Josiah Butterfield (March 13, 1795 – March 3, 1871) was an early

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 ...

leader and member of the Presidency of the

Seventy 70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71. In mathematics 70 is: * a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes. * a Pell number. * the seventh pentagonal number. * the fourth tridecagonal number. * the fif ...

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 chu ...

. Butterfield was born in

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, to parents Abel Butterfield & Mercy Heald, and married Polly Moulton on October 30, 1819. The couple spent the 1820s in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, where John F. Boynton and a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which 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.Tho ...

companion

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

him in 1833. Butterfield relocated to Kirtland,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, in 1834, where he worked on the Kirtland Temple. There he also became a charter member (and stockholder) of the

Kirtland Safety Society The Kirtland Safety Society (KSS) was first proposed as a bank in 1836, and eventually organized on January 2, 1837, as a joint stock company, by leaders and followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 "Articles of ...

. He was set apart as one of the seven presidents of Seventy on April 6, 1837. He functioned simultaneously as a member of the Kirtland High Council. After Polly died on October 28, 1840, Butterfield married Margaret Lawrence, a mother of two daughters. Shortly after this marriage, a conflict arose between Butterfield and

Joseph Smith, Jr. 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, he ...

over the Lawrence estate, from which Butterfield was set to benefit. Smith represented the two daughters' position. Smith wrote on March 28, 1843, that Butterfield "came to my house and insulted me so outrageously that I kicked him out of the house, across the yard, and into the street." Butterfield became disaffected and was excommunicated on October 7, 1844.

Jedediah M. Grant Jedediah Morgan Grant (February 21, 1816 – December 1, 1856) was a leader and an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was member of the First Council of the Seventy from 1845 to 1854 and served in the ...

took his place in the Presidency. Butterfield was later rebaptized and received his

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in the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

on January 20, 1846, although he did not travel west with the

Mormon pioneers 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 ...

. By 1853, he was on his way to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

when he visited his nephew, Thomas Jefferson Butterfield (namesake of Butterfield Canyon) and founder of Herriman, Utah, at Fort Herriman and affirmed his continuing faith in

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...

. On his way to California, he met and married Clarinda Cram Walker in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, on March 27, 1853. They settled near

Aromas, California Aromas (Spanish for "Perfumes") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County and San Benito County, California, United States. The population was 2,708 at the 2020 census. The CDP straddles the border of the ...

, and had six children together.Blohm Family Memories, by Floyd Luther, p. 20-21 1988 On May 1, 1865, Butterfield was baptized into the

Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...

by Glaud Rodger in Watsonville, California.Biography
of Josiah Butterfield, The Joseph Smith Papers (accessed January 13, 2012) He died March 3, 1871, in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Josiah 1795 births 1871 deaths American members of the Community of Christ Converts to Mormonism People from Dunstable, Massachusetts Presidents of the Seventy (LDS Church) Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Doctrine and Covenants people People excommunicated by the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Religious leaders from Massachusetts