Yesterday was the 215th birthday of Orrin Porter Rockwell. There are many thing written about Port but I prefer the positive things.
How did Porter get so good with a gun? The guns of the time were not necessarily the most accurate, but porter managed to be deadly. In Missouri he found his young wife crying on the rubble that used to be their honeymoon cottage he vowed he would never get caught without a gun. Their cottage was burned to the ground by a mob.
Porter had integrity. After the Saints were expelled from Missouri, Porter was offered money and an early release from prison if he lured Joseph back into Missouri, but he declined. In return, Joseph blessed Porter that bullet and blade could not harm him, so long as Porter stayed true to his covenants and never cut his hair or his beard. Unfortunately, outlaws attempted to disprove the blessing by killing him; however, no one ever succeeded in gunning him down.
Porter never relished taking a man’s life. Despite unfounded rumors that he killed hundreds of men, his great-great-grandson points out that the true number is closer to 12. Porter enjoyed the blessing’s protection his entire life and eventually died of natural causes. He had a temple recommend in his possession when he passed, which leaves no doubt concerning how his ecclesiastical leaders felt about Porter.
Chancy Higbee again while in Nauvoo was being harassed by Rockwell and continually threatening his life. Nauvoo Sheriff Backenstos assured Higbee that he would be protected until it became apparent that Backenstos could not; whereupon Rockwell was arrested. When the militiamen disarmed Rockwell they found weapons enough in his stronghold to fire seventy-one rounds without reloading, plus an array of knives. The Sheriff finally convinced Higbee to leave town since Rockwell hadn’t actually committed any harm and had to be released.
Considering the autoloader did not yet exist, having many guns to be able to shoot 71 times tells me he was wise. He understood that 5 or 6 shots would not get you through a fight.
When the time came to go to California, Porter reached Sam Brannan's saloon in Sacramento to collect tithes, a great deal of which was gold which Brannan had levied against LDS miners for tithing. When Brannan flatly refused to surrender a single ounce of dust, Rockwell produced a hogleg as a persuader. "Sam, we come for the Lord's money." Upon hearing of Porter's success, one journal recorded, "When the fear of God has left a mans heart, that is when you send men like Porter Rockwell to drive the fear back in again."
As a body guard of two prophets Porter was a loyal member of the Church. At his funeral Joseph F. Smith, then an Apostle and future prophet, said this:
"They say he was a murderer; if he was he was the friend of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and he was faithful to them, and to his covenants, and he has gone to Heaven and apostates can go to Hell… Porter Rockwell was yesterday afternoon ushered into Heaven clothed with immortality and eternal life, and crowned with all glory which belongs to a departed saint. He has his little faults but Porter's life on earth, taken altogether, was one worthy of example, and reflected honor upon the church. Through all his trials he had never once forgotten his obligations to his brethren and his God."
I pay homage to a body guard of a prophet. There were several that deserve the distinction of offering their lives for the prophet. I am the Great (4) Grandson of one of these body guards and I am proud of this heritage. Remember Porter, defender of the faith.
(I’d like to include these body guard’s names with Porters. Allen Joseph Stout, Jerome Bonaparte Kempton, Oliver Huntington, Stephen Markham, Levi Hancock, William Somerville, Thomas Grover, Noah Thomas Guymon, Alpheus Cutler, Capt. John Snyder, Ira Ames, John Lowe Butler, Amos C. Hodge, Christian Kreymer, James Naylor Jones, James Allred, Lewis D. Wilson, James Emmet, Shadrach Roundy, John S. Butler, Samuel H. Smith, Edward Hunter, Return Jackson Redden, Larry Mullins and many others.)
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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