Edward Partridge
Encyclopedia
Edward Partridge was the grandson of Massachusetts Congressman Oliver Partridge
Oliver Partridge
Oliver Partridge was a military commander and politician in colonial America. He represented Massachusetts at the Albany Congress of 1754, and at the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. He was also the first senior military commander of Massachusetts....

, Esq., and a member of a family noted for commercial, social, political, and military leadership in Western Massachusetts. One of the first converts to the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...

, he was baptized in or near Seneca Lake, New York
Seneca Lake, New York
Seneca Lake is the largest of the glacial Finger Lakes of the U.S. state of New York, and the deepest lake entirely within the state. It is promoted as being the lake trout capital of the world, and is host of the National Lake Trout Derby. Because of its depth, Seneca Lake has been a testing site...

 on December 11, 1830. Partridge was the first to hold the prominent position of Bishop
Bishop (Mormonism)
Bishop is the highest priesthood office of the Aaronic priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement. A bishop is usually the leader of a local congregation of church members. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs significantly from the role of bishops in other Christian denominations,...

 and Presiding Bishop. Partridge expended much of his wealth in support of the movement before he died in late May, 1840 at Nauvoo
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Joseph Smith noted that Partridge's death could be attributed to the stress and persecution which he and other Mormon settlers in western Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 were subjected to in the 1830s.

Partridge owned a hat-making factory and retail store in Painesville, Ohio
Painesville, Ohio
As of the 2010 Census, there were 19,563 people. As of the census of 2000, there were 17,503 people, 6,525 households, and 4,032 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,928.6 people per square mile . There were 6,933 housing units at an average density of 1,160.0 per square mile...

. He was sent to New York in 1830 by a group of Painesville citizens to investigate the Latter Day Saint movement. He was baptized a member of the church while there, and upon his return to Painesville discovered that his wife had also become a convert.

Patridge was the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

Presiding Bishop of the Church from February 4, 1831 until his death. However, the exact title "Presiding Bishop" did not come into usage until shortly after Partridge's death, when subordinate Bishops began to be appointed his successors during the Nauvoo era.

Edward Partridge's family includes the early American poets Rev. Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician.-Early life:...

 and Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Dudley Bradstreet was New England's first published poet. Her work met with a positive reception in both the Old World and the New World.-Biography:...

. His forebears also include a number of notable Anglo-American religious leaders including the Rev. John Cotton
John Cotton
John Cotton was an English clergyman and colonist. He was a principal figure among the New England Puritan ministers, who also included Thomas Hooker, Increase Mather , John Davenport, and Thomas Shepard and John Norton, who wrote his first biography...

, Dean of Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College may refer to one of several academic institutions:in Australia* Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, part of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia...

, Cambridge who was the spiritual leader of the New England colonies; Rev. Solomon Stoddard
Solomon Stoddard
Solomon Stoddard was the pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, MA. He succeeded the Rev. Eleazer Mather, marrying his widow around 1670...

, one of the most influential colonial ministers and the grandfather of the famous Rev. Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian," and one of America's greatest intellectuals...

 and ancestor of United States Vice President Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...

.

Partridge's forebears include a number of significant early political leaders in Colonial America
Colonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...

n and early U.S. history including Connecticut Governor Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles is the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from 1640–1649 served as the colony's secretary...

, Connecticut and Massachusetts Governor John Haynes
John Haynes
John Haynes , also sometimes spelled Haines, was a colonial magistrate and one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony...

, Connecticut Governor George Wyllys
George Wyllys
George Wyllys or Wyllis served for a year as one of the early governors of the Connecticut Colony.Born at the manor of Fenny Compton in Warwickshire, England, to Richard and Hester Willis, part of an old, wealthy family. His first cousins Thomas and Richard, were baronets of Fen Ditton,...

, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home...

, and Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman, diplomat, and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arriving in Massachusetts on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, Bradstreet was almost constantly involved in the politics of the colony but became its governor only in 1679...

. His daughter Emily Partridge married the future first Territorial Governor of Utah, Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...

. His daughter Eliza Maria Partridge married Utah Territorial Legislator Amasa Mason Lyman
Amasa Mason Lyman
Amasa Mason Lyman was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

, delegate to the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 Constitutional Convention and leader of the first organized Anglo-American colony in Southern California and founder of the Salt Lake Tribune. His son Edward Partridge Jr. was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature and a delegate to the Utah Constitutional Convention.

External resources

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