Called by Wilford Woodruff

Wilford Woodruff's presidency is marked by reform. Primarily there was the Manifesto, which ended the practice of polygamy, but there were other doctrinal elements he helped clarify. He ended the Law of Adoption and helped better define the ordinances within the temple. He discouraged the act of rebaptism to showed renewed commitment and emphasized the important of the sacrament for covenant renewal.

Called by Wilford Woodruff to be Apostles:
Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon H. Lund,
Abraham H. Cannon, Matthias F. Cowley,
Abraham O. Woodruff

MARRINER W. MERRILL
(September 25, 1832 - February 6, 1906)

Apostle - October 7, 1889

Soon after Albert Carrington was excommunicated, Pres. John Taylor died, and before the First Presidency was reorganized, Erastus Snow died. So once Wilford Woodruff became the next prophet, he called three Apostles. Marriner W. Merrill at age 57 was the oldest of the three.

Merrill was born in New Brunswick, Canada. He joined the LDS church at age 19, and afterwards learned his mother had been baptized several years previous. (His father never joined the church.) Merrill moved to the Salt Lake Valley in 1853. He became very successful in argiculture and real estate.

He practiced polygamy, having 8 wives and 43 children. He'd hide for weeks at a time in the Logan Temple to avoid arrest for unlawful cohabitation. He was President of the Logan Temple when he was called to be an Apostle. While an Apostle, he also served as president of the Cache Valley stake. (Find anyone with the last name of Merrill in northern Utah, and they probably descend from him.) He died from kidney disease at age 73. His son Joseph was later called to be an Apostle.

ANTHON H. LUND
(May 15, 1844 - March 2, 1921)

Apostle - October 7, 1889
Second Counselor - October 17, 1901
First Counselor - April 7, 1910
President of Q12 - November 23, 1918

Lund was born in Denmark, making him one of the rare Apostles born in a non-English country. His parents were unmarried, and he was three when his mother died. His father was in the Danish army and was away for years at a time so Lund was primarily raised by his maternal grandmother. He was baptized into the LDS church on his 12th birthday. he became a branch president at age 16. He migrated with his grandmother to the US when he was 18.

He was called to be mission president of Scandinavia at age 40. When he was called to be an Apostle, he was the only monogamist in the Q12.

He served as European mission president and he organized the Turkish mission. He gave a talk in General Conference in 1899 where he encouraged members - rather than migrate to the Western US - to build up Zions in their own homelands.

After Joseph F. Smith became prophet in 1901, he called Lund to be the First Presidency as 2nd counselor. He became 1st counselor after John R. Winder died.

When Heber J. Grant became prophet, Lund served as 1st Counselor and President of the Q12. It became policy at this time that if the President of the Q12 was in the First Presidency, then next senior Apostle would be called as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve. Lund died from the effects of an ulcer at the age of 76.

ABRAHAM H. CANNON
(March 12, 1859 - July 19, 1896)

Apostle - October 7, 1889

Son of apostle George Q. Cannon, Abraham was only 30 when he was called to the Q12. (George was serving as 1st Counselor at the time.) Abraham had previously served in the European mission. He and his brother John took over as editors of the Deseret News in 1892, increasing the rivalry between them and the then anti-Mormon Salt Lake Tribune.

He had four wives. He suffered from headaches and had surgeries to help with ear troubles, but he died from inflammation at only 37 years old. His younger brother Sylvester would later become an Apostle.

MATTHIAS F. COWLEY
(August 25, 1858 - June 16, 1940)

Apostle - October 7, 1896
Removed from Q12 - October 28, 1905

Cowley was known to have an excellent memory, and he used that to memorize most of the scriptures, and he'd be able to give detailed sermons on the scriptures.

He was also a curious choice for Apostle, as he continued to marry additional wives after the 1890 Manifesto. He believed it was for political expediency in the US but believed polygamy shoul dstill be fine in other countries. He could not accept Pres. Joseph F. Smith's insistance that polygamy was over everywhere, and he and fellow apostle John W. Taylore resigned from the Q12 in 1905.

As word got back to the First Presidency that Cowley was still presiding over plural marriage ceremonies, they suspended his priesthood in 1911. He had it unsuspended in 1936. His son Matthew was later called to be an Apostle.

ABRAHAM O. WOODRUFF
(November 23, 1872 - June 20, 1904)

Apostle - October 7, 1896

Cowley and Woodruff were called the same day, as Thatcher was dropped from the Q12 and Abraham Cannon died shortly afterwards. Woodruff was only 23 when ordained.

Woodruff was the son of Wilford Woodruff. He married Helen in 1896, and he took a second wife, Eliza, in 1900, ten years after the Manifesto. While he and Helen were visiting the Saints in Mexico, they contracted smallpox. Helen died a couple weeks before he did, at age 31.