Levi Stewart

Levi Stewart (April 28, 1812 – June 14, 1878) was a Mormon pioneer and a founder of Kanab, Utah.

Bishop Levi Stewart was born in Edwardsville, Illinois Birth 28 April 1812 West Edwardsvill, Madison, IL Death 14 June 1878, age 66

He married his (1st) cousin Melinda Howard on 7 February 1833, and moved to Vandalia, Illinois.

In 1837 they were visited by Mormon missionaries. 1st wife (1st cousin) Melinda Howard Stewart was quickly converted to the faith. Levi traveled to Far West, Missouri to learn more. There he was baptized by Jefferson Hunt.

Stewart and his family moved to Ambrosia, Missouri in 1838. Later that year Governor Boggs of Missouri issued an Extermination Order for Mormons in that state. The Stewarts returned to Illinois in early 1839.

From April to October 1839 Stewart served a mission with his boyhood friend John D. Lee as his companion. Lee’s own conversion to Mormonism was greatly influenced by Stewart, as Lee would later reveal in his autobiography. Together they preached in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and they baptized a number of people into the Mormon faith.

Stewart moved his family to Nauvoo, Illinois in early 1840. There he was a member of the Nauvoo Legion, and he helped to construct the Nauvoo Temple. He took part in the School of the Prophets and developed a friendship with Joseph Smith.

Stewart was called on a mission to Gallatin County, Illinois, together with James Pace in 1843. Again in 1844, he was called to be a missionary in Illinois and also to secure electors to vote for Joseph Smith for President of the United States. Smith was murdered that June.

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