Sampson Avard
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“Satan himself was no less busy in striving to stir up mischief in the camp of the Saints; and among the most conspicuo[s] of his willing devotees was one [Sampson] Avard, who had been in the Church but a short time, and who, although he had generally behaved with a tolerable degree of external decorum, was secretly aspiring to be the greatest of the great, and become the leader of the people.” — Willard Richards1

Sampson Avard was born on October 23, 1800, in St. Peter, Isle of Guernsey, Channel Islands, Great Britain. He migrated to the United States and was a preacher for the Reformed Baptists. In 1835, he was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was ordained an elder. He served a mission and moved to Kirtland, Ohio in 1836. He later migrated with the Saints to Far West, Missouri.2 He was a leading member of the Society of the Daughter of Zion, also known as the Danites, a paramilitary group that defended the Saints.3 After Joseph Smith was arrested at Far West, Avard testified against him and claimed that Joseph was the leader of the Danites.3 Avard was excommunicated on March 17, 1839.2 He practiced medicine in Illinois until around 1850, later switching to farming.5