This biographical sketch adapted from the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia,
article by Andrew Jenson, Volume 1, page 218 and from other sources.
Edward Partridge, the first Presiding Bishop of the Church, was a son
of William and Jemima Partridge and was born Aug. 27, 1793, at Pittsfield,
Berkshire county, Mass. His father's ancestor was Scotch, having emigrated
from Berwick, Scotland, during the seventeenth century, and settled at
Hadley, Mass., on the banks of the Connecticut river. His early life, so
far as the meager record of it informs us, was uneventful; though, to use
the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith—who gives in his own history a brief
biographical sketch of Bishop Partridge—"he remembers that the Spirit of
the Lord strove with him a number of times, insomuch that his heart was
made tender and he went and wept; and that sometimes he went silently and
poured the effusions of his soul to God in prayer."
At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a hatter,
and served about four years in acquiring a knowledge of that trade. During
this time his mind was not idle upon the subject of religion, for "at the
age of twenty he had become disgusted with the religious world," and "saw
no beauty, comeliness or loveliness in the character of the God that was
preached up by the sects."
Still, he did not, as many have done under like circumstances,
discard the Bible and lose faith in the Supreme Being, because of the shortcomings
of those who professed to worship Him, and their "private interpretations"
of His word and character. He was satisfied that God lived, that the Scriptures
were of divine origin, and he evidently made them the touchstone, so far
as he was able in the absence of a better, to try the teachings of the
ministers and professors with whom he came in contact. Once he heard "a
Universal Restorationer" preach upon the love of God. This sermon gave
him exalted opinions of the Deity, and he "concluded that universal restoration
was right according to the Bible."
He held to this belief until 1828, and
was living in Painesville, Ohio, when he became a convert to the Campbellite
faith; both he and his wife , the former Lydia Clisbee, whom he married on 22 August 1819, being baptized at Mentor, by Sidney Rigdon,
one of the leading lights of that religious sect. But though converted, as the term goes, to this belief—which was probably nearer right than any other he had heard of—he was not without
doubt, at times, of its being the true one, but continued one of the "disciples"
(as the Campbellites called themselves) until the fall of 1830, when an
event occurred that changed the whole current of his life and caused him
to again investigate with anxious mind the subject of his soul's salvation.
The event referred to was the arrival at Kirtland,
Ohio, of Parley P. Pratt, Oliver
Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, jun., and Ziba Peterson, Elders of the lately
organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They had come from
Fayette, Seneca county, New York, where the Church had been organized on
the 6th of the preceding April; having been called by revelation through
Joseph
Smith, the Prophet, to take their journey into the western wilderness,
carrying with them the Book of Mormon, to preach to the remnants of the
land, the Lamanites, and inasmuch as they received their teachings to establish
the Church of God among them. (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 28 and 32.)
They tarried some time at Kirtland and the vicinity,
where many of the "Disciples" dwelt, of which sect Parley P. Pratt had
once been a member. Among those who received their testimony and embraced
the gospel was Sidney Rigdon, the Campbellite
preacher, and a portion of the flock over which he presided. Edward Partridge,
one of his congregation, also became interested in the "new religion,"
but was not baptized until the 11th of December, following, when, having
gone with Elder Rigdon to Fayette, on a visit to the Prophet, he was immersed
by Joseph in the Seneca river.
Of this visit the latter writes in his history: "It
was in December that Elder Sidney Rigdon came to inquire of the Lord, and
with him came that man (of whom I hereafter will speak more fully) Edward
Partridge; he was a pattern of piety, and one of the Lord's great men,
known by his steadfastness and patient endurance to the end." Elder Sidney
Rigdon having received what he came for (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 35), the word
of the Lord came also to his companion, Edward Partridge, who was commanded
to preach the gospel. (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 36.)
A few days after his baptism Edward Partridge was
ordained an Elder by Sidney Rigdon. Elders Partridge and Rigdon remained
in the East until the latter part of January, 1831, when they started back
to Kirtland, the Prophet and his wife Emma accompanying them. They reached
there about the first of February.
Three days after their arrival in that region—to
which the Saints were now commanded to gather—a revelation was given to
the Church (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 41), in which the following passage occurs:
"And again, I have called my servant Edward Partridge, and give a commandment
that he should be appointed by the voice of the Church, and ordained a
Bishop unto the Church, to leave his merchandise and spend all his time
in the labors of the Church; to see to all things as it shall be appointed
unto him, in my laws in the day that I shall give them. And this because
his heart is pure before me, for he is like unto Nathaniel of old, in whom
there is no guile." Thus was Edward Partridge, in the thirty-eighth year
of his age, "called of God as was Aaron," to the Bishopric—a similar calling
in the same Priesthood held by and named after the illustrious brother
of Moses.
He was ordained a High Priest, June 3, 1831, by Lyman
Wight, at a conference held at Kirtland. Soon afterwards the Prophet, with
Sidney Rigdon, Edward Partridge, Martin Harris and other Elders, was directed
by the Lord to journey to the land of Missouri. They were told that the
next conference should be held there, upon the land which the Lord would
consecrate unto His people, it being the land of their inheritance, where
the city of Zion should be built, but it was then in the hands of their
enemies. (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 52.) They left Kirtland on the 19th of June,
and arrived at Independence, Jackson county, Missouri, about the middle
of July. Here, in the ensuing August, in a revelation from the Lord, Bishop
Partridge and his counselors, with others, were told that this was the
"land of their residence," and they were instructed to bring their families
there and settle.
On the third of that month Bishop Partridge, with
seven others, including the Prophet, were present at the dedication of
the site of the future Temple, a spot a little west of the court house
in Independence. Two days afterward he wrote a letter to his wife in Painesville,
Ohio, in which he says: "I have a strong desire to return to Painesville
this fall, but must not; you know I stand in an important station, and
as I am occasionally chastened I sometimes feel as though I must fall;
not to give up the cause, but to fear my station is above what I can perform
to the acceptance of my heavenly Father. I hope that you and I may so conduct
ourselves as to at last land our souls in the haven of eternal rest. Pray
for me that I may not fall. I might write more, but will not. Farewell
for the present." Here, then, he continued to reside—after moving his family
from Ohio—officiating as Bishop of Zion, and up to December, 1831, was
the only Bishop in the Church.
The next time the name of Bishop Partridge appears
in the Prophet's record, is at a general council of the Church, held at
Independence, April 26, 1832, soon after the Prophet's arrival there on
his second visit to Missouri. At this meeting Joseph was acknowledged as
President of the High Priesthood—according to a previous ordination at
a conference in Amherst, Ohio—and Bishop Partridge in behalf of the Church,
gave to President Smith the right hand of fellowship. The scene is described
as "solemn, impressive and delightful. During the intermission a difficulty
or hardness which had existed between Bishop Partridge and Elder Rigdon
was amicably settled." "
July 20, 1833," writes Bishop Partridge, "George
Simpson and two other mobbers entered my house (while I was sitting with
my wife, who was quite feeble, my youngest child being then about three
weeks old) and compelled me to go with him. Soon after leaving my house,
I was surrounded by about fifty mobbers, who escorted me about half a mile
to the public square, where I was surrounded by about two or three hundred
more. Russel Hicks, Esq., appeared to be the head man of the mob; he told
me that his word was the law of the county, and that I must agree to leave
the county or suffer the consequences. I answered that if I must suffer
for my religion it was no more than others had done before me; that I was
not conscious of having injured any one in the county, therefore I would
not consent to leave it.
Mr. Hicks then proceeded to strip off my clothes
and was disposed to strip them all off. I strongly protested against being
stripped naked in the street, when some, more humane than the rest, interfered,
and I was permitted to wear my shirt and pantaloons. Tar and feathers were
then brought, and a man by the name of Davies, with the help of another,
daubed me with tar from the crown of my head to my feet, after which feathers
were thrown over me."
This dastardly outrage, with others of still greater
enormity, committed under the broad sunlight of American liberty, with
the executive of the State looking on and in secret league with these mobocratic
wretches, was but the "beginning of sorrows," for the persecuted Saints
of Jackson county. Their cruel expulsion from their homes and their flight
to Clay county was the next act in the tragedy.
There, in November, 1833, we next find the subject
of our sketch—still the Bishop and acknowledged head of the Church in Zion—faithfully
but fruitlessly endeavoring to obtain for his people a redress of grievances.
He resided in Clay county until the fall of 1836, but some time during
the three years went on a mission to the Eastern States, whence returning
he visited Kirtland in the latter part of October, 1835.
While there, on Saturday, Nov. 7th, the word of the
Lord came to the Prophet, saying: "Behold, I am well pleased with my servant
Isaac Morley, and my servant Edward Partridge, because of the integrity
of their hearts in laboring in my vineyard for the salvation of the souls
of men. Verily, I say unto you, their sins are forgiven them; therefore
say unto them, in my name, that it is my will that they should tarry for
a little season, and attend the school and also the solemn assembly for
a wise purpose in me. Even so. Amen."
Pursuant to the divine instruction, Bishop Partridge
remained, and was present at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, March
27, 1836, and at subsequent ceremonies in that sacred edifice. On the 4th
of May, following, he started back to Clay county, where he arrived in
due season. The mobocratic spirit, while not so rampant as before, was
by no means extinct. Threatenings and annoyances were frequent, in spite
of the kindness and hospitality of many to the "Mormon" refugees, and in
the fall of 1836, the main body of them, at the suggestion of the people
of Clay county, who agreed to buy their lands, moved eastward into a region
afterwards named Caldwell county, where the city of Far West, laid out
and populated by the Saints, became temporarily, their central gathering
point.
Here they were permitted for a season to have peace.
But as they increased in numbers and made settlements in the adjacent counties
of Daviess and Carroll, the old jealousy was revived and the mob spirit
once more began to rage. The Daviess county election riot, the battle of
Crooked river, the siege, surrender and sacking of Far West, with all the
attendant horrors of rapine and red-handed cruelty perpetrated by the ruthless
mob and soldiery—which finally culminated in the driving of thousands of
people from their homes in the fall and winter of 1838—are matters familiar
to the reader of Church history. Bishop Partridge was a participant in
many of the heart-rending trials then visited upon a peaceable and unoffending
community.
He thus relates one of the high-handed acts of wholesale
robbery committed by the mob militia of Missouri: "While I was a prisoner
confined to the town of Far West, I was, with the rest of the inhabitants,
collected within a circle on the public square, and there, surrounded by
a strong guard, we were compelled to sign a deed of trust, which deed was
designed to put our property into the hands of a committee, to be disposed
of by them to pay all the debts which had been contracted by any and all
who belong to the Church—also to pay all damages which might be claimed
by the people of Davies county, for any damages they might have sustained
from any person whatever. I would remark that all those who did deny the
faith were exonerated from signing this deed of trust."
He also tells how himself and scores of his brethren,
in the bleak autumn of that year, were driven off like dumb cattle to Richmond,
Ray county, a distance of thirty miles, and there kept as prisoners for
three or four weeks, without cause, and upon no civil process whatsoever.
Says he. "We were confined in a large open room, where the cold northern
blast penetrated freely. Our fires were small and our allowance for wood
and food was scanty; they gave us not even a blanket to lie upon; our beds
were the cold floors. * * * The vilest of the vile did guard us and treat
us like dogs; yet we bore our oppressions without murmuring; but our souls
were vexed night and day with their filthy conversation, for they constantly
blasphemed God's holy name."
During the winter of 1838-39, in conformity with
Governor Bogg's exterminating order to massacre the "Mormons" or drive
them from the State—and fearing the threats of General Clark to carry into
effect that wicked and unheard of act of tyranny, the family of Bishop
Partridge moved to Quincy, Ill., where, after his release from prison,
he rejoined them, and continued to dwell until the ensuing summer or fall.
After the purchase of lands and the settlement of the Saints at Commerce,
Hancock county (afterwards Nauvoo), a general conference of the Church
was held there on Saturday, Oct. 5, 1839.
At this meeting it was unanimously agreed that that
should be "a Stake and a place of gathering for the Saints," and Bishop
Partridge was appointed to preside as Bishop of the Upper Ward, while Bishop
Newel K. Whitney and Bishop Vinson Knight were assigned in like capacity
to the Middle and Lower Wards, respectively. But the career of Edward Partridge
was drawing to a close. His health was broken and for many months he had
been unfitted for heavy or manual labor.
The persecutions he had passed through, added to
the sickly climate in which the Saints were now settling, finally overcome
what was left of a healthy, but by no means robust constitution. About
ten days prior to his decease, he was taken with pleurisy in his side,
as the result of overlifting, and prostrated upon the bed from which he
never again rose. He expired on Wednesday, May 27, 1840, at his home in
Nauvoo, in the forty-seventh year of his age. The Prophet Joseph writes
in his journal, under the same date, this closing comment on the death
of his friend: "He lost his life in consequence of the Missouri persecutions,
and he is one of that number whose blood will be required at their hands."—Orson
F. Whitney. (See also "Contributor," Vol. 6, p. 3.) Partridge, Edward
The following assemblage of factoids is from Lyndon W. Cook, The
Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 53.
Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Born 27 August 1793 at
Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. After completing four years
as apprentice, became journeyman hatter in Clinton, New York, 1813. Moved
to Painesville, Ohio; there owned hatting business and married Lydia Clisbee
22 August 1819. Seven children: Eliza Maria, Harriet Pamelia, Emily Dow,
Caroline Ely, Clisbee, Lydia, and Edward. United with Campbellites in 1828.
After hearing message of Lamanite missionaries November 1830, traveled
with Sidney Rigdon to Fayette, New York, December 1830 to see Joseph Smith.
Baptized 11 December 1830. Ordained elder 15 December 1830. Traveled to
share gospel with relatives in Massachusetts December 1830-January 1831.
Returned to Ohio by 4 February 1831. Called as first bishop of Church 4
February 1831. Ordained high priest 3 June 1831. Appointed to travel to
Missouri with Prophet June 1831. Directed to move family to Missouri August
1831. Responsible for allocating inheritances to Saints in Jackson County,
Missouri. Member of United Firm. Dedicated office of Evening and Morning
Star 29 May 1832. Tarred and feathered 20 July 1833. Acknowledged as presiding
officer of Church in Missouri 11 September 1833. Appointed to receive "endowment"
in Kirtland 23 June 1834. Traveled to Kirtland 27 January-29 April 1835
with Thomas B. Marsh. Received patriarchal blessing 4 May 1835. Mission
to eastern states 2 June-3 November 1835. Participated in dedication of
Kirtland Temple 1836. Returned to Missouri in summer of 1836. Moved from
Clay County, Missouri, to Far West in fall of 1836. Arrested and incarcerated
November 1838 for treason. No conviction. Joined family in Quincy, Illinois,
January 1839. Settled in Nauvoo in summer of 1839. Appointed bishop of
upper ward in Nauvoo 5 October 1839. Died 27 May 1840 in Nauvoo, Hancock
County, Illinois. Nauvoo Temple proxy sealing to Lydia Clisbee 14 January
1846.
Note: The term and formal position of Presiding Bishop of the Church did
not come into usage until after Bishop Partridge's death. However he was
acknowledged (then and now) as a Churchwide authority. Even Joseph Smith
sought to have his own membership in the Church verified by Edward Partridge
