Autobiography (Typescript) | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Born in Mendon, Worchester County, Massachusetts, son of John Benson and Chloe Taft. Early life and subsequent marriage to Pamelia Andrus; conversion in 1840; second counselor in the presidency of a stake near Quincy, Illinois; removal to Nauvoo and activities there; mission to the East in 1842 and preaching in areas where he spent his early life; return to Nauvoo in the following year; obedience to the law of celestial marriage as taught by Hyrum Smith; appointment to labor in New Jersey in 1844 with John Packs in behalf of Joseph Smith's campaign for the presidency of the United States; mantle of the prophet upon Brigham Young after Joseph's death; member of the High Council at Nauvoo; another mission to the East late in 1844; officiator in the Nauvoo Temple; exodus west; member of the pioneer company of Brigham Young; mission back east to aid in the immigration of the saints west; call to preside over the saints in Cache Valley, 1860; mission to Hawaii; policital activities; involvement in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad