Edward Hunter Jr. (June 22, 1793 – October 16, 1883) was the third Presiding Bishop 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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) from 1851 until his death. He served as Presiding Bishop longer than any other person in the history of the LDS Church.

Biography

Born to Edward Hunter and Hannah Maris in Newtown Square,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Hunter was engaged in the

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

business near

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 ...

from 1816 to 1822 and was married to Ann Standley in 1830. Hunter served in the

United States Cavalry The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army. The United States Cavalry was formally created by an act of United States Congress, Congress on 3 August 1861 and ceased as a dist ...

for seven years, and as Delaware County

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

for three years. During this time, Hunter identified as a

Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to ...

.William E. Hunter, ''Edward Hunter: Faithful Steward'' (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1970), 316 Hunter converted to 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 restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded dur ...

in 1840, served as

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Nauvoo 5th Ward from 1844 to 1846, and made significant financial contributions to the early church. He migrated to the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...

in 1846–47 and served as the bishop of the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

13th

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

from 1849 to 1854. Hunter was elected to the Utah Territorial Assembly on November 15, 1851, and served one term. Hunter was called as Presiding Bishop by LDS Church

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 ...

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

in 1851. Young and Heber C. Kimball served as Hunter's informal counselors for more than five years until Hunter formally called Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse Carter Little to these positions. As ''ex officio'' president of the church's Aaronic priesthood, Hunter laid the southwest cornerstone of the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), 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 Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

on April 6, 1853. Hunter died at

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

, and was buried at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

References

* — a sermon delivered by Hunter after laying the southwest cornerstone of the

Edward Hunter Homestead Historical Marker (hmdb.org)
* : brief biography
Biography
of Edward Hunter, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed January 9, 2012) * 1793 births 1883 deaths American Swedenborgians American general authorities (LDS Church) Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Converts to Mormonism Former Swedenborgians Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Pennsylvania Latter Day Saints from Utah Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature Presiding Bishops (LDS Church) Religious leaders from Pennsylvania {{LDS-stub

Biography

See also

References