Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: William E. McLellin, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
William E. McLellin, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2025)
William E. McLellin
(1806–83)
William E. McLellin, 1867, photograph, Church History Library, PH 1700 3737.
William E. McLellin was born in Smith County, Tennessee, in 1806. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Jackson County, Missouri, in the summer of 1831, and he then traveled to Hiram, Ohio, where he first met Joseph Smith. There, Joseph Smith dictated a revelation that answered five questions that McLellin had (Doctrine and Covenants 66), as well as another one that provided the word of the Lord to McLellin, Orson Hyde, Luke Johnson, and Lyman Johnson (Doctrine and Covenants 68). Following two short proselytizing missions, he and his wife, Emeline Miller, moved to Independence, Missouri. In December 1832, McLellin was excommunicated from the Church for unknown reasons. However, he was apparently quickly reinstated and called to accompany Parley P. Pratt on a mission to Missouri and Illinois. In 1835, McLellin was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In 1838, he was excommunicated again, after which he associated with various factions led by individuals who broke away from the Church.
References in the Doctrine and Covenants