Peter Whitmer Jr. (September 27, 1809 – September 22, 1836) was the sixth child and fifth son of

Peter Whitmer Sr. Peter Whitmer Sr. (April 14, 1773 – August 12, 1854) was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement, and father of the movement's second founding family. Whitmer was born in Pennsylvania and married Mary Elsa Musselman. The Whitmers had ...

and Mary Musselman. He is primarily remembered as one of the

Eight Witnesses The Eight Witnesses were one of the two groups of witnesses who made statements stating that they had seen the golden plates which Joseph Smith said was his source material for the Book of Mormon. An earlier group of witnesses who said they had se ...

of the Book of Mormon's

golden plates According to Latter Day Saint movement, Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates (also called the gold plates or in some 19th-century literature, the golden bible) are the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred t ...

Biography

Born in

Fayette, New York Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,617 at the 2020 census. The town is in the north-central part of the county and is southeast of Geneva, New York. A post office is located in the Town of Fayette a ...

, Whitmer and several of his brothers were shown the

gold plates According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates (also called the gold plates or in some 19th-century literature, the golden bible) are the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith. Some ac ...

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, h ...

in 1829. Whitmer was one of the official six members of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

on April 6, 1830.Joseph Smith (

B. H. Roberts Brigham Henry Roberts (March 13, 1857 – September 27, 1933) was a historian, politician, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He edited the seven-volume ''History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(ed.), '' History of the Church'' 1:76, footnote. Shortly thereafter, Whitmer was called to travel with

Oliver Cowdery Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was an American Mormon leader who, with Joseph Smith, was an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first baptized ...

Parley P. Pratt Parley Parker Pratt Sr. (April 12, 1807 – May 13, 1857) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement whose writings became a significant early nineteenth-century exposition of the Latter Day Saint faith. Named in 1835 as one of the first ...

and

Ziba Peterson Ziba Peterson (died 1849) was an early American Latter Day Saint best known as one of the four initial Missionary (LDS Church), missionaries sent by Joseph Smith in 1830 to preach to Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans in Indian Te ...

on a special

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 ...

to preach the faith to the Native Americans. This mission led to the conversion of former

Campbellite Campbellite is a mildly pejorative term referring to adherents of certain religious groups that have historic roots in the Restoration Movement, among whose most prominent 19th-century leaders were Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Members of these g ...

minister

Sidney Rigdon Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement. Biography Early life Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He was ...

. Whitmer subsequently moved to

Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (after St. Louis County). Although Independence retains ...

, where he married Vashti Higley on October 14, 1832, with whom he had three children. By 1835, Whitmer and his family had relocated to the new Latter Day Saint settlement of

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. It ...

, where he sat on the church's high council. He was almost 27 years old when he died of tuberculosis in

Liberty, Missouri Liberty is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of Kansas City, located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 30,167. Liberty is home to W ...

Notes

References

* * 1809 births 1836 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis American Latter Day Saint missionaries Book of Mormon witnesses Converts to Mormonism Doctrine and Covenants people Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People from Fayette, New York Religious leaders from New York (state) Tuberculosis deaths in Missouri Whitmer family {{LDS-stub