John Daniel Thompson MCALLISTER

                   Historical information included in notes.



LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 1, p.334 
McAllister, John Daniel Thompson, president of the St. George Stake of Zion from 1877 to 1888, is the son of Wm. J. F. McAllister and Eliza Thompson, and was born Feb. 19, 1827, in Lewis, Sussex county, Delaware. The following is a short sketch of his early life, written by himself: "

I removed to Philadelphia, the city of my first recollection, Oct. 12, 1844. I was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Albert Lutz, president of the Philadelphia branch July 5, 1847. I married Ellen Handley July 28, 1848, and my first born was named Moroni. Sept. 28, 1848, with my wife, I started for the body of the Church, traveling by railroad, canal and steamboat to St. Louis, Mo., where I labored at blacksmithing. July 12, 1849, I took passage on a steamboat for Council Bluffs, where we arrived Aug. 1st. In the spring of 1850, I built a house, and while working at carpentering for Jos. E. Johnson, he engaged me to clerk for him in the store we built. Jan. 9, 1851, my wife Ellen gave to me another boy; we named him John. June 20, 1851, we left Kanesville with a wagon and five yoke of cattle. At the six mile grove, beyond Winter Quarters, I was appointed clerk of Alfred Cordon's company of fifty wagons. We started for the valley of the Great Salt Lake, July 1, 1851, and arrived there in safety Oct. 1, 1851. I met with the Saints in an adobe bowery, on the south side of the Temple Block near the spot where the south gate is at the present time. Previous to this (while in Philadelphia), I had been ordained a Priest Sept. 27, 1846, and commissioned to preach the gospel; in Kanesville I was ordained an Elder, and in the Valley, I was ordained a Seventy, Nov. 8, 1851, and became a member of the 8th quorum. As soon as I arrived in the Valley I found employment on the public works' carpenter shop; I worked on the old Tabernacle, where the Assembly Hall now stands. I also joined Captain Ballo's brass band and became lieutenant, playing the cornet. Feb. 14, 1853, a large number of people assembled on the Temple Block to witness the breaking and consecrating of the Temple grounds. There was about three inches of snow on the ground, but the morning was clear and lovely, the snow soon melted, and in some places the ground was left quite bare. The Nauvoo and Ballo bands cheered us with their sweet music. At about 10 o'clock a. m., Pres. Young arrived, and with Pres. Kimball and Pres. Richards and the assembled multitude I witnessed the survey of the site of the Temple, by Elders Truman O. Angell, Church architect, and Surveyor Jesse W. Fox. This work was completed about 11 o'clock, when the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles and others moved to the corner of the south and east lines. Pres. Brigham Young addressed us thirty minutes, and related briefly the changes through [p.335] which the Church had passed, the difficulties the Saints had encountered in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, and how they had been led by an overruling providence to this consecrated spot. Seven years ago, he said, he had left Nauvoo, not knowing which way to go, only as he learned by dreams, visions and revelations, that there was a good place in the mountains for the Saints. The united bands of music were invited to the center; the standard bearer placed the ensign on the center stake of the Temple plat, where all could see it, the musicians formed in a circle, and gave a cheering strain to 'Auld Lang Syne.' Pres. Kimball offered the dedicatory prayer, after which the presidency moved to the southeast corner of the Temple site, where, with the Twelve, Mayor Jedediah M. Grant, Marshal Jesse C. Little and others, they succeeded in picking around a piece of earth, about one foot square, and while doing this a silver dollar fell on the square of earth without any one knowing where it came from. Pres. Kimball prophesied that it was a good token, and that means would not be wanted to build the Temple. After the earth was loosened, about six inches deep, Pres. Young said that it was his privilege to remove it; and he took the lump upon his spade and lifted it up high, while he said, 'Get out of my way, for I am going to throw this.' He held it about a minute before he could get room to lay it down off the Temple site. He then addressed the multitude and declared the ground broken for the Temple, blessed the people in the name of 
the Lord, and dismissed the assembly. We all said Amen. The general conference was held, as usual, in April, 1851, and it was celebrated by the laying of the four corner stones of the Temple. At that conference (on the 8th) I was appointed a mission to England. The beautiful block of stone contributed by the State of Deseret to the Washington monument was intrusted to the care of Elder Philemon C. Merrill and myself, to deliver to the committee at Washington, to whom, and to Pres. Franklin Pierce and Hon. John M. Bernhisel, we carried letters of introduction from Governor Young. The block mentioned was three feet long, two feet wide, and six and a half inches thick. In the center stood the beehive, the emblem of industry. Over it was the motto "Holiness to the Lord." Above this was the all-seeing eye with rays; beneath the line was the word "Deseret;" over that (springing from the ground which was covered with different kinds of foliage) was a semicircular arch, enriched with the convololus. On each side were spandrels; in one was the symbol of union, with foliage; in the other was the cornucopia. Near the edge was a fillet, one and a half inches wide and three-quarters of an inch deep. After being set apart for our missions, we bid our families and friends good bye June 21, 1851, and started on our journey. We arrived in Washington Sept. 23rd, presented our letters of introduction and the stone to the committee, who received us in a very kind and affectionate manner. After doing our business, we went to Baltimore and took passage for Philadelphia, whence we started on the steamer 'Glasgow' for Liverpool, where we landed Oct. 25, 1851. On this mission I was gone from home about three years and a half. I was welcomed home by the Presidency and many acquaintances." After his return from this mission, Oct. 4, 1856, Elder McAllister labored at carpentering and mill work to support his family and attended to his several duties as an Elder in the Church. He was chosen president of the sixteenth quorum of Seventy and elected major of the second battalion of the Nauvoo Legion, in the Salt Lake Military District. As a member of the Deseret Dramatic Association he took an active part in Utah's early drama. From 1860 to 1862 he filled another mission to the United States and to Europe. On his return he brought a company of emigrants across the plains. After that, he served as city marshal of Salt Lake City, Territorial marshal and chief of the Salt Lake City fire department. He also labored for several years in the Endowment House, and was acting as superintendent of Pres. Young's woolen mills when he was called to accompany the president on a mission to St. George. At a meeting of the general conference held in the St. George Temple, April 5, 1877, he was chosen president of the St. George Stake of Zion, being ordained a High Priest and set apart to that position by [p.336] Pres. Brigham Young. For his counselors he chose Thos. J. Jones and Henry Eyring. He was also appointed an assistant to Pres. Wilford Woodruff, who had been called to preside over the Temple and its affairs. He was blessed and set apart by Pres. Woodruff to officiate in all the ordinances of the Temple, April 13, 1877. While residing in St. George he was elected president of the Rio Virgen Manufacturing Company, president of the St. George Dramatic Association, and brigadier-general of the Washington county brigade. He presided over the St. George Stake about eleven years. In 1893 he was called to assist in the Salt Lake City Temple and later in the Manti Temple, of which he has been the president for a number of years.

Collected Discourses, Vol.3, Appendix No vision received by Wilford Woodruff is more well known than the appearance of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. This vision, received "two weeks before leaving St. George," prompted Wilford Woodruff to compile a list of prominent men and women of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. On 21 August 1877, Wilford Woodruff, assisted by John Daniel Thompson McAllister (St. George Stake President), David H. Cannon (son of President George Q. Cannon) and Lucy Bigelow Young (plural wife of President Brigham Young), performed the baptismal work for the one hundred seventy-one names on his list. He then called on the Saints of St. George to perform the endowment and sealing work, which was accomplished by February 1878.


    FGR & PED FROM HOMER F ROYLE - BORN 14 APR 1911
SOURCES:
    1. Family Records in Possession of Lenzi Sullivan, St. George, Utah
    2. Endowment House Baptisms, statement of Richard Wesley McAllister, copy in possession of hall
    3. IGI
    4. Diary of John Daniel Thompson McAllister
    5. Ancestral File
    6. 1993 International Genealogical Index
    7. Ordinance Index