Orson Pratt GATES

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 9 May 1811, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
• Census: 1850, Living in Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory
• Census: 1860, Living in Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory
• Census: 1870, Living in Saint George, Washington Co., Utah
• Census: 1880, Living in Bellevue, Kane Co., Utah
• Death: 15 Apr 1893, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Notes:

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This biographical sketch adapted from the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia.

Jacob Gates, one of the (LDS) First Seven Presidents of Seventies from 1862 to 1892, was the son of Thomas Gates and Patty Plumbly... His father was a farmer, and during the early period of Brother Gates' life he worked on the farm. He also worked at the carpenter and joiner trade, and his education was confined to a limited period of time.
He married Millie M. Snow, (Her name is given in another source as Mary Minerva Snow.) daughter of Levi Snow and Lucinia Streeter, March 16, 1833. Later in life he practiced plural marriage and fathered a total of thirteen children of record. He was baptized by Orson Pratt June 18, 1833, and confirmed a member of the Church the same day by Zerubbabel Snow. April 11, 1834, with his young wife, he left his father's house for Missouri, where he arrived June 30, 1834, and located seven miles west of Liberty, Clay county, which was quite a small village at that time.

While here Brother Gates was invited to go with Caleb Baldwin upon a mission, on which he left Jan. 25, 1836. At Flat Branch, Sangamon county, Ill., on Feb. 18, 1836, he was ordained an Elder in the Church under the hands of Elder Baldwin, and on the 25th of the same month he left Edgar county, Ill., to return home to Clay county, in company with 32 souls, who chose Elder Gates as their captain.

In the fall of 1836 Elder Gates moved to Caldwell county, Mo., a distance of about fifty miles, where he was ordained a Seventy under the hands of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, Dec. 19, 1838. In the same fall (1838) he had been compelled to march under a large military escort, in company with some fifty-seven other brethren, a distance of about forty miles, to Richmond, Ray county, to which place Joseph and Hyrum Smith had also been taken from, Far West. Elder Gates' journal says: "It was here that we were tried for all the capital crimes, save one, before Judge Austin A. King, and we were imprisoned some three weeks. Finally we went each other's bail and were released, when we left for Quincy, Illinois."

Not long after this Elder Gates went to Hancock county and received a commission as ensign in a company of militia. The same month he left home in company with Chandler Holbrook to preach the gospel, going as far east as Kirtland, Ohio, and Clay county, Mo., and in the fall returned home, in company with Wm. Snow he left Nauvoo, July 7, 1843, on a mission to La Porte, in the northern part of Indiana, and the fall of 1841 he went south into Marshall county and organized a branch of the Church; a goodly number were baptized.

In June, 1843, he again left home for a mission to the New England States, and before going he met the Prophet Joseph. His health was feeble, but the Prophet said: "Go and fill your mission, and we will wrestle after you come back." The Prophet and Elder Gates would often engage in the game for exercise. When Elder Gates returned home from his mission, May 26, 1844, he saw the Prophet for the last time, a little distance from him, on his horse, going to his martyrdom.

At the October conference, 1844, he was ordained and set apart senior president of the fourth quorum of Seventies, under the hands of Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt.

In the autumn of 1847 he came to Utah, and in the fall conference of 1849 he was appointed, with several others, to take a mission to England. He left Salt Lake City Oct. 19, 1849, and embarked at New Orleans on the steamer "Maine," which arrived in Liverpool April 6, 1850. While on this mission, which lasted three Years, Elder Gates filled several important positions in presiding over different divisions of the British mission, and many were added to the Church. On his return home he was appointed to take charge of a company of Saints which he successfully brought across the plains, arriving in Salt Lake City Sept. 30, 1853.

During the following few years he traveled throughout Utah, assisting in the organization of the different quorums of Seventy. In 1859 he was called on another mission to Europe. To fill it he left Utah Sept. 19, 1859, and reached Liverpool on the 13th day of December, Soon after his arrival there he received a letter from Pres. Brigham Young, informing him that he had been selected as one of the First Council of Seventies. While upon this mission he traveled with Apostles Amassa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich. In 1861 he returned home; on his way he stopped at the different points and assisted in the outfitting work of companies of Saints about to cross the plains. At the October conference, 1862, he was ordained a member of the First Council of Seventies.

While living in St. George, Washington county, he served as a member of the county court for several years. He was also elected a member of the house of representatives of the legislative assembly of the Territory to represent the district composed of the counties of Washington and Kane. He was re-elected three times to the same officer, namely, in the years 1864, 1865, 1866 and 1867. He was also elected a member of the council of the legislative assembly in 1873, to represent the district composed of the counties of Kane and Washington. May 12, 1866, he was appointed brigade aid-de-camp, First Brigade of the Nauvoo Legion Militia of Utah, in Iron military district, with the rank of colonel of infantry.

After a well spent life Elder Gates died at his residence in Provo, Utah as a true and faithful Latter-day Saint.

Jacob married Mary WARE on 25 Oct 1862. Mary was born on 19 Feb 1844 in England; died on 7 Jan 1909 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Ware
• Census: 1870, Living with husband in Saint George, Washington Co., Utah
• Census: 1880, Living with husband in Bellevue, Kane Co., Utah
• Census: 1900, Living in Sugarhouse, Salt Lake Co., Utah

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1850, Living with daughter, Lucinda Bingham, in Weber Co., Utah Territory

Notes:

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Comments: In 1835 in Kirtland, Thomas was assistant president of the Deacon's quorum. He was called in 1835 in Kirtland to testify to the truthfulness of the soon-to-be published D&C. Comments: 2 On March 7, 1835, Thomas received many blessings for his efforts in building the Kirtland Temple. On August 17, 1835 the D&C was presented to general assembly. Due to the crowds, several men were assigned as presidents of the day. Thomas was chosen as one of these men to keep order in the assembly. Thomas bore record of the truthfulness of the D&C and acknowledged it as scripture in the church in front of the congregation. Thomas also made a covenant to help move the saints from Missouri on January 29, 1839 in Far West.

Thomas married Patty PLUMLY in 1796. Patty (daughter of John PLUMLEY and Susannah CLAYTON) was born on 27 Aug 1776 in Acworth, Sullivan Co., New Hampshire; died on 18 Sep 1845 in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois; was buried in Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Isaac was a soldier in the revolution, from Stow, in Captain John Kirkland's company, Colonel John Dickinson's regiment, from August 16, to August 20, 1777, on the Bennington alarm. He also served on a Rhode Island alarm and the Lexington alarm. After his marriage to Mary, they removed to Acworth, New Hampshire, in 1781. His farm was on Gates Hill.

Isaac married Mary WHEELER on 15 Dec 1769 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Thomas WHEELER and Mary DABY) was born on 04 Jun 1754 in Stow, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts; died on 18 Oct 1819 in Acworth, Sullivan Co., New Hampshire; was buried in Old Acworth Cemetery, Acworth, Sullivan Co., New Hampshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Susannah CLAYTON on 7 Aug 1774 in Grafton, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]