Israel Barlow

Israel Barlow (September 13, 1806 – November 1, 1883) was one of the founders of Nauvoo, Illinois and a noted early member of the Latter Day Saint movement.[1]

Barlow was born in 1806 in Granville, Massachusetts and died in Bountiful, Utah Territory.[2] Barlow was baptized by Brigham Young into the Church of Christ, the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith, in Mendon, New York. In 1835, he was ordained a seventy by Sidney Rigdon and was one of the inaugural members of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Barlow was also a member of Zion's Camp in 1834 and was a missionary in New Hampshire in 1844.

Israel Barlow was once told by the Prophet, Joseph Smith to give a message to a certain man who lived in a neighborhood, known to be unfriendly to the Mormons. Smith gave him explicit instructions, which Barlow followed. While going back, Barlow heard a booming voice that said, "Ride faster." He immediately sped up. He heard the voice again and quickened his horse's riding pace. He then heard, "Ride for your life." He then ushered his horse to ride as fast as it possibly could. While crossing a bridge, he could hear a mob, which was hiding in the brush, planning to intercept him swear loudly. After Israel had passed them, the Spirit told him to turn off the road and into the forest, as the mob would try to chase him down. He did so and stayed quiet, and sure enough, the mob came pounding down the trail chasing him-not knowing that he was hiding in the bushes. As he made his way home, in the shelter of the forest, he finally got back to Joseph Smith's mansion house at dawn. Smith was pacing back and forth in front. Coming up to Smith, Barlow began to tell the story of which he just lived and Smith stopped him, telling him, "I saw it all; you have no need to tell me." Smith proceeded to give Israel a blessing, saying, "Thee and thine shall never want."[3]

In Nauvoo, Barlow was one of the bodyguards of Joseph Smith. After Smith's death, Barlow was a Mormon pioneer and traveled with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to the Salt Lake Valley in 1848; he settled in Bountiful. He was a missionary in England in 1853–55, where he was president of the Birmingham Conference of the LDS Church, where he met his third wife, Lucy Heap.

With four wives and twenty-one children, Barlow today has more than 10,000 descendants.

When his first wife, Elizabeth Haven, was nine years old, her mother died. She learned to braid straw hats, pin-laces, and other delicate trimmings to earn money to pay for her education. Elizabeth graduated from Amherst College as a teacher in 1836. Soon afterward, her cousins, Brigham Young and Willard Richards came to Holliston, Massachusetts, on their mission for the new LDS Church. She and her brother, Jesse, were converted and baptized members of the Church. She and Jess moved to Quincy, Illinois, where she met Israel Barlow. They were married in Feb. 1840. They soon moved to their new home in Nauvoo. Elizabeth taught school in Nauvoo having among her students the children of Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and Brigham Young. The Prophet Joseph Smith was aware of Elizabeth's ability of writing and knew she was corresponding with her cousin Elizabeth Bullock. He asked her to save all of her letters. She did, and her writings of those early days of the Church, their operations, movements, and missionaries have been preserved in the family book, 'The Israel Barlow Story and Mormon Mom [Mores].' Elizabeth and Israel were driven from Nauvoo. She carried on alone while Israel was away on missions. She consented to the practice of polygamy and shared her husband with three other women. Their family came west in June, 1848 with the Brigham Young Company. After their arrival in Salt Lake Valley, they spent their first winter in the old Pioneer Fort. Later, they lived in West Bountiful.

One of his wives, Lucy Heap, was British and came from Lichfield, Staffordshire.[4]

References
  1. Barlow, Brent A. "Israel Barlow and the Founding of Nauvoo", BYU Religious Studies Center, 2009. Retrieved on 24 March 2020.
  2. "Nauvoo Founder Celebrated in Monument Dedication", LDS Church, September 15, 2006.
  3. https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2009-10-17/ride-faster-68914
  4. "Israel Barlow and Lucy Heap". Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-09-28.

External references
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