Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: John C. Bennett, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
John C. Bennett, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
John C. Bennett
(1804–67)
John C. Bennett, 1842, engraving by Oliver Pelton from a drawing by Alvan Clark, Church History Library, PH 1700 5100.
John C. Bennett was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He married Mary A. Barker in 1826 and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1840, where he was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He helped draft and secure the Nauvoo city charter that same year. In 1841–42, he served as assistant president in the First Presidency and held many high civic and social positions. In 1842, Bennett was excommunicated for adultery, removed from many of his civic and social positions, and divorced from his wife. After his disaffection from the Church, he publicly accused Joseph Smith of committing adultery and planning the May 1842 attempt to kill former Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs. Bennett also urged Missouri and Illinois officials to renew the 1838 charge of treason against Joseph Smith, which resulted in Joseph Smith’s arrest in June 1843. Bennett married Sarah Ryder in 1843. He associated with other churches that had broken from the Church between 1843 and 1847.
References in the Doctrine and Covenants