Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Biography

Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles south of Pittsburgh. (The area today is known as Library.) He was the youngest of four children of William and Nancy Rigdon. Rigdon's father was a farmer and a native of Harford County, Maryland.

Early life

Sidney's father William Rigdon died in 1810.

According to an 1875 account attributed to Sidney Rigdon's elder brother, as a child Rigdon had suffered an accident that caused a "contusion of the brain". His brother reportedly claimed that he "always considered Sidney a little deranged in his mind by that accident. His mental powers did not seem to be impaired, but the equilibrium in his intellectual exertions seemed thereby to have been sadly affected. He still manifested great mental activity and power, but he was to an equal degree inclined to run into wild and visionary views on almost every question." This account was not published until more than 60 years after the accident and may have been an attempt to distance the family from Rigdon.