Ezra Booth

(1792–1873)

Ezra Booth was born in Newtown, Connecticut, in 1792. In 1819, he married Dorcas Taylor. Booth was a Methodist minister in Mantua, Ohio, when he was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1831. The Lord called him by revelation on a mission to Missouri with Isaac Morley in June 1831 (Doctrine and Covenants 52:23), but they were both chastised in a later revelation for unclear reasons (Doctrine and Covenants 64:15). Booth had a negative experience on this missionary trip and afterward criticized Joseph Smith and the Church. In September 1831, Church leaders revoked Booth’s right to preach. The same month, he began to publish a series of letters in an Ohio newspaper renouncing the Church. The Lord commanded Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon to testify publicly against Booth in order to counter his criticisms (Doctrine and Covenants 71).

References in the Doctrine and Covenants

Doctrine and Covenants 52, 64, 71

Additional Information

Biographical facts and sources, The Joseph Smith Papers

Saints, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth

Revelations In Context

• Ezra Booth and Isaac Morley