Parley P. (Parley Parker) Pratt

Born in New York in 1807, Parley P. Pratt joined the early Latter Day Saint movement in 1830 and quickly became one of its most energetic missionaries and best-known defenders. He was chosen as an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835, and his preaching and writing played a major role in explaining the new faith to a wider audience.

Pratt traveled widely on missions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He is especially remembered for A Voice of Warning, a widely read early Latter-day Saint work, and for his autobiography, which remains an important firsthand source on the movement's early years. His life also reflected the hardships of the period, including mob violence, imprisonment in Missouri, and the westward migration of the Saints.

In later years he continued missionary work and church leadership while also becoming a controversial public figure, especially because of plural marriage. In 1857, while serving in the South, he was killed in Arkansas. His combination of missionary zeal, vivid writing, and dramatic life story has made him one of the most memorable figures in early Latter-day Saint history.