William Bickerton was a coal miner from England who emigrated to the United States and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1845. Without ever having met the church’s founding prophet, he soon came to see himself as Joseph Smith’s true heir, leading what came to be called simply The Church of Jesus Christ, but more commonly referred to as the Bickertonites.

Despite founding the third largest church tracing its lineage back to Joseph Smith, Bickerton’s biographer Daniel P. Stone calls him a forgotten prophet—and he’s not referring to the memories of members of the Salt Lake-based church. He says in many ways Bickerton has been forgotten in his own movement.

Daniel P. Stone holds BA and MA degrees in history from the University of Florida and Florida Atlantic University. He has taught classes at Broward College, Schoolcraft College, University of Detroit Mercy, and Wayne County Community College. Currently he is a researcher at a private library-archive in Detroit, where he and his wife Laura, and daughter, Lily, live. He is a deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ established by William Bickerton.

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