William Earl McLellin (January 18, 1806 – April 24, 1883) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. One of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, McLellin later broke with church founder Joseph Smith. Biography McLellin was born in on January 18, 1806, in Smith County, Tennessee, to Charles and Sarah McLellin. His mother was a Cherokee. He married Cynthia Ann in 1829, but she died two years later in 1831. McLellin then married Emeline Miller in 1832 in Portage County, Ohio. They moved to Independence, Missouri that same year. McLellin and Miller were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters: Charles William, Sarah E., James Martin, Helen Rebecca, Albert Eugene, and Marcus Nelson. Church service McLellin first had contact with the missionaries of the Latter Day Saint Church of Christ in Paris, Illinois, during 1831. He was baptized on Aug 20, 1831, by Hyrum Smith and was ordained an elder. During 1831, he traveled with Smith, and the two of them preached in Tennessee. On October 25, 1831, McLellin was called through a revelation to Joseph Smith to serve a mission in the eastern United States with Samuel H. Smith, Joseph Smith's brother. McLellin complained against the call, and was instead tasked with traveling south with Luke Johnson in January of 1832. McLellin was excommunicated for the first time in December of that year, but was restored to full fellowship by 1833. That year, McLellin served a mission for the church, traveling with Parley P. Pratt to Missouri and Illinois. However, in a revelation given to Joseph Smith on March 8, 1833, it was said that the Lord was "not pleased with my servant William E. McLellin". An experienced schoolteacher and a self-proclaimed physician, McLellin taught penmanship in the Kirtland School for Temporal Education in 1834. He was also the assistant teacher at the School of the Prophets. He served as a member of the church's high council in Clay County, Missouri, also in 1834, and was chosen and ordained to be one of the church's original twelve apostles on February 15, 1835, at age 29. When the Book of Commandments was about to be published, some Latter Day Saints criticized the wording of some of the revelations received by Smith. According to Smith, the Lord issued a challenge to see if the wisest member of the church could write