D&C Spotlight: Who is Willliam W. Phelps
This post contains affiliate links which means we may be paid for products you purchase through our links. See our full disclosure for more.
We love studying the Doctrine and Covenants, but with so many people mentioned, it can be hard to keep them all straight. To make things easier (and more engaging), we created D&C Spotlights. Each spotlight includes two posters: one with a portrait of the person, and another with key facts and where to find them in the Doctrine and Covenants. It's a simple way to help your family connect faces to names and bring these early pioneers to life as you study the scriptures. Today, learn more about William W. Phelps.
Save it for later, pin it now
William W. Phelps read an announcement in the newspaper in March of 1830 about the Book of Mormon being published. He later was able to buy a copy from Parley P. Pratt. We are first introduced to W. W. Phelps in section 55 of the Doctrine and Covenants where the Lord calls him to be baptized and to move to Missouri. Here are some other fun facts that aren’t on our printout:
The second W stands for Wines.
Phelps wrote 13 of the hymns in our current hymnal (not the new one). Discover them all by filtering the hymns by author. He had 29 in the Church’s first hymnal.
During his time away from the church, he caused some problems for Joseph Smith including giving false testimony against him in a Missouri court which contributed to the Prophet’s imprisonment there (See Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk “Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion” October 2024).
There is a river in the background of Phelps portrait to reference D&C 61 where he “saw the destroyer riding in power upon the face of the waters.”
We love Phelps courageous example of repentance. He turned away from the church for a couple of years but truly repented. His mistakes don’t define him. He accomplished much good and he is remembered for his contributions.
The quote included on the poster can be found on the Joseph Smith Papers website if you want to read it in full. Learn even more about Phelps in podcasts found on the Church’s website:
Poets of the Restoration: W. W. Phelps (about 43 minutes)
Hymns of W. W. Phelps (about 39 minutes)
