John R. Winder
First Counselor in the First Presidency under Joseph F. Smith
John Rex Winder (December 11, 1821 – March 27, 1910) was a leader and general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric from 1887 to 1901, and First Counselor in the First Presidency to church president Joseph F. Smith from 1901 until his death.2
From Wikipedia’s article on John R. Winder (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Dec 11, 1821, died Mar 27, 1910.1
About
He was well known for his business abilities, and influenced Heber J. Grant. He was also active in politics and the militia, participating in the Utah War and the Black Hawk War (Utah). When the church came under heavy government pressure for its practice of plural marriage, Winder held the church's assets to keep them from being seized by the federal government. He was a polygamist and had four wives and 20 children.
From Wikipedia’s article on John R. Winder, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Winder FarmsFounder7
Early life and education
Winder was born to Richard and Sophia Collins Winder in Biddenden, England. He worked in several trades as a youth, settling into a position as a shoe and leather man in his twenties in London. There he married Ellen Walters in 1845. There also he was recruited to manage a shoe store in Liverpool.
In the shoe store, he discovered the LDS Church and joined as a member. In February 1853, he and his wife set out to Utah to join the church there. He traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, nearly succumbing to smallpox on the way. He then traveled via steamboat up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri, where he caught another boat leading up to Keokuk, Iowa. From there he traveled with a company of members heading towards Utah Territory under Joseph W. Young. They arrived on October 10, 1853.
From Wikipedia’s article on John R. Winder (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: priest.4
- Date not recordedFounded Winder Farms3
Personal life
Winder married Ellen Walters in London in 1845. A practitioner of plural marriage, Winder married Hannah Thompson in Salt Lake City in 1855, Elizabeth Parker in 1857, and later, Maria Burnham in 1893. Through the first three women he fathered 23 children.
Maria Burnham was from Fruitland, New Mexico Territory, where the LDS Church congregation was named the Burnham Ward because of her family's prominence in the early history of the area.
From Wikipedia’s article on John R. Winder (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataJohn R. Winder on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaJohn R. Winder on Wikipedia
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- 7WikidataWinder Farms, Founder
- 8Wikimedia CommonsJohn R. Winder photo by Charles Roscoe Savage, Public domain