“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

1. History Draft [6 August 1838–30 December 1839], josephsmithpapers.org

2. “Avard, Sampson,” josephsmithpapers.org

3. Historical Introduction, Appendix 2: Constitution of the Society of the Daughter of Zion, circa Late June 1838, josephsmithpapers.org; “Danites,” josephsmithpapers.org

4. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 31, 368-369

5. Corwin L. Nimer, “Sampson Avard: The First Danite,” 49, ensignpeakfoundation.org