I did not know that

19 March 2008 @ 2:34 pm | 5 comments

I did not know that.  My great-great-great-grandfather, Daniel Webster Jones,  was charged by Brigham Young to start the first translations of the Book of Mormon into Spanish, telling him that “the he would hold me responsible for its correctness.” 

I need to read his book, Forty Years Among the Indians: A True yet Thrilling Narrative of the Author’s Experiences Among the Natives.   And work on my family history.

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  1. Christopher’s avatar

    Christopher on 19 March 2008 at 2:48 pm

    I guess we’re related, David.

  2. David H. Sundwall’s avatar

    David H. Sundwall on 19 March 2008 at 3:11 pm

    Cool.

    Looking at FamilySearch.org (they don’t have permalinks) it looks like with 15 children (though many didn’t survive childhood), there might be a bunch of us out there.

    I knew of him but this has inspired me to read his book. I had looked for a printed version with no luck before, but was happy to see it’s online in several places.

    Thanks!

  3. Hugh’s avatar

    Hugh on 19 March 2008 at 3:27 pm

    DWJ was an amazing guy… a convert, baptized by (my ancestor) Isaac Morley in Manti… he also was one of the first in the rescue party to save the Martin Handcart Company (including other ancestors of mine)… and almost starved to death when he stayed the winter behind to watch abandoned supplies.

  4. David H. Sundwall’s avatar

    David H. Sundwall on 19 March 2008 at 3:56 pm

    Thanks Hugh to you and your ancestor.

    I’m ashamed I don’t know that much about my own family’s rich history.

  5. Hugh’s avatar

    Hugh on 19 March 2008 at 4:03 pm

    Daniel Webster just kept popping up in my own family history. I’m just glad he went to rescue the Martin Handcart company or I might not have been here.

    Here’s an interesting ensign article on his work translating.

    http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1981.htm/ensign%20august%201981.htm/the%20unlikely%20daniel%20webster%20jones%20first%20spanish%20translations%20from%20the%20book%20of%20mormon.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm