Dan Jones (Mormon)

Dan Jones (4 August 1810 – 3 January 1862) (often referred to as Captain Dan) was an influential Welsh missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jones is well known for having heard the "final prophecy" of Joseph Smith, namely, that Jones would fulfill a mission to Wales before he died.

Jones was born in Halkyn, in the county of Flintshire, north-east Wales, the sixth of Thomas Jones and Ruth Roberts’s eight children.

When he was sixteen years old, Jones became a sailor. On 3 January 1837, Jones married Jane Melling, a childhood friend from Halkyn. In 1840, Jones and his wife emigrated to the United States, where Jones became captain of the Ripple, a steamship on the Mississippi River. The Ripple primarily carried passengers between New Orleans and St. Louis. After the Ripple struck a rock and sank, Jones captained the Maid of Iowa, which could transport approximately 300 passengers.

During his travels on the Mississippi River, Jones heard of the Mormons, who had recently settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, a city on the river. Jones sought out the Latter Day Saints to learn about the new religious movement. He believed what the Mormons told him and was subsequently baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in January 1843. The following April, Jones used the Maid of Iowa to transport approximately 300 English Latter Day Saint converts from Mississippi to Nauvoo. Jones also used his ship to haul freight required for the building of the Nauvoo Temple. Joseph Smith preached from the deck of the Maid of Iowa on more than one occasion.

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