Skip to main content

Woodruff, Wilford, 1807-1898

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1807 - 1898

Biographical History

Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) served as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 to 1898.

Wilford Woodruff was born March 1, 1807. He was raised in Connecticut. Woodruff was a miller by trade. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1833 and served two missions before being ordained an Apostle in 1839. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, he completed four additional missions, presided over the temple in St. George, Utah, and served six years as Church Historian. He was sustained as Church President on April 7, 1889. As President of the Church, he dedicated temples in Salt Lake City and Manti, Utah, oversaw the organization of the Genealogical Society, and reemphasized the value of historical record keeping. He also received a revelation that the Latter-day Saints should cease the practice of plural marriage. In 1890, he wrote the Manifesto, testifying that the Church had ceased teaching the practice of plural marriage. Woodruff died in San Francisco on September 2, 1898.

Citation:
The illustrated story ... c1982 (1983 prtg.): t.p. (Wilford Woodruff [in title]) p. 5 (b. Mar. 1, 1807; d. Sept. 2,1898)

Woodruff, Wilford. In the whirlpool, 2011: ECIP t.p. (Wilford Woodruff) ch. 1 (once used the moniker Lewis Allen while in hiding)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1992: p.1580-1582 (Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898), fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; born Farmington, Connecticut on March 1, 1807; April 1834 arrived in Kirtland, Ohio; Zion's Camp; missionary to England; missionary to Southern States in 1835; Quorum of the Twelve in 1839; member of the Nauvoo City Council, chaplain of the Nauvoo Legion, member of the council of Fifty; member of pioneer company of Latter-day Saints to arrive in the Great Basin on July 24, 1847; served in the Utah Territorial Legislature for 22 years; Utah territorial council for 21 years; board of directors of Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI); 1889 sustained as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Wikipedia, website viewed 14 October 2010 (Wilford Woodruff, born March 1, 1807 Farmington, Connecticut; Died September 2, 1898, San Francisco, California; LDS Church President, ordained April 7, 1889; LDS Church Apostle, ordained April 26, 1839)

Church History website, via WWW, March 19, 2013 (Wilford Woodruff; b. March 1, 1807; raised in Connecticut; was a miller by trade; joined Church in 1833; ordained apostle in 1839; sustained as Church President April 7, 1889; died. Sept. 2, 1898)

Found in 35 Collections and/or Records:

Samuel Bateman papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 128
Scope and Contents Contains materials documenting Samuel Bateman's personal and family life. Included are some of Bateman's handwritten diaries for the years 1886-1888, 1899-1901, and 1901-1909. Also included are typescripts, microfilm, and scanned copies of these diaries, and typescripts of some correspondence to and from Samuel Bateman, dated 1868-1886. His correspondence discusses guarding John Taylor and his friendship with Wilford Woodruff, who were both Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of...
Dates: 1868-2016

Thomas Walter Brookbank reminiscences

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230305515]
Identifier: MSS SC 799
Scope and Contents

Consists of three separate manuscripts: "Religious Experiences of Thomas Walter Brookbank," "Travels and Threads of Experience," and "A Soldier's Recollections." These autobiographies recount the author's early life and conversion to Mormonism, his experiences in the Civil War (1861-1865), life in Utah and the Mormon settlements in eastern Arizona, and missionary activities in New Mexico, Texas, Mexico, and Great Britain.

Dates: 1922

David John Buerger term papers

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230311620]
Identifier: MSS SC 1465
Scope and Contents

Photocopies of typed term papers entitled "Brigham Young University: The Unvarnished Reality," and "Politics and Inspiration: An Historical Analysis of the Woodruff Manifesto." The items are controversial works on the role of education in the Mormon Church and the changes in the Mormon doctrine of "plural marriage."

Dates: 1978

Bush family papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2217
Abstract

This collection, containing letters, journals, newspaper articles, and other family correspondence, has been organized into folders by year, starting in 1846 and ending in 1960.

Dates: 1846-1960

C. W. Carter composite photograph of Salt Lake Temple

 Item — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197233636379]
Identifier: MSS 8233
Scope and Contents

Photograph by Carter from 1892 containing images taken during the construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the Salt Lake Temple, with the dates of the pictures. It also contains portraits of Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff and some short quotes about the construction of the Tabernacle and the Temple.

Dates: approximately 1892

Copies of revelations

 File — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 1857
Scope and Contents Two handwritten booklets. One booklet is a list of people which were persecuted and imprisoned for polygamy in Utah and Idaho. The other item includes copies of a "revelation" (26 Jan. 1880) by the Mormon Apostle, Wilford Woodruff, concerning obedience to the Mormon Church and an excerpt from his journal on the dedication of the St. George Temple in 1877; a list of 28 women believed to have been "sealed" to Joseph Smith (1805-1844); "testimonies" of Mormon Church members; a "revelation"...
Dates: 1869-1900

Moses Franklin Farnsworth papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 1678
Scope and Contents

Correspondence, record books, pension petitions, certificates, pamphlets, articles of incorporation, poems, blessings, poems, and miscellaneous items. The materials relate to Farnsworth's activities particulary in the Mormon Church. Included in the collection are letters from the fourth president of the Mormon Church, Willford Woodruff, patriarchal blessings, letters relating to Mormon polygamy, and a book recording the work done in the Manti Temple of the Mormon Church.

Dates: 1870-1900

General Church Board of Education certificate

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230342260]
Identifier: MSS 260
Scope and Contents

Printed and handwritten certificate. The item is a license which authorizes Hyrum H. Anderson to teach religion classes for the Mormon Church in Provo, Utah. The item was signed by the president of the Mormon Church, Wilford Woodruff, and by George Reynolds and Karl G. Maeser.

Dates: 1892

William Lawrence Hansen photograph album

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 9171
Scope and Contents Photograph album that was likely used by William Lawrence Hansen while serving in the Swiss and German Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1887 to 1890. Many of the photographs are unidentified cabinet card albumen portraits of individuals and families taken in various studios across England, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. These are likely missionaries or members that Hansen met on his mission. Within the album is included cabinet card albumen portraits from...
Dates: approximately 1887-1890

Orson Hyde autobiography and funeral

 Collection — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197232484490]
Identifier: MSS 444
Scope and Contents Typewritten copy of an autobiography. Hyde writes about his early life and religious experiences. He tells about his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the many missions he served for that faith. He also recounts his experiences with the first president of the Church, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), and his activities in Kirtland, Ohio. Also included is a typewritten copy of the funeral for Hyde in Spring City, Utah on 1 Dec. 1878. A eulogy of him was given by the...
Dates: approximately 1842-1878