Nathaniel H. Felt

Nathaniel Henry Felt (February 6, 1816 – January 27, 1887) was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature and a mid-level leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 19th century.

Felt was born in Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Felt and his wife the former Hannah Reeves. The older Felt died when Nathaniel H. was seven. Felt studied in local schools and was a member of the Divisionary Corps of Independent Cadets until age 15 when he became an apprentice to a tailor in Lynn, Massachusetts. He also clerked from about age 14 in a Salem, Massachusetts retail store for Mr. Benjamin Cox. With the aid of an older brother, John Gillingham Felt, he at age 21 set up a tailor shop with multiple employees and was then involved in trade with China and parts of west Africa. Felt's ancestry in Salem was deep and well-connected having descended from George Felt who first arrived in Salem in the year 1628 with John Endecott. On 3 October 1839 Felt married his second cousin Eliza Ann Preston. Both Nathaniel and Eliza were descendants of Bridget Bishop. The well-connected Felt family had many relatives in town and nearby; one of the most luminary examples was Joseph Barlow Felt who was Nathaniel's much older first cousin and often-cited Massachusetts historian.

On 17 September 1843 the Felts were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, primarily as a result of the missionary work of Erastus Snow. A likely attendee at the baptism ceremony was Brigham Young, future President of the LDS Church. who became a lifelong associate of Nathaniel and Eliza. In March 1844, Felt was ordained president of the Salem Branch of the Church by Erastus Snow. In late spring 1844, Brigham Young sent his teenage daughter Vilate from Nauvoo, Illinois with Augusta Adams Cobb to live with the Felts in Salem in order for her to obtain a proper education. By June 1844, Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff were frequent visitors in the Felt home during their efforts to elect Joseph Smith Jr president of the United States. When Smith was murdered at Carthage, Illinois, Brigham Young returned to Nauvoo and became leader of the Latter-day Saints.

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