Mr. John W. White's Defense of Mormon Missionaries
Published October 13, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
In 1887, John W. White, a member of a Free Thinkers association in Bristol, England, showed remarkable courage by defending LDS missionaries against public accusations made by William Jarman, an apostate. He challenged Jarman to a public debate and used the local press to advocate for the Saints during a time of intense public prejudice ('the crusade'). He also consistently provided hospitality and kindness to the missionaries.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 64, No. 13, 27 March 1902, p. 203):
Mr. John W. White, a member of the Bristol Free Thinkers, has been a true friend to the Elders in that city. He has frequently opened his house to them, and has on several occasions defended them against the attacks of the apostate Jarman, and others of his class, both in public and through the columns of the local press.
In Their Own Words
“Mr. White had gained the warm friendship of the ‘Mormon’ missionaries, in the Bristol Conference, by a very earnest and manly defense he made in behalf of the ‘Mormon’ people as a whole, and their missionaries in particular, in answer to the false and dreadful accusations made against them by an apostate, William Jarman. Mr. White challenged Jarman to a public debate on the ‘Mormon’ question, and he defended our Elders, and people, through the public press of the city. At the time Mr. White commenced his defense of the Latter-day Saints, it required considerable courage to speak in their favor. It was during the period known as the ‘crusade,’ and there were but few non-‘Mormons,’ at home or elsewhere, possessed of sufficient fortitude to defend the people who were at that time so universally spoken against. Mr. White made the missionaries welcome at his home, and treated them with the greatest kindness. — Millennial Star 64:13”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 27 March 1902 (Vol. 64, No. 13). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1902-03-27_64_13 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 64, No. 13, 27 March 1902, p. 203 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1902-03-27_64_13
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