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Source: Church History Vol. 3 Chapter 39 Page: 759

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759 when he united with the Reorganization. The first mention we have seen of him was when he attended the Annual Conference of 1858. He was thereafter recognized as an elder, and at the Semiannual Conference of that year he was appointed to a mission.

On April 6, 1860, he was chosen one of the presidents of Seventy, and ordained by Elders William Marks and Z. H. Gurley.

On the 6th of October, 1860, at the Semiannual Conference held near Sandwich, Illinois, he was chosen to a position in the Quorum of the Twelve, and ordained an apostle under the hands of Apostles Z. H. Gurley and W. W. Blair. At this conference he was sent on a mission to Kirtland, Ohio. He retained his position in the Quorum of Twelve, making a record for faithfulness and diligence unto the end of his life. He died at Batavia, Illinois, December 18, 1866.

In his obituary published in the editorial column of the Saints' Herald for January 1, 1867, President Smith said of him:-

"Although the fact of the death of this eminent and good man is recorded in the few lines usually used, we shall not feel satisfied unless we give it a more prominent notice than those few worn words will give. . . . His goodness of heart, his unfailing faith, and his untiring energy and zeal, endeared him to the people of God, and caused him to be called from one station of usefulness to the cause to another, until, as an especial witness, he has carried the banner of King Emanuel for the last six years allotted to him on earth, and went to his rest while in the service of his Master, his armor of righteousness on, and his weapons of warfare still in his hands.

"As a preacher, Elder Blakeslee had few equals and fewer superiors, and for the steadiness of purpose with which he preached, and the integrity of his testimony has never been surpassed. Albeit his light was not so noted for its brilliancy, as for the remarkable steadiness with which it burned.

"We are assured that his dying testimony was what his living words had always been: 'I know that my Redeemer

(page 759)

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