2012/04/23 by Alexander L. Baugh · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Mormonism, Religion, and History
paper · doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfs006
openalex publication_date 2012/04/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Award-winning authors Terryl L. Givens, the James A. Bostwick Chair of English at the University of Richmond, and Matthew J. Grow, former professor of history at the University of Southern Indiana and currently the director of publications for the LDS Church Historical Department in Salt Lake City, have produced a candid and engaging biographical narrative of Parley P. Pratt (1807–57), an original member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and one of early Mormonism's most important and influential figures. Born on April 12, 1807, in Burlington, New York, of Puritan stock to Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson, Parley Parker Pratt became an ardent disciple of Joseph Smith and one of Mormonism's most conspicuous actors. A believer in the Bible and imbued with religious yearnings as a youth, Pratt first came under the influence of Sidney Rigdon, a former Reformed Baptist minister, in 1829 while living in Amherst, Ohio. Rigdon had only recently broken ties with Alexander Campbell and his primitivist movement (Disciples of Christ). Intent on promulgating the faith, in August 1830, Pratt set out to share the gospel message with family members living in Canaan, New York. En route, while passing through Wayne County, he came across a copy of the Book of Mormon. Upon reading the book, Pratt became convinced of the truthfulness of the record and Joseph Smith's calling as translator and prophet. On September 1, Pratt was baptized into the Church of Christ (later The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). He remained a lifelong adherent of Mormonism (although he had a brief falling away with Smith in 1837 over a failed business dealing), devoting the rest of his life to what he believed was the fullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.