Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: Robert B. Thompson, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
Robert B. Thompson, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
Robert B. Thompson
(1811–41)
Robert B. Thompson was born in Great Driffield, England. In 1834 he moved to Upper Canada. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Parley P. Pratt and ordained an elder by John Taylor in 1836. The following year, Thompson moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where he married Mercy Fielding. In 1837–1838, he served a mission to Upper Canada, after which he moved to Far West, Missouri, with the Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith family. Thompson fought in the skirmish at Crooked River, near Ray County, Missouri, in October 1838. After the Saints were expelled from Missouri, he moved to Quincy, Illinois. While there, he was appointed to gather reports and publications circulated against the Church. In May 1839, he was ordained a Seventy. He moved to Commerce, Illinois, which was later renamed Nauvoo, that same year. In Nauvoo, Thompson worked as a scribe for Joseph Smith, as a clerk for the Church, and as an associate editor for the Church newspaper Times and Seasons along with Don Carlos Smith. An 1841 revelation appointed Thompson to help Joseph Smith write a proclamation of the gospel to world leaders (Doctrine and Covenants 124:2–12). He died in Nauvoo.
References in the Doctrine and Covenants