22 Mormon Historical Studies

22 Mormon Historical Studies

AlexanderNeibaurphotograph,dateunknown.TheimagewaspublishedintheApril1914issueoftheUtah Genealogical and Historical Magazine.

Fred E. Woods: The Life of Alexander Neibaur 23

“A Mormon and Still a Jew”: The Life of Alexander Neibaur

Fred E. Woods

AlexanderNeibaurwasamanofmanytalents.Aneducatedmanandgift-ed poet, he was fluent in seven languages. One account describes Neibaur as “a small thin man, with a round ruddy face, [with] sharp eyes.”1Hewasalsounusual inasmuch as he was Utah’s first dentist and matchmaker, and the first knownmaleJewishconverttoMormonism;andhelefttheonlyknowncon-temporary diary account of Joseph Smith’s first vision experience. Neibaur wasalsoagoodfamilyman,honestandloyal,andakindfriendandtrustedneighbor,notonlytofellowChurchmembersbutalsotothosewhodidnotsharehisreligiousbeliefs,especiallyUtah’sfewJewishmigrants.

AlexanderNeibaurwasbornon January8,1808, intoawell-educatedhomeinEhrenbreitstein,Germany,locatedontheRhineRiverinwhatiscur-rentlyasuburbofthecityofKoblentz.2HeimmigratedtoPreston,England,in1830.Hismother,RebeccaPeretz,wasaFrenchJewess,andhis father,JosephNathanNeibaur,aneducatedPolishJew,wasaphysicianandservedforatimeasaninterpreterandlinguisttoNapoleonBonaparte.Hehadhopesthathissonwouldbecomearabbi;however,atagefourteen,Alexanderchosedentistry.AftergraduatingfromtheUniversityofBerlin,AlexandertraveledEuropeasadentistandembracedChristianity.3 Itwas inPrestonwherehemethisfuturewife,EllenBreakel,describedas“anice,trim-lookingEnglish(Christian) woman” whom he married on September 15, 1834.4

The first Mormon missionaries arrived in Great Britain in July 1837, including apostles Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, future apostle Willard

FREd E. Woods ([email protected]), a Professor of Church History and Doctrine,BrighamYoungUniversity,holdsaRichardL.EvanschairforReligiousUnderstanding.He received his BA and MA from Brigham Young University, and his PhD from theUniversityofUtah.HealsofunctionedastheexecutivedirectoroftheMormonHistoricSitesFoundationfrom2002-2006.

2� Mormon Historical Studies

Richards,andfourCanadi-ans–Joseph Fielding, IsaacRussell,JohnGoodson,andJohn Snyder. ImmediatelyupontheirarrivalinLiver-pool,theyheadquarteredinPreston and began preach-ing. Local interest in thenewfaithwassogreatthatwithinlessthantwomonthsitbecamenecessarytorentPreston’sTemperance Hall(also called the “Cock Pit”) with a seating capacity ofeighthundredtoaccommo-date new converts and in-vestigators.5 Significantly, the Temperance Hall waslocated a short distancefrom the Neibaur’s home,and there can be no doubtthattheyoungJewishcou-ple soon heard somethingabout the Mormons andtheirmessage.

OnedayAlexanderoverheardaneighboraskhiswifeEllen ifshehadheardabout thenewpreachersfromAmericawhoclaimedtohaveseenanangel.Onhearingthediscussion,Alexanderaskedfromhiswindowwherehe could find them. Neibaur had received spiritual manifestations concerning arecord,andhehurriedtothemissionaries’placeofresidenceandreceivedaBookofMormon.Forgoing foodorsleep,hedevoured thebook inonlythreedays,thenreturnedtothemissionaries,requestingbaptism.Theycoun-seledhimtopostponehisbaptismuntilthefollowingspring,whenhewouldbemorepreparedfortheordinance.Reluctantlyconsenting,hewasbaptizedApril 9, 1838, becoming the first-known male Jew to convert to Mormon-ism.6

Old Cock Yard Street, Preston, England, 2006.AlexanderandEllenNeibaurwerelivingonthisstreetatthetimeoftheirconversiontoMormonismin1838.

PhotographcourtesyAlexanderL.Baugh.


As1840drewtoaclose,TheLatter-daySaints’MillennialStarpublishedapoembyNeibaur.Thepoembreathedthespiritofagloriousgathering:

Comethougloriousdayofpromise,Comeandspreadthycheerfulray;WhenthescatteredsheepofIsrael

Shallnolongergoastray;WhenHosannas

Withunitedvoicetheycry.7

OnFebruary5,1841,theNeibaurscommencedtheirowngatheringex-perience.Alexander,Ellen,andtheirchildren,JosephWilliam(six),Margaret(five), and Isaac (two), embarked for America.8OnthedaytheyleftPreston,forNauvoo, Illinois,Alexanderbegan tokeepadiary.9Afteraseven-weekeventful voyage from Liverpool, the Mormon company of 235 Saints finally arrivedatNewOrleansonMarch29, 1841.Dr.Neibaur enjoyed the rivertrip, recording in his diary, “We went up the Mississippy in Grand style.”10Hementions that on April 13, 1841, he “Cleaned 4 passengers teeth.”11

ThecompanyarrivedinNauvoolateintheeveningofApril18.12Neibaurjoyfullynoted,“AnumberoftheBr.[brethrenoftheChurch]wasreadytoreceiveus;theykindlyofferedtheirhouses,manysleptinalargestonebuild-ing....EarlyinthemorninganumberoftheBr.cametoInquirewhetherallof us had obtained habitations. We got in very comfortably with a Br.”13

AlexanderhelpedwiththebuildingoftheNauvooTempleandalsoservedin the Fifth Quorum of Seventy.14Healsocontinuedhisdentalpractice.Justthreedaysafterhisarrival,hewrote,“Was incompanyatBr.Thompson’swith Joseph Smith, came to order some false corals [teeth] for his wife.”15AfewmonthsafterNeibaurarrivedinNauvoo,theLatter-daySaintnewspaperTimes and Seasons announcedtheformalopeningofhisdentalpractice:

AlexanderNeibaur,SurgeonDentist,

FromBerlin,inPrussia,lateofLiverpoolandPreston,England.

MostrespectfullyannouncestotheladiesandgentlemenandthecitizensofNauvooasalsoofHancockcounty,ingeneral,thathehaspermanentlyestablishedhimselfinthecityofNauvoo,asadentist,wherehemaybeconsulted,daily,inallbranchescon-nected with his profession, Teeth cleaned, plugged, filed, the Scurva effectually cured children’s teeth regulated, natural or artificial teeth from a single tooth to a whole set insertedonthemostapprovedprinciple.Mr.N.havinghadanextensivepracticebothonthecontinentofEurope,asalsoinEngland,forthelast15years,hehopestogivegeneralsatisfactiontoallthosewhowillhonorhimwiththeirpatronage.


Mr.B.[Brigham]YounghavingknownMr.N.(inEngland)haskindlyconsentedtoofferhishousetomeetthoseladiesandgentlemenwhowishtoconsultme.Hoursofattendancefrom10o’clock in themorning to6atevening. ...Chargesstrictlymoderate.16

Four years later the Nauvoo Neighbor noted that Neibaur was supple-mentinghisdentalpracticebymakingmatches:

AlexanderNeibaurDentist

InreturninghisthankstotheBrethrenandCitizensoftheCityofJoseph[Nauvoo]for past favors, he would inform them that he continues his practice, and has fixed the following prices; Teeth inserted, $2 each; teeth cleaned, 50 cts.; filling a tooth, 50 cts.; teethextractedwithgreatease.Everyoperationwarrantedfor5years.Meat,woodandmoneytaken.

AconstantsupplyofMatchesalwaysonhand.17

One writer has observed that although Dr. Neibaur’s dental activity isreadilyapparentinhiswritings,hisdiary“doesnotrecordthetimeswhenhemadebridgesanddiddentalworkfortheProphetJosephSmithwhohadsomeof his teeth knocked out when he had been tarred and feathered.”18Thereisevidence thatJosephandAlexanderkneweachotherwell.Neibaur’sdiarymentionsthathereadGermanwithJosephattheSmithhome.19JosephSmithalso acknowledged Neibaur’s aid in helping him learn German. Under thedateofMarch18,1844, theProphet’spublishedhistoryreads:“Istayedathome to recite German with Brother Neibaur.”20Inanotherentry,datedJune3, 1844, it states: “At 5 p.m. I read German with Neibaur.”21

Dr.Neibaurwasalso familiarwithLatin,Greek,French,Spanish, andHebrew.Inhisautobiographicalsketch,Neibaurwrote:“Inthefallof1843,hadthehonorofinstructingtheProphetJosephSmith,untilhewenttoCar-thage,inGermanandHebrew,fromwhichtexthepreachedseveraltimestolarge congregations.”22OnMay23,1844,Josephnoted,“ReadHebrewwithNeibaur.”23

ItisalsoplausiblethatdoctrinaldiscussionsaroseasAlexanderandJo-sephreadtheHebrewBibletogether,whichmayhaveincludedJewishexege-sis—Jewishinterpretationsofvariouspassagesofscripture.Neibaurhadstud-iedtobecomearabbi,demonstratingthathehadclearlybeenaseriousstudentofrabbinicalexegesisinhisyouth.OneJewishfamilywhometNeibaurinSalt Lake City in 1854 recalled that “he was well versed in the Talmud.”24

His rabbinical training is confirmed by an article he wrote for the Times and Seasons, titled, “The Jews,” which dealt with the various Jewish views concerning thedoctrineof the resurrection.Theeditorprefaced thearticle:“ThefollowingverysingularnotionsoftheJews,withregardtotheirresur-


rection,will,nodoubt,bereadwithinterestbymanyofthecurious,especiallythe lovers of Jewish literature.” Neibaur’s knowledge of the Hebrew Bible, theTalmud,andrabbinicalexegesis ingeneral isevident inhismeticulousanalysisoftheresurrectioninwhichhequotedadozenrabbis,manyTalmudicpassages,andanabundanceofscripturalpassages.25

AlexanderNeibaurnotonlytutoredtheLatter-daySaintprophetinlan-guages,healsohumblyreceivedinstructionfromhim.AlittleoveramonthbeforethemartyrdomNeibaurrecordedhearingJosephSmithrelatehis1820vision.AccordingtoMormonhistorianJamesB.Allen,“Thisistheonlycon-temporary diary known to Mormon scholars that contains such an account.”26Among other things, Neibaur recalled that Joseph said he “went into thewoods to pray, kneels himself down, . . . saw a fire toward heaven came near and nearer; saw a personage in the fire, light complexion, blue eyes, a piece of whiteclothDrawnoverhisshouldershisrightarmbearafterawhileaotherperson came to the side of the first.”27

Afterthemartyrdom,NeibaurcontinuedtodefendMormonism,hisfam-ily,andthepoorwhoremainedaftertheSaintsweredrivenfromNauvoointhewinterandspringof1846.28OnSeptember17,1846,theNeibaurfamilyfinally crossed the Mississippi and spent the winter in Bonaparte, Iowa. The following year they migrated to Winter Quarters and the nest summer they madethejourneytotheSaltLakeValley.UpontheirarrivalNeibaurrecalled,“GotthereSeptember24th.Gotacitylot,myselfandeldestsonJosephmadeadobeforahouse,livedwithmywifeandsevensmallchildreninatentuntilMay following.”29

ThoughNeibaurspentabusywinterbuildinghisadobehome,healsocontinued to practice dentistry. During the first month after his arrival in Salt LakeCity,henotedinfourseparatediaryentrieshisaccountsofcleaningandfixing the teeth of various individuals and families.30Lessthantwoyearslater,the first issue of the Deseret News carriedthefollowingadvertisement:“A.Neibaur,SurgeonDentist,3dstreeteast,2dsouthoftheCouncilHouse,willattend to all branches of his profession. The scurvey effectually cured.”31Inthis same year (1850), Utah became a territory. Neibaur became Utah’s first dentist.32

One of Neibaur’s daughters confirmed that her father was very active inthedentalprofession:“Inadditiontocountlessextractions,myfatherhadabout one hundred and fifty patients in Utah, including Brigham Young and family and the families of other Church leaders.”33Accordingtofamilytradi-tion,oneofhisgreatestaccomplishmentsinhisdentalworkwasmakingasetof false teeth for Brigham Young when the president was fifty-five years old. Theteeth,madeofporcelain,wereimportedfromFrance.Themouthplate,


constructedofsolidgold,wasattachedtotheteethwithvulcanizedrubber.Youngusedthedenturesonlyonspecialoccasions.34

Inadditiontohissuccessfuldentalbusiness,Neibaurcontinuedtosupple-menthisincomeashehaddoneinNauvoobymakingmatches.In1851theDeseretNewspublishedthefollowingadvertisement:“AconstantsupplyofMatchesofsuperiorqualitykeptonhand,forwhichproducewillbetakeninexchange by A. Neibaur”35Onehistorianexplains,“Hisknowledgeofchem-istry enabled him to fabricate crude sulphur matches.”36

Neibaurmayalsobeviewedasamatchmakerinadifferentsortofway—he ignited the fire of conversion and supplied fuel to the flame of romance. In anautobiographicalsketch,PrussianJewMorrisDavidRosenbaumrelatedhisassociationwithNeibaur.HavingimmigratedtoAmericaatagenineteen,RosenbaumjoinedtheMormonmigrationtotheSaltLakeValleyinthelatefallof1857.InNovemberRosenbaumrelated,“BrotherNebeckerinformedmethereisagermanJew,Mr.NeibauraMatchmakerlivinginthe13ward,andonedayafterschoolhour,Istartettovisithim,asIturnedthecornerandsawhissignIimagentofhearingavoicelikethis‘Youaregoingtogetmar-ried in that house.’” Further, “I was treated very kindly and after several visits Mr. Neibaur began to talk to me about Mormonism.”37Rosenbaumrecalled,“Ibecameinterestedinitsprinciples....IwellrememberBrotherNeibaurbearing his testimony of the truth of the Gospel to me.”38RosenbaumwasbaptizedMarch27,1858.AlexandermodestlynotedinhisdiaryonthedayofRosenbaum’sbaptism,“Mr.MorrisRosenbaumaJewfrom...Prussiawasbaptized.”39Less thanoneweek lateronApril2,1858,AlexanderNeibauradded,“Mr.MorrisandmydaughterAliceBreakelweremarriedbymyselfat my house.”40OnthatdateRosenbaumwroteinhisjournal,“ThiseveningImarriedAliceNeibaurinSaltLakeCity,herfatherperformedtheceremonyat his house.”41

Duringthedecadeofthe1850s,Neibaurwasnotonlyanxiouslyengagedinprovidingforhisfamily,butoneaccountstatesthathewasaninterpretertotheemigrantsandmeteveryemigrantcompanyofforeignconvertswhentheyarrivedintheSaltLakeValley.42HealsomadetimetousehismultipletalentsbyinstructingothersintheGermanlanguage.AsearlyasJanuary28,1851,he recorded that he had “opened a German class.”43

InJuly1854,JuliusandFannyBrooksarrivedintheSaltLakeValley,thefirst-known non-Mormon Jewish family to settle in Utah.44OnJuly9,1854,accordingtoNeibaur,“Mr.JuliusBrooksofShweitnitzinshlesion[Silesia]informet me he had seen my Father.”45EvelineBrooksAuerbach(daughterofJuliusandFannyBrooks)rememberedthatinSaltLakeCity,herfamilymetAlexanderNeibaur.Evelinecontinued:“Heknewquiteafewofmyparents’speople.AshewasaJew,motherandfatherweresurprisedtohearthathehad


joined the MormonChurch. He said hehad studied to be aRabbi ... but wasa dentist by profes-sion.” Neibaur ex-plained that he andhiswifehadasmallboarding houseand offered to havethe Brooks fam-ilyboardwiththem.The Brooks familyaccepted the invita-tion, boarding withthe Neibaur family

fromlateOctober1854tothespringof1855.46

Neibaurmaintainedcorrespondencewithhisfather,whoremainedinEu-ropeformanyyears.HeevenrequestedthatBrighamYoungallowemigrationfundsbeusedtobringhisfatherandsisterBerthatoAmerica,asthefamilydesired.47CharlesE.Schulmanexplains,“AllwingsofJudaismagreethatapersonbornaJewremainsaJeweventhoughhebeindifferenttothereligious

BrighamYoung’sfalseteethmadebyAlexanderNeibaur.TheteetharemadeofporcelainimportedfromFrance.Themouthplateismadeofgold.PresidentYoungonlyusedthe

denturesonspecialoccasions.PhotographcourtesyofThedaL.Bassett.

AlexanderNeibaur’sdentalinstrumentslocatedintheDaughtersof Utah Pioneer Museum, Salt Lake City, Utah. Photograph

courtesyofThedaL.Bassett.


theoriesandpracticesofhisreligion.Onlywhenheremoveshimselfcom-pletely from his people does he cease to be a Jew.”48ThatNeibaurcertainlydidnotremovehimselffromhispeoplemaybeinferredfromhisdiaryentryforDecember25,1859:“HadallmyFamiliesspentingChristmassdayatmyhouse, also Mr. Hery Rosenffeld a jew.”49

Onesourcenotesthatin1877NeibaurwasafrequentvisitortothehomeofJuliusandFannieBrookswhohadmovedbacktoSaltLakeCityafteralivingforawhileinCalifornia.DuringtheeveningshewouldplaycardswithJuliusandanotherJewishfriendnamedFredAuerbachwhoranadrygoodsstorewithhisbrothersonMainStreet.Insuchsettings,Alexanderwasdescribed

as wearing “a home-spun suit and a greyandredwoolscarf.Hewasaveryshortslightman with a long fullbeard, nowwhite.Hisfacewasquiteredandhehadalargewartonhis nose and on onecheek.Whenheplayedcards he would sniffle and every time he didthat the pipe went outandhewouldaskforamatch.”50

AlexanderNeibaurdiedonDecember15,1883, just shy of hisseventy-sixth birth-day.51 Yet his influence on others remainedstrong.Justover threedecadesafterhispass-ing, the Utah Genea-logical Society met in

Salt Lake City to honor his memory; about five hundred people were present. ThetoastmasterfortheeveningwasAlexander’sson-in-law,PresidingBishopCharlesW.Nibley.OthersinattendancewerePresidentJosephF.SmithandAnthonH.LundoftheFirstPresidency,JewishSenatorSimonBamberger,andotherdistinguishedpeople.TheDeseretNewsreported:“Thecharacterand lifeofMr.Neibaurwere laudedby theChurchauthoritieswhospoke;

AlexanderNeibaurandfourofhissons,dateunknown.Front,left-right:Alexander,Hyrum.Back,left-right:Joseph,Isaac,

andNathan.PhotographcourtesyThaisDeGray.


they praising him because hewasaJewandaMormon,andby the Jews present who de-clared that they admired himbecausehewasaMormonandstill a Jew.” Senator Bamberg-er also spoke at the meeting,saying that “he had knownMr. Neibaur for many years,hadhadvariousdealingswithhim,andadmiredhimforhishonesty,integrity,andupright-ness. He admired the pioneerthemore,hesaid,becausehewas a Saint and still a Jew.” BambergerpraisedNeibaurasa man of “sterling worth,” not-ingthat“heneverbeforewassoproudthathewasaJewasonthepresentoccasionwhenso many Jews and Mormonswere assembled together tohonor the name and memoryof one who had been dear toboth of them.”52

Yet none felt dearer toNeibaur thanhis family,whoknew him best. He fatheredfourteenchildrenandleftalegacyofeighty-threegrandchildrenandthirteengreat-grandchildren.53 Inhisautobiographical sketch,Neibaur recalledhowhehad“EmbracedtheTruthinOppositiontoallmyFriends.PassedinConse-quence through hardships & Trials, yet my trust was in the God of Abraham.” In reflecting on his descendants, he wrote: “I do not pen these lines, but for the Gratification of my Posterity. Bearing to them, and unto all who may Read thesefewlines,myTestimony,thatJosephSmithwasaProphetoftheLord,thethingsspokenofintheBible,BookofMormon,sealedwiththeBloodofthemartyrsatCarthagejail,Illaretrue,myPrayeristhatmyPosteritymightwalk in the way of Righteousness Amen.”54

The Julius and Fannie Brooks family, dateunknown. TheBrooks family lived inSaltLakeCityandwerefriendsoftheNeibaur’s.Inherlateryears, Eveline, the oldest daughter shown in thephotograph, wrote fondly of the Neibaur family.PhotographcourtesyoftheHubertHoweBancroft

Library,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley.


Notes

1.EvelineS.[Brooks]Auerbach,ReminiscencesofEvelineS.Auerbach,typescript,16, Hubert Howe Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Eveline was adaughterofJuliusandFannieBrooks,aJewishfamilywhoemigratedtoSaltLakeCityandwhobecamedearfriendswiththeAlexanderandEllenNeibaurfamily.

2. D. Kelly Ogden, “Two from Judah Ministering to Joseph,” Regional Studies in Lat-ter-day Saint Church History: Illinois,ed.H.DeanGarrett(Provo,Utah:DepartmentofChurchHistoryandDoctrine,BrighamYoungUniversity,1995),232.

3.SeeSarahE.N.[Neibaur]O’Driscoll,Autobiography,L.TomPerrySpecialCol-lections,HaroldB.LeeLibrary,BrighamYoungUniversity,Provo,Utah,3;alsoAlexanderNeibaur, Autobiographical Sketch, “Biographical Record of the 5th Quorum of Seventies,” 10,LDSChurchArchives,FamilyandChurchHistoryDepartment,TheChurchofJesusChrist of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Susa Young Gates, “Alexander Neibaur,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine5,no.2(April1914):53,istheonlyoneofthesethreereferenceswhonotesthatheconvertedtoChristianitywhileonhistravels.

4.Auerbach,Reminiscences,17.ThedaLucilleBassett,Grandpa Neibaur Was a Pio-neer(SaltLakeCity:ArtisticPrinting,1988),10–11,notesthemarriagedate.

5.JamesB.Allen,RonaldK.Esplin,DavidJ.Whittaker,Men with a Mission: The Quorum of The Twelve Apostles in The British Mission, 1837-1841(SaltLakeCity:De-seretBook,1992),36,41.

6. Gates, “Alexander Neibaur,” 54–55. Gates indicates that Alexander Neibaur was the first Jewish convert to Mormonism. However, two other Mormon writers have stated thataJewishwomannamedElizabethVanBenthuysenwasbaptizedinKirtlandin1830,making her the first Jewish convert. See Geraldine Hamblin Bangerter and Susan Easton Black,My Servant Algernon Sidney Gilbert:Provide for My Saints(D&C 57:10) (Provo:n.p.1989),7.EllenNeibaurwasnotaseasilypersuadedasAlexander.Sheinitiallyreferredto the Book of Mormon as a “pretty story.” Yet later, “she had a dream in which she saw Elder Richards’ face formed by clouds in the sky. She knew that it signified that she should listen to his message, and shortly thereafter she was baptized.” Ogden, “Two from Judah Ministering to Joseph,” 233.

7.The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star1,no.8(December1840):216(hereaftercitedasMillennial Star).Thispoem,includingthreeadditionalverses,wasputtomusicandispublishedinthecurrentLDShymnal(p.50).

8.Bassett,Grandpa Neibaur Was a Pioneer,15.InthesameyearthattheAlexanderNeibaur family immigrated to Nauvoo, LDS apostle Orson Hyde was on a mission todedicatethelandofPalestineforthereturnoftheJews.AlthoughNeibaurwasofJew-ishdescent,JosephSmithinformedHydethatJewswhoconvertedtoMormonismwereat that time togather toNauvoo.See JosephSmith Jr.,History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,ed.B.H.Roberts,2ded.,rev.,7vols.(SaltLakeCity:DeseretBook,1971),4:232(hereaftercitedasHistory of the Church).FormoreinformationonthegatheringoftheJewsduringthisperiod,seeRichardD.DraperandJessicaE.Draper,“The Gathering of the Jews as Understood in the Nauvoo Period,” Regional Studies in Lat-ter-day Saint Church History: Illinois,ed.H.DeanGarrett(Provo,Utah:DepartmentofChurchHistoryandDoctrine,BrighamYoungUniversity,1995),138–50.

9.AlexanderNeibaur’sdiarycoversaperiodoftwodecades(1841–61).Atypescriptis located in theLDSChurchArchivesandL.TomPerrySpecialCollections,BrighamYoungUniversity,Provo,Utah.


10.Neibaur,Diary,March29-30,1841.11.Neibaur,Diary,April13,1841.12.See Millennial Star4,no.10(February1844):147.13.Neibaur,Diary,April18,1841.14.Neibaur,AutobiographicalSketch,10.15.Neibaur,Diary,April21,1841.16.Times and Seasons2,no.19(August2,1841):502.17.Nauvoo Neighbor 3,no.23(October29,1845):3.18.Bassett,Grandpa Neibaur Was a Pioneer,23.19.Forexample,seeNeibaur,Diary,May24,1841:“CalledatJ.Smith10o’clock

. . . took dinner, read German.” Another account dated June 2, 1841, reads: “Saw Mr. S. [Joseph Smith] all forenoon, wife sick. Read German all forenoon.”

20.History of the Church,6:267.21.History of the Church, 6:426.22.Neibaur,AutobiographicalSketch,10.23.History of the Church,6:402.24.Auerbach,Reminiscences,16.25. This treatise appeared in two parts. The first in the Times and Seasons4,no.14

(June1,1843):220–23;andthesecondintheTimes and Seasons 4,no.15(June15,1843):233–34.

26.JamesB.Allen,“EightContemporaryAccountsofJosephSmith’sFirstVision:What Do We Learn From Them?” The Improvement Era 73,no.4(April1970):6.

27.Neibaur,Diary,May,24,1844.Neibaur’saccounthasbeenpublishedinDeanC.Jesse,ed.,The Papers of Joseph Smith,2vols.(SaltLakeCity:DeseretBook,1989-1992),1:459-61.ComparewithJS–History1:5–19.

28.TheLatter-daySaintswere forced fromNauvooby jealousmobs.Theybegantheir exile on 4 February 1846. The poor who were left did not flee the city until the fall of1846.

29.Neibaur,AutobiographicalSketch,10.30.Neibaur,Diary,October14,16,21,27,1848.31.Deseret News 1,no.1(June15,1850):8.TheDeseret News companywasfound-

edin1850atSaltLakeCity.32.In1989,theUtahDentalAssociationrecognizedNeibaur’spioneerworkinden-

tistrywhenitcarriedanarticlewrittenbyThedaBassettitled“Utah’sFirstDentist,Alex-ander Neibaur,” U D Action(March/April1989):5.

33. See Blanche E. Rose, “Early Utah Medical Practice,” Utah Historical Quarterly 10,nos.1-4(1942):33.EvelineS.AuerbachnotesthattheNeibaurfamilywasfullytrustedandfriendswithanumberofChurchleaders.“HewasagoodfriendofBrigham’s[,]John[George] Q. Cannon, Wooley, Grant, Woodruff, in fact all the 12 held him in high esteem. He never betrayed a trust.” Auerbach, Reminiscences, 17.

34.Bassett,Grandpa Neibaur Was a Pioneer,35.FormoreinformationonhisearlypioneerdenistryinUtah,see Rose, “Early Utah Medical Practice,” 32–33.

35.Deseret News 2,no.1(November15,1851):4.Neibaurcontinuedtorunthead-vertisementintheDeseret News untilJanuary22,1853.

36.LeonL.Watters,The Pioneer Jews of Utah(NewYork:AmericanJewishHistori-calSociety,1952),23.

37.MorrisD.Rosenbaum,ReminiscenceandJournal,November1857,LDSChurchArchives.

38.MorrisD.Rosenbaum,Statement,inElizaR.SnowSmith,Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow(SaltLakeCity:DeseretNewsCompany,1884),359–60.


39.Neibaur,Diary,March27,1858.40.Neibaur,Diary,April2,1858.Wattersalsonoteshissuccessasamatchmakerby

pointingoutthatNeibaur“advantageouslymarriedofftheelevenofhisfourteenchildrenwho reached maturity.” Watters, The Pioneer Jews of Utah,24.

41.Rosenbaum,ReminiscenceandJournal,April2,1858.42.Auerbach,Reminiscences,17.43.Neibaur,Diary,January28,1851.44. Jack Goodman, “Jews in Zion,” in The Peoples of Utah,ed.HelenZ.Papanikolas

(SaltLakeCity:UtahStateHistoricalSociety,1976),190.WattersprovidesbackgroundonJuliusandFannyBrooks.SeeWatters,The Pioneer Jews of Utah,123–25.HistorianJuan-ita Brooks indicates that “Fanny” was the nickname of Mrs. Isabell Brooks. See Juanita Brooks,History of the Jews in Utah and Idaho(SaltLakeCity: WesternEpics,1973),16.

45.Neibaur,Diary,July9,1854.46.Auerbach,Reminiscences,16.47.Neibaur,Diary,September28,1852.HisfatherandhissisterBerthaneverdid

immigratetoAmerica.ThatNeibaurdidnotforgethisfatherisevidencedbythefactthatAlexandernamedoneofhissonsNathanAlexander.SeeNeibaur,Diary,June18,1856.

48.CharlesE.Shulman,What It Means to be a Jew (NewYork:Crown,1960),223.TraceeRosen,rabbioftheCongregationKolAmiinSaltLakeCity,Utah,believes,“AmoreaccuratestatementwouldbethatalthoughNeibaurwouldhavebeenconsideredanapostatefromaJewishreligiousperspective,he[Neibaur]stillmaintainedcloserelation-ships with his family members and other members of the Jewish community.” Tracee RosentoFredE.Woods,April2007.

49.Neibaur,Diary,December25,1859.50.SeeAuerbach,Reminiscences,59-62.Formore informationon theexperience

oftheearlyJewishUtahpioneers,seeEileenHalletStone,A Homeland in the West: Utah Jews Remember (SaltLakeCity:UniversityofUtahPress,2001),55-118.

51. “An Historic Character, Synopsis of the Life of Alexander Neibaur,” Deseret Eve-ning News17,no.22(December17,1883):5.AshorterobituaryappearedintheOgden Daily Herald 3,no.196(December17,1883):2.

52. “‘Mormons’ and Jews Honor Alexander Neibaur’s Memory,” Deseret Evening News64,no.63(March14,1914):2.Duringtheearlytwentiethcentury,therecontinuedtobeagoodrelationshipbetweentheMormonsandJewsinUtah.

53. Gates, “Alexander Neibaur,” 62. For a list of Alexander’s children, see Frank Es-som,Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah (SaltLakeCity:UtahPioneersBookPublish-ingCompany,1913),1065.PrestonNibleycalculated thatNeibaurhada totalposterityof113athisdeath.SeePrestonNibley,“AnHistoricCharacter,SynopsisoftheLifeofAlexander Neibaur,” Stalwarts of Mormonism(SaltLakeCity:DeseretBookCompany),5. Two of Neibaur’s great-grandsons have been influential BYU professors—Hugh Nibley, professorofhistoryandlanguages,andReidNibley,professorofmusic.

54.Neibaur,AutobiographicalSketch,10.Neibaurwrotealamentationinhonorofthe martyred brothers titled “Lamentation: Of a Jew among the Afflicted and Mourning SonsandDaughtersofZion,attheAssassinationoftheTwoChieftiansinIsrael,Josephand Hyrum Smith,” Times and Seasons 5,no.13(July15,1844):591.

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22 Mormon Historical Studies