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Lyman Wight (1796–1858) was an early leader
in the Latter Day Saint movement.  He was the
leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County,
Missouri in 1838.  In 1841, he was ordained as a
member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 
After the assassination of Joseph Smith, Jr.
resulted in a succession crisis
(Mormonism)|succession crisis, Wight led his own
group of Latter Day Saints to Texas, where they
created a settlement.  While in Texas, Wight broke
with other factions of Latter Day Saints,
including the The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints|group led by Brigham Young. 
Wight was ordained President of the Church
(Mormonism)|president of his own church, but he
later recognized the claims of William Smith
(Mormonism)|William Smith and eventually of Joseph
Smith III.  After his death, most of the
"Wightites" (as members of this church were
called) joined with the Community of
Christ|Reorganization.

==Early Life==
Lyman Wight was born May 9, 1796 in Fairfield, New
York.  He fought in the War of 1812.  He united
with Isaac Morley and others in forming a common
stock society in Kirtland, Ohio.

==Service in the church==
He was baptized by Oliver Cowdery in 1830. In 1831
he was ordained a high priest in June of 1831. He
claimed to have seen Jesus Christ. Shortly
afterwards, he went to Missouri, and later
Cincinnati, Ohio to preach. There he baptized over
100 people.

===Jackson County Conflict and Zion's Camp===
With many of his converted people, he went to
settle in Independence, Missouri, to build the
"City of Zion (Mormonism)|City of Zion".  The
Mormons in Jackson County were at odds with their
non-Mormon neighbors, who resorted to vigilantism
to drive the church from the county.   In one
scuffle with a vigilante group, Wight outran them
on bare horseback by jumping over a ditch that
they could not jump.

On July 23, 1833, Wight signed an agreement with
the vigilantes which specified that the Latter Day
Saints would leave Jackson County by 1834. The
saints were driven out anyways into neighboring
Clay County. The church membership called on
several elders to go up to Kirtland to tell Joseph
Smith about the events.  When the elders refused,
Lyman stepped forward to make the journey, despite
his wife being ill with a three-day old child and
only three days of food. Parley P. Pratt also
volunteered to go with Wight.

He arrived in Kirtland, Ohio on February 22, 1834.
Two days later he and Pratt testified about the
conflict in Missouri to the newly formed high
council. This led to the organization of Zion's
Camp. Joseph sent out men two-by-two to recruit
volunteers. Lyman left on April 21 with Hyrum
Smith to recruit from the northwest. Recruitment
was difficult, as many people did not want to
leave their homes to defend someone else's. Hyrum
and Lyman recruited about twenty individuals,
including Hosea Stout, who was not a member but
was impressed with their preaching. They met with
the main company on June 8 at the Salt River in
Missouri, bringing the total to 207 men, 11 women,
11 children, and 25 wagons.

Lyman tolerated the conditions of the rest of the
company, eating moldy and rancid food, under the
promises from Joseph Smith that they would be
healthy despite it.  After a 900 mile march, the
members of the camp reached Missouri where they
were afflicted with cholera.  They were then
discharged without having accomplished their goal
of returning the Latter Day Saints to Jackson
County.  At the end of Zion's Camp, Lyman Wight
wrote up the discharge orders, and remained in
Missouri according to Joseph's command.

===Itinerant Preaching===
For the remainder of 1834, he worked making bricks
in Missouri, and built a large brick house for
Colonel Arthur of Clay County, employing several
others, including Wilford Woodruff.

In 1835, he was encouraged to travel to the temple
at Kirtland. While on the journey, he preached. He
stopped by Richmond, Indiana. He knew that people
in the area were antagonistic towards the church,
yet he made an appointment to preach at the
courthouse. At the appointed time, he went to the
courthouse. People with tar and feathers filled
the room, ready to lynch him. The event is
described thusly:
:He preached about two hours, reproving them most
severely for their meanness, wickedness and
mobocratic spirit. At the close of the meeting he
said, "If there is a gentleman in this
congregation, I wish he would invite me to stay
with him overnight." Whereupon, a gentleman
stepped forward and tendered him an invitation,
which he willingly accepted. His host said, "Mr
Wight, it is astonishing how you have become so
well acquainted with the people here, for you have
described them very correctly." He was kindly
entertained and furnished with money in the
morning to aid him on his journey.

===Mormon Leader in Daviess County===
Staying the winter in Kirtland, Lyman set out to
return to Missouri in 1836. In 1837, David W.
Patten accused him of teaching false doctrine, for
which he was tried before the high council in Far
West. Being found guilty, he made the necessary
acknowledgments.

Settling near the Grand River in Daviess County,
Missouri on about February 1, 1838, Lyman Wight
built a house and later a ferry which became known
as "Wight's Ferry".  On May 19, 1838, Joseph
Smith, Jr. paid a visit to Lyman's home and ferry,
and used his home as the headquarters during his
visit. It was from his house that Smith received
revelation about Adam-ondi-Ahman and foretold the
future gathering there.  

On June 28, 1838, at a conference of local church
members, Joseph Smith organized a stake at
Adam-ondi-Ahman with John Smith, Joseph's uncle as
president, and Reynolds Calhoon and Lyman Wight as
counselors. With the organization, members began
settling in the area, including new members and
refugees from Kirtland, Ohio.  

Wight had also become a Colonel in the 50th
regiment of the Missouri Regiment,  in the state
militia, under the command of General H. G. Parks.
 By end of June, he was also head of the Danite
organization in Daviess County.  Between his
several roles, Wight became the preeminent leader
of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess.  

===The Mormon War===
In the summer of 1838, the troubles of the Mormon
War began with events on the Gallatin Election Day
Battle.  In response, Wight armed over 150 men at
this time to defend the Latter Day Saints in
Daviess.  Lyman Wight was accused, along with
Joseph Smith, of organizing an army and 
threatening and harassing various old settlers of
Daviess County.  Joseph and Lyman agreed to hold
trial to ease the tensions in the area. On
September 7, 1838, they were tried before Judge
Austin A. King. The judge ordered them to stand
trial before the circuit court on bail of $500.

After the trial, emotions did not abate on either
side.  The Mormons and non-Mormons in Daviess
engaged in non-fatal conflicts.  Non-Mormon
vigilantes from other counties came to Daviess and
began to harass the Latter Day Saints in outlying
areas, burning their homes and looting their
property.  Refugees began pouring into
Adam-ondi-Ahman, seeking protection.  The Mormon
response was to call up armed volunteers from
Caldwell County, Missouri|Caldwell County. 
Combining with the Daviess men, the Mormons split
into three groups and raided the chief non-Mormon
settlements.  Wight led the raid on Millport.  The
old settlers and their families fled and Wight and
his men looted their property and burned their
homes to the ground (Baugh, pp. 86-87).

Following these actions, the Battle of Crooked
River took place. Joseph Smith advised every
church member to go to Adam-ondi-Ahman or Far West
for protection and strength. When Far West fell
under siege after the infamous Extermination
Order, Lyman Wight organized members in
Adam-ondi-Ahman to assist them. No battle took
place, however, as Wight and the other Mormon
leaders were arrested by the state militia and the
Mormon militia subsequently surrendered.

While in custody of the state troops, Lyman
endured the mockery and vulgarity of the troops,
lying in the ground in the rain.  A court martial
which might have led to Wight's execution was
averted by General Alexander William Doniphan of
Clay County, Missouri|Clay County who challenged
the legality of any such court.  Instead, Wight
and the other leaders were tried in the civil
courts.  Wight and other leaders were able to
escape from jail during their transfer to Boone
County, Missouri|Boone County on April 16, 1839.

===Later Church Service===
Lyman Wight was ordained an apostle on April 8,
1841 by Joseph Smith to replace David W. Patten,
who died in the Battle of Crooked River in 1838.

After the death of Joseph Smith, Wight felt
compelled to follow the final orders Smith had
given to him to found a safe haven for the Latter
Day Saints in the Republic of Texas.  Wight moved
a group of Latter Day Saints there and eventually
founded the colony of Zodiac, Texas.  Brigham
Young tried to get Wight to join his Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|faction of the
church in Utah many times, but Wight refused each
time. Young's group disfellowshipped Wight in 1848
later excommunicated him. 

Wight, meanwhile recognized William Smith
(Mormonism)|William Smith as the President of the
Church (Mormonism)|President of the Church and
served as a counselor William's short-lived First
Presidency.  Late in life, Wight recognized Joseph
Smith III as the leader of the church.  He died in
Texas en route to Jackson County on March 31,
1858.

==References==
*Baugh, Alexander L., A Call to Arms: The 1838
Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, BYU Studies,
2000.

==External Resources==
*
http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/wightl1
.htm Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages

start box
series box |
 title= Quorum of the Twelve Apostles |
 years= April 8, 1841–December, 1848 |
 before=Willard Richards |
 after= Amasa M. Lyman |

end box

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Lyman Wight (1796–1858) was an early leader
in the Latter Day Saint movement.  He was the
leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County,
Missouri in 1838.  In 1841, he was ordained as a
member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 
After the assassination of Joseph Smith, Jr.
resulted in a succession crisis
(Mormonism)|succession crisis, Wight led his own
group of Latter Day Saints to Texas, where they
created a settlement.  While in Texas, Wight broke
with other factions of Latter Day Saints,
including the The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints|group led by Brigham Young. 
Wight was ordained President of the Church
(Mormonism)|president of his own church, but he
later recognized the claims of William Smith
(Mormonism)|William Smith and eventually of Joseph
Smith III.  After his death, most of the
"Wightites" (as members of this church were
called) joined with the Community of
Christ|Reorganization.

==Early Life==
Lyman Wight was born May 9, 1796 in Fairfield, New
York.  He fought in the War of 1812.  He united
with Isaac Morley and others in forming a common
stock society in Kirtland, Ohio.

==Service in the church==
He was baptized by Oliver Cowdery in 1830. In 1831
he was ordained a high priest in June of 1831. He
claimed to have seen Jesus Christ. Shortly
afterwards, he went to Missouri, and later
Cincinnati, Ohio to preach. There he baptized over
100 people.

===Jackson County Conflict and Zion's Camp===
With many of his converted people, he went to
settle in Independence, Missouri, to build the
"City of Zion (Mormonism)|City of Zion".  The
Mormons in Jackson County were at odds with their
non-Mormon neighbors, who resorted to vigilantism
to drive the church from the county.   In one
scuffle with a vigilante group, Wight outran them
on bare horseback by jumping over a ditch that
they could not jump.

On July 23, 1833, Wight signed an agreement with
the vigilantes which specified that the Latter Day
Saints would leave Jackson County by 1834. The
saints were driven out anyways into neighboring
Clay County. The church membership called on
several elders to go up to Kirtland to tell Joseph
Smith about the events.  When the elders refused,
Lyman stepped forward to make the journey, despite
his wife being ill with a three-day old child and
only three days of food. Parley P. Pratt also
volunteered to go with Wight.

He arrived in Kirtland, Ohio on February 22, 1834.
Two days later he and Pratt testified about the
conflict in Missouri to the newly formed high
council. This led to the organization of Zion's
Camp. Joseph sent out men two-by-two to recruit
volunteers. Lyman left on April 21 with Hyrum
Smith to recruit from the northwest. Recruitment
was difficult, as many people did not want to
leave their homes to defend someone else's. Hyrum
and Lyman recruited about twenty individuals,
including Hosea Stout, who was not a member but
was impressed with their preaching. They met with
the main company on June 8 at the Salt River in
Missouri, bringing the total to 207 men, 11 women,
11 children, and 25 wagons.

Lyman tolerated the conditions of the rest of the
company, eating moldy and rancid food, under the
promises from Joseph Smith that they would be
healthy despite it.  After a 900 mile march, the
members of the camp reached Missouri where they
were afflicted with cholera.  They were then
discharged without having accomplished their goal
of returning the Latter Day Saints to Jackson
County.  At the end of Zion's Camp, Lyman Wight
wrote up the discharge orders, and remained in
Missouri according to Joseph's command.

===Itinerant Preaching===
For the remainder of 1834, he worked making bricks
in Missouri, and built a large brick house for
Colonel Arthur of Clay County, employing several
others, including Wilford Woodruff.

In 1835, he was encouraged to travel to the temple
at Kirtland. While on the journey, he preached. He
stopped by Richmond, Indiana. He knew that people
in the area were antagonistic towards the church,
yet he made an appointment to preach at the
courthouse. At the appointed time, he went to the
courthouse. People with tar and feathers filled
the room, ready to lynch him. The event is
described thusly:
:He preached about two hours, reproving them most
severely for their meanness, wickedness and
mobocratic spirit. At the close of the meeting he
said, "If there is a gentleman in this
congregation, I wish he would invite me to stay
with him overnight." Whereupon, a gentleman
stepped forward and tendered him an invitation,
which he willingly accepted. His host said, "Mr
Wight, it is astonishing how you have become so
well acquainted with the people here, for you have
described them very correctly." He was kindly
entertained and furnished with money in the
morning to aid him on his journey.

===Mormon Leader in Daviess County===
Staying the winter in Kirtland, Lyman set out to
return to Missouri in 1836. In 1837, David W.
Patten accused him of teaching false doctrine, for
which he was tried before the high council in Far
West. Being found guilty, he made the necessary
acknowledgments.

Settling near the Grand River in Daviess County,
Missouri on about February 1, 1838, Lyman Wight
built a house and later a ferry which became known
as "Wight's Ferry".  On May 19, 1838, Joseph
Smith, Jr. paid a visit to Lyman's home and ferry,
and used his home as the headquarters during his
visit. It was from his house that Smith received
revelation about Adam-ondi-Ahman and foretold the
future gathering there.  

On June 28, 1838, at a conference of local church
members, Joseph Smith organized a stake at
Adam-ondi-Ahman with John Smith, Joseph's uncle as
president, and Reynolds Calhoon and Lyman Wight as
counselors. With the organization, members began
settling in the area, including new members and
refugees from Kirtland, Ohio.  

Wight had also become a Colonel in the 50th
regiment of the Missouri Regiment,  in the state
militia, under the command of General H. G. Parks.
 By end of June, he was also head of the Danite
organization in Daviess County.  Between his
several roles, Wight became the preeminent leader
of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess.  

===The Mormon War===
In the summer of 1838, the troubles of the Mormon
War began with events on the Gallatin Election Day
Battle.  In response, Wight armed over 150 men at
this time to defend the Latter Day Saints in
Daviess.  Lyman Wight was accused, along with
Joseph Smith, of organizing an army and 
threatening and harassing various old settlers of
Daviess County.  Joseph and Lyman agreed to hold
trial to ease the tensions in the area. On
September 7, 1838, they were tried before Judge
Austin A. King. The judge ordered them to stand
trial before the circuit court on bail of $500.

After the trial, emotions did not abate on either
side.  The Mormons and non-Mormons in Daviess
engaged in non-fatal conflicts.  Non-Mormon
vigilantes from other counties came to Daviess and
began to harass the Latter Day Saints in outlying
areas, burning their homes and looting their
property.  Refugees began pouring into
Adam-ondi-Ahman, seeking protection.  The Mormon
response was to call up armed volunteers from
Caldwell County, Missouri|Caldwell County. 
Combining with the Daviess men, the Mormons split
into three groups and raided the chief non-Mormon
settlements.  Wight led the raid on Millport.  The
old settlers and their families fled and Wight and
his men looted their property and burned their
homes to the ground (Baugh, pp. 86-87).

Following these actions, the Battle of Crooked
River took place. Joseph Smith advised every
church member to go to Adam-ondi-Ahman or Far West
for protection and strength. When Far West fell
under siege after the infamous Extermination
Order, Lyman Wight organized members in
Adam-ondi-Ahman to assist them. No battle took
place, however, as Wight and the other Mormon
leaders were arrested by the state militia and the
Mormon militia subsequently surrendered.

While in custody of the state troops, Lyman
endured the mockery and vulgarity of the troops,
lying in the ground in the rain.  A court martial
which might have led to Wight's execution was
averted by General Alexander William Doniphan of
Clay County, Missouri|Clay County who challenged
the legality of any such court.  Instead, Wight
and the other leaders were tried in the civil
courts.  Wight and other leaders were able to
escape from jail during their transfer to Boone
County, Missouri|Boone County on April 16, 1839.

===Later Church Service===
Lyman Wight was ordained an apostle on April 8,
1841 by Joseph Smith to replace David W. Patten,
who died in the Battle of Crooked River in 1838.

After the death of Joseph Smith, Wight felt
compelled to follow the final orders Smith had
given to him to found a safe haven for the Latter
Day Saints in the Republic of Texas.  Wight moved
a group of Latter Day Saints there and eventually
founded the colony of Zodiac, Texas.  Brigham
Young tried to get Wight to join his Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|faction of the
church in Utah many times, but Wight refused each
time. Young's group disfellowshipped Wight in 1848
later excommunicated him. 

Wight, meanwhile recognized William Smith
(Mormonism)|William Smith as the President of the
Church (Mormonism)|President of the Church and
served as a counselor William's short-lived First
Presidency.  Late in life, Wight recognized Joseph
Smith III as the leader of the church.  He died in
Texas en route to Jackson County on March 31,
1858.

==References==
*Baugh, Alexander L., A Call to Arms: The 1838
Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, BYU Studies,
2000.

==External Resources==
*
http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/wightl1
.htm Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages

start box
series box |
 title= Quorum of the Twelve Apostles |
 years= April 8, 1841–December, 1848 |
 before=Willard Richards |
 after= Amasa M. Lyman |

end box