Isaac Russell

Isaac Russell (April 13, 1807 – September 25, 1844) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. Russell held a number of positions of responsibility, including being one of the first missionaries to England, with Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Orson Hyde, Joseph Fielding, and J. E. Goodson. He also organized the Alston Church in 1837.[3]

Isaac Russell
Early image of Isaac Russell
Founder of the Alston Church
1839 – 1844
Personal details
Born(1807-04-07)April 7, 1807
Windy Haugh, Cumberland, England
DiedSeptember 25, 1844(1844-09-25) (aged 37)
Richmond, Missouri, US>[1]
Cause of deathswamp fever[2]
Resting placeWoodward Farm[1]
Spouse(s)Mary Millican Walton
ParentsWilliam Russell
Isabella Peart

Early life

Isaac Russell at Windy Haugh, near Alston, Cumberland, England, to William Russell and Isabella Peart. He was the youngest of thirteen children.[1] In 1817 the family emigrated from England to Upper Canada.

Latter Day Saint movement

Russell and his family were baptized into the Church of the Latter Day Saints on May 21, 1836, by Parley P. Pratt, along with the families of John Taylor, Joseph Fielding, and others.[1] Russell joined the body of the Latter Day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1837.[1]

Alston Church

As the Latter Day Saints were fleeing Missouri in the winter of 1838–39, Russell claimed to have received revelations directing him to remain in Missouri by leading the church into Indian Territory, where the Three Nephites would join them to convert the Lamanites. His organization was called the Alston Church.[4] He was alleged to have said that Joseph Smith had "fallen" and that he, Isaac, was now the prophet.

On April 26, 1839, Russell, along with most, if not all, of his followers were excommunicated.[3]

After accusing Russell of usurping authority over a small group of his converts and behaving as their prophet, most of these Alston saints immigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, by the winter of 1843.[2]

Death

Russell stayed in Far West, Missouri, among anti-Mormon mobs, never rejoined the Latter Day Saints, and died in 1844 on his farm near Richmond, Missouri, of "swamp fever." His youngest child, Isabella Russell, born a year before his death, later wrote his biography.[2] In 1861, Mary Russell, Isaac's widow, moved her children to Salt Lake City, Utah Territory and rejoined the LDS Church.[2]

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gollark: So they'll integrate your package manager? And what are the other things, spe¢ifically?
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References
  1. Russell, Paul C. (1993). The Biography of Isaac Russell (PDF). pp. 5, 6, & 8. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  2. Scott, James Wesly (2002). "The Jacob and Sarah Warnock Scott Family (1779-1910)" (PDF). Scott Family Journal: 8–9. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  3. Minutes of April 26, 1839 Council held at Far West by The Twelve, High Priests, Elders, & Priests: History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol 3 pages 336-339.
  4. Steven L. Shields, Divergent Paths of the Restoration, 4th ed. pp. 23–25 (Independence: Herald House, 2001).
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