Ezra Taft Benson (February 22, 1811 – September 3, 1869) (commonly referred to as Ezra T. Benson to distinguish him from his great-grandson of the same name) was an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Early life
Benson was born in Mendon, Massachusetts on February 22, 1811, the son of John Benson and Chloe Taft. His father moved to a farm in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, in 1817 where he lived for at least 16 of the next 18 years. Benson married Pamelia Andrus of Northbridge on January 1, 1832, at Uxbridge. They lived at Uxbridge for the next three years, between 1832 and 1835. Benson also had lived in Northbridge, on his sister's farm in 1830 and 1831. He and Pamelia had children, one of whom died at Uxbridge in 1833. Benson managed the ‘Wilson hotel’ in the center of Uxbridge and made a considerable sum of money which he invested in a cotton mill at Holland, Massachusetts, He moved to Holland in 1835 and became postmaster, before moving West.
Conversion to Mormonism and church leadership
After hearing Joseph Smith speak in a debate against a Dr. Nelson, Benson and his wife were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on July 19, 1840, in Quincy, Illinois. He was then ordained an elder and high priest in 1840.
Missionary service
Benson served as a church missionary in the United States, Europe, and the Sandwich Islands. After moving to Utah, Benson married Adeline Brooks Andrus, Desdemona Fullmer (a widow of Joseph Smith), Eliza Ann Perry, Lucinda West, Elizabeth Gollaher, Olive Mary Knight, and Mary Larsen. Benson had eight wives and 35 children. He also owned a few Paiute slaves.
In February, 1873, one of Benson's sons, Charles Augustus "Charlie" Benson, was lynched in Logan, Utah, after an altercation in which he likely shot and killed a man, then tried to escape.
Benson's great-grandson, also named Ezra Taft Benson, also became an apostle of the LDS Church; the younger Benson served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in the 1950s and president of the LDS Church from 1985 to 1994.
Death and burial
Benson died suddenly from a heart attack on September 3, 1869, while in Ogden, Utah Territory. He was 58 years old.