Skip to main content

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)

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Thomas Bullock papers

 Collection
Identifier: Vault MSS 772
Scope and Contents Contains materials pertaining to the life and family members of Thomas Bullock. Includes personal and professional materials of journals, letters of correspondence, financial records, certificates, genealogical data, recorded blessings, and poems. His original and copied journal excerpts document day to day life, spiritual experiences, and recorded historical moments while living in Nauvoo, Illinois, on the Mormon Trail in 1858, and living in Utah. Letters of correspondence are penned by...
Dates: 1808-1991; Majority of material found within 1808-1892

Thomas Bullock genealogical papers, approximately 1830-1893

 Series
Identifier: Vault MSS 772 Series 4
Scope and Contents

Includes genealogies for both the Bullock and Howard families, discussing members of the family up until the passing of Thomas Bullock. Materials dated approximately 1830-1893.

Dates: approximately 1830-1893

Filtered By

  • Subject: Scribes -- Illinois -- Nauvoo -- History X

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 1
Collection 1
 
Subject
Diaries 1
Family records 1
Genealogies 1
Home and Family 1
Latter Day Saints -- Genealogy 1
∨ more