Elisha Averett: The Twin Fifer Who Survived a Mob's Stone to the Skull, Marched in the Battalion, and Helped Build Four Utah Temples (1810–1890)

Elisha Averett was born December 12, 1810, in Maury County, Tennessee — a twin, with his brother given the name Elijah. The two boys carried the names of two great Old Testament prophets.

Elisha served as a fifer — a military musician — in the Black Hawk War of 1832, in the same company as a neighbor named Robert Witt, alongside a fellow volunteer named Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.

He joined the Church in 1835, moved to Far West, Missouri, and was driven out with the Saints under Boggs' Extermination Order. He was one of approximately 176 men who signed Brigham Young's covenant at Far West: to never desert the poor of the Saints until they were out of reach of the exterminating order.

During mob violence at Nauvoo, Elisha received a serious injury to his skull from a jagged stone thrown by a member of the mob. Surgeons performed a serious operation to insert a metal plate into his skull. He survived. He recovered completely, with no lasting effects. Those who recorded his life called it miraculous.

His wife Dorcas died in childbirth in 1843. He was one of 25 men endowed in the Nauvoo Temple and served as its chief mason and then as doorkeeper.

On March 24, 1846, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and John Taylor called at Elisha's tent to meet in council with Parley P. Pratt and others to organize provisions for the westward exodus.

He enlisted in the Mormon Battalion in July 1846, serving as an officer and musician in Company A. He walked the full 4,000 miles round trip.

After returning home, Elisha Averett helped construct the Saint George, Manti, and Salt Lake Temples — all with his brother Elijah. He also helped build Cove Fort, Kanab Fort, Pipe Spring Fort, the Dixie Cotton Mill, and the Heber Tabernacle.

His son Byron later said: 'My father loved the Prophet Joseph with his whole being. There was nothing that he would not have done for him, even to the laying down of his life.'