Orson Pratt - Church Membership and Service

Church Membership and Service

Orson Pratt was the younger brother of Parley P. Pratt, who introduced him to Latter Day Saint church and baptized him on his nineteenth birthday, September 19, 1830 in Canaan, New York.

Pratt was ordained an Elder several months later, on April 26, 1831, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. and immediately set out for Colesville, New York, his first mission. This was the first of a number of short missions in which Orson visited New York, Ohio, Missouri, and the Eastern States. On February 2, 1832, he was ordained a High Priest by Sidney Rigdon and as a High Priest he continued his missions, preaching in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Orson Pratt was a member of the original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles under Joseph Smith. He was ordained to this position on April 26, 1835. He served as a member of the mission of the Twelve Apostles to the British Isles between 1839 and 1841. He contributed to the mission by preaching in Scotland, and producing an early missionary tract, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions. This tract contains the earliest known public printing of an account of Joseph Smith's First Vision and also contains material similar to that later published as the 1842 Articles of Faith.

On his return to America in 1841, Pratt found the Church membership in contention over several issues. Rumors and gossip were rife in Nauvoo, Illinois and Pratt found the religious principle of plural marriage difficult to accept. He rebelled against Smith when he found that his wife, Sarah Pratt, accused Smith of attempting to seduce her. Pratt was disciplined and excommunicated August 20, 1842. Some months later, he reconciled with Smith and requested re-baptism. Pratt was reinstated in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on January 20, 1843.