William Grady, LDS member, part 2

Okay, so now I know William Grady joined the LDS church much earlier than originally thought. So many questions – What was the Church like in Philadelphia in 1838? What was Joseph Smith doing there? What about his family? What was his involvement with the Church in the decades after? What were the circumstances that prevented him from going west with the Saints?

So many questions and I’ve only found the answers to a few.

Here was an excellent place to start. Philadelphia Pennsylvania Branch Membership: 1840-1854. Both William Grady and his wife Susannah (Cartee) Grady are listed as members. No baptismal date, but it does list their addresss and describes them as “removed by letter.”

Perhaps it should have been obvious, but I did not know what “removed by letter” meant, so I emailed the author of the transcription, Maurine Carr Ward. She emailed me back and let me know that they would have moved to another branch and taken a letter of recommendation with them. Here is an example of a recommendation letter:

The records also list Priesthood officers and ordinations. He was recommended for ordination as Elder on 14 Dec 1840.

Now, I have a record that his wife joined the church also. I know the address where he lived. I already knew that he left Philadelphia, and records here indicate a letter was sent with them. In 1897, William Grady states that he joined the Church in 1838 (more likely 1839, more about that later). Another question arises: these records are from 1840-1854 – are there any LDS church records for Philadelphia pre-1840?

To be continued…