Apostle; first to print the vision
Orson Pratt
1811–1881
2 topics · 2 dated events · 1 source
Their part in each topic
The First Vision
Apostle; first to print the vision
Pratt's 1840 Edinburgh pamphlet, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, was the first published account of the vision anywhere. Joseph Smith's own 1842 Wentworth letter appears to follow Pratt's wording closely enough that editors have suggested Smith used the pamphlet as a model.
Utah Polygamy and the Manifesto
Apostle, public advocate
Brigham Young assigned Pratt to make the first public defense of plural marriage at the special conference of 28–29 August 1852. His discourse set the terms of every later Mormon defense: modern revelation, constitutional protection, the promises to Abraham, and the claim that monogamy bred immorality. He was then sent to Washington to publish The Seer in defense of the doctrine.
In the timeline
2 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.
Orson Pratt prints the first published account, in Edinburgh
Pratt's pamphlet An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions was the first appearance of the story in print anywhere — twenty years after the event and two years after Smith began writing the manuscript history. Editors have noted similarities between Pratt's text and Smith's own 1842 Wentworth letter close enough to suggest Smith used the pamphlet as a model.
Plural marriage publicly announced at a special conferencehinge
At a special missionary conference in Salt Lake City, Orson Pratt delivered a prepared discourse defending plural marriage and the 1843 revelation was read publicly for the first time. Pratt argued from modern revelation, the constitution, the promises to Abraham and the claim that monogamy invited immorality.
Sources in their own name
Source records in the database whose author line names this person. Each links to the topic that uses it.
Orson Pratt
The wording and argument of the first public defense of plural marriage, including Pratt's opening that the subject was 'rather new ground' and his denial that the doctrine existed to gratify carnal lusts.
Appears alongside
People who share the most dated events with Orson Pratt.
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