Minutes from excommunication of Orson Pratt, Jr.

L. Tom Perry Special Collections is pleased to announce the availability of a new digitized collection: Minutes from excommunication of Orson Pratt, Jr. (MSS 6954). This document describe the court proceedings in the trial of Orson Pratt, Jr., son of LDS Apostle Orson Pratt. His trial, held on September 18, 1864 was a public meeting held to determine whether Pratt should retain his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a result of the trial, Pratt was excommunicated. The single leaf of paper holds roughly ninety-nine lines of handwritten material from the trial. Dated 1864.

Orson Pratt, Sr. (1811-1881)

Orson Pratt (1837-1903) was a musician and music instructor in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pratt was born in Kirtland, Ohio on July 11th to Orson and Sarah Pratt. Pratt was excommunicated from the Latter-day Saint Church in 1864 after refusing Brigham Young’s request to serve a mission and publicly denouncing Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter-day Saint movement. He died on December 6, 1903 in Salt Lake City, Utah.