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Bullock, Thomas, 1816-1885

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1816 - 1885

Biographical History

Thomas Bullock (1816-1885) was a pioneer who worked as a clerk for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois and Utah.

Thomas Bullock was born on December 23, 1816 as the youngest of nine children to Thomas and Mary Bullock in Leek, Staffordshire, England. At age thirteen, he began apprenticing as a clerk at a law office. In 1838, he began working in the government's excise department and married Henrietta Rushton. They were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in November of 1841. By 1843, Bullock and his family traveled to the United States to join the other Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Thomas's clerkship skills enabled him to serve as Joseph Smith's personal clerk up through Joseph's martyrdom. He later stayed behind to record the saints' final days in Nauvoo before their mass exodus to Salt Lake City, Utah and then recorded their consequent pioneer trek west to Utah. He held numerous clerkship positions in Utah for the duration of his life, including clerking for Brigham Young and various projects for the Church.

Bullock practiced plural marriage. In addition to Henrietta, he married Lucy Clayton in 1846 and Betsy Prudence Howard in 1852. Thomas Bullock died in Coalville, Utah on February 10, 1885 leaving behind twenty-three children and a legacy laced with multiple influential clerical undertakings.

Citation:
Ancestry.com, May 10, 2017 (b. 1816 in Staffordshire, England; d. 1885 in Coalville, UT; married Henrietta Rushton, Lucy Caroline Clayton, and Betsey Prudence Howard)

Wikipedia, May 10, 2017 (worked as legal figure in the British government, as a clerk for the Church, and as a participant in one of the pioneer companies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)