Robert Blashel Thompson

Biographical Summary:

Robert Blashel Thompson (1811-1841) was born October 1st, 1811, in Great Driffield, Yorkshire, England, was educated at Dunnington, in the same county. He united with the Methodists at an early age and preached what he believed to be the Gospel in connection with that sect for a number of years. Emigrated to Upper Canada in 1834. Embraced the Gospel there; being baptized and confirmed by Elder Parley P. Pratt in May, 1836. Was ordained an Elder by Elder John Taylor, at a conference held in Upper Canada, July 22nd, 1836. Removed to Kirtland in May, 1837, where he married Mercy Rachel Fielding, June 4th, 1837, and being appointed to take a mission to Upper Canada, he returned the same month, and commenced preaching in Churchville and the villages adjacent, baptized a considerable number, continued his labors there until he was called upon to remove to Missouri. He arrived at Kirtland in March, and started from thence in company with Hyrum Smith and family, arrived in Far West June 3rd, where his daughter, Mary Jane, was born on the 14th of June. He remained there until November, when he, with many of the brethren had to flee into the wilderness to escape the fury of the mob, who swore they would kill every man who had been engaged in the Crooked River battle. He stood near to Brother Patten when he [Patten] fell. With the rest of the brethren he suffered much from exposure and lack of food, He arrived at Quincy, I believe, in December, where he engaged as clerk in the court house, and remained there until the liberation of Joseph and Hyrum from prison; when the Saints settled in Commerce, he removed there, and was engaged as a scribe to Brother Joseph; he was also Church clerk. When the Nauvoo Legion was formed, he received the office of colonel and also aid-de-camp. In May, 1841, he became associated with Don Carlos Smith in the editing of the Times and Seasons. On the 16th of August he was seized with the same disease of which Don Carlos had died on the 7th. The attachment between them was so strong, it seemed as though they could not long be separated. He died on the 27th, leaving one child; was interred in the burying ground on the 29th. By his special request no military procession was formed at his funeral.

SOURCE: History of the Church, Vol.4, Ch.24, p.411.

Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...Robert Blashel Thompson (October 1, 1811 – August 27, 1841) was an associate of Joseph Smith, Jr., a Danite and leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, and an official historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints..."

"...Thompson was born in Great Driffield, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. He joined the Methodists at an early age and participated in preaching in Yorkshire. In 1834, Thompson emigrated to Upper Canada and settled in Toronto. In May 1836, he was baptized a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints by Parley P. Pratt, a missionary who was preaching in Toronto. On July 22, 1836, Thompson was ordained an elder in the church by John Taylor..."

"..Thompson moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where the majority of Latter Day Saints were gathering. In June 1837, he and his new wife, Mercy Rachel Fielding, returned to Upper Canada as missionaries for the church. They returned to Kirtland in March 1838..."

"...in October 1840, Thompson succeeded Elias Higbee as official Church Historian, and in November of that year, Thompson and Higbee together drafted a petition to the United States Congress for redress of the grievances of the Latter Day Saints from their experiences in Missouri..."

"...Thompson was a colonel and an aide-de-camp in the Nauvoo Legion. On May 1, 1841, he became an associate editor of the Times and Seasons newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois. Due to the unhealthy conditions in the offices of the Times and Seasons, Thompson and chief editor Don Carlos Smith both died from tuberculosis in August 1841. He was survived by his wife and one daughter..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Robert B. Thompson', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 July 2011, 05:48 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_B._Thompson&oldid=...> [accessed 4 November 2011]