Militia colonel at Adam-ondi-Ahman
Lyman Wight
1796–1858
2 topics · 8 dated events
Their part in each topic
Violence and the Mormon Conflict
Militia colonel at Adam-ondi-Ahman
Wight led the Latter-day Saint settlement north of the Grand River and commanded the horse company that struck Millport. Witnesses at Richmond described him pressing Joseph Smith on whether the time had come to resist the law. He was charged with treason and imprisoned at Liberty with Smith.
The Succession Crisis of 1844
Apostle, Texas colonizer
Wight had run the Black River pine operations in Wisconsin and had been called by Joseph Smith, with George Miller, to a mission to Texas. He took his pine company south in 1845 and founded Mormon villages near Austin and at Zodiac. He held that the Council of Fifty, not the Twelve, carried Joseph's authority, and that Joseph Smith III was the eventual leader. The Twelve disfellowshipped him in December 1848.
In the timeline
8 events across 2 topics, chronological. Only events this person was actually part of — present at, responsible for, or the subject of — not every event where the name comes up.
Mormon raids on Gallatin, Millport and Grindstone Fork
Companies under David Patten, Lyman Wight and Seymour Brunson struck three Daviess County settlements, emptying Jacob Stollings's store at Gallatin, driving off stock and burning buildings. Goods were carried to the bishop's storehouse at Adam-ondi-Ahman. Judge Austin King reported to Boggs that there was not a citizen left in Daviess except Mormons.
Far West surrenders; Doniphan refuses to execute the prisoners
Colonel George M. Hinkle brought Joseph Smith and other leaders into the militia camp, where they were taken prisoner. A militia court-martial sentenced them to be shot the next morning; General Doniphan refused to carry out the order, calling the proceeding illegal. Far West surrendered its arms and the inhabitants signed away property to cover the cost of the campaign.
The Richmond court of inquiry; Avard testifies
Judge Austin A. King heard evidence for more than two weeks against some sixty defendants. Sampson Avard, captured and threatened with prosecution, was the state's chief witness; he called Joseph Smith "the prime mover and organizer of this Danite band" and produced a Danite constitution. King found probable cause against thirty-four men. Smith, his brother Hyrum, Rigdon, Wight, McRae and Baldwin were held for treason.
Liberty Jail
Six prisoners were confined in a two-level limestone jail measuring about fourteen feet square, mostly in the cold lower room lit by two grated openings. They petitioned unsuccessfully for habeas corpus; only Rigdon was released. Meanwhile the body of the church left Missouri for Illinois through the winter.
William Smith ordained Presiding Patriarch, then breaks
The Twelve ordained William Smith Presiding Patriarch. He spent the summer arguing that the office carried a right to lead, wrote to the Times and Seasons emphasizing that he was the only surviving son of Joseph Smith Sr., and in October published a pamphlet charging that Brigham Young privately conceded 'little Joseph' was the rightful heir but thought it imprudent to say so. He was cut off, and later allied with Strang and then with Lyman Wight.
The exodus begins
The first wagons crossed the Mississippi into Iowa Territory and camped at Sugar Creek. Lyman Wight had already taken his pine company toward Texas. Emma Smith stayed. So did most of those who would eventually form the Reorganization.
The First Presidency is reorganized at Winter Quartershinge
At Orson Hyde's home on the Missouri, nine of the Twelve sustained Brigham Young as President of the Church with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as counselors. A log tabernacle was thrown up at Kanesville so a conference could ratify it. Orson Pratt argued systematically against the change; John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt, both in the Salt Lake Valley, were also opposed, as was Lyman Wight. Had the full quorum been present, historians have argued, it might not have happened.
Lyman Wight disfellowshipped
The Twelve had blessed Wight's Texas venture on 12 August 1844 but grew uneasy about his intentions. They disfellowshipped him pending further information; he answered with a pamphlet arguing that Joseph had given him his mission personally and through the Grand Council, and that no one but God or Joseph could revoke it. His colony at Zodiac lasted until 1858.
Appears alongside
People who share the most dated events with Lyman Wight.
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