Ezra Thayre
Encyclopedia
Ezra Thayre (October 14, 1791–?) was an early convert and leader in the Latter Day Saint movement
.
, Vermont
, Thayre was a builder of bridges, dams, and mills in the Palmyra
, New York
area in the 1820s. Thayre was an early convert to Joseph Smith, Jr.'s Church of Christ, being baptized by Parley P. Pratt
on October 10, 1830 after he heard Joseph and Hyrum Smith
speak about the Book of Mormon
. Shortly after Thayre's baptism, Smith received a revelation that directed Thayre and Northrop Sweet to "open ye your ears and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, whose word is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, soul and spirit; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ".
to Missouri
with Thomas B. Marsh
. In preparation for this, Thayre was ordained an elder in the church by Lyman Wight
. However, due to a disagreement about property that arose among Thayre and some of the Latter Day Saints living in Thompson
, Ohio
, Thayre was not prepared to leave when Marsh was ready. A revelation to Smith revoked the mission call to Thayre, assigned Marsh a new companion, and instructed Thayre to "repent of his pride, and of his selfishness". Later in 1832, Thayre did serve a mission to New York with Marsh.
In 1834, Thayre joined Zion's Camp
, a group of Latter Day Saints that traveled from Ohio to assist some members of the church in Missouri. However, on June 21, 1834, Thayre contracted cholera
, which quickly spread to the many of the other Saints in Zion's Camp. However, Thayre went on to make a full recovery.
On March 1, 1835, Thayre was ordained a seventy in the church. However, the very next day, Thayre's priesthood was suspended after an unspecified complaint of misbehavior filed by Oliver Granger
. A disciplinary council
was held, and Thayre was eventually restored to full fellowship in the church, though the time of his readmission is unknown.
In 1838, Thayre became a member of the Adam-ondi-Ahman
stake high council . In 1839, he moved with the majority of Latter Day Saints to Nauvoo
, Illinois
.
In 1844, shortly after being made a member of the Council of Fifty
, Thayre departed on a mission with Jedediah M. Grant
, George A. Smith
and Wilford Woodruff
to campaign for Joseph Smith as President of the United States
.
in June 1844, Thayre was part of the minority of Latter Day Saints who refused to follow the leadership of Brigham Young
and the Quorum of the Twelve
. When the majority of Saints departed Nauvoo for the Salt Lake Valley
, Thayer remained behind in Nauvoo. In 1849, Thayre moved to Michigan
, and he became a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there on August 24, 1860.
.
, but these reports conflict with RLDS Church records that report him being baptized in 1860. Genealogical confusion has also resulted because Thayre's father was also named Ezra, but unlike the junior Thayre, he usually spelled his name Thayer. Other sources report Thayre's birthplace as being Randolph, Massachusetts
instead of Randolph, Vermont
.
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...
.
Conversion to Mormonism
Born in RandolphRandolph, Vermont
Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,853 at the 2000 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that surround it....
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, Thayre was a builder of bridges, dams, and mills in the Palmyra
Palmyra, New York
Palmyra, New York may refer to:*Palmyra , New York*Palmyra , New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
area in the 1820s. Thayre was an early convert to Joseph Smith, Jr.'s Church of Christ, being baptized by Parley P. Pratt
Parley P. Pratt
Parley Parker Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt...
on October 10, 1830 after he heard Joseph and Hyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr....
speak about the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
. Shortly after Thayre's baptism, Smith received a revelation that directed Thayre and Northrop Sweet to "open ye your ears and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, whose word is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, soul and spirit; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ".
Church service
On June 6, 1831, Joseph Smith received a revelation instructing Thayre to depart on a missionMormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
to 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...
with Thomas B. Marsh
Thomas B. Marsh
Thomas Baldwin Marsh was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He served as the first President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1835 to 1839...
. In preparation for this, Thayre was ordained an elder in the church by Lyman Wight
Lyman Wight
Lyman Wight was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County, Missouri in 1838. In 1841, he was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. After the death of Joseph Smith, Jr...
. However, due to a disagreement about property that arose among Thayre and some of the Latter Day Saints living in Thompson
Thompson, Ohio
Thompson, Ohio can refer to:*Thompson Township, Delaware County, Ohio*Thompson Township, Geauga County, Ohio, also the location of the community of Thompson*Thompson Township, Seneca County, Ohio...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Thayre was not prepared to leave when Marsh was ready. A revelation to Smith revoked the mission call to Thayre, assigned Marsh a new companion, and instructed Thayre to "repent of his pride, and of his selfishness". Later in 1832, Thayre did serve a mission to New York with Marsh.
In 1834, Thayre joined Zion's Camp
Zion's Camp
Zion's Camp was a paramilitary expedition of Latter Day Saints, led by Joseph Smith, Jr., from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settlers...
, a group of Latter Day Saints that traveled from Ohio to assist some members of the church in Missouri. However, on June 21, 1834, Thayre contracted cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
, which quickly spread to the many of the other Saints in Zion's Camp. However, Thayre went on to make a full recovery.
On March 1, 1835, Thayre was ordained a seventy in the church. However, the very next day, Thayre's priesthood was suspended after an unspecified complaint of misbehavior filed by Oliver Granger
Oliver Granger
Oliver Granger was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the subject of one of the prophecies of movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr.-Early life:...
. A disciplinary council
Disciplinary council
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a disciplinary council is an ecclesiastical trial during which a member of the church is tried for alleged violations of church standards. If a member of the LDS Church is found guilty of an offence by a disciplinary council, he or she may be...
was held, and Thayre was eventually restored to full fellowship in the church, though the time of his readmission is unknown.
In 1838, Thayre became a member of the Adam-ondi-Ahman
Adam-ondi-Ahman
Adam-ondi-Ahman is an historic site along the east bluffs above the Grand River in Daviess County, Missouri. According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , it is the site where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden...
stake high council . In 1839, he moved with the majority of Latter Day Saints to 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,...
.
In 1844, shortly after being made a member of the Council of Fifty
Council of Fifty
The Council of Fifty was a Latter Day Saint organization established by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, Thayre departed on a mission with Jedediah M. Grant
Jedediah M. Grant
Jedediah Morgan Grant was a leader and an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was member of the First Council of the Seventy from 1845 to 1854. He also served in the First Presidency under Church President Brigham Young from 1854 to 1856...
, George A. Smith
George A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
and Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford Woodruff, Sr. was the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1889 until his death...
to campaign for Joseph Smith as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Death of Joseph Smith
After the death of Joseph Smith, Jr.Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.
The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...
in June 1844, Thayre was part of the minority of Latter Day Saints who refused to follow the leadership of 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...
and the Quorum of the Twelve
Quorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve was one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, Jr., and patterned after the twelve apostles of Christ In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the...
. When the majority of Saints departed Nauvoo for the Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
, Thayer remained behind in Nauvoo. In 1849, Thayre moved to Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and he became a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there on August 24, 1860.
Family
Thayre married Polly Wells in 1810; Wells died in 1822. Later that same year, Thayre married Relief Wales. Thayre was the father of one child by Wells and five by Wales. Thayre did not practice plural marriagePlural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
.
Death and confusion
The date of Thayre's death is unknown. Some sources report that he died in 1856 in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, but these reports conflict with RLDS Church records that report him being baptized in 1860. Genealogical confusion has also resulted because Thayre's father was also named Ezra, but unlike the junior Thayre, he usually spelled his name Thayer. Other sources report Thayre's birthplace as being Randolph, Massachusetts
Randolph, Massachusetts
The Town of Randolph is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 32,112. Randolph adopted a new charter effective January 2010 providing for a council-manager form of government instead of the traditional town meeting...
instead of Randolph, Vermont
Randolph, Vermont
Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,853 at the 2000 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that surround it....
.