RHODY LIFE

An early Mormon missionary from Rhode Island

By KELLY SULLIVAN
Posted 12/23/20

By KELLY SULLIVAN Places of worship have dotted Rhode Island for centuries - Presbyterian, Catholic, Universalist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Congregational, Jewish, and all manner of Baptist and Methodist. Over the centuries, most residents have fallen

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
RHODY LIFE

An early Mormon missionary from Rhode Island

Posted

Places of worship have dotted Rhode Island for centuries – Presbyterian, Catholic, Universalist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Congregational, Jewish, and all manner of Baptist and Methodist.

Over the centuries, most residents have fallen into one of those categories as far as faith went. But the Rev. George Wellington Robley was one of the few locals traveling a different road to salvation.

Robley, who was born in Providence in 1861, resided on Plainfield Pike in Johnston with his wife Anna (Siequist), who he married in 1885, and their children. Robley spent 50 years of his life as a missionary and traveling clergyman for the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Originally a Mormon church known as the First Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the religious organization was founded by Joseph Smith in New York in 1830.

Smith announced that he had received a divine message to begin the church and, as one of their devotional teaching tools, Smith published “The Book of Mormon.” According to Smith, the book was a collection of records concerning godly communication with ancient beings, which he had translated from Egyptian writing on golden plates. Smith alleged that, in 1827, he’d had a vision in which he was told the location of the plates and given the direction to bring the sacred teachings to the public eye.

A large part of the country’s population, who believed in the marital union between one man and one woman, were aghast at the LDS practice of polygamy, a man taking several wives. Members of the LDS church did not make friends easily and, in 1844, Smith was murdered.

Brigham Young then took over the organization and relocated the church to Utah. The country’s general nonacceptance of multiple wives continued and, in 1860, Smith’s son broke off from the church and began what he called the “Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” This new branch differed from the original church in its views, beliefs and traditions.

During the 19th century, the church of the Latter Day Saints stood on High Street in Providence. Another later stood on Benefit Street. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stood on Bellevue Avenue.

Members are expected to follow the doctrines of sexual purity, good health and observance of the Sabbath. Believing itself to be a restoration of the church founded by Jesus Christ, it maintains a very large missionary which sends members to remote areas for the purpose of spreading the word of God while providing needed services in the areas of healthcare, education and social justice. It presently includes congregations all over the world with millions of members. In 2001, the name of the church was changed to the “Community of Christ.”

Two years after Smith’s founding of the original LDS church, two individuals in Rhode Island were publicly condemned for converting to the new religious order. They chose to leave the state and relocate closer to Smith’s gathering. Other Rhode Islanders who followed in conversion also left the state. Then came those who refused to move and organized a congregation here in 1836. Another formed in 1844.

George Robley died suddenly of a heart attack on March 6, 1937, while in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He was brought back to Rhode Island and buried in Barrington. Today, the LDS church has congregations in Westerly, Narragansett, Scituate, Warwick, Newport, Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.

back in the day, Kelly Sullivan

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here