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American mathematician and religious leader

Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American religious leader and mathematician who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). He became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (LDS Church) and was a leading Mormon theologian and writer until his death.

Pratt was born in Hartford, New York, the son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickenson. He was the younger brother of Parley P. Pratt, who introduced him to the LDS Church and baptized him on Orson's nineteenth birthday, September 19, 1830, in Canaan, New York. Pratt was ordained an Elder several months later, on December 1, 1830, by Joseph Smith and immediately set out for Colesville, New York, his first mission. This was the first of a number of short missions in which Pratt visited New York, Ohio, Missouri, and the Eastern States. He was ordained to this position on April 26, 1835. He served as a member of the mission of the Twelve Apostles to the British Isles between 1839 and 1841. He contributed to the mission by preaching in Scotland, and producing an early missionary tract, "An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions and the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records." This tract contains the earliest known public printing of an account of Smith's First Vision and also contains material similar to that later published as the 1842 Articles of Faith. On his return to America in 1841, Pratt found the church membership in contention over several issues. Rumors and gossip were rife in Nauvoo, Illinois, and Pratt found the religious principle of plural marriage difficult to accept. He rebelled against Joseph Smith when a report by disaffected Mormon John C. Bennett accused Smith of proposing marriage to Pratt's wife, Sarah Pratt, which Smith denied. Sarah also claimed that Smith had proposed, and Pratt believed his wife. After days of Smith and the other members of the Twelve remonstrating with Pratt, they decided that he would not yield, and thus Pratt was excommunicated on August 20, 1842. Pratt reconciled with Smith a few months after their falling out and requested re baptism. Pratt was reinstated in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on January 20, 1843. Sources claim that Pratt returned to fellowship in the LDS Church because he was able to reconcile Smith's human weakness with his divine revelations, and others point to Smith's explanation that he was only trying to test Sarah's obedience, though Joseph's conclusion was that Sarah had failed the test of obedience by not accepting his proposal.

Pratt's brief period of disassociation with the church had long term consequences. When dealing with seniority in the council after the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young ruled that if a council member had been disciplined and removed from the council, his seniority was based on the date of readmission. By this ruling, both apostle Orson Hyde and Pratt were moved down in seniority in June 1875. This ensured that neither would become president of the LDS Church. After the death of Joseph Smith, Pratt was among the apostles that supported the leadership of Brigham Young, who determined to move his followers from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley, where the LDS Church became established. Not only did Pratt support Brigham Young’s leadership after Smith’s death, but he was also instrumental in gaining the support of the general body of the church. As an apostle under Young's leadership, Pratt tended to disagree with him on a variety of topics and found little support from the other apostles. and Brigham Young's Adam God teachings. Young also opposed Pratt's teachings that the One God of the Bible was a matrix of attributes shared by many individuals who had achieved exaltation to godhood. Young attempted to minimize Pratt's influence. He did so by sending him away on numerous missions and reorganizing how seniority was established in the Quorum of the Twelve. Even with these conflicts, Brigham Young refused to try Pratt for his fellowship in the Church, an indication of how Young was willing to tolerate differences of opinion on theological issues. After Young's death, Pratt's interpretations and opinions held more influence over the other apostles and later church leaders.

After settling in the Salt Lake Valley with the Mormon pioneers, Pratt was called to return to Europe as a mission administrator between 1848 and 1851, during which time he also served as editor of the Millennial Star. In 1850, as mission president of the British Mission, Pratt told his missionaries his strategy for spreading the gospel in an article titled, "How to Warn the Whole British Nation in One Year!" Although this goal was not achieved, by the end of the year there were twice as many LDS Church members residing in Britain as in the United States. As a mission president, Pratt was admired by the missionaries for the many logical and well written pamphlets he wrote and published while he was there and the way he communicated with British intellectuals to discuss theology. While presiding over this mission, Pratt received a pamphlet from Lorenzo Snow entitled "The voice of Joseph" that Snow wanted translated into French to advance his missionary efforts in northern Italy. Pratt managed to make contacts with people in Paris who were willing to do this translation. In 1865, Pratt was one of the first Mormon missionaries to work in Austria. Traveling with William W. Ritter, he was there for nine months, but did not baptize anyone. The missionaries were eventually expelled by the Austrian government.

When news reached Pratt that the LDS Church was moving westward, he said, "We do not want one saint to be left in the United States." He helped lead the Saints "out of Babylon." Pratt was a member of Young's initial pioneer company, the "Vanguard Company", that crossed the plains to select a western site for Mormon colonization. His journals of this trip are an important Mormon history resource. As the group made their way from Missouri to Utah, Pratt acted as the company's scientific observer. He made regular readings with the company's scientific instruments, took notes on geological formations and mineral resources, and recorded information on plants and animals. He described snow on Laramie Peak on June 7, and noted that rock found on June 10, "would make excellent grindstones, being of fine grit sandstone." As a mathematician, Pratt assisted company scribe William Clayton in the design and invention of a version of the modern odometer. likely because Brigham Young constantly sent Pratt on missions to minimize his influence in the Quorum of the Twelve. Still, Pratt was able to support himself and his family by writing and publishing pamphlets on Mormon theology. Some of his wives also earned money by selling hats, fabrics, and other goods. On August 29, 1852, Orson Pratt delivered a sermon that taught the principle of polygamy, discussing the blessings of raising many children up in the LDS Church. This was the first time the practice was discussed openly in the church. In June 1870, Pratt participated in a debate against John P. Newman on whether or not the Bible supported polygamy. He defended the practice in his writings for The Seer and throughout his ministry, gaining the title "the apostle of polygamy."

While in Illinois, Pratt acted as an instructor of mathematics at the University of Nauvoo. In Utah, Pratt's strong skills in analysis and writing led Young to assign him to produce sermons and pamphlets dealing with religious topics. Pratt wrote sixteen pamphlets in defense of LDS Church doctrines, drawing on the works of Joseph Smith and his brother Parley P. Pratt. These include "Divine Authority, or the Question, Was Joseph Smith Sent of God?" in 1848 and "Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon" in 1850 and 1851. His pamphlet "An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions" was the first published account of the First Vision and included a list of beliefs that is similar to Smith's 1842 "Articles of Faith". In "Absurdities of Immaterialism", Pratt defended the Mormon doctrine of materiality, with reference to science, philosophy, and theology. As part of his system of Mormon theology, Pratt embraced the philosophical doctrine of hylozoism. Although these materials were primarily used in the mission field, Pratt was also a church spokesman on the topic of plural marriage. At a special conference in Salt Lake City in August 1852, Pratt publicly preached a sermon announcing the doctrine of plural marriage. He later published an essay in defense of the practice in 12 monthly installments in the church periodical The Seer, Though his many controversial beliefs have been rejected by Brigham Young and other Church leaders, Pratt's writings have nevertheless influenced many modern Mormon beliefs, including their concept of God and the doctrine of the gathering of Israel. In 1869, Pratt transliterated a portion of the Book of Mormon into the Deseret Alphabet. Pratt acted as Church Historian and Recorder from 1874 until his death. He edited many church periodicals and helped divide editions of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants into verses and provided footnoted cross references. He served seven terms as Speaker of the House in the Utah legislature.

At age 70, Pratt died of complications from diabetes in Salt Lake City. He was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. He continued to be a leading Mormon theologian and writer until his death. When he died, he was the last member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve who had been an original member of the 1835 Quorum.