LDS Biographical Encyclopedia for John D T McAllister

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia for John D T McAllister

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 1, p.33 4 McAllister, John Daniel Thompson, president of the St. Ge orge Stake of Zion from 1877 to 1888, is the son of Wm. J . F. McAllister and Eliza Thompson, and was born Feb. 19, 1 827, in Lewis, Sussex county, Delaware. The following i s a short sketch of his early life, written by himself: " I removed to Philadelphia, the city of my first recollectio n, Oct. 12, 1844. I was baptized in the Church of Jesus Chr ist of Latter-day Saints by Elder Albert Lutz, president o f the Philadelphia branch July 5, 1847. I married Ellen Han dley July 28, 1848, and my first born was named Moroni. Sep t. 28, 1848, with my wife, I started for the body of the Ch urch, traveling by railroad, canal and steamboat to St. Lou is, Mo., where I labored at blacksmithing. July 12, 1849 , I took passage on a steamboat for Council Bluffs, where w e arrived Aug. 1st. In the spring of 1850, I built a house , and while working at carpentering for Jos. E. Johnson, h e engaged me to clerk for him in the store we built. Jan. 9 , 1851, my wife Ellen gave to me another boy; we named hi m John. June 20, 1851, we left Kanesville with a wagon an d five yoke of cattle. At the six mile grove, beyond Winte r Quarters, I was appointed clerk of Alfred Cordon's compan y of fifty wagons. We started for the valley of the Great S alt Lake, July 1, 1851, and arrived there in safety Oct. 1 , 1851. I met with the Saints in an adobe bowery, on the so uth side of the Temple Block near the spot where the sout h gate is at the present time. Previous to this (while in P hiladelphia), I had been ordained a Priest Sept. 27, 1846 , and commissioned to preach the gospel; in Kanesville I wa s ordained an Elder, and in the Valley, I was ordained a Se venty, Nov. 8, 1851, and became a member of the 8th quorum . As soon as I arrived in the Valley I found employment o n the public works' carpenter shop; I worked on the old Tab ernacle, where the Assembly Hall now stands. I also joine d Captain Ballo's brass band and became lieutenant, playin g the cornet. Feb. 14, 1853, a large number of people assem bled on the Temple Block to witness the breaking and consec rating of the Temple grounds. There was about three inche s of snow on the ground, but the morning was clear and love ly, the snow soon melted, and in some places the ground wa s left quite bare. The Nauvoo and Ballo bands cheered us wi th their sweet music. At about 10 o'clock a. m., Pres. Youn g arrived, and with Pres. Kimball and Pres. Richards and th e assembled multitude I witnessed the survey of the site o f the Temple, by Elders Truman O. Angell, Church architect , and Surveyor Jesse W. Fox. This work was completed abou t 11 o'clock, when the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostle s and others moved to the corner of the south and east line s. Pres. Brigham Young addressed us thirty minutes, and rel ated briefly the changes through [p.335] which the Church h ad passed, the difficulties the Saints had encountered in O hio, Missouri and Illinois, and how they had been led by a n overruling providence to this consecrated spot. Seven yea rs ago, he said, he had left Nauvoo, not knowing which wa y to go, only as he learned by dreams, visions and revelati ons, that there was a good place in the mountains for the S aints. The united bands of music were invited to the center ; the standard bearer placed the ensign on the center stak e of the Temple plat, where all could see it, the musician s formed in a circle, and gave a cheering strain to 'Auld L ang Syne.' Pres. Kimball offered the dedicatory prayer, aft er which the presidency moved to the southeast corner of th e Temple site, where, with the Twelve, Mayor Jedediah M. Gr ant, Marshal Jesse C. Little and others, they succeeded i n picking around a piece of earth, about one foot square, a nd while doing this a silver dollar fell on the square of e arth without any one knowing where it came from. Pres. Kimb all prophesied that it w as a good token, and that means wou ld not be wanted to build the Temple. After the earth was l oosened, about six inches deep, Pres. Young said that it wa s his privilege to remove it; and he took the lump upon hi s spade and lifted it up high, while he said, 'Get out of m y way, for I am going to throw this.' He held it about a mi nute before he could get room to lay it down off the Templ e site. He then addressed the multitude and declared the gr ound broken for the Temple, blessed the people in the nam e of the Lord, and dismissed the assembly. We all said Amen . The general conference was held, as usual, in April, 1851 , and it was celebrated by the laying of the four corner st ones of the Temple. At that conference (on the 8th) I was a ppointed a mission to England. The beautiful block of ston e contributed by the State of Deseret to the Washington mon ument was intrusted to the care of Elder Philemon C. Merril l and myself, to deliver to the committee at Washington, t o whom, and to Pres. Franklin Pierce and Hon. John M. Bernh isel, we carried letters of introduction from Governor Youn g. The block mentioned was three feet long, two feet wide , and six and a half inches thick. In the center stood th e beehive, the emblem of industry. Over it was the motto "H oliness to the Lord." Above this was the all-seeing eye wit h rays; beneath the line was the word "Deseret;" over tha t (springing from the ground which was covered with differe nt kinds of foliage) was a semicircular arch, enriched wit h the convololus. On each side were spandrels; in one was t he symbol of union, with foliage; in the other was the corn ucopia. Near the edge was a fillet, one and a half inches w ide and three-quarters of an inch deep. After being set apa rt for our missions, we bid our families and friends good b ye June 21, 1851, and started on our journey. We arrived i n Washington Sept. 23rd, presented our letters of introduct ion and the stone to the committee, who received us in a v e ry kind and affectionate manner. After doing our business , we went to Baltimore and took passage for Philadelphia, w hence we started on the steamer 'Glasgow' for Liverpool, wh ere we landed Oct. 25, 1851. On this mission I was gone fro m home about three years and a half. I was welcomed home b y the Presidency and many acquaintances." After his retur n from this mission, Oct. 4, 1856, Elder McAllister labore d at carpentering and mill work to support his family and a ttended to his several duties as an Elder in the Church. H e was chosen president of the sixteenth quorum of Seventy a nd elected major of the second battalion of the Nauvoo Legi on, in the Salt Lake Military District. As a member of th e Deseret Dramatic Association he took an active part in Ut ah's early drama. From 1860 to 1862 he filled another missi on to the United States and to Europe. On his return he bro ught a company of emigrants across the plains. After that , he served as city marshal of Salt Lake City, Territoria l marshal and chief of the Salt Lake City fire department . He also labored for several years in the Endowment House , and was acting as superintendent of Pres. Young's woole n mills when he was called to accompany the president o n a mission to St. George. At a meeting of the general conf erence held in the St. George Temple, April 5, 1877, he wa s chosen president of the St. George Stake of Zion, being o rdained a High Priest and set apart to that position by [p. 336] Pres. Brigham Young. For his counselors he chose Thos . J. Jones and Henry Eyring. He was also appointed an assis tant to Pres. Wilford Woodruff, who had been called to pres ide over the Temple and its affairs. He was blessed and se t apart by Pres. Woodruff to officiate in all the ordinance s of the Temple, April 13, 1877. While residing in St. Geor ge he was elected president of the Rio Virgen Manufacturin g Company, president of the St. George Dramatic Association , and brigadier-general of the Washington co unty brigade. H e presided over the St. George Stake about eleven years. I n 1893 he was called to assist in the Salt Lake City Templ e and later in the Manti Temple, of which he has been the p resident for a number of years. Collected Discourses, Vol.3, Appendix No vision received b y Wilford Woodruff is more well known than the appearance o f the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. This vis ion, received "two weeks before leaving St. George," prompt ed Wilford Woodruff to compile a list of prominent men an d women of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. On 2 1 August 1877, Wilford Woodruff, assisted by John Daniel Th ompson McAllister (St. George Stake President), David H. Ca nnon (son of President George Q. Cannon) and Lucy Bigelow Y oung (plural wife of President Brigham Young), performed th e baptismal work for the one hundred seventy-one names on h is list. He then called on the Saints of St. George to per form the endowment and sealing work, which was accomplishe d by February 1878.

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26 August 2013 by Don Perdue