The Church Historian's PressThe Church Historian's Press

Wilford Woodruff

1 March 1807—2 September 1898

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 1 Mar. 1807 at Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut.1 Son of Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson.2 Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Zerah Pulsipher, 31 Dec. 1833, in Richland, Oswego Co., New York.3 Married Phebe Whittemore Carter, 13 Apr. 1837, in Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio.4 Participated in plural marriage.5 Served a mission to New England, 1837–1838.6 Ordained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 26 Apr. 1839.7 Presided over the British mission, 1839–1841; 1845–1846.8 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Brigham Young pioneer company, arriving 21 July 1847.9 President of the St. George Temple, 1877.10 President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1880.11 Sustained as church historian and general church recorder, 10 Oct. 1883.12 Sustained as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 Apr. 1889.13 Approved a petition written by EBW for funding from the governor for the Woman’s Industrial Home for Deseret Hospital, which was intended to house women and children who fled polygamous households, 20 June 1893.14 Encouraged EBW to go to Washington, DC, to attend the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention, 14 Feb. 1894.15 Met with EBW and the First Presidency concerning women’s suffrage and the new state constitution, 14 Aug. 1894.16 Discussed hospital debt with EBW and others, 11 Aug. 1898.17 Died 2 Sept. 1898 at San Francisco; buried in Salt Lake City.18

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

Born at Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut; son of Beulah Thompson and Apheck Woodruff. Baptized in New York, 1833. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, 1834. Ordained a seventy, 1836. Married Phebe Whittemore Carter, 1837; participated in plural marriage. Served missions to New England, 1837–1838. Ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1839. Served a mission to Great Britain, 1839–1841. Admitted to the Council of Fifty, 1844. Presided over the British mission, 1844–1846. Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, 1847. Served a mission to the eastern states, 1848–1850. Appointed assistant church historian, 1856; president of the St. George temple, 1877; president of the Quorum of the Twelve, 1880; and church historian and general church recorder, 1883. Served as the fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1889–1898. Died at San Francisco. 19 (See Document 4.11, 4.19, 4.20, 4.24, 4.25, 4.28)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, image 13/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 29 June 2020), Wilford Woodruff (KWNT-8NB). 

  2. 2 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, image 13/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL.

  3. 3 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, image 16/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL. Wilford Woodruff, “History of Wilford Woodruff,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, 25 Mar. 1865, 27:182.

  4. 4 Geauga Co., OH, Probate Court, Probate Records, 1806–1920, vol. C, 1806–1842, p. 215, Wilford Woodruff and Phebe W. Carter, 13 Apr. 1837, microfilm 873461, DGS 4016917, image 393/527, FHL. Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, image 149/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL.

  5. 5 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, images 195–196/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL.

  6. 6 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, image 157/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL. “Wilford Woodruff,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary/, accessed 29 June 2020).

  7. 7 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, image 93/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL.

  8. 8 Wilford Woodruff, Journal, Dec. 1833–Jan. 1838, images 336–337/201, Wilford Woodruff Journals and Papers, 1828–1898, MS 1352, CHL. “Wilford Woodruff,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary/, accessed 29 June 2020).

  9. 9 Willian Clayton, Diaries, 1846–1853, vol. 2, 1847, MS 1406, CHL (restricted access). “Wilford Woodruff,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/, accessed 29 June 2020). 

  10. 10 Matthias Foss Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: History of His Life and Labors as Recorded in His Daily Journals (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1909), 495, 497.

  11. 11 “Fifth Day, Sunday, October 10th, 1880,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 10 Oct. 1880, 2.

  12. 12 “Great Britain,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 10 Oct. 1883, 604.

  13. 13 “General Conference,” Deseret Weekly (Salt Lake City), 13 Apr. 1889, 7.

  14. 14 EBW, Diary, 19–20 June 1893.

  15. 15 EBW, Diary, 14–15 Feb. 1894.

  16. 16 EBW, Diary, 14–15 Aug. 1894.

  17. 17 EBW, Diary, 11 Aug. 1898.

  18. 18 “Church Leader Passes Away,” Salt Lake Herald, 3 Sept. 1898, 1. “Utah Death Registers, 1847–1966,” p. 28 (1898), Wilford Woodruff; citing series 21866, from Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City.

  19. 19 “People of the Time,” database, The Joseph Smith Papers (http://josephsmithpapers.org/reference, accessed Jan. 2015), Wilford Woodruff. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed Jan. 7, 2016), Wolford Woodruff (K2H1-kTDC).