Jedediah M. Grant was born February 21, 1816, to Joshua Grant and Athalia Howard in Windsor, New York. He was baptized into the Church of Christ by John F. Boynton on March 21, 1833, at age 17.[2] By age 18, he had participated in Zion's Camp, marching from Kirtland, Ohio, to Missouri under the direction of Joseph Smith.[3] Though the physical objectives of the march were not met, many members later became leaders in Smith's church. Grant's close relationship with these men from such an early age would last the rest of his life.
Grant was among the first Latter Day Saint missionaries to go to Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia.[4] His preaching efforts in the Toms River area of New Jersey in the late 1830s led to the conversion of members of the Ivins family.[4]
Grant served in the Utah Territorial Council in 1851.[5]
Sermons during the Mormon reformation
In 1856, Grant was called by Young to tour the northern sections of Utah Territory, calling the Latter-day Saints to repentance.[6] Grant inspired the Mormon Reformation of 1856 as he delivered fiery speeches on this tour. He issued a call for rebaptism of all the members of the area. Grant's speeches earned him the title "Brigham's Sledgehammer". The effects of his speeches were felt almost immediately; members throughout the area, as well as in distant parts, were rebaptized to signify their commitment to renew their commitments to the LDS Church and the gospel.[7]
Death and descendants
Grant contracted pneumonia after his vigorous tour. He died on December 1, 1856,[8] just nine days after his son, Heber J. Grant, was born to his wife Rachel Ridgeway Ivins. He was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Like many early Mormons, Grant practiced plural marriage, a form of polygyny. He had a total of seven wives, among them Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, who wrote reminiscences of early life in Utah and was a leader in the Relief Society after Grant died. By his wives, Grant had 11 children (10 biological, one adopted). His son, Heber, became the LDS Church's seventh president.
Sessions, Gene Allred. Mormon Thunder: A Documentary History of Jedediah Morgan Grant. University of Illinois Press, 1993. ISBN0-252-00944-4.
Young, Brigham (December 4, 1856), "On the Death of President Jedediah M. Grant", in Watt, G.D. (ed.), Journal of Discourses Delivered by President Brigham Young, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles, and Others, vol. 4, Liverpool: S.W. Richards, pp. 129–134.
Kimball, Heber C. (December 4, 1856), "Remarks at the Funeral of President Jedediah M. Grant", in Watt, G.D. (ed.), Journal of Discourses Delivered by President Brigham Young, His Two Counsellors, and the Twelve Apostles, and Others, vol. 4, Liverpool: S.W. Richards, pp. 135–138.