William W. Cluff

Who was William W. Cluff?

William Wallace Cluff was an American Latter-day Saint missionary and leader in the 19th Century, and a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature.

Cluff was born in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio. His parents David Cluff and Sr. and Elizabeth Hall joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when Cluff was about one. In 1837 they moved west, intending to go to Missouri, but were delayed by illness and stopped in Springfield, Illinois. In 1840 they moved to Nauvoo to be with the body of the Church, and then moved west in 1846.

He arrived in Utah in 1850, and in 1853 he served in the Nauvoo Legion during the Walker War. From 1854-1858 Cluff served as a missionary in Hawaii, and from 1860-1863 he served another mission, this time in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In October 1863 he married Ann Whipple.

In 1864 Cluff went to Sandwich Islands with Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, Ezra T. Benson and Alma T. Smith to respond to messages from Jonathan Napela and other local elders that Walter M. Gibson, who had been sent by Brigham Young to preside over the Church in Hawaii, which was committing irregularities such as selling the priesthood.