Porter Rockwell
| Porter Rockwell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Members of the Council of Fifty | |
| March 19, 1844 – June 9, 1878 | |
| Called by | Joseph Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Orrin Porter Rockwell c. June 28, 1813 Belchertown, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | June 9, 1878 (aged 64) Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States |
| Resting place |
Salt Lake City Cemetery 40°46′34″N 111°51′43″W / 40.776°N 111.862°W |
| Known For | Personal bodyguard to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, Deputy US Marshal Known as "The Destroying Angel of Mormondom" |
| Occupation | Businessman, Frontiersman, Scout |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Neff (1854) Christina Olsen |
| Children | At least 7 |
| Parents | Orin and Sarah Rockwell |
Orrin Porter Rockwell (June 28, 1813 or June 25, 1815 – June 9, 1878) was a figure of the Wild West period of American History and a law man in the Utah Territory. Nicknamed Old Port and labeled "the Destroying Angel of Mormondom", during his lifetime he was as famous and controversial as Wyatt Earp or Pat Garrett. He was a bodyguard and personal friend of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Rockwell was born on June 28, 1813 in Belchertown, Hampshire County, Massachusetts to Orin and Sarah Rockwell, neighbors to the Smith family. He was a descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Rockwell was eight years younger than Joseph Smith. When Smith was publishing the Book of Mormon, Rockwell would work by picking berries at night and hauling wood into town in order to help pay for the publishing.
At 16 years old, Rockwell was baptized into Church of Christ (original name of the church founded by Smith) in Fayette, western New York, on April 6, 1830, the day the church was organized; it is most likely that Rockwell was the youngest member of the first group to be baptized into the church. He married Luana Beebe on February 2, 1832 in Jackson County, Missouri, and was endowed in the Nauvoo Temple on January 5, 1846. He served as a loyal personal bodyguard to both Smith and later Brigham Young. Separating fact from legends, folklore and myths concerning Rockwell is difficult for historians, in large part because Rockwell was only semi-literate and kept no personal diary.
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