David W. Patten was thirty-eight years old when he died in the Missouri darkness, leading a handful of Latter-day Saints against a militia that outnumbered them. This 1900 biography traces his transformation from Methodist convert to one of Joseph Smith's first apostles, a man who abandoned his plow for missionary work and rose to become one of the original Twelve. Wilson paints a complex portrait: a preacher of remarkable gentleness who earned the nickname 'Captain Patten' for his courage in the 1838 Mormon War. The narrative covers Patten's early conversion, his zealous missions, his relationships with early church leaders, and the escalating violence in Missouri that culminated in his death at the Battle of Crooked River. Written with early 20th-century reverence but grounded in historical detail, the book captures both the profound faith and the violent reality of early Latter-day Saint experience. It remains a vital window into the sacrifices that built a church and the man called the first apostolic martyr.
