Salmon Gee was born Oct. 16, 1792 in Lyme,
New London county, Conn. When he was about seventeen years old he removed
to Ohio, and located in Ashtabula county. On December 10, 1814 he married
Sarah Watson Crane. The couple had two known children.
In 1828 Salmon removed to Geauga county, where he
joined the Church, being baptized in July, 1832, by Zebedee
Coltrin. Shortly afterwards (Feb. 4, 1833) he was ordained an Elder
by Sidney Rigdon. Two days later he
was appointed to preside over the Saints in Thompson, Geauga, Illinois.
In his letter of appointment, the Prophet wrote:
"It has seemed good unto the Holy Spirit and unto us, to send this
our epistle to you by the hand of our beloved Brother Salmon Gee, your
messenger, who has been ordained by us, in obedience to the commandments
of God, to the office of Elder to preside over the Church in Thompson,
taking the oversight thereof, to lead you and to teach the things which
are according to godliness; in whom we have great confidence, as we presume
also you have, we therefore say to you, yea, not us only, but the Lord
also, receive him as such, knowing that the Lord has appointed him to this
office for your good, holding him up by your prayers, praying for him continually
that he may be endowed with wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of
the Lord, that through him you may be kept from evil spirits, and all strifes
and dissensions, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ."
When the second quorum of Seventy was organized in
1836, Elder Gee was ordained a member thereof, and at the time of the reorganization
of the Seventies, April 6, 1837, he was called to fill the vacancy in the
First Council of the Seventy caused by the removal of Elder Zebedee
Coltrin to the High Priests' quorum. Elder Gee was ordained under the
hands of Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith.
At a meeting of the Seventies held at Kirtland, March
6, 1838, the quorum withdrew their fellowship from Bro. Gee for neglect
of duty and other causes, but he was never excommunicated from the Church.
John Young, Seventh (senior) President of the
Seventy explained: "This council stood intact until the month of May, 1838.
The Prophet had departed from Kirtland and bad journeyed as far as the
State of Missouri, the place of his destination, the previous year. The
brethren in Kirtland received a message from him, giving all the councils
of the priesthood, remaining in that place, instructions to have them filled
up. At this time the council of the Seventies convened for this purpose.
Elders Salmon Gee and John Gaylord were absent
from the council, but sent word that they wished to be excused from any
further services in the council. Consequently, pursuant to their request,
they were excused and were dropped by the council, and
Zera Pulsipher and Henry Harriman were chosen
in their places, and were ordained First Presidents and members thereof."
When Almon W. Babbitt reorganized the Stake in Kirtland,
in 1841, Elder Gee was chosen as a member of the High Council at that place,
where he remained until 1844, when he removed to Ambrosia, Lee county,
Iowa.
It was in Ambrosia that Salmon Gee died, Sept. 13,
1845, as a faithful member of the Church. His remains were interred at
Nauvoo. One of the last acts of his life was to call the members of his
family around him and exhort them to faithfulness, advising them also to
follow the Church wherever it went. His wife Sarah, survived him by four
years, dying in 1849.
The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.4, Appendix
1 notes that full fellowship was posthumously restored to Salmon Gee on
14 September 1967.
