An Unsung Non-Member Martyr of Nauvoo: Ezekiel Johnson Jr. Jr.



When you think of the Latter-Day Saint Nauvoo era, you probably think of a few people. Joseph and Emma, obviously. Porter Rockwell may come to mind. Brigham Young probably isn’t far behind. There were quite a few people crammed into that city – about 12,000 by some estimates. It makes sense that there were an awful lot that don’t get a lot of mention.

Ezekiel Johnson Jr. Jr. for example, deserves a few more paragraphs in the history books. Here is a tiny bit about him. It is short, sweet and should leave you with a wide-eyed touch of gratitude. He was not a perfect man, but he met a selfless death:

“He was considering baptism into the Mormon Church, when he found out his wife had secretly been baptized in the night. He was very distressed and said he would never have anything to do with the Church.

“In 1835, he left the family home for good. He lived with his daughter Esther and her family in Nauvoo. He eventually gave up drinking and had a change of heart about the church. He was very upset when Joseph Smith was killed. He became a one man army of defense. He carried his double-barreled shotgun "Old Bess" and held off a company of soldiers by hiding behind a tree and stepping out pointing the gun at the captain when they got right on him. He told them to leave or he would shoot. They left and tried to sneak in on another street, but he was waiting for them and did the same thing, this time he told them if they did it again, he would just shoot. This gave the saints enough time to escape. This incident led to his death. He became a marked man. On a trip into Nauvoo, a mob captured him and tied him to a wagon wheel were he was whipped to near death. He never recovered and died shortly after. He had asked for baptism but because of his sudden death, never received it.” (https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Ezekiel_Johnson_(4))

Luckily, in the eternal aspect of things, and in what sets the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints apart from all other religions on the planet, all was not lost:

“President Wilford Woodruff gave permission for his descendants to do his temple work and seal him to his family. President Woodruff said that Ezekiel "was one of the first Martyrs to the cause of the Church in this dispensation."” (https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Ezekiel_Johnson_(4))


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