Microfilm of a typescript of Peter Wilson Conover's autobiography. Conover writes of his ancestry, his childhood in Kentucky, his father's decision to move north "on account of slavery," his life in Illinois, his experiences in the Illinois Militia under General Whitesides, with whom he marched to Wisconsin and along the Mississippi to capture an unidentified man and send him to Washington, and of his conversion to Mormonism. Conover also writes of working on the Nauvoo Temple, of joining the Nauvoo Legion, of meeting Joseph Smith at Rock River in 1843 and escorting him back to Nauvoo, of mob violence in Illinois, of moving to Iowa and Missouri, of the death of his wife in childbirth in 1847 and his decision to travel west, of becoming a captain in the Jefferson Hunt Company, and of his experiences in the Black Hawk and Walker Wars. All inquries about this item should be directed to the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Microfilm. 1950. 1 microfilm reel : positive 35 mm. Forms part of the Manuscripts Department's Mormon file, c.1805-1995. Peter Wilson Conover (1807-1892) was born in Woodford County, Kentucky. He and his father settled in Margan County, Illinois, in the 1820s. Conover served as a captain in the Illinois Militia in 1829. In 1840 he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to Nauvoo, where he worked on the temple. He traveled to Salt Lake City in the late 1840s and joined the Jefferson Hunt Company. He also served in the Black Haw and Walker Indian Wars. Conover died in Sevier County in 1892.
Conover, Peter Wilson, 1807-1892 Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844 Frontier and pioneer life--Illinois Frontier and pioneer life--Utah Indians of North America Mormon converts Mormon pioneers Mormons--Persecutions Mormons--Utah--History--19th century Illinois--History--1778-1865 Kentucky--History--1792-1865 Nauvoo (Ill.)--Expulsion of the Mormons Utah--History 1892 Autobiographies Utah 19th century. (aat)
Source
Mormon Manuscripts at the Huntington Library Mormonism and the West, Huntington Digital Library
Provenance
Microfilm of original loaned by Mrs. Don Conover through Juanita Brooks, October 17, 1950.
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