Gilbert Belnap facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gilbert Belnap |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | December 22, 1821 Port Hope, Ontario (Upper Canada) |
| Died | February 26, 1899 (aged 77) Hooper, Utah |
| Occupation | Early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Weber County Sheriff. |
Gilbert Belnap (born December 22, 1821 – died February 26, 1899) was an important early pioneer and leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He helped establish new communities in Ogden, Utah, Fort Lemhi, Idaho, and Hooper, Utah.
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Early Life and Church Membership
Gilbert Belnap was born in Port Hope, Ontario, which was then called Upper Canada. He was the grandson of a soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Sadly, Gilbert became an orphan when he was only 10 to 12 years old.
He later joined a group of American rangers and was captured during a rebellion in Canada. After he was released, he traveled to Kirtland, Ohio. There, in 1842, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Soon after, he served a mission (a period of religious service) in Upstate New York.
Life in Nauvoo
In 1844, Gilbert Belnap moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. He was asked to be a bodyguard for Joseph Smith, the church's founder. One of his special tasks was to attend a meeting where people were planning to harm Joseph Smith.
Gilbert Belnap was at Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844, the day Joseph Smith was killed. He and Porter Rockwell were among the first Latter-day Saints not present at the jail to hear the sad news. In Nauvoo, Gilbert also became a church leader in the Sixth Quorum of Seventy.
Journey to Utah
Gilbert Belnap married Adaline Knight in Nauvoo. She was the daughter of an early church leader, Vinson Knight, and Martha McBride, who helped start the Relief Society. Less than two months after their wedding, the Latter-day Saints had to leave Nauvoo.
The Belnap family stayed for a while in Winter Quarters and later in Fremont County, Iowa. In 1850, they began their journey to Utah. Gilbert was chosen to lead a group of ten people in the Warren Foote Company. During this difficult journey, Gilbert's 13-month-old son, John, died from cholera. He was buried in his father's tool chest near the Platte River.
After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Gilbert Belnap was sent to help settle Fort Buenaventura in Weber County, Utah. In 1852, he married Henrietta McBride in a plural marriage. Gilbert eventually had 17 children, 15 of whom lived to adulthood. He also had 160 grandchildren.
Community and Church Service
In 1855, Gilbert Belnap was called to be one of the first missionaries to serve at the Fort Lemhi Mission in what is now Salmon, Idaho. However, he was called back in 1858 to serve in the Utah militia during the Utah War. During this time, his family moved south to Utah County, Utah.
Building Hooper Community
In early 1868, Gilbert Belnap moved part of his family to western Weber County to a new community called Hooper. He was appointed the first "presiding elder" and later became the bishop of the Hooper ward. It is said that Gilbert wanted to move his family out of Ogden to avoid the new influences that came with the Transcontinental Railroad.
His 40-acre homesite in Ogden was chosen for the railroad yards. On March 8, 1869, he sat with other important people in Weber County to celebrate the arrival of the first Union Pacific Railroad engine in Ogden. Gilbert's old home was very close to where the celebration platform was built. Three of his sons, Gilbert Rosel, Reuben, and Joseph, helped build the Transcontinental Railroad through Weber Canyon.
Public Service Roles
Gilbert Belnap was chosen as the first marshal (a type of police chief) of Ogden City. He also served as Ogden's first prosecuting attorney and the first sexton (caretaker) of the Ogden City Cemetery.
Later, he became the Weber County sheriff. He held many other community jobs too. These included pound keeper, city attorney, county attorney, county assessor and collector, and school district trustee. He also served as an irrigation company trustee and a delegate to the 1872 Utah state constitutional convention. He was a district census taker and was awarded a U.S. mail contract.
Gilbert Belnap's Legacy
Today, Gilbert Belnap's descendants number over 12,200 people. They live in most states in the U.S. and in several other countries. The Belnap Family Organization is a non-profit group that researches and preserves family history for Gilbert Belnap's descendants. It is one of the oldest and largest family organizations in the United States, started in Utah in 1904.
Gilbert Belnap's descendants have achieved success in many different areas. These include medicine, law, business, religion, sports, politics, music, and education.
See also
- Belnap Family Organization
