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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 59 Collections and/or Records:

C. R. Savage photograph of the funeral of President Wilford Woodruff

 Collection — Oversize 1: [Barcode: 31197227644108]
Identifier: MSS 4208
Scope and Contents

This collection contains one photograph of the funeral of LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle. Some of the LDS Apostles and the First Presidency can be identified on the stand, including Joseph F. Smith. Lorenzo Snow was speaking at the pulpit when the picture was taken.

Dates: 1898

Record proceeding at the direction of St. George Temple

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197232539152]
Identifier: MSS 617
Scope and Contents

Typewritten excerpt from a diary. The item is a typed copy of Woodruff's diary entry for 1 Jan. 1877. Woodruff was present at the "direction" of the St. George Temple in St. George, Utah, and offered a "Dedication Prayer" which he wrote into his diary. This dedication was for part of the temple.

Dates: 1877 January 1

George Reynolds letter

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230321918]
Identifier: MSS SC 2350
Scope and Contents

Handwritten letter dated 5 Sept. 1877 and addressed to Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) who later became the fourth president of the Mormon Church. Reynolds writes a brief letter dealing with business transactions.

Dates: 1877 September 5

Samuel Bateman diary, book 1, 1886-1888

 Item — Box 1: [Barcode: 31197227633978], Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 128 Item 1
Scope and Contents Original handwritten diary of Samuel Bateman, including entries while he served as bodyguard for Latter-day Saint Church President John Taylor until his death in July 1887. Diary includes nearly daily entries of his work as a bodyguard, and includes details of the last days of John Taylor while living in the "Underground" for plural marriage. Bateman later served as bodyguard to President Wilford Woodruff as well. Much of the diary is his interactions and travels with various Church leaders...
Dates: 1886-1888

Samuel Russell, Sr. letters, 1882 December 6-1892 May 12

 File — Box 2: Series 2; Series 3 [Barcode: 31197233277588], Folder: 13
Identifier: MSS 1511 Series 3 File 10
Scope and Contents

Contains 12 letters to Samuel Russell, Sr., including items from John Morgan and Wilford Woodruff, A.H Snow, Angus M. Canon and George Lambert. Materials dated December 6, 1882 to May 12, 1892.

Dates: 1882 December 6-1892 May 12

George Albert Smith papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 610
Scope and Contents Genealogy sheets, correspondence, a scrapbook, notebooks, photograph album, and memorabilia. The scrapbook was given to Smith by LDS Church leaders on his birthday in 1940 and include birthday cards from these persons. Many of the materials relate to family genealogy and Brigham Young Academy. Some of the materials deal with George Albert Smith (1817-1875), Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898), Elias Smith (1769-1846), Emma Hale Smith (1804-1879), and other prominent Mormons. Also included is...
Dates: 1731-1951

John Smith papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 803
Scope and Contents

Collection contains papers related to Smith's mission to Denmark, life in Utah with family, and his position as Presiding Patriarch of the LDS Church. Includes diaries, letters, articles containing references to John, his personal patriarchal blessing, sheep accounts, family history notes, and copies of patriarchal blessings pronounced by himself. Dated 1848-1962.

Dates: 1848-1962

Lorenzo Snow letter

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230333806]
Identifier: MSS 1149
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a typewritten and signed letter, dated March 22, 1892, and addressed to Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of the Mormon Church. Snow seeks appoval of the decision to organize the Beaver Dam settlement into a ward of the Mormon Church.

Dates: 1892

Eunice Pease Haws Stewart notes and diary

 Item — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230330976]
Identifier: MSS SC 3208
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a microfilm copy of a handwritten diary kept from 4 March 1855 to 2 April 1858. There are many gaps. Stewart writes about her experiences while her husband is on missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Nevada and Australia. She lived in Provo, Utah. Wilford Woodruff, Apostle in the Mormon Church, briefly lived with her family when Salt Lake City, Utah, was evacuated during the Utah Expedition in 1858.

Dates: 1855-1858

Story of the underground

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230329978]
Identifier: MSS SC 3054
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a typewritten account of a time when Wilford Woodruff, later president of the Mormon Church, was avoiding federal marshals in St. George, Utah. The date of the composition of the item is uncertain.

Dates: 1920