John Pack

John Pack (May 20 1809 – April 4 1885) was a member of the Council of Fifty and a missionary in the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Biography

Pack was born in New Brunswick. He married his first wife, Julia Ives, in 1832 in Jefferson County, New York. In 1836, Pack was baptized a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. [Bitton, Davis. "The Redoutable John Pack: Pioneer, Proselyter, Patriarch". (John Pack Family Association, 1982) p. 7, 11]

Pack moved to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Missouri, and then to Nauvoo, Illinois. He was a member of the Nauvoo Legion holding the rank of Captain. [Bitton. "The Redoutable John Pack". p. 31] Pack also served as a policeman in Nauvoo. [Smith, Joseph. with Roberts, B. H. as editor. "History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951) Vol. 6, p. 149]

Pack was in the first company of Mormon pioneers to cross the plains with Brigham Young. He held the ranks of captain of fifty in the company as well as colonel in its military organization. [Smith, Joseph Fielding. "Essentials In Church History". (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1971) p. 360] At the time of Joseph Smith's death, Pack was serving as a missionary in New Jersey with Ezra T. Benson. ["Times and Seasons", Vol. 5, No. 8, p. 505]

The University of Deseret, the predecessor of the University of Utah, was begun in the home of John Pack. [Jenson, Andrew. "Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 190]

Pack served with John Taylor as one of the first Mormon missionaries in France beginning in 1849. Pack was in this mission until 1852, but he spent most of his time preaching in the Channel Islands. [Bitton. "Redoutable John Pack". p. 113-137]

In 1860, Pack and his eldest son, Ward Eton Pack, built the first sawmill in Kamas, Utah Territory. [Bitton. "Redoutable John Pack". p. 171]

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