Obituary Notes
Parley P. Pratt
On Sunday, August 29, 1897, commencing at 11 a.m. the funeral services over the remains of Elder Parley P. Pratt were conducted by Bishop O.F. Whitney in the Eighteenth ward chapel. There was a very large assemblage of relatives and friends. The singing by the ward choir, conducted by H.G. Whiney, was beautifully rendered. Opening prayer was offered by Elder Madson.
Elder A.M. Cannon, president of the Salt Lake Stake, first addressed the congregation. He said he made his first acquaintances with the deceased’s father fifty-six years ago, and he had been acquainted with his son, Parley, since boyhood. Although Parley had been, through life, physically weak, he was spiritually strong and valiant in the testimony of the Lord Jesus. President Cannon said that it had been his privilege to travel with the late Apostle, Parley P. Pratt, for three weeks previous to his assassination, and he had listened with great joy to his counsels and his recitals of many of the great and glorious manifestations he had witnessed through the power of God, and also to the many instructions he had received from the Prophet Joseph Smith.
President Joseph F. Smith addressed the congregation. His remarks were consoling and inspiring, and were listened to with deep interest.
After a selection by the choir Bishop Elias Morris pronounced the benediction.
At the cemetery the dedicatory prayer over the grave was offered by Elder O.F. Whitney.
Parley P. Pratt was the eldest son of the late Apostle Parley P. Pratt and Thankful Halsey Pratt. He was born March 25, 1837, in Kirtland, Ohio.
The circumstances under which the subject of this sketch was born are peculiar and interesting. Elder Parley P. Pratt, having been called upon a mission to Upper Canada and finding himself much involved in debt for the expenses of life during the winter, on account of purchasing a lot in Kirtland and building thereon, and his wife sick, he knew not what to do, whether to go on a mission, or to stay at home and endeavor by industry to sustain his family and pay his debts. He says in his history, “It was now April; I had retired to rest one evening at an early hour, and was pondering on my future course, when there came a knock at the door. I arose and opened it, when Elder Heber C. Kimball and others entered my house, and being filled with the spirit of prophecy, they blessed me and my wife, and prophecied as follows:
“Brother Parley, thy wife shall be healed from this hour, and shall bear a son, and his name shall be Parley; and he shall be a chosen instrument in the hands of the Lord to inherit the Priesthood and to walk in the steps of his father. He shall do a great work in the earth in ministering the word and teaching the children of men. Arise, therefore, and go forth in the ministry, nothing doubting. Take no thought for your debts, nor the necessaries of life, for the Lord will supply you with abundant means for all things.
“Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, the capital, and there thou shalt find a people prepared for the fullness of the Gospel and they shall receive thee, and they shall organize a church among them and it shall spread thence into the regions round about, and many shall be brought to a knowledge of the truth and shall be filled with joy; and from the things growing out of this mission shall the fullness of the Gospel spread into England, and cause a great work to be done in that land.”
“This prophecy,” says Elder Pratt, “was the more marvelous, because being married near ten years, we had never had any children; and for near six years my wife had been consumptive, and had been considered incurable. However, we called to mind the faith of Abraham of old, and judging him faithful who had promised, we took courage.”
A year later a child was born and they called his name Parley. But after the Apostle’s dear wife had “lived to accomplish her destiny, and when the child was dressed and she had looked upon it and embraced it, she ceased to live in the flesh. Her death happened about three hours after the birth of this child of promise.”
This infant son, Parley, was nursed by a Sister Allen, who had just then lost an infant. His mother’s remains were buried in the churchyard near the Temple in Kirtland, Ohio.
Parley was a delicate child from his youth up, no doubt inheriting a physical weakness from his mother. He shared in the hardships of the Saints in their drivings and mobbings and journeyings from Ohio till their destination in the Rocky Mountains.
He filled a mission to England and two missions to the United States and labored on the home mission.
He acted as chaplain in the Territorial Legislature of Utah several sessions. Was president of the Fourteenth quorum of Seventy.
During his prolonged sickness he suffered intensely, but he was patient and long-suffering. He retained conscious till the last, and passed away quietly to rest, where he awaits a glorious resurrection.
Peace to his ashes,
Milando Pratt
Salt Lake City, Aug. 31, 1897
[Deseret News, Sep. 11, 1897]
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006]