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{{Infobox religious biography
| name = Amos Milton Musser
| native_name =
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| image = A. Milton Musser.jpg
| caption = A. Milton Musser in May 1873
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| religion = [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1830|5|20}}
| birth_place = [[Donegal, Pennsylvania]], United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1909|9|24|1830|5|20}}
| death_place = [[Salt Lake City, Utah]], United States
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| signature = Signature of Amos Milton Musser (1830–1909).png
| website =
}}
'''Amos Milton Musser''' (May 20, 1830 – September 24, 1909) was a [[Mormon pioneers|Latter-day Saint pioneer]] who served in many church and community roles, including as an [[Church Historian and Recorder|Assistant Church Historian]] of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] from 1902 until his death.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenson |first=Andrew |title=Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=Deseret News Press |date=1941 |page=140}}</ref>

==Early life==
Musser was born at [[Donegal, Pennsylvania|Donegal]], [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name = AMMH>[http://jared.pratt-family.org/parley_family_histories/amos_musser_history.html Amos Milton Musser History].</ref> Musser's father Samuel Musser died when he was two years old. The family moved to the vicinity of [[Quincy, Illinois]] in 1837. By this time his mother had remarried to Abraham Bitner.<ref name = AMMO>{{cite web |url=http://jared.pratt-family.org/parley_family_histories/amos_musser_obituary.html |title=Obituaries of A. Milton Musser |publisher=Jared Pratt Family Association |accessdate=March 12, 2016}}</ref> When Musser was about 16 he was in the [[Nauvoo, Illinois#The "Mormon War in Illinois" and the Mormon Exodus|Battle of Nauvoo]] and then was driven with his mother and siblings into Iowa.<ref name = Jenson>Jenson. ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia''. vol. 3, p. 765</ref> After he left Nauvoo Musser worked as a store clerk in [[Eddyville, Iowa]].<ref name = AMMO/> Musser was not [[Baptism (Latter Day Saints)|baptized]] a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until he arrived at [[Council Bluffs, Iowa|Council Bluffs]], Iowa in 1851.<ref name = Jenson/>

==Church service==
On arriving in [[Utah Territory]] in 1851 as part of the Easton Kelsey Company,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/pioneers/7273/amos-milton-musser |title=Amos Milton Musser |publisher=LDS Church |work=Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel (1847-1868) |accessdate=March 12, 2016}}</ref> Musser became a clerk in the tithing office.<ref name = MFP>{{cite web |url=https://heritage.utah.gov/apps/history/findaids/B00096/B0096ff.xml |title=The Musser Family Papers, 1852-1967 |work=Utah Department of Heritage & Arts |access-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref> The following year Musser was among the early [[Mormon missionary|Latter-day Saint missionaries]] to travel to [[India]]. [[R. Lanier Britsch]]'s book ''Nothing More Heroic''<ref>({{ISBN|978-1-57345-565-7}})</ref> on this early LDS Church [[Mission (LDS Church)|mission]] in India was written as if narrated by Musser. After this mission he returned to Utah in the William G. Young Company of 1857.

From 1860 to 1876 Musser served as a [[traveling bishop]] in Utah. He was one of the most active traveling bishops and would visit all the major settlements in Utah at least twice a year.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pace |first=D. Gene |jstor=43042343 |title=Changing Patterns of Mormon Financial Administration: Traveling Bishops, Regional Bishops, and Bishop's Agents, 1851–88 |journal=BYU Studies |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=183–195 |date=1983}}</ref>

In 1876, he was appointed assistant trustee-in-trust of the Church, a top ranking position in overseeing the assets and properties of the Church. Shortly after this he was sent on a mission to the eastern [[United States]].<ref name = MFP/>

Musser had served for several years as a clerk in the Church Historians office prior to his appointment as Assistant Church Historian in 1902.<ref name = Jenson/>

==Community service in Utah==
Musser held several positions with the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing society. He was connected with the Utah Bee Association and the Utah Silk Association. Musser was one of the incorporators of [[Zions Bancorporation|Zion's Bank and Trust company]]. He was also involved with promoting several plans to build railroads.<ref name = AMMO/> While serving as traveling bishop Musser served as the general superintendent of the [[Deseret Telegraph Company]]. Musser served as Fish and Game Commissioner of Utah Territory from the late 1870s through the early 1890s.<ref name = AMMO/>

==Writer==
Musser wrote many pro-Latter Day Saint pamphlets. He was also the editor of the ''Utah Farmer'', an agricultural magazine, and ''The Palantic'', a pro-Mormon literary magazine.<ref>[[Andrew Jenson]], ''[[Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia]]'', vol. 1, p. 383.</ref>

He wrote several pamphlets in defense of the faith of the Latter-day Saints.<ref name = AMMO/> He authored "To The Press Of The United States" (Philadelphia, May 1877), a press release defending the faith in response to charges that the Latter-day Saints are a "blood-thirsty people" in newspaper coverage of the trial and execution of [[John D. Lee]] for his role in the [[Mountain Meadows Massacre]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120715091823/http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/MormonBib&CISOPTR=9035&CISOBOX=1&REC=15 Mormon Bibliography]</ref>

==Polygamous marriages==

Musser was a strong advocate of [[polygamy]]. He married his first wife Ann Leaver on January 31, 1858, then married Mary Elizabeth White in 1864, Belinda Marden Pratt (a daughter of [[Parley P. Pratt]]) in 1872, and Anna Seegmiller in 1874. Musser is the father of [[Joseph White Musser]], who became a leader in the [[Mormon fundamentalism|Mormon fundamentalist]] movement.

After a US law banning polygamy was passed in 1962, Musser was charged in 1885 with unlawful cohabitation (living with his plural wives), and he was sentenced to pay a fine of [[US$]]300 and to six months' imprisonment. Musser maintained that the anti-polygamy prosecutions "were instituted in malice and hypocrisy, or were based upon a gross misconception of the facts".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia]]|last=Jenson|first=Andrew|title=Musser, Amos Milton|volume=1|pages=381–386}} Via [https://historicalgeneralconferences.weebly.com/a-milton-musser.html HISTORICAL GENERAL CONFERENCES]</ref>

==Death and legacy==

Musser died of "surgical shock" in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]] at age 79.<ref>[http://images.archives.utah.gov/data/81448/2229321/2229321_0001495.jpg State of Utah Death Certificate] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718172520/http://images.archives.utah.gov/data/81448/2229321/2229321_0001495.jpg |date=July 18, 2011 }}</ref>

The community of Milton in [[Morgan County, Utah]] was named for A. Milton Musser.<ref>http://images.uen.org/ucme/media/text/ta002560.txt{{dead link|date=September 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* {{citation |contribution= Musser, A. Milton |contribution-url= https://archive.org/stream/pioneersprominen00esshrich#page/1052/mode/1up |page= 1052 |last= Esshom|first= Frank Ellwood |year= 1913 |title= Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah |url= https://archive.org/details/pioneersprominen00esshrich |location= Salt Lake City |publisher= Utah Pioneers Book Publishing Company |oclc= 2286984 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musser, Amos Milton}}
[[Category:1830 births]]
[[Category:1909 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Mormon missionaries]]
[[Category:American Mormon missionaries in India]]
[[Category:American Mormon missionaries in the United States]]
[[Category:American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
[[Category:Converts to Mormonism]]
[[Category:Mormon pioneers]]
[[Category:Official historians of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
[[Category:People from Eddyville, Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Writers from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Writers from Utah]]

A. Milton Musser - Revision history

Ghazal Builders at 18:12, 26 November 2025