Abraham Owen Smoot was born 17 February 1815 in Owenton, Kentucky, to Ann Rowlett and George W. Smoot. His family moved to Tennessee when he was thirteen. After joining the Mormon Church on 22 March 1835, he was active in missionary work in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was a companion of Wilford Woodruff (no not the one that left him alone injured in a swamp). They got along so well that Wilford named one of his sons after him; Abraham Owen Woodruff.
Abraham is also known for being the only source of the "David Patten meets Cain/Bigfoot" story which is quoted in Spencer W. Kimball's Miracle of Forgiveness. It is an interesting tale which I can not say much about. Except two things ...
1) We have the story second hand. Given the opportunity would David Patten confirm it?
2) Smoot did not at the time record the story in his journal.
In 1837, Abraham returned to his old mission field to bring converts to Far West, Missouri, which at the time was the gathering place of Zion. Smoot would later write that he "went South, and in the month of May had succeeded in organizing a company of about two hundred souls with about forty teams and started on our journey." (Nixon and Smoot, Abraham Owen Smoot, 71). Exactly who was in the company is hard to say. An official list does not exist but some names have been identified. [As I write this I start thinking this would be a fun list to compile.]
1 comment:
Very interesting. Thanks, Bruce!
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