Alexander Badlam Sr. (November 28, 1809 – November 30 or December 1, 1894) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a Mormon pioneer.[1]

Alexander Badlam
First Quorum of the Seventy
February 28, 1835 (1835-02-28) – c.1855
Called byJoseph Smith
Member of the Council of Fifty
1851 – c.1868
Called byBrigham Young
Member of the Council of Fifty
March 11, 1844 (1844-03-11) – February 4, 1845 (1845-02-04)
Called byJoseph Smith
Personal details
Born(1809-11-28)November 28, 1809
Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States
DiedNovember 4, 1894(1894-11-04) (aged 84)
San Francisco, California, United States
Resting placeSaint Helena Public Cemetery
38°29′33″N 122°28′36″W / 38.4926°N 122.4766°W / 38.4926; -122.4766 (Saint Helena Public Cemetery)
Spouse(s)Mary Ann Brannan
ParentsEzra Badlam
Mary Lovis

Badlam was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was a coachmaker by trade. In 1833, Badlam married Mary Ann Brannan in York County, Maine. The couple became members of Joseph Smith's Church of Christ and moved to the Kirtland, Ohio, region.

In 1834, Badlam was a member of the Zion's Camp expedition that traveled from Lake County, Ohio, to Jackson County, Missouri. On February 28, 1835, Badlam became one of the inaugural members of the First Quorum of the Seventy. In 1835, he settled in Missouri and became a member of the church's Missouri high council.

In 1839, after the "extermination order" was issued, Badlam fled Missouri with the other Latter Day Saints was issued and settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. Badlam was admitted as a member of the Council of Fifty on March 11, 1844,[2] but was dropped from the council on February 4, 1845.

In 1847 and 1848, Badlam presided over the branch of the church in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1849, he traveled from Boston by ship to Sacramento, California, to participate in the California Gold Rush. In 1850, he returned to Boston and he and his family traveled by ship to Utah Territory via California as Mormon pioneers. After arriving in Utah, Badlam was readmitted to the Council of Fifty.

By 1855, Badlam had abandoned the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and by 1860 he had moved back to Sacramento. By 1880, he was living in San Francisco, where he died.

Badlam was the brother-in-law to Samuel Brannan, California's first millionaire.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Reeve, W. Paul (2015). Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. Oxford University Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-0-19-975407-6.
  2. ^ a b Owens, Kenneth N. (2005). Gold Rush Saints: California Mormons and the Great Rush for Riches. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-8061-3681-3.

External links edit