John Gould

(1784–1855)

John Gould was born in New Hampshire in 1784. He married Oliva Swanson sometime before 1808. Gould and his family moved from New Hampshire to Vermont and Pennsylvania before finally settling in New York in 1830. In December 1832, Gould was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained an elder in Chautauque County, New York. He moved to Kirtland, Ohio, by 1833. In August 1833, at Joseph Smith’s direction, he traveled with Orson Hyde to Missouri to instruct church leaders concerning legal redress and protection for church members there. The following year, he helped Joseph Smith recruit volunteers for the Camp of Israel expedition to Missouri. By April 1836, he had joined the Second Quorum of the Seventy, and he later served as a president of the Seventy. In 1846 he became affiliated with James J. Strang’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

References in the Doctrine and Covenants

Doctrine and Covenants 100

Additional Information

Biographical facts and sources, The Joseph Smith Papers