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Latter Day Saint martyrs are persons who belonged tothe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) or another church within theLatter Day Saint movement who were killed or otherwise persecuted to the point of prematuredeath on account of their religious beliefs, or while performing their religious duties.
Although the term "martyr" is not frequently used in Latter Day Saint terminology[citation needed], Latter Day Saints recognize a number ofprophets,apostles, and other religious persons as recorded in theBible, including both theOld Testament andNew Testament, andBook of Mormon as martyrs within the same religious tradition (albeit at an earlier time) to which they subscribe.[1] For Latter Day Saints, the most notable martyr isJesus Christ. Other scriptural examples includeAbel ("the first martyr"),[2]John the Baptist,James, the brother of John,Stephen whose stoning is recorded in theBook of Acts,Abinadi,[3] women and children ofAmmonihah,[4] etc.[5] Latter Day Saints also acknowledge as "Early-day Saint" martyrs thoseearly Christians who were killed for their faith prior to or as a result of theGreat Apostasy.
The most notable post-Biblical Latter Day Saint martyrs areJoseph Smith and his brother,Hyrum Smith.[6]
Individuals who die "in the Lord's service" are believed to be rewarded with eternal life: "And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake, shall find it again, even life eternal."[7]Joseph F. Smith,LDS Church president, declared: "I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel ... in the great world of the spirits."[8]
In 1989, following the death of two LDS Churchmissionaries in Bolivia,apostleL. Tom Perry noted that from 1831 until 1989, "only seventeen LDS missionaries [were] killed by assassins." Also at that time, apostleM. Russell Ballard "indicated that of the 447,969 missionaries who have served since the days of Joseph Smith, only 525—about one-tenth of 1 percent—have lost their lives through accident, illness, or other causes while serving. 'When you contemplate that number,' he said, 'it appears that the safest place to be in the whole world is on a full-time mission.'"[9]
Missionaries who died from illness or accident are not listed. However, depending on the circumstances of their death, they could be deemed "martyrs" for having died while in religious service.[10][11][12][13][14]
ManyMormon pioneers and other early church members who suffered privation and early death on account of their religious beliefs would likely qualify as "martyrs." However, they are too numerous to list here. This list also does not include early Mormon settlers who were killed in encounters withNative Americans during the Mormon settlement of the American West.
| Death date | Location | Name | Church | Cause of death | Age at death |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 7, 1832 | Pomfret, Vermont | Joseph B. Brackenbury (missionary) | Church of Christ | Poisoning | 43 |
| November 5, 1833 | Battle near the Blue, Jackson, Missouri | Andrew Barber | Church of Christ | Shot in battle [November 4] by Robert Patten - died the next day[15] | 17 |
| October 25, 1838 | Battle of Crooked River, Missouri | Gideon Carter | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Killed in battle | |
| October 25, 1838 | Battle of Crooked River, Missouri | Patrick O'Banion | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Killed in battle by John Lockhart | |
| October 25, 1838 | Battle of Crooked River, Missouri | David W. Patten (apostle)[16] | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Killed in battle | 39 |
| December 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Hiram Abbott | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; died in December 1838 from wounds[17][18][19][20][21] | 25 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Elias Benner Sr. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[22][19][20][21] | 43 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | John Byers | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[23][19][20] | |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Alexander Campbell | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[24][19][20][21] | |
| October 31, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Simon Cox | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; mortally wounded and lived until the next morning[17][25][19][20][21] | |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Josiah Fuller | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[17][26][19][20][21] | 35 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Austin Hammer Sr. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[17][27][19][20][21] | 34 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | John Lee | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[17][28][29] | |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Benjamin Franklin Lewis | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; shot by Mr. Rockholt, lived a few hours[17][30][19][20][21] | 35 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Thomas White McBride (justice of the peace) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; shot in chest by Jacob Rogers with his own gun; head and body hacked with a corn knife[17][31][19][20][21][32][33][34] | 62[35] |
| November 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Charles Merrick (from Kirtland Camp) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; died 25 November 1838 from wounds[17][36][19][20][21] | 9 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Levi Newton Merrick (from Kirtland Camp) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[17][37][19][20][21] | 30 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | William Napier Sr. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[38][20][21][39] | 43 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | George Spencer Richards (from Kirtland Camp) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[17][24][19][20][21] | 15 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Sardius Washington Smith (from Kirtland Camp) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; top of skull blown off from musket shot by William Reynolds[17][40][19][20][21][33] | 10 |
| October 30, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | Warren Smith (from Kirtland Camp) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre[17][41][19][20][21][33] | 44 |
| October 31, 1838 | Haun's Mill, Missouri | John York Jr. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Massacre; mortally wounded and died the next day[17][42][19][20][21] | 62 |
| May 27, 1840 | Nauvoo, Illinois | Edward Partridge (bishop) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Persecution[43] | 46 |
| August 20, 1840 | Nauvoo, Illinois | Marietta Carter Holmes | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Mob attack in her home[44][45] Note, it is disputed if a mob attack even occurred for Joseph Johnston claims there are no national news articles at the time, as was done for violence perpetrated against Mormons in 1840. Additionally, John Smith, uncle of the prophet, listed her cause of death as disease.[46] | 20 |
| June 27, 1844 | Carthage Jail, Illinois | Joseph Smith, Jr. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Mob assassination | 38 |
| June 27, 1844 | Carthage Jail, Illinois | Hyrum Smith | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Mob assassination | 44 |
| July 30, 1844 | Nauvoo, Illinois | Samuel Harrison Smith (one ofEight Witnesses) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Attributed to internal injuries sustained while fleeing a mob on horseback on the day his brothers were murdered[47][48] | 36 |
| November 15, 1845 | Hancock County, Illinois | Edmund Durfee | LDS Church | shot in the back by arsonists | 57 |
| July 9, 1856 | St. James Township,Beaver Island,Michigan | James Strang (president of the church) | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) | Shot on June 16, 1856 by Thomas Bedford, a member who Strang had had flogged for adultery; Strang died inVoree, Wisconsin | 43 |
| May 13, 1857 | near Van Buren, Arkansas | Parley P. Pratt (apostle) | LDS Church | Shot and stabbed by Hector McLean, the ex-husband of one of Pratt'splural wives | 50 |
| July 21, 1879 | Varnell, Georgia | Joseph Standing (missionary) | LDS Church | Mob murder | 24 |
| August 10, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | William S. Berry (missionary) | LDS Church | Mob assassination | 46 |
| August 10, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | John H. Gibbs (missionary) | LDS Church | Mob assassination | 32 |
| August 10, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | W. Martin Conder | LDS Church | Mob assassination | 20 |
| August 10, 1884 | Cane Creek, Tennessee | John Riley Hutson | LDS Church | Mob assassination | 27 |
| May 1898 | Sanderson, Florida | George P. Canova | LDS Church | Shot and killed | |
| May 4, 1912 | Diaz, Galeana, Chihuahua, Mexico | James D. Harvey | LDS Church | Shot and killed | 49 |
| August 27, 1912 | Colonia Pacheco, Mexico | Joshua Stevens | LDS Church | Killed by Mexican rebels | |
| 1915 | San Marcos, Hidalgo, Mexico | Rafael Monroy (branch president)[49] | LDS Church | Execution byLiberation Army of the South | |
| 1915 | San Marcos, Hidalgo, Mexico | Vicente Morales[49] | LDS Church | Execution byLiberation Army of the South | |
| August 20, 1972 | Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico | Joel LeBaron (president of the church) | Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times | Shot and killed by Daniel Jordan on the orders ofErvil LeBaron, Joel's brother and a rivalfundamentalist Mormon leader | 49 |
| October 1974 | Austin, Texas | Gary Darley (missionary) | LDS Church | Murder by an unidentified individual (Robert Elmer Kleason was convicted for the crime but his conviction was later overturned); presumably dismembered with chainsaw[50] | 20 |
| October 1974 | Austin, Texas | Mark Fischer (missionary) | LDS Church | Murder by an unidentified individual (Robert Elmer Kleason was convicted for the crime but his conviction was later overturned); presumably dismembered with chainsaw[50] | 19 |
| May 10, 1977 | Murray, Utah | Rulon C. Allred (head of church) | Apostolic United Brethren | Shot and killed byRena Chynoweth and another woman on orders ofErvil LeBaron, a rivalfundamentalist Mormon | 71 |
| December 15, 1979 | North Charleston, South Carolina | Elizabeth King (missionary) | LDS Church | Found beaten and shot to death in a car in a parking lot | 66 |
| December 15, 1979 | North Charleston, South Carolina | Ruth Teuscher (missionary) | LDS Church | Found beaten and shot to death in a car in a parking lot | 65 |
| February 1987 | Lisbon, Portugal | Roger Hunt (missionary) | LDS Church | Shot and killed by a security guard who thought he had stolen a car | 19 |
| May 24, 1989 | La Paz, Bolivia | Todd Ray Wilson (missionary)[9][51] | LDS Church | Assassination in terrorist attack byZarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation | 20 |
| May 24, 1989 | La Paz, Bolivia | Jeffrey Brent Ball (missionary)[9][51] | LDS Church | Assassination in terrorist attack byZarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation | 20 |
| May 27, 1990 | Dublin, Ireland | Gale Stanley Critchfield (missionary) | LDS Church | Stabbed to death | 20 |
| August 22, 1990 | Huancayo, Peru | Manuel Antonio Hidalgo (missionary) | LDS Church | Assassination in terrorist attack by Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement | 22 |
| August 22, 1990 | Huancayo, Peru | Cristian Andreani Ugarte (missionary) | LDS Church | Assassination in terrorist attack by Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement | 21 |
| March 6, 1991 | Tarma, Peru | Oscar Zapata (missionary) | LDS Church | Shot and killed after getting off a bus | 20 |
| October 17, 1998 | Ufa, Russia | José Manuel Mackintosh (missionary) | LDS Church | Stabbed outside the lobby of a building where he and his companion had been visiting Church members | 21 |
| April 24, 1999 | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | Jonathan Philip Barrett (missionary) | LDS Church | Stabbed while walking to a teaching appointment. | 19 |
| January 2, 2006 | Chesapeake, Virginia | Morgan W. Young (missionary)[52] | LDS Church | Fatal shooting | 23 |
| August 29, 2010 | Visalia, California | Clay R. Sannar (bishop)[53] | LDS Church | Killed by an ex-member of the church while performing his duties as bishop. | 40 |
Bishop Edward Partridge died at Nauvoo, age 46 years. He lost his life in consequence of the Missouri persecutions, and he is one of that number whose blood will be required at their hands.
