William Carter

An original pioneer of Utah, William Carter was born 12 February 1821 in Ledbury, Herefordshire, England. William attended school in Ledbury. At an early age, he began work in a glass factory as a glass blower. He later served as an apprentice in a blacksmith shop. While William was working in Ledbury, he heard some beautiful singing.

That night as he was leaving work, he met a Church Elder who invited him to a meeting. William took some of his family and went to the gathering. The gospel message so impressed him, that after the meeting he asked to be baptized. They told him he should wait and learn more about the gospel before being baptized. William replied, "If I should wait a year, I would not be any more ready than I am now."

Despite his mother's wishes, William continued to attend the meetings in secret. On 27 December 1840, 19-year-old William walked to Castle Froome, where he was baptized by Edward Ockey. All this was done in secret, his mother not being the wiser of what he had done. He set sail from Bristol, England, in April 1841 on the “Caroline”, arriving in Nauvoo 11 July 1841. He began work the next day on the Nauvoo House. He became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith, and assisted in the erection of the Nauvoo Temple. William bought a little farm a short distance from Nauvoo and built a house on it. William was a member of the Nauvoo Legion. He married Ellen Benbow at Nauvoo, Illinois 5 December 1843.

William was one of those chosen by Brigham Young in 1847 to find a home for the Saints west of the Rockies. William found his wife Ellen very ill. They did not expect her to live. William hurried to Brigham Young to see what he should do. The counsel he gave him was, “Go, Brother Carter, and I promise you in the name of the Lord, that your wife will recover and follow you out West.”

On 23 July 1847, William Carter ploughed the first half-acre of ground in Salt Lake City. William married 2 more wives and had 17 children in all. Responding to a call from President Brigham Young, William helped settle St. George, a new settlement placed more than three hundred miles to the south. William worked tirelessly on the St. George Temple.  He converted and baptised members of the Shebits Indian nation. William was set apart as an ordinance worker in the St. George Temple in 1877 and served there for 13 years.

William died 22 June 1896 in St. George, and is buried in the St. George City Cemetery - Age 75.