Orson Hyde

Orson Hyde (1805-1878)

Orson Hyde was an Apostle and dedicator of Palestine for the return of Jews. Photograph courtesy LDS Church Archives.

Family Background

1805. January 8: Born in Oxford, Connecticut. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Orson was raised by the Nathan Wheelers, who moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1819. There he worked in an iron foundry, carded wool, and clerked in the Gilbert-Whitney store.

In 1834 he married Marinda Nancy Johnson, sister of Apostles Luke and Lyman Johnson. He later married Martha R. Browett (1843), Mary Ann Price (1843), Ann Eliza Vickers (1857), Elizabeth Josephine Gallier (1864), and Sophia Margaret Lyon (1865). Marinda divorced him in 1870. He was the father of thirty-two children, only seventeen of whom lived to adulthood.

Convert

1827. Joined the Methodist church and later the Campbellite congregation of Sidney Rigdon. For a time he lived with the Rigdons in Mentor, Ohio.

1831. When Sidney Rigdon converted to Mormonism, Hyde studied and prayed for three months. Finally he decided, "I could not be the loser by joining the Mormons and as an honest man, conscientiously bound to walk in the best and clearest light I saw, I resolved to be baptized into the new religion." He was baptized by Rigdon.

Missionary

1831. Shortly after baptism, Hyde began missionary efforts among his acquaintances in Kirtland. "I felt that all my old friends (not of the 'Mormons') would believe me, and with a warm and affectionate heart, I soon went out among them, and began to talk and testify to them what the Lord had done for me; but the cold indifference with which they received me, and the pity they expressed for my delusion, soon convinced me that it was not wise to give that which is holy unto dogs, neither to cast pearls before swine."

During the next twenty years, Hyde served thirteen missions, including Ohio (1831, 1833), "eastern countries" (1832), Missouri (1833), Pennsylvania (1834), New York (1835), Canada (1836), England (1837, 1846), Indiana (1839), Palestine (1841), and the Eastern United States (1843).

Scholar

1833. Hyde taught grammar in the Kirtland School of the Prophets and attended Joshua Seixus's school of Hebrew at Kirtland.

1854. Claimed to have memorized the Bible in English, German and Hebrew. Hyde, W. W. Phelps, and Albert Cartington signed the teaching certificates of Utah Territory. In 1855 he taught night classes in English at Salt Lake City.

Apostle

1835. Called by the Three Witnesses to be a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve. He had served as a member of the first high council and of Zion's Camp. After a six-month excommunication in 1838-1839, he was restored to his former position in the Quorum.

1847. Became president of the Quorum of the Twelve at Council Bluffs, Iowa, a position he held for twenty-eight years. In 1875 Brigham Young reordered the Quorum of the Twelve, giving Hyde and Orson Pratt seniority according to the dates of their return to the Quorum, rather than their original ordinations. Otherwise, at the death of Brigham Young in 1877, Orson Hyde would have been the senior apostle.

Excommunication

1839. Hyde had been disfellowshipped in 1835 for criticizing Sidney Rigdon's teaching methods. Four years later he was excommunicated with Thomas B. Marsh for "failure to support the Church." The charge stemmed from their sworn affidavit that the Mormons had "among them a company, considered true Mormons, called the Danites … for the purpose of burning and destroying. … The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are superior to the laws of the land."

Marsh wrote the statement, but Hyde added, "The most of the statements in the foregoing disclosure I know to be true, the others I believe to be true."

Six months after his excommunication, Hyde had a "vision in which it was made known to him that if he did not make immediate restitution to the quorum of the Twelve, he would be cut off and all his posterity, and that the curse of Cain would be upon him." He was reinstated in June, 1839.

John Taylor later explained, "Orson Hyde had been sick with a violent fever for some time, and had not fully recovered therefrom, which with the circumstances with which we were surrounded, and the influence of Thomas B. Marsh, may be offered as a slight palliation for his default."

Dedicator of Palestine for the Return of Jews

1841. October 24: In fulfillment of a prophecy by Joseph Smith and of his own 1840 vision, Hyde ascended the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and dedicated Palestine for the future return of the Jews:

"Now, O Lord! Thy servant has been obedient to the heavenly vision which thou gavest him in his native land … to dedicate and consecrate this land unto thee, for the gathering of Judah's scattered remnants."

In 1979 President Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Utah Politician

1848. An original member of the Council of Fifty, Hyde was appointed an associate judge of the Utah Supreme Court· He also served in the Utah legislature (1852-53, 1856-59, 1861-73), and was elected president of the upper house in 1870.

Colonizer

1853. Called by Brigham Young to colonize Fort Supply, Wyoming. Mormon settlers burned Fort Supply and Fort Bridger in 1857 to prevent their falling into the hands of the Utah Expeditionary Force.

1855. Called to settle Carson Valley, Nevada. En route, he was confronted by a soldier whom he had charged with abducting two girls in Salt Lake City. "He slapped me in the face and drew a revolver instantly. My pistols being in the holsters outside on my horse, I was not exactly prepared to measure arms with him at that time. … I am resolved to defend myself if I have to shoot him down wherever and whenever I see him." The soldier never arrived for a showdown in Carson Valley.

Hyde served as probate judge in Carson Valley from 1856-57.

1858. Called by Brigham Young to preside over the Sanpete-Sevier district of south-central Utah. Hyde originally settled in Manti, then moved to Spring City, where his fine old home still stands. In 1860 he was sustained as the first president of the Sanpete Stake.

Death

1878. November 28: Died in Spring City on Thanksgiving Day at the age of seventy-three. Buried in Spring City Cemetery.

Sources
Barron, Howard H. Orson Hyde: Missionary-Apostle-Colonizer. Salt Lake City: Horizon Publishers, 1977.
Deseret News, 3 October 1877.
Hill, Marvin. "Orson Hyde." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955.
History of the Church, 1:415, 3:167-168, 4:106, 4:446-459, 6:98, 6:345.
Hyde, Orson. "History of Orson Hyde." Millennial Star 26 (1864):742-792.
Journal of Discourses, 2:81.
Page, Albert R. Orson Hyde and the Carson Valley Mission, 1855-1857. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1970.
Roberts, B. H. Comprehensive History1:473, 2:45.

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


	Family Background 1805. January 8: Born in Oxford, Connecticut. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Orson was raised by the Nathan Wheelers, who moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1819. There he worked in an iron foundry, carded wool, and clerked in the Gilbert-Whitney store. In 1834 he married Marinda Nancy Johnson, sister of Apostles Luke and Lyman Johnson. He later married Martha R. Browett (1843), Mary Ann Price (1843), Ann Eliza Vickers (1857), Elizabeth Josephine Gallier (1864), and Sophia Margaret Lyon (1865). Marinda divorced him in 1870. He was the father of thirty-two children, only seventeen of whom lived to adulthood. Convert 1827. Joined the Methodist church and later the Campbellite congregation of Sidney Rigdon. For a time he lived with the Rigdons in Mentor, Ohio. 1831. When Sidney Rigdon converted to Mormonism, Hyde studied and prayed for three months. Finally he decided, "I could not be the loser by joining the Mormons and as an honest man, conscientiously bound to walk in the best and clearest light I saw, I resolved to be baptized into the new religion." He was baptized by Rigdon. Missionary 1831. Shortly after baptism, Hyde began missionary efforts among his acquaintances in Kirtland. "I felt that all my old friends (not of the 'Mormons') would believe me, and with a warm and affectionate heart, I soon went out among them, and began to talk and testify to them what the Lord had done for me; but the cold indifference with which they received me, and the pity they expressed for my delusion, soon convinced me that it was not wise to give that which is holy unto dogs, neither to cast pearls before swine." During the next twenty years, Hyde served thirteen missions, including Ohio (1831, 1833), "eastern countries" (1832), Missouri (1833), Pennsylvania (1834), New York (1835), Canada (1836), England (1837, 1846), Indiana (1839), Palestine (1841), and the Eastern United States (1843). Scholar 1833. Hyde taught grammar in the Kirtland School of the Prophets and attended Joshua Seixus's school of Hebrew at Kirtland. 1854. Claimed to have memorized the Bible in English, German and Hebrew. Hyde, W. W. Phelps, and Albert Cartington signed the teaching certificates of Utah Territory. In 1855 he taught night classes in English at Salt Lake City. Apostle 1835. Called by the Three Witnesses to be a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve. He had served as a member of the first high council and of Zion's Camp. After a six-month excommunication in 1838-1839, he was restored to his former position in the Quorum. 1847. Became president of the Quorum of the Twelve at Council Bluffs, Iowa, a position he held for twenty-eight years. In 1875 Brigham Young reordered the Quorum of the Twelve, giving Hyde and Orson Pratt seniority according to the dates of their return to the Quorum, rather than their original ordinations. Otherwise, at the death of Brigham Young in 1877, Orson Hyde would have been the senior apostle. Excommunication 1839. Hyde had been disfellowshipped in 1835 for criticizing Sidney Rigdon's teaching methods. Four years later he was excommunicated with Thomas B. Marsh for "failure to support the Church." The charge stemmed from their sworn affidavit that the Mormons had "among them a company, considered true Mormons, called the Danites … for the purpose of burning and destroying. … The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are superior to the laws of the land." Marsh wrote the statement, but Hyde added, "The most of the statements in the foregoing disclosure I know to be true, the others I believe to be true." Six months after his excommunication, Hyde had a "vision in which it was made known to him that if he did not make immediate restitution to the quorum of the Twelve, he would be cut off and all his posterity, and that the curse of Cain would be upon him." He was reinstated in June, 1839. John Taylor later explained, "Orson Hyde had been sick with a violent fever for some time, and had not fully recovered therefrom, which with the circumstances with which we were surrounded, and the influence of Thomas B. Marsh, may be offered as a slight palliation for his default." Dedicator of Palestine for the Return of Jews 1841. October 24: In fulfillment of a prophecy by Joseph Smith and of his own 1840 vision, Hyde ascended the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and dedicated Palestine for the future return of the Jews: "Now, O Lord! Thy servant has been obedient to the heavenly vision which thou gavest him in his native land … to dedicate and consecrate this land unto thee, for the gathering of Judah's scattered remnants." In 1979 President Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Utah Politician 1848. An original member of the Council of Fifty, Hyde was appointed an associate judge of the Utah Supreme Court· He also served in the Utah legislature (1852-53, 1856-59, 1861-73), and was elected president of the upper house in 1870. Colonizer 1853. Called by Brigham Young to colonize Fort Supply, Wyoming. Mormon settlers burned Fort Supply and Fort Bridger in 1857 to prevent their falling into the hands of the Utah Expeditionary Force. 1855. Called to settle Carson Valley, Nevada. En route, he was confronted by a soldier whom he had charged with abducting two girls in Salt Lake City. "He slapped me in the face and drew a revolver instantly. My pistols being in the holsters outside on my horse, I was not exactly prepared to measure arms with him at that time. … I am resolved to defend myself if I have to shoot him down wherever and whenever I see him." The soldier never arrived for a showdown in Carson Valley. Hyde served as probate judge in Carson Valley from 1856-57. 1858. Called by Brigham Young to preside over the Sanpete-Sevier district of south-central Utah. Hyde originally settled in Manti, then moved to Spring City, where his fine old home still stands. In 1860 he was sustained as the first president of the Sanpete Stake. Death 1878. November 28: Died in Spring City on Thanksgiving Day at the age of seventy-three. Buried in Spring City Cemetery. Sources Barron, Howard H. Orson Hyde: Missionary-Apostle-Colonizer. Salt Lake City: Horizon Publishers, 1977. Deseret News, 3 October 1877. Hill, Marvin. "Orson Hyde." Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955. History of the Church, 1:415, 3:167-168, 4:106, 4:446-459, 6:98, 6:345. Hyde, Orson. "History of Orson Hyde." Millennial Star 26 (1864):742-792. Journal of Discourses, 2:81. Page, Albert R. Orson Hyde and the Carson Valley Mission, 1855-1857. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1970. Roberts, B. H. Comprehensive History1:473, 2:45.