Sampson Avard, Jnr

Sampson Avard (October 23, 1800 – April 15, 1869) was one of the founders and leaders of the Mormon vigilantes known as the Danites, which existed in Missouri during the Missouri Mormon War in 1838.

"Little is known of Sampson Avard prior to his arrival in Far West [Missouri] about June of 1838. He was born 23 October, year unknown, on the Isle of Guernsey. St Peter's Parish, England. Sometime prior to 1835, he migrated to the United States and settled at Freedom, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where he engaged for a time as a Campbellite preacher. Precisely how he came in contact with the [LDS] Church is not known, but there is evidence of interest as early as October of 1835. He was baptized about this time by Orson Pratt, who immediately ordained him an elder and set him apart as president of his local branch." (Gentry, 425, citations omitted)
"A careful search for Avard's parents as well as for the year of his birth has proved unfruitful. The information given above was supplied by Avard himself at the time he received his patriarchal blessing in Kirtland. See 'Early Church Information File,' Genealogical Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Gentry, 425 n. 15)

• Residence: 1860 - Township 4 N 8 W, Madison, Illinois, USA

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Sampson Avard was one the founders and leaders of the secret militia force known as the Mormon Danites in the Missouri Mormon War of 1838

• Born October 23, 1800 or 1803
• St. Peter, Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom
• Died April 15, 1869 (age 69-72)
• Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, U.S.
• Nationality British, American
• Occupation physician, minister, church elder, soldier
• Employer Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, self-employed
• Known for Being one of the founders and leaders of the Mormon Danites in 1838
• Military career
• Allegiance Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Service/branch Mormon militia
• Years of service 1838
• Unit Mormon Danites
• Commands held Mormon Danites commander
• Battles/wars Missouri Mormon War
• Battle of Crooked River (1838)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampson_Avard

Sampson Avard became the lead witness for the prosecution in a trial of Joseph Smith and other Church leaders. As Avard was well known as the leader of the Danites, his role as a witness was a surprise to both the Church and Missourians. Avard testified that he considered "Joseph Smith, as the prime mover and organizer of the Danite band."

Avard went on to implicate Smith as the overall commander of the Daviess Expedition and other Danite vigilante activities. He included a recitation of a Danite Constitution with 8 articles, specifying that the "executive power" of the Danite society would be "vested in the president of the whole church." However, Moses Clawson, John Corrill, Reed Peck, and others (all well-known Danites) all named Avard as the head of the organization and not Smith. George M. Hinkle testified under oath that Joseph and Hyrum Smith never commanded any Danites in the field. Statements from known associates of Avard, including Ebenezer Robinson, Morris Phelps, and John D. Lee, place Smith in a more commanding role. Several scholars have pointed to evidence which suggests that, to avoid prosecution, Avard may have promised prosecutors that he and his associates (i.e., Robinson, Phelps, and Lee) would implicate Smith in the Danite organization.

It is clear that Smith was aware of the existence of the Danites and, at least initially, approved of certain Danite activities, Smith's role in the creation of the Danites and especially his involvement in its later activities (particularly actions of escalating violence) remain unclear. After Avard's excommunication and disaffection from the Latter Day Saint community, Smith continued to publicly condemn both Avard individually and the Danite organization as a whole. No known documents show that the Danite band operated at any time during its history under official Latter Day Saint sanction, nor that the Danite band existed after Avard's excommunication and after 1838.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danite

From the records we see that another Avard family were also living in St Peter Port at that time; Sampson Avard and his wife Ann Jehan. When his son Sampson (more of him later) was baptised in 1803, Adam Avard was a godfather. Adam Clarke Avard, son of Joseph, became a Methodist minister in Canada in 1817 and died in 1821, but as he was born around 1800 he was probably too young to be a godfather in 1803. Although from her name Ann Jehan must have been a Channel Islander, a search of the Library’s marriage records drew a blank, and it is possible that she was originally from Jersey, where the Methodist ministry to the 'Norman Isles' was based.

And what about Guernsey-born Sampson Avard Jr., whose relative Adam seems to have been a Methodist minister? He was a physician and by 1835 was in the US, where he was baptised a member of the Mormon Church. He became leader of a secretive sect known as the Danites8 and in 1838 was involved in the 'Missouri Wars.' in which Mormon settlers were driven out of Missouri with a great deal of violence on both sides; he was captured and accused Joseph Smith, whom he claimed (probably falsely) was responsible for all the trouble. This was just what the authorities wanted to hear and they imprisoned Joseph Smith in the notorious Liberty Jail. Sampson Avard was excommunicated by Smith in 1839 and continued his life as a doctor in Edwardsville, Illinois, where he died in 1869, having never tried to return to the Mormon Church.

https://www.priaulxlibrary.co.uk/articles/article/prince-edward-isl...

Sources

• Leland H. Gentry, "The Danite Band of 1838" in BYU Studies Quarterly Vol. 14:4 (Oct. 1974), pp. 421-450.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampson_Avard
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9287727/sampson-avard
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Nov 24 2018, 14:24:15 UTC
• Reference: 1860 United States Federal Census - SmartCopy: Nov 24 2018, 14:35:42 UTC