was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, to Peter Lott and Mary Jane Smiley. His grandfather, also named Cornelius Lott, was sheriff of Somerset County, New Jersey, and served as captain of the Middlesex County Men in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. Lott married Permelia Darrow on April 27, 1823. Sometime before 1834, both joined the Church of Christ (renamed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1838). They moved to

Kirtland, Ohio Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and is the site of the movement's first t ...

, in 1836.Compton, Todd. Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998, pp. 596-598 He later took on additional, plural wives as well.

Missouri

In 1838, the Lotts moved to Missouri and settled near Haun's Mill. During the 1838 Independence Day celebrations in Far West, Missouri, the military band passed in review of three men acting as Generals: Lott, Jared Carter, and

Sampson Avard Sampson Avard (October 23, 1800 – April 15, 1869) was one of the founders and leaders of the Mormon vigilantes known as the Danites, which existed in Missouri during the Missouri Mormon War in 1838. Early life Sampson Avard was born at St. Pe ...

. Lott was involved with a rogue band of Mormons called "

s", and during the

1838 Mormon War The 1838 Mormon War, also known as the Missouri Mormon War, was a conflict between Mormons and non-Mormons in Missouri from August to November 1838, the first of the three " Mormon Wars". Members of the Latter Day Saint movement, founded by J ...

he led a Danite raid against a farm near

Adam-ondi-Ahman Adam-ondi-Ahman (, sometimes clipped to Diahman) is a historic site in Daviess County, Missouri, about five miles south of Jameson. It is located along the east bluffs above the Grand River. According to the teachings of the Church of Jesus C ...

. The farm had been harboring weapons and ammunition for a Missouri mob.

Nauvoo

In the winter of 1838–39, the Lotts were driven from Missouri with the rest of the Latter Day Saints. They settled in

Pike County, Illinois Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 16,430. Its county seat is Pittsfield. History Pike County was formed in January 1821 out of Madison County. It was named ...

, forty miles south of the main body of Saints in Nauvoo, in 1839, before moving to Joseph Smith's farm just southeast of Nauvoo. Once in Nauvoo, Lott took over management of Smith's farm and purchased some adjacent land, on which he built an eight-room farmhouse.''On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout'', 1844–1861, edited by Juanita Brooks. 2 vols (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1964; reprint 1982), 1:66n While there, he served as a captain of Smith's bodyguard and received his endowment with W.W. Phelps and

Joseph Fielding Joseph Fielding (March 26, 1797 – December 19, 1863) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as the second president of the British Mission (1838–1840), coordinating the activities of missionaries in sections of the Uni ...

. In addition, Joseph Smith proposed marriage to Lott's daughter, Melissa. Years later,

Joseph Smith III Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...

, who was a boy at the time, recalled that the "rather old" Lott (then in his mid-forties and possibly with prematurely gray hair) "was still strong and muscular and was usually willing to demonstrate his strength." Smith related that not long after arriving in Nauvoo, Lott came to his father's red-brick store to purchase supplies. Joseph Smith had spent most of the afternoon wrestling with customers and had "thrown" all of them. When Lott walked in, carrying "a threatening-looking blacksnake whip that seemed to challenge all comers," Smith challenged him to a match. After Lott threw aside the whip and accepted the challenge, Smith was unable to throw him.Launius, Roger and McKiernan, F. ''Joseph Smith, JR.'s Red Brick Store''. Herald Publishing House, p. 21. .

Plural marriage

Lott practiced plural marriage. On January 22, 1846, he married three women: Elizabeth Davis, Rebecca Fossett, and Charity Dickenson. Elizabeth left while the family was in Winter Quarters, Nebraska. Rebecca left before the birth of their child, whom he never met. Charity appears to have stayed with him. In 1848 he married Eleanor Wayman and Phebe Crosby Peck Knight,

Hosea Stout In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea ( or ; he, הוֹשֵׁעַ – ''Hōšēaʿ'', 'Salvation'; gr, Ὡσηέ – ''Hōsēé''), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BCE prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. He is the ...

's mother-in-law and widow of Joseph Knight.

Utah

In late Spring 1848, Lott served as a captain in

Heber C. Kimball Heber Chase Kimball (June 14, 1801 – June 22, 1868) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Church of the Latter Day Saints, and as first counselor to Brigham Young ...

's company, an early group crossing the plains.

Mary Fielding Smith Mary Fielding Smith Kimball (July 21, 1801 – September 21, 1852) was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement, the second wife of Latter Day Saint leader Hyrum Smith, and the mother of Joseph F. Smith, who became president of the Churc ...

, a single mother and widow of

's brother Hyrum, was a member of the company. Lott told her that she should stay back until she could gather others to help her and her children make the journey. He said she would be a burden on the company. She refused, and according to her son, later church president Joseph F. Smith, Lott humiliated her throughout the trek. Joseph F. Smith despised Lott for his actions. Once in the Salt Lake Valley, Lott and his families lived in a two-room house at the southwest corner of Third South and State Street in Salt Lake City. He managed a church farm in the Forest Dale area.Lehi Centennial History, 1850–1950, Lehi Centennial Committee (Salt Lake City: Free Press Publishing Co., 1950), p. 276 One of his daughters married

William S. S. Willes William Sydney Smith Willes (March 18, 1819 – February 3, 1871), familiarly known as Sidney Willes, was a Mormon pioneer, member of the Mormon Battalion, and a founder of Lehi, Utah. Biography Willes was born in Jefferson County, New York. In 1 ...

. Another of his daughters married John R. Murdock. Lott died in 1850, of either

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

or fatigue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lott, Cornelius P. 1798 births 1850 deaths American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Converts to Mormonism Danites Mormon pioneers Religious leaders from New York City People from Livingston County, Missouri Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Ohio Latter Day Saints from Missouri Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Utah