Hosea Stout

Lawman, Legislator, Mormon Defender

Stephen L. Prince

• Publisher: Utah State University Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781607324775
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Hosea Stout witnessed and influenced many of the major civil and political events over fifty years of LDS history, but until the publication of his diaries, he was a relatively obscure figure to historians. Hosea Stout: Lawman, Legislator, Mormon Defender is the first-ever biography of this devoted follower who played a significant role in Mormon and Utah history.Stout joined the Mormons in Missouri in 1838 and followed them to Nauvoo, where he rose quickly to become a top leader in the Nauvoo Legion and chief of police, a position he also held at Winter Quarters. He became the first attorney general for the Territory of Utah, was elected to the Utah Territorial Legislature, and served as regent for the University of Deseret (which later became the University of Utah) and as judge advocate of the Nauvoo Legion in Utah. In 1862, Stout was appointed US attorney for the Territory of Utah by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1867, he became city attorney of Salt Lake City and he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 1881.But Stout's history also had its troubled moments. Known as a violent man and aggressive enforcer, he was often at the center of controversy during his days on the police force and was accused of having a connection with deaths in Nauvoo and Utah. Ultimately, however, none of these allegations ever found traction, and the leaders of the LDS community, especially Brigham Young, saw to it that Stout was promoted to roles of increasing responsibility throughout his life. When he died in 1889, Hosea Stout left a complicated legacy of service to his state, his church, and the members of his faith community.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Shaker Education
• 2 Reunion and Abandonment
• 3 Quakers and Methodists
• 4 Introduction to Mormonism
• 5 Fight and Flight
• 6 Refuge in Illinois
• 7 Rising through the Ranks
• 8 Policing Nauvoo
• 9 The Trek across Iowa
• 10 Winter Quarters
• 11 The Pinnacle of Violence
• 12 Crossing the Plains
• 13 Attorney and Legislator
• 14 Mission to China
• 15 Lawyer and Legislator
• 16 Reformation and Winds of War
• 17 Resisting the Feds
• 18 The Attorney of the Mormon Church
• 19 The Cotton Mission
• 20 Last Hurrah
• Epilogue
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• About the Author
• Index