John Banks

In the back cover of a "Ready Reference" owned by "F C Banks" (Franklin Cyrus) That I now have he wrote, "John Banks born at Colne Lancashire England Jan 2nd1806 Baptised Sep 8, 1840 by P P Prat Ordand seventy June4 1844 by Ruten Haddock" Added by Gordon Banks (from records of Junius Crossland Banks): John Banks was clearly a remarkable man. Born 2 Jan 1806 in Colne Lancashire, he was baptized in 1840 by Parley P. Pratt, and rose to be one of the leaders of the British Church and an outstanding missionary. He came to Utah in 1850, and captained an emigrant company from Nebraska to Salt Lake in 1856. He established a homestead at Pleasant Grove, Utah, but apparently was not satisfied with the life of a simple farmer and had aspirations as a leader. He thought Brigham Young had promised him the Presiding Bishopric of the Church, and when it wasn't forthcoming, he joined the Morrisites as 2nd Counselor to Joseph Morris and was killed when the Morrisite fort was attacked by the Utah militia in 1862. The following are taken from published historical records: Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, Deseret News Press (1901) vol 2, p. 590: Banks, John, one of the ablest and most eloquent local missionaries of the British Mission, was born Jan. 2, 1806, at Colne, Lancashire, England. He was baptized Sept. 8, 1840, by Parley P. Pratt and soon afterwards ordained to the Priesthood and sent out to do missionary work. As early as January, 1844, he presided over the Preston branch, in Lancashire, and at the general conference of the British Mission held at Liverpool, April 6, 1844, he represented the Preston conference. He was ordained a Seventy June 4, 1844, by Reuben Hedlock and in March, 1845, he was appointed to preside over the Edinburgh conference, Scotland, which conference he represented at the general conference of the British Mission held at Manchester, April 6, 1845. At another general conference held at Manchester, Dec. 14, 1845, he was called to act as second counselor in the presidency of the British Mission, after which he traveled a great deal, attending conferences in different parts of the mission. He continued to act as counselor until Reuben Hedlock was succeeded in the presidency of the mission by Orson Spencer. In September, 1847, he was appointed president of the Manchester conference, but before the end of the year (1847) his field of labor was changed to London, where he presided over the conference until early in 1850, when he emigrated to America, crossing the Atlantic in the ship "Argo", which sailed from Liverpool Jan. 10, 1850, and arrived in New Orleans March 8, 1850. He crossed the plains the same year, and the following is recorded in the Journal History of the Church of Oct. 6, 1850: "The afternoon meeting held in the Bowery (G. S. L. City) was addressed by Elders John Banks (lately arrived from London, England), Orson Spencer and Parley P. Pratt. In the course of his remarks Elder Banks said that the work in England had made marvelous progress in the last two years; in London alone 2,569 had been baptized during that time and 30 flourishing branches organized. He believed a thousand Elders could find plenty to do in that city alone in promulgating the principles of the gospel". Before leaving England, Bro. Banks married Ellen E. Kendel, who bore him six children, three boys and three girls; they are all dead now, except Franklin C. Banks, who lives at Pleasant Grove, Utah. Almost immediately after arriving in Utah, Elder Banks settled with his family at Pleasant Grove, thus becoming one of the first settlers of that flourishing town, and there he resided the remainder of his life. In 1862 he became influenced by the teachings of Joseph Morris, with whom he located temporarily on the Weber river, near Ogden, and during the fracas which took place between the expedition under Capt. Robt. T. Burton and the Morrisites Joseph Morris, John Banks and others were killed, June 15, 1862. Added by Ray Banks, 25 Mar 2024: The 18 Jun 1862 account in The Deseret News, Salt Lake City (in which the writer was no friend of the Morrisites, calling them desperadoes, outlaws, bands of thieves and robbers) stated the Morrisites were charged with unlawful imprisonment of four men at South Weber. The Utah chief justice [a New Yorker appointed by Pres. Buchanan] issued a warrant to Banks and the other leaders to bring the imprisoned men to Salt Lake City. The deputy marshal was told by the Morrisites to not serve any more warrants. The chief justice issued a warrant for the arrest of Banks and the other leaders. Acting Gov. Fuller then authorized the military with the help of 200 posse commitatus to execute the warrant. The whole group resisted, killing two of the posse. At the end of the siege 90 men were brought to the SLC jail. From Wikipedia: In 1857, Joseph Morris reported receiving revelations naming him the Seventh Angel from the Book of Revelation. In 1860, Morris began to collect followers to a group that became known as the Morrisites. He was then excommunicated by the Mormon Church. Morris told his followers that the Second Coming was imminent and not to bother with planting crops. By spring 1862, food was scarce and some members were becoming discontented. Morris repeatedly designated certain days for the Second Coming, only to have those days pass. Each time that happened, a handful of members would recover their possessions. Those who stayed behind felt those who left were taking better stock and other items than they had initially contributed. Three departing members seized a load of wheat en route from Kingston to Kaysville for milling. The Morrisites sent a group of men after them, and the group soon captured the three and the wheat. The church held the men prisoner in a small cabin, to be "tried by the Lord when he came." Wives of the detained men complained to the court. Morris promised his people that the encircling posse sent by the court would be destroyed. He and his counselors had a bugle sounded to gather the congregation and read the revelation. The first posse shots killed two women, and the Morris group then killed several of the posse. The marshal killed Morris in a subsequent confrontation. Banks was wounded. A subsequent Lincoln-appointed governor pardoned those who had been convicted as a result of the incident, and many Morrisites then moved to Deer Lodge Co., MT.