Of the original Twelve Apostles, three are largely "forgotten," their histories primarily unknown by the membership of the Church. They are Lyman E. Johnson, his brother Luke S. Johnson and John F. Boynton.
The Johnson brothers came into the Church largely through the combined influence of their parents, John and Elsa Johnson, and Joseph Smith. Mrs. Johnson was the subject of a miracle performed by the Prophet soon after his arrival in Ohio.Luke Johnson wrote of the experience: "Soon after Joseph Smith moved from the state of New York, my father, mother and Ezra Booth, a Methodist minister, went to Kirtland to investigate `Mormonism.' My mother had been laboring under an attack of chronic rheumatism in the shoulder, so that she could not raise her hand to her head for about two years; the Prophet laid hands upon her, and she was healed immediately."
Concerning the results of that event, Luke went on, "My father was satisfied in regard to the truth of `Mormonism,' and was baptized by Joseph Smith, jun., in the winter of 1830-1 and furnished him and his family a home while he translated a portion of the Bible." (Millennial Star, Dec. 1864, p. 834.)
Not only did John Johnson join the Church, but also his family. Lyman, four years younger than Luke, joined the Church in February 1831 at age 19, being baptized by Sidney Rigdon. He was later ordained an elder by Oliver Cowdery. Luke was baptized by Joseph Smith May 10, 1831, at age 23, and ordained a priest by Christian Whitmer, one of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. The record does not say who ordained Luke an elder, but after a fruitful mission to various parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, Luke was ordained a high priest by Joseph Smith; a high post for a 24-year-old convert of less than a year. Lyman was equally capable as a missionary and the two of them helped bring scores of saints into the rapidly growing Church.
John Boynton was born in Bradford, Mass., Sept. 20, 1811, and was two months older than Lyman Johnson. Little is known of Boynton's early life but he accepted the gospel and was baptized by Joseph Smith in September
1832. He was ordained an elder by Sidney Rigdon and, like the Johnson brothers, performed several successful missions for the Church between the time of his conversion until he was called as an apostle.
The three youthful apostles (all three were in their mid-to-late 20s) were diligent and devoted to building up the kingdom, at least for a while. Joseph took a lively interest in these young men. On Jan. 20, 1836, he performed the marriage ceremony for John Boynton and his bride, Susan Lowell. Joseph regarded Boynton tenderly, for he devoted much space in his journal recounting the "entire unison of feeling" pervading the congregation on that occasion. (HC, 2: pp. 377-378.)
But all was not well with Boynton and the Johnson brothers. All three were disfellowshipped on the same day: Sept. 3, 1837. All of them had become caught up in the spirit of speculation running rampant in Kirtland at the time and were subject to discipline.
The Minutes of the Conference Assembled in Committee of the whole Church noted that while the other nine apostles were ". . . received unanimously in their Apostleship, Luke S. Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson and John F. Boynton were rejected and disfellowshipped, though privileged with
confessing and making satisfaction." (HC, II, p. 509.)
A week later the Minutes of a Meeting in the Kirtland Temple contained this account: ". . . those of the Twelve who were disfellowshipped the previous Sabbath had opportunity to speak; and Luke S. Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson and John F. Boynton made their confessions and were received into fellowship by vote of the Church, also to retain their apostleship. . . ."
No doubt to show their confidence in the apparent repentance of their three errant brethren, the other nine gave them immediate privilege to exercise their priesthood at the meeting's end: the record declares; "The Lord's Supper was administered by Elders Luke S. and Lyman E. Johnson and John F. Boynton." (HC, 2: p. 512)
But their repentance did not last. John Boynton "did not repent of his evils (and) was finally excommunicated
from the Church." (Biographical Encyclopedia, p. 91). On April 13, 1838, at Far West, Mo., (the same day David Whitmer was excommunicated), "three charges were preferred against Lyman E. Johnson. . . . The charges were sustained, and he was cut off from the Church." (HC, 3: pp. 19-21). Luke Johnson was "cut off for apostasy" in that same city on the same day. (Biographical Encyclopedia, p. 86.)
All three former apostles remained friendly toward the Church after they were excommunicated from it. Lyman Johnson seemed most remorseful of his condition. Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl, in their footnote commentary for Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants stated: "Lyman E. Johnson, the first called to the apostleship when the first Council of Twelve was organized, left the Church, but he never had a really happy day after that. On one occasion, according to President Brigham Young, Lyman said at a meeting of the Council:
`Brethren - I will call you brethren - I will tell you the truth. If I could believe Mormonism - it is not a matter whether it is true or not - but if I could believe Mormonism as I did when I traveled with you and preached, if I possessed the world I would give it. I would give anything. I would suffer my right hand to be cut off, if I could believe it again. Then I was full of joy and gladness. My dreams were pleasant. When I awoke in the morning, my spirit was cheerful. I was happy by day and by night, full of peace and joy and thanksgiving. But now it is darkness, pain, sorrow, misery in the extreme. I have never since seen a happy moment." (Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, p. 470.)
When the saints went west, Lyman remained in Davenport, Iowa. He was a merchandiser, but he later forsook that to follow the law. After a few years he moved to Keokuk, just a few miles downriver from Nauvoo. On Dec. 20, 1856, he was drowned in the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. (Biographical Encyclopedia, p. 92.)
John Boynton did not drop into oblivion after his excommunication. In fact, he became quite famous. He was a noted lecturer and natural historian and led a government-appointed contingent to California on a geological surveying expedition. During the Civil War, he became an internationally known inventor, and "he was employed in the invention of torpedoes and other destructive implements of war." (Biographical Encyclopedia, p. 91.) So inventive was he, that by the year 1886 he was credited with 36 different patents by the U.S. Patent Office.
Though rejected by the Church, Boynton never preached against it. Instead he manifested good feelings toward the saints all the rest of his life. In 1872 he visited many of his former associates on a trip to Salt Lake City.
He was welcomed by Brigham Young and enjoyed at least two personal interviews with him. He also met Erastus Snow, whom Boynton had ordained a teacher when Erastus was a lad of 16. Elder Snow, then an apostle, told him he had been preaching the gospel ever since. "Stick to it, for it is good," Boynton declared. In his later years. Boynton claimed he had no religion whatever. But, he maintained, "If anything is right, `Mormonism' is." He died at Syracuse, N.Y., Oct. 20, 1890.
Luke S. Johnson fared better spiritually than did the other two. After his excommunication, he went East and taught school in Cabell County, Va., for a year. While teaching, he devoted his spare time to the study of medicine. He then returned to Kirtland and was a practicing physician for some time.
He continued to be friendly toward the Church. In 1846 he was rebaptized in Nauvoo, and, as one of the 143 pioneers, entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. He helped settle the Salt Lake City area and then settled in St. John, Tooele County, Utah. There he was appointed bishop of the first ward organized in that community. On Dec. 9, 1861, he died at the house of his brother-in-law, Orson Hyde, in full faith and fellowship in the Church.
Of the "three forgotten apostles," Lyman E. Johnson died out of the Church and, apparently, out of harmony with himself. John F. Boynton found honor and worldly glory outside the Church, but failed to endure in the things that mattered most. Luke S. Johnson, though out of the Church for several years, returned to the fold and made a contribution to the upbuilding of the saints' western settlements.
*Calvin N. Smith is a professor of speech-communications at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., and a gospel doctrine teacher in the Matton, Ill., Ward.