Matthias F. Cowley

Matthias F. Cowley
edit data
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
October 7, 1896 (1896-10-07) – May 11, 1911 (1911-05-11)
Called by	Wilford Woodruff
End reason	Removed from Quorum because of Cowley's opposition to church's stance on plural marriage
LDS Church Apostle
October 7, 1896 (1896-10-07) – May 11, 1911 (1911-05-11)[2]
Called by	Wilford Woodruff
Reason	Removal of Moses Thatcher from Quorum of the Twelve; death of Abraham H. Cannon[1]
End reason	Priesthood suspended because of Cowley's opposition to church's stance on plural marriage
Reorganization at end of term	No apostles ordained[3]
Personal details
Born	Matthias Foss Cowley August 25, 1858(1858-08-25) Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
Died	June 16, 1940(1940-06-16) (aged 81) Salt Lake City, Utah

Matthias Foss Cowley (1858-08-25 – 1940-06-16), born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1897 until 1905. The town of Cowley in Wyoming is named after him. He was the father of Apostle Matthew Cowley by Abbie Hyde. His son Samuel P. Cowley, by his wife Luella Parkinson Cowley, was an FBI agent best known for his death at the hands of Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis in 1934.

Calling to the Twelve

Matthias Cowley was ordained an Apostle on October 7, 1897. He replaced Moses Thatcher who was removed from the Quorum at the April 1896 General Conference. Cowley was widely noted in the church for his talks on doctrine.

Cowley resigned from the Quorum, at the request of church president Joseph F. Smith, on October 28, 1905 because his presence in the hierarchy undermined the church's position in the Reed Smoot hearings. Cowley was notorious for having widely performed marriages contravening the church's manifesto prohibiting new plural marriage. Earlier in April of the same year, Apostle John W. Taylor had resigned for the same reason. In addition, with the death of Apostle Marriner W. Merrill in early February of the next year, there were three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve. In the April General Conference of 1906, three new apostles were called to replace them: George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay.

After the Quorum

Reports of Cowley's continuing involvement in new plural marriages led to his priesthood being suspended by the church on May 11, 1911. (This rare and virtually unique disciplinary procedure was used for Cowley because his former fellow apostles in the Quorum of Twelve disagreed over whether to leave him undisciplined or to disfellowship or even excommunicate him.)

However, Cowley's name continued to be linked with plural marriage over the next several years. As late as the early 1920s, Cowley was meeting with excommunicated polygamists, the early Mormon fundamentalists beginning to coalesce at the Baldwin Radio Plant in Salt Lake City. But in the mid-1920s, Cowley broke all ties with the polygamous dissenters. His priesthood standing in the LDS Church was restored nearly twenty-five years after it had been taken - on April 3, 1936.

Cowley was never restored to his position in the Quorum of Twelve. On June 16, 1940, he died in his home in Salt Lake City, Utah from uremia resulting from kidney failure.^[4] He was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.

On October 11, 1945, his son Matthew Cowley was called to serve as an Apostle for the church.

Grave marker of Matthias F. Cowley.

Published works

• --- (1902). The Blood of the Prophets: Biographical sketches. http://www.archive.org/details/bloodofprophetsb00cowlrich. 
• --- (1902). Prophets and Patriarchs of the Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-Day Saints. http://www.archive.org/details/prophetspatriarc00cowlrich. 
• --- (1904). Cowley's talks on doctrine. http://www.archive.org/details/cowleystalksondo00cowl. 
• --- (1909). Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, History of His Life and Labors, as Recorded in His Daily Journals. http://www.archive.org/details/wilfordwoodrufff00cowlrich. 
• --- (1963). Cowley & Whitney on Doctrine. Bookcraft. ASIN B0007HSATO. 

Notes

1. ^ Abraham O. Woodruff and Cowley were ordained at the same time to fill two vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve.
2. ^ Cowley resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 1905-10-28; however, he remained an ordained apostle of the church until his priesthood was suspended in 1911.
3. ^ Since Cowley had been removed from the Quorum of the Twelve in 1905, the suspension of his priesthood occasioned no vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve.
4. ^ State of Utah Death Certificate

External resources

• Biography by Grampa Bill

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by Abraham H. Cannon	Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 7, 1897–October 28, 1905	Succeeded by Abraham O. Woodruff