Director and Curator of Special Collections and Archives Christian Goodwillie was recently awarded a research fellowship by the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). In 2026 he will make two research visits to the Church History Library in Salt Lake City for work related to his Spencer family biography project.
The Spencers were a western Massachusetts family integral to the development of the LDS Church as it moved from Illinois to Utah during the 1840s. Goodwillie said their “rich story is relatively unstudied and copious manuscript sources exist.”
He said Spencer brothers Daniel, Hiram, and Orson “rose to prominence quickly following their conversion in 1840 and 1841.” Daniel was a man of wealth who conducted business both in Massachusetts and in Savannah, Ga. He also served as the mayor of Nauvoo, Ill., once the Mormon headquarters.
Daniel converted Orson, who was trained as a Baptist minister in Hamilton, N.Y., at the theological college that is now Colgate University. He wrote important theological works, served in the Nauvoo government, and presided over the British and Prussian Missions from 1847-1849.
Goodwillie noted that the eldest Spencer brother, Augustine, was central in the events that led to the 1844 assassination of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
