John M. Bernhisel

John M. Bernhisel (1799-1881)

John M. Bernhisel was the copyist for Joseph Smith's Bible revision, a pioneer physician, and a Mormon Congressman. Photograph courtesy Utah State Historical Society.

Family Background

1799. June 23: Born John Martin Bernheisel in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, he later changed his name to John Milton Bernhisel.

Much-Married Monogamist

When he was forty-four, Bernhisel was sealed to ten deceased female friends and relatives by Joseph Smith, but he did not enter into a temporal marriage until 1845, when he married Julia Ann Haight Van Orden, a forty-year-old widow with six children.

The following year he married plural wives Dolly Ranson, Catherine Paine, Fanny Spafford, Melissa Lott Smith, and Catherine Burgess Barker and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. Bernhisel apparently considered the first three plural wives as a "spiritual charge," for he never lived with any of them. His marriage to Melissa Lott Smith was for "time only"; she had been sealed to Joseph Smith in 1843. Melissa left Bernhisel, though apparently never divorcing, and married Ira Willes in 1849. Bernhisel's marriages to Julia Van Orden and Catherine Burgess Baker were dissolved by mutual agreement in the Salt Lake Valley. Thus by 1851 he had reverted to monogamy with his youngest wife, Elizabeth, who bore him eight children.

In addition to the sealings performed by Joseph Smith, and the seven wives married in Nauvoo, Bernhisel was sealed to eighty-three deceased women in the Salt Lake Endowment House in 1868, plus an additional twenty-three wives one year later.

Physician

1827. Graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in apoplexy (strokes). He set up a private practice in Philadelphia, and later in New York. In Nauvoo he discontinued the practice of medicine until after retirement from public office in 1863, when he resumed private practice.

Patients remembered him as an "urbane, cultured, and refined physician, making his professional visits in a long frock coat and a high silk hat—a rather formidable antiquarian." At the conclusion of his examination of female patients, he would often advise: "Cultivate, my dear Madam, as far as possible, a cheerful, happy and contented disposition, and all will be well."

Friend of Joseph Smith

1843. Though he was baptized in 1837 and ordained a bishop in New York City in 1841, it was not until 1843 that the Prophet could convince him to migrate to Nauvoo. On his arrival, Joseph Smith insisted that he board in the Smith home. He became a respected friend and adviser to the family, serving as Joseph's personal emissary to Governor Ford in 1844 and attending to Emma Smith after the birth of her son, David Hyrum, five months after the Prophet's death.

1845. Emma Smith offered to let Bernhisel read the manuscript of the Bible revision Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had prepared in 1830-1833. He borrowed the manuscript for three months, copying the manuscript markings into his own Bible, which he later presented to Brigham Young.

Council of Fifty Member

A charter member of the Council of Fifty, Bernhisel helped Joseph Smith prepare his 1844 political treatise, "Views on Government." Later he was selected by the Council to help dispose of property in Nauvoo after the main body of Saints had left. In 1848 the Council appointed him to "treaty with Congress on behalf of Deseret."

He became vice-president of ZCMI, which was established in 1868 by the Council of Fifty to combat the anticipated economic threats of the transcontinental railroad and William Godbe's "New Movement."

Five-term Congressman:

1849. Selected by the Council of Fifty to pursue territorial status for Deseret, Bernhisel left for Washington on May 3, 1849. But by July Brigham Young and his advisers decided to petition for statehood instead. As Colonel Thomas L. Kane put it, the Saints would be "better off without any government from the hands of Congress than with a territorial government." Almon Babbitt was dispatched with the statehood petition.

Bernhisel believed that Congress was unlikely to grant statehood "on account of the sparcity of population," and he proved correct: statehood was denied; Utah was given territorial status.

Shortly before his departure for Washington as Utah Territory's first Congressional delegate, Bernhisel decided to revert to monogamy. Though he accepted plural marriage in principle, he opposed its open promulgation arid practice. He realized that his political colleagues viewed polygamy as repugnant to the laws and mores of the country. In 1852 he admonished Brigham Young, "Not one in a thousand will be convinced that the 'Doctrine' is at all consistent with chastity, or even morality, much less that it is a pure and righteous one."

Death

1881. September 28: Died of "intermittent fever" in Salt Lake City at the age of eighty-two; buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Sources
Barrett, Gwynn W. "John M. Bernhisel: Mormon Elder in Congress." Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1968.
Blanche, Rose. "Early Utah Medical Practice." Utah Historical Quarterly 10 (1942):18-19.
Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Genealogical Society Library. Endowment House Record Books E and F.
Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. John M. Bernhisel Papers. John M. Bernhisel to Thomas L. Kane, 4 December 1849; to Brigham Young, 8 November 1852, 14 December 1854.
_____. Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 26 November 1849.

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	Family Background 1799. June 23: Born John Martin Bernheisel in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, he later changed his name to John Milton Bernhisel. Much-Married Monogamist When he was forty-four, Bernhisel was sealed to ten deceased female friends and relatives by Joseph Smith, but he did not enter into a temporal marriage until 1845, when he married Julia Ann Haight Van Orden, a forty-year-old widow with six children. The following year he married plural wives Dolly Ranson, Catherine Paine, Fanny Spafford, Melissa Lott Smith, and Catherine Burgess Barker and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. Bernhisel apparently considered the first three plural wives as a "spiritual charge," for he never lived with any of them. His marriage to Melissa Lott Smith was for "time only"; she had been sealed to Joseph Smith in 1843. Melissa left Bernhisel, though apparently never divorcing, and married Ira Willes in 1849. Bernhisel's marriages to Julia Van Orden and Catherine Burgess Baker were dissolved by mutual agreement in the Salt Lake Valley. Thus by 1851 he had reverted to monogamy with his youngest wife, Elizabeth, who bore him eight children. In addition to the sealings performed by Joseph Smith, and the seven wives married in Nauvoo, Bernhisel was sealed to eighty-three deceased women in the Salt Lake Endowment House in 1868, plus an additional twenty-three wives one year later. Physician 1827. Graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in apoplexy (strokes). He set up a private practice in Philadelphia, and later in New York. In Nauvoo he discontinued the practice of medicine until after retirement from public office in 1863, when he resumed private practice. Patients remembered him as an "urbane, cultured, and refined physician, making his professional visits in a long frock coat and a high silk hat—a rather formidable antiquarian." At the conclusion of his examination of female patients, he would often advise: "Cultivate, my dear Madam, as far as possible, a cheerful, happy and contented disposition, and all will be well." Friend of Joseph Smith 1843. Though he was baptized in 1837 and ordained a bishop in New York City in 1841, it was not until 1843 that the Prophet could convince him to migrate to Nauvoo. On his arrival, Joseph Smith insisted that he board in the Smith home. He became a respected friend and adviser to the family, serving as Joseph's personal emissary to Governor Ford in 1844 and attending to Emma Smith after the birth of her son, David Hyrum, five months after the Prophet's death. 1845. Emma Smith offered to let Bernhisel read the manuscript of the Bible revision Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had prepared in 1830-1833. He borrowed the manuscript for three months, copying the manuscript markings into his own Bible, which he later presented to Brigham Young. Council of Fifty Member A charter member of the Council of Fifty, Bernhisel helped Joseph Smith prepare his 1844 political treatise, "Views on Government." Later he was selected by the Council to help dispose of property in Nauvoo after the main body of Saints had left. In 1848 the Council appointed him to "treaty with Congress on behalf of Deseret." He became vice-president of ZCMI, which was established in 1868 by the Council of Fifty to combat the anticipated economic threats of the transcontinental railroad and William Godbe's "New Movement." Five-term Congressman: 1849. Selected by the Council of Fifty to pursue territorial status for Deseret, Bernhisel left for Washington on May 3, 1849. But by July Brigham Young and his advisers decided to petition for statehood instead. As Colonel Thomas L. Kane put it, the Saints would be "better off without any government from the hands of Congress than with a territorial government." Almon Babbitt was dispatched with the statehood petition. Bernhisel believed that Congress was unlikely to grant statehood "on account of the sparcity of population," and he proved correct: statehood was denied; Utah was given territorial status. Shortly before his departure for Washington as Utah Territory's first Congressional delegate, Bernhisel decided to revert to monogamy. Though he accepted plural marriage in principle, he opposed its open promulgation arid practice. He realized that his political colleagues viewed polygamy as repugnant to the laws and mores of the country. In 1852 he admonished Brigham Young, "Not one in a thousand will be convinced that the 'Doctrine' is at all consistent with chastity, or even morality, much less that it is a pure and righteous one." Death 1881. September 28: Died of "intermittent fever" in Salt Lake City at the age of eighty-two; buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery. Sources Barrett, Gwynn W. "John M. Bernhisel: Mormon Elder in Congress." Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1968. Blanche, Rose. "Early Utah Medical Practice." Utah Historical Quarterly 10 (1942):18-19. Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Genealogical Society Library. Endowment House Record Books E and F. Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. John M. Bernhisel Papers. John M. Bernhisel to Thomas L. Kane, 4 December 1849; to Brigham Young, 8 November 1852, 14 December 1854. _____. Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 26 November 1849.