Wilford Woodruff

Church Service

Wilford Woodruff, along with his brother Azmon, was baptized by missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on 31 December 1833 in Richland, New York. Other members of the Woodruff family, including Aphek, joined the church in 1839. Wilford became noted for his success as a missionary, completing several missions during his lifetime. The church sent him to Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky (1835-1836), to the Fox Islands, Maine (1837), to England as an proselyting missionary (1839), to England as President of the Church's European/English mission (1844), and finally to the Eastern United States (1848).

Related Topics:
31 December - 1833 - Missions

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Shortly after his baptism, he accompanied Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in a journey from Kirtland, Ohio to the Missouri, as a member of Zion's Camp. In 1838, he led a party of fifty-three new converts in wagons from the Maine coast to Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1839, at the age of 32, Wilford Woodruff was ordained a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Brigham Young. He became a member of the Nauvoo City Council, and served as chaplain for the Nauvoo Legion, a local militia. After the death of Joseph Smith, Woodruff was an active participant in the westward progression of the LDS Church. He was a member of the first pioneer company of Latter Day Saints to arrive in Utah's Great Basin in 1847.

Related Topics:
Joseph Smith - Hyrum - Zion's Camp - The Quorum of Twelve Apostles - Brigham Young - Nauvoo Legion - Great Basin

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In 1856, Woodruff began serving as church historian, and served in this position for thirty-three years. During his time as Temple President over the first completed temple in Utah, the Saint George, Utah Temple (1877), Woodruff standardized temple ceremonies. He was baptized for the dead in behalf of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and other founding fathers, after he claimed to receive a vision, visitation or manifestation of the departed spirits of these men.

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Many historians consider Woodruff's journals his most important contribution to LDS history. He kept a daily record of his life and the church's activities, beginning with his baptism in 1833 until his death. These meticulous records provide insight into not only church doctrines and the daily actions of church leaders, but also into the social and cultural aspects of early Mormonism. Several significant actions and speeches of early Church leaders are known only through these diaries.

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