Levi Hancock: A President of the Seventy Leads the Mormon Battalion with Spiritual Authority (1846–1847)

Levi Ward Hancock was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on April 7, 1803. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ohio in 1830 after hearing missionaries preach. Within a year, his commitment was so evident that he was called on a mission to teach the gospel in Missouri.

By 1834, he participated in Zion's Camp with the Prophet Joseph Smith—a pivotal expedition to assist Church members who had lost their land. Though the mission did not recover the land, it deepened Hancock's willingness to serve God at any cost. His faithfulness was recognized when, in 1835, he was called as one of the seven Presidents of the Seventy—one of the highest leadership positions in the early Church.

When persecution forced the Saints from Nauvoo, Levi cared for his elderly mother-in-law and young relatives on the journey to Council Bluffs. When Brigham Young issued the call for the Mormon Battalion in 1846, Levi Hancock—now 43 years old and a General Authority of the Church—answered. He became the only General Authority to join the Battalion.

For the entire 2,060-mile march from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego, Levi served as the Battalion's unofficial chaplain and spiritual leader. He was a gifted musician who composed songs about their experiences and served as a fifer. His journal faithfully recorded the journey—drawings, observations, spiritual insights—providing a primary source of immeasurable worth.

At the beginning of his service, in August 1846, Levi wrote: "The Lord is good and merciful. He has shown himself so to me. Let me ever praise him and do all the good I can for his kingdom."

His journey testifies to a principle often forgotten: that the greatest acts of faith are not always the most celebrated, but those performed by those who have already sacrificed much, yet answer the call to serve once more. After his discharge in July 1847, Levi traveled to Utah, reunited with his family, and continued to serve God faithfully until his death in 1882.