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 ...
, father of one of
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...
'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 Lat ...
and a
Danite
The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Missouri, Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigila ...
leader.
Early life and marriage
Lott was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, to Peter Lott and Mary Jane Smiley. His grandfather, also named Cornelius Lott, was sheriff of
Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County is a county located in the north-central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 13th-most-populous county,Middlesex County Men in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
.
Lott married Permelia Darrow on April 27, 1823. Sometime before 1834, both joined the
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to:
Church groups
* Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ
* Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...
(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 United States census, 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and the site of ...
, 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
An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
celebrations in
Far West, Missouri
Far West was a settlement of the Latter Day Saint movement in Caldwell County, Missouri, United States, during the late 1830s. It is recognized as a historic site by the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, added to the register in 1970. I ...
, the military band passed in review of three men acting as Generals: Lott,
Jared Carter Jared Carter may refer to:
* Jared Carter (Latter Day Saints) (1801–1849), an early missionary in the Latter Day Saint movement
*Jared Carter (poet)
Jared Carter (born January 10, 1939) is an American poet and editor.
Life
Carter was born in a ...
, 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. ...
. Lott was involved with a rogue band of Mormons called "
Danite
The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Missouri, Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigila ...
s", and during the
1838 Mormon War
The 1838 Mormon War, also known as the Missouri Mormon War, refers to a series of conflicts and civil unrest between Mormons (Latter Day Saints) and other residents of northwestern Missouri from August 6 to November 1, 1838, culminating in th ...
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. It is located between the Mississippi River and the Illinois River in western Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 14,739. Its county seat is Pitts ...
, 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 mission president, president of the British Mission (LDS Church), Mission (1838–1840), coordinating the activit ...
. 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
Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...
. 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
Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary te ...
. 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
Hosea Stout (September 18, 1810 – March 2, 1889) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Mormon pioneer, soldier, chief of police, lawyer, missionary, and politician in Utah Territory.
Stout was from Kentucky and one of the f ...
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 Church ...
, a single mother and widow of
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...
'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
Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was a nephew of Joseph Smith, founder of ...
, 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. Another of his daughters married John R. Murdock.
Lott died in 1850, of either
dysentery
Dysentery ( , ), 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 may include dehyd ...