Jared Carter (Latter Day Saints)


Jared Carter was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He has been described as "one of the Church's great missionaries" of the 1830s.
Carter was born in Benson, Vermont, where his family had moved from Killingworth, Connecticut in the late 1700s. In 1831, while living in Broome County, New York, he was introduced to the Book of Mormon and the new church founded by Joseph Smith the year before. On February 20, 1831, Carter was baptized into the Church of Christ by Hyrum Smith. In June, Carter was made a priest and in September, he was made an elder. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed by Smith to be a missionary in the eastern United States. On this mission, he healed and baptized John Tanner, one of the primary financial benefactors of the early church, and Zera Pulsipher, who became a leader in the church. Between 1831 and 1834, Carter served missions in the eastern states, Michigan Territory, and Upper Canada. Carter introduced Mormonism to his brother John, who also became a leader in the church.
In May 1833, Carter became a high priest and became a member of the building committee of the Kirtland Temple. On February 17, 1834, Carter and his brother John became two of the inaugural members of the first presiding high council of the church in Kirtland, Ohio. Carter became the president of this body on September 9, 1837, and continued as a member of it when church headquarters were moved to Far West, Missouri, and then to Nauvoo, Illinois. In Missouri in 1838, Carter was one of the leaders of the Danites with Sampson Avard and George W. Robinson. Carter is mentioned in a number of the revelations of Smith which make up the Doctrine and Covenants; one section is addressed directly to Carter.
Upon the death of Joseph Smith, Carter supported the succession claims of James Strang. Carter joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1846, but was excommunicated within months of joining. After his excommunication, Carter joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chicago. He moved to DeKalb County, Illinois, where he died before he could rejoin the majority of LDS Church members in Utah Territory.