| Show THE CITY bishoprics bishoprick BISH we here give sketches of the th members of the bishopric of tale second ward BISHOP SAMUEL PETERSEN la Is the son of peter and ellen mr geret petersen Pete raen and was bor bornholm island dec 1 1827 his father was a carpenter 80 aa samuel had just finished learn 09 the trade of a wagon maker when he 1115 heard and embraced the gospel in 1852 he heard a mormon elder named ole preach lVe Pen tance latance and baptism for the remission of sins this elder was emong the first persons baptized tn in denmark under the presidency of apostle A postle erastus snow and was one of f tile the first native brethren called to the ministry he advised samuel tf if jae he lacked wisdom to ask aak of god to all men liberally and not one saturday in the year 1852 the subject of this sketch knelt in secret prayer d inquired of the lord if joseph smith was s a true prophet according ta the words of elder and af 80 80 to give him a testimony to that effect soon after offering up this prayer w be retired d to bed his mind engrossed At thought bought upon the subject of the aing and character of joseph when apparently the room b ame e filled with an evil and in oppressive and terrible in fluence it seemed to be thronged thron ged with ath evil spirits ile fie was deeply affected by this of the powers of dark 1 I BB drew the bed covering over w 4 head and called earnestly upon bod d to deliver him he was so 80 op Wed that his tongue and limbs taxed bound and useless imme nely on his calling upon god in manner his spirit seemed to leave e his body and go to tile locality where stood the tarch building a luthern edifice at which he ani his parents had been D accustomed to worship and which abich was situated about eighteen 01 twenty english miles from where helas Q was at this time A great multi tade seemed to be flocking flo oking into and amund nd the building when it sudy split in twain one half of it ng to the south and the other hlf to the north A large number of people were killed or mangled in the ue terrible tei te trible catastrophe on witnessing this great calamity lae ae felt utterly lost bewildered and ercoline er cOlne the church in which he 44 gilerto hiler hitherto to worshipped wor shipped was ched and the congregation kaw d mangled angled or scattered and in 8 t loneliness and distress of soul he cried out 40 urd lord where shall I 1 go now tt at this juncture his attention was buted ted towards an inexpressibly timi and heavenly city which emed ed to tolie lie a long distance before wai ile he was filled with longing to 90 to t the delightful place and again wed to the lord this time aej asking to be shown how he might reach the celestial city in reply a voice said to him listen to the words of the mormon elder he will show you the way at these words samuel suddenly resumed his normal and natural mental state and somewhat to his surprise found himself lying in bed instead of being off on a journey witnessing what has just been described bed what he had seen had been spiritually discerned but it was strikingly and impressively realistic As may be supposed his bis mind was satisfied as to the truth of mormonism and he was soon afterwards baptized the year being 1852 he left his native country in the following year and reached this city october 5 1853 he was a member of john Fos greens company which was the first to leave scandinavia except the company of 28 souls who accompanied apostle erastus snow on his return home from his mission to scandinavia in 1851 I 1 brother petersen remained a short time with a family in the ninth ward but was soon employed on what is now known as the farm just south of this city he married august 24 1856 caroline elizabeth sorensen and located in the eighth ward he was ordained a priest feb 18 1857 and oia OB feb 27 of the same year he was ordained an elder on march 1858 he was ordained a seventy and became a member of the fifty seventh quorum on june 8 1877 he was ordained a high priest and bishop of the second ward by apostle john taylor he having removed into that part of the city in 1861 since which time he has lived on the same lot his first wife died november fth 1858 and he married karen jensen his present wife june 1859 at the april conference 1867 he was called on a mission to sweden he left may of that year and returned august alth 1877 he was called on a mission to minne rotain january 1877 by letter from president young and left in that month he returned injure injune in june of the same year reaching home the day before his ordina ordination to the bishopric shortly before leaving minnesota elder peterson conversed conver eed with a man named lars a substantial farmer and superintendent of a large flour mill with whom he had become acquainted the colloquy was something like this elder petersen mr I 1 would like to make a mormon of you before I 1 leave I 1 have that much love for you mr find it the hardest job you ever undertook elder P well PU ill leave that matter between you and god mr N well I 1 must say that I 1 am much obliged to you for the light I 1 have obtained from you elder P give god the glory for I 1 am his servant this reply seemed to surprise and impress mr who remarked that as a rule men wanted all the glory of their teachings or labors the two parted in a very friendly manner anner but with no indication that mr had become a convert to mormonism three days after elder petersons Peter sens return to his home in this city he was aroused shortly before midnight by y a knock on oa the door chos there he called out mr nielsen Nl elsen was the rep reply lyia ir a voice familiar to elder petersen amr mr of minnesota f he exclaimed and hastily opening the door welcomed his guest mr said it was a long way to come to be baptized but that was his object and soon afterwards elder now bishop petersen administered that ordinance to him and he returned to minnesota sold out and brought his bis family to utah the next year he is still a faithful aint JAMES is s the son of john and mary leach and was born may 2nd and 1816 1815 in pilling lane lancashire england about the year 1827 his parents removed to preston the town immortalized zed as being the first in england to hear a public proclamation of the gospel one night about the year 1888 1883 while james was lying awake in bed in the some room in which his parents slept he heard jils his mother narrate to his father a dream or a vision she had had in which she was informed that the true gospel W was about to be proclaimed upon the earth in all its ite ancient purity and power in 1887 1837 apostle heber C kimball and companions preached the fullness of the gospel in england in fulfillment fulfilment of this dream or vision As soon as james mother heard the gospel she embraced it she was at the time a member of the rev bev mr fieldings church vauxhall road boad preston she received the ordinance of f baptism at the same time as did george D watt who had been her fellow communicant comman leant in mr fieldings church this was the first baptizing done in england george D watt being the first man to be baptized in europe james father was not baptized till a year or two later in 1841 his three sisters were baptized but he did not take that step for the reason that he did not deem himself worthy though he believed in may 1844 in company with his sister agnes and her husband henry nightingale who were members of the church he left england for nauvoo arriving there safely in due time he had been in nauvoo five or six weeks and both he and his broth eran er in law were out of employment when they resolved to call upon the prophet joseph smith in the belief that it would lead to their finding something to do they found him in the store in the act of waiting upon a lady customer As soon as james saw him he felt that a superior lor power rested upon him james was not at the time a member of the church and for that reason asked brother nightingale to speak to the prophet the latter did not do so and james taking courage said to the prophet mr smith have you any work you can give gave us by which we can obtain some provisions the prophet said boys what can you d do they told him what they had been accustomed to working at in their native land can you make a ditch asked the prophet they told him they thought they could the prophet thereupon took a tape measure led them to a spot near the store and laid out a ditch to be dug james holding the end of the tape when they had finished the job they reported to the prophet he paid them liberally in meat and flour and they went away rejoicing j jo james was baptized about nov 1 1841 at nauvoo and on dec 1844 married isabella daniels at st louis he made his home in nauvoo until the exodus and he be and his wife left that city with the saints early in 1846 but not till he had for a time labored upon the temple at plastering he reached this city in the fall of 1847 having sojourned sojourn ed a year at winter quarters in 1843 he became a member of the thirtieth quorum of seventies at nauvoo and remained in it about 1868 1869 1 when he was chosen by bishop isaac hill of the second ward as his second counselor he was afterwards chosen first counselor to bishop young retaining that position about eight years in november 1872 brother leach became acting bishop of that ward with counselors by direction of president daniel H wells and presiding bishop edward hunter president young being at the time in southern utah when samuel peterson was ordained bishop brother leach was chosen as his first counselor and has filled that position ever since he was for many years president of the deacons quorum in his ward and has filled a number of other offices and callings in the priesthood laboring in each with zeal and fidelity WM HART second counselor to bishop peterson is the son of thomas and sarah williams hart and was born mar 3 1880 in Pembroke shire south wales he was baptized jan 5 1851 by elder moses phelps was ordained a teacher jan 30 1851 was ordained an elder feb 16 1852 from which time he labored in the local ministry by preaching on sundays Sunday and sand filling other appointments until 1858 1856 in which year he emigrated to boston in a company of saints of which elder dan jones was president brother hart went from boston to williamsburg near new york and thence to minersville Miners ville pa where he labored in a branch of the church as a teacher from the last named place ilace he went to st louis and from there to bellville illinois where he be also labored as a teacher he left illinois and came to utah in 1859 arriving in this city september 1 three years had elapsed since he had left his big native land to gather to zion and it was only after a varied experience that he accomplished that object he became a member of the second ward in 1860 and labored for a time as a teacher he was ordained a seventy february 16 1861 ond united with the sixty second quorum on march 27 1881 he i was ordained a high priest under the hands of president angus M cannon and set apart to be second counselor to bishop peterson a position which he be still holds the enlightening influence and power of the holy spirit rather than any remarkable manifestation of a miraculous nature impelled brother hart to embrace the gospel but he has witnessed the healing of the sick the speaking in tongues and prophesying all by the power of the holy ghost such is the testimony mouy which he bears |
