Charles B. Thompson
| Charles B. Thompson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founder of the Congregation of Jehovah’s Presbytery of Zion | |
| 1848 – 1858 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Charles Blancher Thompson January 27, 1814 Niskayuna, New York, United States |
| Died | February 27, 1895 (aged 81) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Resting place | Greenmount Cemetery 40°01′00″N 75°07′20″W / 40.0168°N 75.1223°W |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Jencks Catherine Ann Houck |
Charles Blancher Thompson (January 27, 1814 – February 27, 1895) was an American leader of a schismatic sect in the Latter Day Saint movement from 1848 to 1858. He claimed the title Baneemy and his followers were known as "Baneemyites".
Thompson was born in Niskayuna, New York to a Quaker family. Thompson converted to Mormonism in 1835. He became an elder in the church and was faithful to the church leadership until the death of founder Joseph Smith, Jr. In 1841, Thompson published Evidence in Proof of the Book of Mormon in Batavia, New York.
Among the several aspirants to be Smith's successor, Thompson initially accepted James J. Strang as the rightful leader of the Latter Day Saints. However, in January 1848 Thompson broke with Strang after Thompson reported to having received a revelation from God while he was living in St. Louis, Missouri. Thompson began to claim that he was the reincarnation of the biblical Ephraim and that he was to be known as "Baneemy, patriarch of Zion". Thompson claimed that a revelation received by Joseph Smith on June 22, 1834, referred to him:
And I will soften the hearts of the people, as I did the heart of Pharaoh, from time to time, until my servant Baurak Ale, and Baneemy, whom I have appointed, shall have time to gather up the strength of my house ...
Thompson self-published a tract entitled The Voice of Him!! That Crieth in the Wilderness, Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!!, and gathered fifty to sixty followers around him, whom he instructed in his "School of Preparation". Thompson named his church the Congregation of Jehovah’s Presbytery of Zion, and his followers were often called Baneemyites because of Thompson's claim to the title. The group was also referred to as the Conjespresites.
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