Benjamin Winchester (August 6, 1817 – January 25, 1901) was an early leader in 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 ...

. Winchester was the youngest adult member of

Zion's Camp Zion's Camp was an expedition of Latter Day Saints led by Joseph Smith, from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri, during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon sett ...

, an original member of the first Quorum of the Seventy, editor of the first independent

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 several ...

periodical, the '' Gospel Reflector'',

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of a large

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

of the church in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, a zealous

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

who baptized thousands, a

Rigdonite A Rigdonite is a member of the Latter Day Saint movement who accepts Sidney Rigdon as the successor in the President of the Church, church presidency to the movement's founder, Joseph Smith Jr. The early history of the Rigdonite movement is shared ...

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

, and ultimately a dissenter who repudiated Mormonism altogether. The ''Gospel Reflector'' was published in Philadelphia, twice a month, between January 1, 1841, and June 15, 1841. Winchester moved to

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its h ...

, in October 1841 where he worked at the '' Times and Seasons'' until January 1842. Winchester also wrote pamphlets and two significant books on Latter Day Saint topics. Hi
''Synopsis of the Holy Scriptures, and Concordance''
published in 1842, was the first categorization of Bible scriptures from a Mormon perspective and included a detailed analysis of the Christian apostasy. His ''A Brief History of the Priesthood from the Beginning of the World to the Present Time'', published in 1843, was the first book to focus on the topic of the Mormon priesthood.

References

*Benjamin Winchester (ed.), ''The Gospel Reflector'', reprint of the original 1841 Philadelphia edition by Richard Drew for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), 1993. *Elizabeth Proctor Kiddle ''et alia'' (ed.), ''The Family of Auer Winchester Proctor'', Provo, Utah: 1978. *David J. Whittaker, ''Early Mormon Pamphleteering'',

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies'' is a multidisciplinary academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abs ...

, 2003.
''The Gospel Reflector''
(PDF scans), L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. 1817 births 1901 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Latter Day Saint leaders American Latter Day Saints American Mormon missionaries in the United States Converts to Mormonism Editors of Latter Day Saint publications Former Latter Day Saints Latter Day Saint leaders Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church) Rigdonites {{LDS-stub