Orson Spencer (March 14, 1802 – October 15, 1855) was a prolific writer and prominent member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

writings. Orson Spencer is one of the examples William Mulder cites of highly educated people becoming

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

s during the time 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, ...

Early life and education

Born in West Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Spencer was generally esteemed a bright boy. At age twelve he contracted a fever that nearly killed him and left him with a permanent limp. At age fifteen, the town sheriff was so struck by him that he offered to finance Spencer's education. That same year he entered Lenox Academy. In 1824, Spencer graduated with honors from Union College at

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. In 1825 Spencer took a job as a school teacher in Washington,

Wilkes County, Georgia Wilkes County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,593. The county seat is the city of Washington. Referred to as "Washington-Wilkes", the county seat and c ...

. While in Georgia he also began the study of law. In 1827, Spencer joined the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

church and decided to become a pastor. He attended the theological college at

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...

(now known as Colgate University), and graduated as class valedictorian in 1829. Spencer served as pastor at three congregations throughout

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

between 1829 and 1841.

Religious conversion

Spencer was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his brother Daniel and was baptized by the same in spring 1841, necessitating the discontinuation of Orson's Baptist ministry. During his time of investigating the faith, Spencer obtained as much information as he could about Solomon Spalding and other items that called into question the divine origin of the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude d ...

, but he was still convinced of its truthfulness by reading it. News of Spencer's conversion reached many of his Baptist colleagues. Reverend William Crowell sent a letter inquiring about his conversion and the Mormon faith in general. Spencer's responses to this and other epistles were published and remain of interest to many Latter-day Saints today.

Church service

Shortly after his conversion, Spencer and his family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Spencer served as the head of the

University of Nauvoo The University of Nauvoo was a short-lived university in Nauvoo, Illinois. After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had been expelled from Missouri, they crossed into Illinois and settled in Nauvoo in 1839. They were granted a city c ...

. He also served as an alderman in Nauvoo. In April 1843 Spencer was sent on a mission to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. Spencer was elected mayor of Nauvoo in 1845, but he appears to not have served due to the revocation of the city charter. He would have succeeded his brother Daniel Spencer in this office. Prior to this he served as an alderman of the city of Nauvoo. As such he also served as a member of Nauvoo's municipal court. After the Nauvoo Charter was revoked Spencer served as an alderman of the much smaller town of Nauvoo. Spencer served as president of the British

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

from early 1847 until the summer of 1848. During that time he also served as editor and publisher of the '' Millennial Star''. In 1848 he was replaced by Orson Pratt, who found that the mission had had much success under Spencer's administration. Spencer was the president of one of the five

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

companies in 1849. This company consisted of about 100 wagons. In 1850, when the '' Deseret News'' began publication in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, Spencer served as assistant editor under

Willard Richards Willard Richards (June 24, 1804 – March 11, 1854) was a physician and midwife/nurse trainer and an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as second counselor to church president Brigham Young in the First Presidency of th ...

. Spencer was a member of the first legislative council of Utah Territory. On August 28, 1852, Brigham Young commissioned Spencer to travel, together with Jacob Houtz, to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. After reaching Berlin in late January 1853, he and his companion discovered that every step they took was observed by the Prussian

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

. After only one week, at the command of Karl Otto von Raumer—Secretary of Cultural Affairs—Spencer and Houtz were forced by the police to leave Berlin without having had any visible missionary success. They were the first Mormon missionaries to preach in Germany since Orson Hyde's visit in 1841. Spencer served as an editor and writer on many newspapers from his conversion and was named the first chancellor of the University of Deseret in 1850. Spencer went on a mission to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1854. After being there a year he went to St. Louis where he replaced

Erastus Snow Erastus Snow (November 9, 1818 – May 27, 1888) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1849 until his death. Snow was also a leading figure in Mormon colonizati ...

as the regional church leader and editor of the ''St. Louis Luminary''. He shortly afterward went on a mission to the Cherokee Nation, during which he contracted

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. He then returned to St. Louis where he succumbed to this disease, passing away on October 15, 1855, at the age of 53.

Contributions to theology

Spencer's writings were an influential force in the formation of 19th-century Latter-day Saint theology. His statements about God the Father having a distinct place of dwelling but spreading forth his presence through the Holy Ghost were among the leading exposisitons of this Latter-day Saint view in the 1840s.

Family

Spencer's first wife was Catharine Curtis. They had eight children. He married Eliza Ann Dibble as a plural wife in January of 1846 in Nauvoo. Catherine died in March of 1846 while crossing

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. While presiding over the British Mission, Spencer married Martha Knight. He later also married Margaret Miller, Jane T. Davis and Mary Hill as plural wives. In 1855, shortly after his death, Spencer's daughter Catherine Curtis Spencer (named after her mother) married Brigham Young, Jr. Spencer was the father of Aurelia Spencer Rogers, who in 1878 founded the Primary Association, the official organization of the LDS Church for children.

Works remembered

A collection of his letters entitled ''Spencer's Letters'' was among the items placed in the capstone of the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

.''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the ''MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is t ...

'', 1992-04-02.

References

Sources

*Spencer, Orson. (1853). ''The Prussian Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Report of Elder Orson Spencer, A.B., to President Brigham Young.'' Liverpool: S.W.Richards *''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint Church History'', p. 1173-1174.

External links

Utah History Encyclopedia

at the

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

official website

Notes to an Epistle of Orson Spencer to British Church members from ''Meridian'' magazine
Hiram B. Clawson Papers
a
University of Utah Digital LibraryMarriott Library Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Orson 1802 births 1855 deaths 19th-century American politicians 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saint writers American Mormon missionaries in Germany American Mormon missionaries in the United Kingdom American Mormon missionaries in the United States American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Colgate University alumni Converts to Mormonism from Baptist denominations Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Utah Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Mission presidents (LDS Church) Mormon pioneers Nauvoo, Illinois city council members People from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts Presidents of the University of Utah Union College (New York) alumni University of Utah faculty