Orson Hyde: The Prodigal Apostle

Orson Hyde was baptized into the newly-formed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on October 30, 1831 by Sidney Rigdon. Soon after, Orson served successive proselyting missions, helping to convert much of New England to his new-found church, and later marched with President Joseph Smith on an expedition known as “Zion’s Camp”. On February 15, 1835, Orson became the fifth apostle in seniority in the reorganized Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. After going through a brief stint of apostasy, Orson accompanied the more senior Elder Heber C. Kimball and convert Joseph Fielding on the first Latter-Day Saint mission to England, which brought in thousands of new converts into his church.

However, he went back into apostasy “big-time”, falsely confessing that President Smith planned "to take the State, & he professes to his people to intend taking the U.S. & ultimately the whole world”. This confession put President Smith and six other church leaders in Liberty Jail, located near present-day Kansas City, Missouri.

This apostasy turned into a year of disaster of mental awakening for Orson, helping him to rejoin his church and regain his seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve. In 1847, three years after the death of President Smith, the remaining apostles gathered together in Orson Hyde’s cabin and there reorganized the First Presidency. The newly-reorganized First Presidency, consisting of President Brigham Young and his counselors, Presidents Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, ordained Orson as the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve. He served in this position until, in 1875, the seniority of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles became re-determined by the date of rejoining the Quorum, or Orson’s date of rejoining the Quorum in 1839 from his apostasy, making Elder John Taylor the President of the Quorum of the Twelve. Orson remained faithful and during his ministry settled Carson Valley and much of central-southern Utah