Dan Jones (Mormon) facts for kids
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Dan Jones (born August 4, 1810 – died January 3, 1862) was an important Welsh missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. People often called him Captain Dan. He is famous for hearing a special "final prophecy" from Joseph Smith. This prophecy said that Dan Jones would go on a mission to Wales before he died.
Contents
Early Life and Adventures
Dan Jones was born in a place called Halkyn in Flintshire, Wales. He was the sixth of eight children in his family.
When he was 16, Dan became a sailor. On January 3, 1837, he married Jane Melling, a friend from his childhood. In 1840, Dan and Jane moved to the United States. There, Dan became the captain of a steamship named the Ripple. This ship traveled on the Mississippi River, carrying people between New Orleans and St. Louis. After the Ripple sank, Dan became captain of another ship, the Maid of Iowa. This ship was big enough to carry about 300 passengers.
Joining the Church
While traveling on the Mississippi River, Dan Jones heard about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church had recently moved its main offices to Nauvoo, Illinois, a city right on the river. Dan wanted to learn more about this new religion. He believed what the missionaries taught him and was baptized into the church in January 1843.
The next April, Dan used his ship, the Maid of Iowa, to help about 300 English church members move from Mississippi to Nauvoo. He also used his ship to bring supplies needed to build the Nauvoo Temple. Joseph Smith even gave speeches from the deck of the Maid of Iowa more than once.
Joseph Smith's Last Prophecy
In June 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were arrested and put in Carthage Jail. Dan Jones was chosen to go with them to the jail, along with Willard Richards and John Taylor. He was there to offer support and protection.
The night before Joseph and Hyrum were killed, Joseph Smith asked Dan if he was scared to die. Dan replied that he wasn't, especially since he was involved in such an important cause. Joseph then gave what many believe was his "last prophecy": "You will yet see Wales and fulfill the mission appointed you before you die."
The next morning, June 27, 1844, Joseph asked Dan to deliver a letter to Orville H. Browning in Quincy, Illinois. This letter asked Browning to be the Smiths' lawyer. As Dan rode away from the jail, bullets were fired at him, but none hit him. In his rush, Dan took the wrong road to Quincy and got lost. Later, he found out that a mob had been waiting for him on the correct road. When Dan finally reached Quincy, he learned that Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been killed by a mob at the jail.
First Mission to Wales
In late 1844, Brigham Young asked Dan Jones to return to Wales as a missionary for the church. Dan and his wife traveled to England with Wilford Woodruff and other missionaries. After about a year, Dan was asked to lead all the missionary efforts in Wales. At that time, there were only a little over 200 church members in Wales.
Under Dan's leadership, missionaries in Wales baptized about 3,600 people between 1845 and 1848. This meant that about one out of every 278 people in Wales joined the church. When Dan left Wales, there were 72 church groups, called branches, and 4,645 church members.
In 1846, Dan Jones started publishing a Welsh-language magazine for the church called Prophwyd y Jubili, which means Prophet of the Jubilee. This was the first church magazine published in a language other than English. In 1847, he published a very famous Welsh pamphlet called "Hanes Saint y Dyddiau Diweddaf" ("History of the Latter-day Saints").
Journey to Utah
On February 26, 1849, Dan Jones left Wales with over 300 Welsh church members. They sailed from Liverpool to New Orleans on a ship called the Buena Vista. From New Orleans, they traveled by riverboat to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Once they arrived in Council Bluffs, the church created the first Welsh-speaking branch of the church in the United States, with Dan Jones as its leader.
On July 13, 1849, Dan and many of the Welsh converts left Council Bluffs with other pioneers in a group led by George A. Smith. Dan arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on October 26.
Second Mission to Wales
After arriving in the Utah Territory, Dan Jones settled in Manti and was elected mayor in 1851. However, in 1852, church president Brigham Young asked Dan to go back to Wales as a missionary again. During this second mission, which lasted until 1856, Dan baptized about 2,000 more people in Wales. Most of these new members eventually moved to Utah.
In 1852, Dan oversaw the translation of the Book of Mormon into the Welsh language. This was only the third language, besides English, that the book had been published in. Dan also briefly worked as the editor of Udgorn Seion, which was the church's Welsh magazine that took the place of his earlier magazine, Prophwyd y Jubili.
Later Life and Passing
Dan Jones returned to Utah in 1856. However, he started to have health problems, possibly because of his hard missionary work and many travels. He became the captain of a boat called the Timely Gull on the Great Salt Lake. This boat was owned by Brigham Young and carried salt, cedar wood, and flagstone.
Dan's first wife, Jane, passed away on February 24, 1861. Less than a year later, on the 24th anniversary of his marriage to Jane, Dan Jones died from tuberculosis in Provo, Utah Territory. He was 51 years old. Dan was survived by six children.
His Legacy
Apostle Gordon B. Hinckley once said that Dan Jones "must certainly be included in the half dozen or so most productive missionaries in the history of the Church." This means he was one of the most successful missionaries ever. One of the buildings at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, where missionaries learn, is named the Dan Jones Building in his honor.
An official church publication also praised Dan Jones, calling him "one of the greatest missionaries" in the church's history.
Written Works
Dan Jones wrote many pamphlets and books in Welsh to share his beliefs. Some of his works include:
- Y fanw wedi ei chyfodi yn fyw, neu'r, hen grefydd newydd (The dead raised to life, or, the old religion anew) (1845)
- Prophwyd y Jubili, neu, Seren y Saint (Prophet of the Jubilee, or, Star of the Saints) (1846–48)
- Hanes Saint y Dyddiau Diweddaf (History of the Latter-day Saints) (1847)
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