Keywords

Eli Wiggill, Susannah Wiggill, South Africa, LDS in South Africa, Latter-day Saint pioneers

Abstract

Eli Wiggill’s story of migration from Gloucester, England, to South Africa and then to Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, epitomizes an inspiring and informative example of the gathering of the Saints to Zion in the mid-nineteenth century. Eli and his wife, Susannah Bentley Wiggill, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa while Eli served as a Methodist missionary. Both became stalwart members following their conversion. Eli and Susannah Wiggill’s faithful dedication affected the lives of hundreds of South African Saints. This essay adds to scholarship about Eli and Susannah Wiggill’s immigration from England to South Africa, their conversion to the restored gospel, their missionary labors, their role in congregation formation and leadership, and their efforts to gather to Zion while building up and strengthening communities of South African Saints during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s.

Original Publication Citation

Buckley, Jay H., and Joshua Rust. “Eli and Susannah Wiggill: South African Saints.” Journal of Mormon History 49, no. 2 (April 2023): 129-42.