Lorenzo Dow Barnes (1812-1842)


 * First Latter-day Saint Elder who died while laboring as a missionary in a foreign land
 *  Zion's Camp Veteran
 * Original Member - LDS 1st Quorum of Seventy

Early Life
Lorenzo Dow Barnes was born March 22, 1812 in Tolland, Hampden county, Mass., the son of Phineas Barnes, a New England farmer.

He removed with his parents to the eastern part of Ohio in 1815 and thence, in 1816, moved to Norton, Medina county, Ohio, where he became a convert to "Mormonism" and was baptized by Elder Thomas Gorden June 16, 1833. He was ordained an Elder by Sidney Rigdon July 18, 1833, soon after which he went to Kirtland, the headquarters of the Church at that time.

While there he was called on a mission by the council of High Priests and left Thompson Aug. 1, 1833, in company with Elial Strong. On this mission to western Ohio they held a number of meetings in Lerado, Westville, Harmony, Jamestown, Pomfret and Perrysburgh and in the regions round about. Bro. Barnes returned to Kirtland in October and during the winter of 1833-1834 he taught school at Norton.

Zions Camp Participant
One of the most interesting episodes in the early history of LDS Church was the march of Zion's Camp (1834). The members of the Church in Missouri were being persecuted, and the Prophet Joseph made it a matter of prayer and received a revelation on February 24, 1834. The Lord instructed the Prophet to assemble at least one hundred young and middle-aged men and to go to the land of Zion, or Missouri. (See | D&C 130:19–34.)

Zion’s Camp, a group of approximately one hundred and fifty men, gathered at Kirtland, Ohio, in the spring of 1834 and marched to Jackson County, Missouri. By the time they reached Missouri, the camp had increased to approximately two hundred men.

Eastern States Mission
In the spring of 1835, he was ordained one of the first Seventy, and commenced preaching through several counties of Ohio. In 1835 he took a mission to Virginia, and having a limited education and an impediment in his speech, he was frequently singled out by the sectarian preachers as an object of attack. He held several debates with the clergymen of different denominations and had unusual success, for, the close of every debate was followed by baptisms. By faith and perseverence he overcame the impediment in his speech and became an orator of superior powers.

In June, 1838, he was ordained a High Priest and became a member of the High Council of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and in September of that year he was sent on a mission to the Southern and Eastern States; traversing on foot the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia, preaching without purse or script. In 1839 he built up a large branch of the Church in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and established many other branches in different parts of the Eastern States. He continued his labors until the year 1841 when he led a company of Saints to Nauvoo.

England Mission
In the fall of the same year (1841) he was sent on a mission to England, and labored for a short season in and about Manchester. From there he went to the Cheltenham conference, in Gloucestershire, where he labored until the general conference, held in England, when he received an appointment to preside over the Bradford conference, where he labored faithfully until his death, which occurred Dec. 20, 1842.

Bro. Barnes was possessed of most untiring perseverence, industry and application, and wore out his life by constant preaching and exposure. At the following general conference held in England, the American Elders and many of the Saints donated the sum of five pounds five shillings and six pence ($26.00) for the purpose of erecting over his grave, at Idle, Yorkshire (where his remains were interred) a stone, upon which is found the following epitaph: "In memory of Lorenzo D. Barnes, who died on the 20th of December, 1842, age 30 years. He was a native of the United States, an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a member of the High Priests' quorum and also of Zion's Camp in the year 1834, and the first gospel messenger from Nauvoo who has found a grave in a foreign land."

The remains of Elder Barnes were subsequently shipped to Utah and interred in the city cemetery in Salt Lake City and the 2nd quorum of Seventy has erected a modest monument over his grave.