Albert Perry Rockwood was one of the First Seven
Presidents of Seventies from 1845 to 1879. He was born June 5, 1805,
in Holliston, Middlesex county, Massachusetts to Luther Rockwood and Ruth
Perry.
On April 4, 1827 he married Ruth Haven. The couple
had one child.
Having heard of the Latter-day Saints through Elders
Brigham
Young and Willard Richards, he came
to Kirtland, Ohio, to make further investigations. He soon became converted
and was baptized at Kirtland, July 25, 1837, by Brigham Young. After his
baptism Bro. Rockwood returned to the Eastern States. He was ordained a
Seventy Jan. 5, 1839, under the hands of Joseph
Young, Zera Pulsipher, Henry
Harriman and Levi W. Hancock.
He gathered with the Saints to Missouri, where he
passed through severe persecutions. Later, he settled at Nauvoo, Illinois,
where he took a prominent part in the affairs of the growing city. When
the Nauvoo Legion was first organized in 1841 he was elected captain of
one of the companies and was also appointed drill officer; later he acted
as commander of Joseph Smith's life guard, and when Joseph was kidnapped
in Dixon, Illinois, in 1843, Elder Rockwood, as acting adjutant of a company
of horsemen, rendered efficient service in his rescue. Still later, Bro.
Rockwood ranked as a general in the Legion. He also acted as a municipal
officer in Nauvoo.
Having been called to fill a vacancy in the First
Council of the Seventy, caused by the release of James
Foster, Elder Rockwood was set apart as one of the First
Presidents of Seventies at Nauvoo, Dec. 2, 1845, under the hands of Apostles
Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson
Hyde, Parley P. Pratt and George
A. Smith.
Elder Rockwood practiced plural marriage. He took
as his second wife Elvira Teeples on January 21, 1846. Elvira and Albert
had two children. On April 11, 1863 he took as his third wife Julianne
Sophie Olsen. Julanne and Albert had eight children. Susannah Cornwall
became Albert's fourth wife on January 6, 1870. Susannah and Albert had
four children.
When the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo, Elder
Rockwood shared in the general sufferings and hardships endured by the
Camps of Israel, and in 1847 he came to Great Salt Lake valley as one of
the Pioneers, under the immediate leadership of Pres. Brigham Young.
During his many years' residence in Utah he worked
diligently for the upbuilding of the country, and he filled many important
positions of honor and trust. For many years he acted as warden of the
Territorial penitentiary. After a long life of usefulness and diligence,
Elder Rockwood departed this life November 25, 1879, at his residence in
the Sugar House Ward, Salt Lake county, Utah, He had been confined to his
bed with a disease of the lungs for three weeks.
In his obituary published in the Deseret News
at the time of his death, it was written: "He (Elder Rockwood) has been
a prominent member of the Church and a man of integrity, position and influence
in the community. He served in the first legislature of Utah, has been
a member of the same body ever since and was elected for the approaching
session this winter. He was also the Pioneer fish commissioner of the Territory,
and one of the directors of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing
Society. In fact, through all his career, he has held high and responsible
positions with honor to himself and benefit to the community in which he
has resided. A good man has gone to rest after a long life of usefulness.
He died peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends, and previous
to his death shook hands with and bade them all good bye."
