My ancestor William was born on April 4, 1817. He was born and raised in Scotland and was the first Mormon in my family. He had a hard life growing up, but eventually joined the church when he was 23. While living in Scotland he was visited by a missionary, his name was Elder Orson Pratt. William learned to accept the gospel and was baptized on July 1, 1840.
Shortly thereafter his mother died and he decided to move to America. On September 17, 1841 he received his Patriarchal blessing from none other than Hyrum Smith. The next month on October 6, 1841 Joseph Young ordained him a member of the 70. A year later he was called to serve a mission in Canada. When he came back he became a personal bodyguard for Joseph Smith. One time when a bullet was fired, William threw himself in front of the prophet and got shot in the knee. Luckily it didn’t kill him, but it remained there until the day he died.
In September 1846 William served in the Nauvoo Legion during the Battle of Nauvoo, and was there the day that the Treaty of Nauvoo was signed. William was a member of the church during the Polygamist era, and he had 3 wives and 12 children. After the Battle of Nauvoo while the saints were trekking to Salt Lake, he helped build many roads and cabins, and helped plant crops. While doing all of this, he was under the direction of Porter Rockwell. After all of the saints had settled, he moved his family to Mona, UT where he passed away on April 25, 1878.