Episode 134: Before They Were Famous: Jedediah Grant

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:27)
Okay, nerds, grab your hard hats and hold on tight because we're smashing our way into the life and legacy of Jedediah Morgan Grant, Mormonism's hammer of God. And by the end of this ride, you're gonna be left in awe, and maybe a little bruised by the sheer impact of his story. So buckle up because it's about to get heavy.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:51)
Talking about a guy whose nickname was literally Brigham's Sledgehammer, and no, that's not a euphemism, smart guy. We mean he was the kind of leader who would take sin to pound town. Also not a euphemism. Now, old Jedediah did not tolerate any bit of sin or slack in the neighborhood. No mercy, no second chances. This guy took his face seriously. Like, I've unsheathed my sword and it's not going back until we've cleansed Zion level serious.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:18)
But more fun than that, we've got our own eras tour and diving into the era known as the Mormon Reformation, which makes this Reformation fall?

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:30)
Permission to speculate whether Jedediah Grant was brat?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:32)
Denied. Hard, hard deny. Stay on topic. There was repentance, re-baptism and a whole lot of fire and brimstone. And this was led by none other than Armin Jedediah, who developed what we would call, I don't know, a bad reputation. If the Saint of Taylor Swift had been around, she might have said, Jedediah, the haters are going to hate. You know how to shake it off. And by it, I mean those unrepentant sinners.
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:09)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:10)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:38)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day. Saddle up.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:43)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:51)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:11)
Enter stage left, one of the more chilling characters of frontier Mormonism, Jedediah Morgan Grant. Jeddi, dubbed by some of Brigham Young's Sledgehammer, would father the famed Seventh Mormon prophet, Heber J. Grant. Although, Heber would be saved the trouble of being raised by such a man.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:30)
Well, hold on. Seventh president? Like, in the time of the Seventh President? Seventh President?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:36)
Yes. Sorry to all of our fundamentalist friends who had a chill go up their spine. Elder Grant's namesake, the J in Heber J, was for Jeddi. And he was just nine days old when Jedediah passed away from pneumonia.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:51)
Further muddying the waters here was his eternal father situation. Father's Day in early Utah was tricky. It wasn't just should I get him a tie, it was how many ties do I need to barter for? Heber's mother, Rachel Ivins, had earlier been linked to Joseph Smith by a priest at Sealing. Posthumous, but still. Meaning that Heber was really the son of the founder of Mormonism in the eternities.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:16)
Jedediah was a man small in stature.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:19)
Pass.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:19)
But he was oversized in opinion.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:22)
No, that doesn't help.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:24)
I mean it. Don't make me get the school marm. Before the Saints even arrived in Utah, he had already cut his teeth in the formative Zion's Camp March and stumped for Joseph Smith as an 1844 presidential candidate.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:35)
Tip of Canoe and Gazelim too.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:37)
Goodness. What's in your sarsaparilla tonight? Jedediah's proximity to Mormon leaders in power led him to his election as first mayor of Salt Lake City and would grant him, see what I did there, a more elevated position as apostle in 1854 He polled a John C. bennett, however, skipped the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, did not collect $200, and went straight into the first presidency as Brigham Young's second counselor.

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:05)
I don't think that's what the kids usually mean by polled a John C. bennett.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (5:08)
Fine. How about rocked a J. Reuben Clark?

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:11)
I'll allow it.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (5:12)
At his premature death at age 40, he had already married seven wives and fathered 11 children.

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:19)
Yeah, clearly Jedediah was not a man to waste time. He would use his newfound power as Brigham's fiery lieutenant to completely transform Mormonism. So who was this guy? Let's get into it.