The William E. McLellin Monument and Commemoration
A new monument marking the grave site
of Apostle William E. McLellin
was unveiled Sunday, 2:00 pm,
29 September 1996, at Woodland Cemetery,
Independence, Missouri.
SPEAKER, JAN SHIPPS
Featured speaker, nationally known historian Jan Shipps, delivered a wonderfully moving eulogy at the recent unveiling of a commemorative monument placed at the foot of William E. McLellin's grave in Woodlawn Cemetery, Independence, Missouri, Sunday, 29 September 1996, at 2:00 p.m. Representatives of various religious groups tracing their roots to the early Restoration and the city of Independence also joined in laying a wreath honoring McLellin at the new monument. The commemoration was part of Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation's master plan to place suitable historical markers at significant Missouri Mormon history sites around Independence, Jackson County, and the state of Missouri.
Lettering on the new McLellin monument reads:
William Earl McLellin Born in Smith Co. Tenn. January 18, 1806 Died in Independence, Mo. March 14, 1883 Baptized by Hyrum Smith in 1831 Jackson County, Missouri Served on missions with Hyrum and Samuel Smith and Parley P. Pratt Ordained one of the original twelve Latter Day Saint apostles 1835
Erected by Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation 1996.
Interest in William E. McLellin, has increased dramatically as a result of the identification and publication of McLellin's missionary journals by Jan Shipps and John Welch, The Journals of William E. McLellin (Provo, UT: BYU Studies Brigham Young University, 1994). The publication of McLellin's early missionary journals prompts new understandings of the emergence of the early "Mormon" church and tends to reinforce McLellin's important contribution in its larger context. William E. McLellin has been viewed as somewhat of a historical curiosity. Associated with Independence since the
early 1830's, and the advent of Morminism in the region, McLellin has been little appreciated by what became his home town. Nor was he remembered favorably among his own religious community. McLellin's image is clearly on the rise. The reexamination of his life and writings suggests that McLellin was not necessarily the apostate, rebellious dissenter, which members of the movement have traditionally come to know and loved to scorn. Though McLellin has been characterized as a "Mormon" apostate, he demonstrated a faithfulness to the larger movement throughout his life. Recently increasing scholarly awarenesses of his personal knowledge of activities and events during Mormonism's formative period begin to provide an informed, albiet dissenting, perspective of the early church. The movement is now at the point that it is able to thoughtfully reexamine old and long held conceptions of dissent and the contribution of dissent to the formation of the early church. And, the commemoration of McLellin's life
and contribtuions to his religious and local communities is an indication that the movement is now moving beyond cultural wounds long associated with the "Mormon" Missouri period. MMFF is a not-for-profit foundation recognized by the State of Missouri and the Federal Government. Donations to MMFF to help with the McLellin monument will be appropriately receipted and are tax deductible. Send donations, to the MMFF Marker Fund, c/o Drew Henson, MMFF Treasurer, P.O. Box 3186, Independence, MO 64055. For more information contact MMFF President, Ron Putz at 816-228-3512; or MMFF Secretary William Curtis at 816-833-3065
A recent report of the McLellin Monument dedication appeared in the December 1996 issue of the RLDS church periodical Saints Herald, page 609:
New Monument Dedicated at McLellin Gravesite
Historian Jan Shipps'. . . "eulogy was part of a gravesite dedication ceremony for a new commemorative
monument that was unveiled as more than 50 people from various Latter Day Saint traditions looked on.
Participants in the wreath-laying event, included: Kent wood, LDS Independence Stake president;
Mark Scherer, RLDS Church historian; Kenneth Short, represnting Restoration branches; Robert Parker,
director of the LDS Church's Independence Visitors Center; and William J. Curtis, a local historian.
The event coincided with the annual meeting of the John Whitmer Historical Association in Independence. . ."
Having received many generous contributions to the MMFF Marker Fund, MMFF has turned its attention to its next project
and are now in the process of erecting a suitable marker honoring the victims of the Cholera during Zion's Camp, near Liberty, Missouri,
during the summer of 1834.
Zion's Camp Monument
MMFF placed markers at a number of additional historically significant sites in Jackson County, Missouri, in 2000.
Fourteen bronze plaques were installed in sidewalks at Independence, Missouri, locations such as:
The Evening and the Morning Star printing office,
Gilbert's mercantile store, and Edward Partridge's homesite.
MMFF is also actively working to mark other sites around Missouri
as there is opportunity. The Foundation is currently investigating the
possibilities of placing suitable markers at the
Burial Grounds at Far West
and Haun's Mill in Caldwell County, Missouri,
in association with John Whitmer Historical Association and Mormon Historic Sites Foundation..
You are invited to join in and support MMFF activities!
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