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Parley Parker Pratt ( 12 April 1807 – 13 May 1857 ) (commonly known as '''Parley P. Pratt''') was a leader in the Latter Day Saint Movement and an original member of The Quorum Of Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt . He was a productive missionary, religious writer and longtime editor of the religious publication '' The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star ''. Pratt was born in Burlington, New York , the son of Jared and Charity Dickenson Pratt. He married Thankful Halsey in Canaan, New York on 9 September 1827 . The young couple settled near Cleveland, Ohio on a plot of "wilderness" where Parley had constructed a crude home. In Ohio, Pratt became a member of the Reformed Baptist Society, also called Campbellites , through the preaching of Sidney Rigdon . Pratt soon decided to take up the Cambellite ministry as a profession, and sold his property. Church service While traveling to visit family in western New York , Pratt had the opportunity to read a copy of the Book Of Mormon owned by a Baptist Deacon . Convinced of its authenticity, he traveled to Palmyra, New York and spoke to Hyrum Smith at the Smith home. He was baptized in Seneca Lake by Oliver Cowdery on or about 1 September 1830 , formally joining the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints ( Mormons ). He was also ordained to the office of an Elder in the church. Continuing on to his family's home, he introduced his younger brother, Orson Pratt , to Mormonism and baptized him on 19 September 1830 . Pratt then returned to Fayette, New York in October 1830, where he met the Prophet Joseph Smith and was asked to join a missionary group assigned to preach to the Native American ( Lamanite ) tribes on the Missouri frontier. During the trip west, he and his companions stopped to visit Sidney Rigdon , and were instrumental in converting Rigdon and approximately 130 members of his congregation within two to three weeks. Pratt was later assigned additional missions to the Eastern United States , the Southern United States , England , the Pacific Islands , and to South America . He was instrumental in introducing the Mormon faith to a number of future LDS leaders, including his brother, Orson Pratt , Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams , John Taylor and his wife Leonora, and Joseph Fielding and his sisters, Mary and Mercy Fielding. In addition to serving as an active missionary, Pratt entered the leadership of the early Latter Day Saint Movement acting as an original member of The Quorum Of Twelve Apostles under Joseph Smith. While on a mission to the British Isles in 1839 , Pratt was editor of a newly created Periodical , '' The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star ''. He was also a noted Writer and Poet , producing an autobiography and the lyrics of three popular LDS hymns, among other works. After the death of Joseph Smith, Pratt and his family were among the church members who emigrated to Utah under the direction of church president Brigham Young . Pratt was involved in establishing the refugee settlements and fields at both Garden Grove and Mt. Pisgah, Iowa and personally led a pioneer company along the Mormon Trail to the Salt Lake Valley. Sometime in the mid 1850's, along with George D. Watt , he helped develop the Deseret Alphabet . On a preaching mission in 1857 , Pratt was being tracked by Hector McLean , the disgruntled ex-husband of a woman, Eleanor McLean, whom Pratt had recently married as a plural wife. McLean pressed charges, accusing Pratt of coming between him and the woman who was then his wife. Pratt managed to evade him and his charges, but was finally arrested in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ). He was tried before Judge John B Ogden , acquitted and released. However, shortly afterward, he was killed by Hector McLean and two other men on 13 May 1857 , on a farm northeast of Van Buren, Arkansas . SEE ALSO Pratt-Romney Family PUBLICATIONS
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