From the Prophet Joseph’s history:

“It was in December that Elder Sidney Rigdon, a sketch of whose history I have mentioned, came to inquire of the Lord, and with him came that man (of whom I will hereafter speak more fully) named Edward Partridge; he was a pattern of piety, and one of the Lord’s great men, known by his steadfastness and patient endurance to the end.” (And further on, after the revelation was given, appointing him a Bishop, I read the following.) As Edward Partridge now appears by revelation as one of the heads of the Church, I will give a sketch of his history. He was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on the 27^th of August, 1793, of William and Jemima Partridge. His father’s ancestors emigrated from Berwick, Scotland, during the seventeenth century, and settled at Hadley, Massachusetts, on the Connecticut River. Nothing worthy of note transpired in his youth, with this exception: that he remembers (though the precise time he cannot recollect) that the spirit of the Lord strove with him a number of times, insomuch that his heart was made tender, and he went and wept, and that sometimes he went silently and poured the effusions of his soul to God in prayer. At the age of sixteen he went to learn the hatting trade, and continued with the religious world.

He saw no beauty, comeliness, or loveliness in the character of the God that was preached up by the sects. He, however, heard an universal restorationer preach upon the love of God; this sermon gave him exalted opinions of God. And he concluded that universal restoration was right according to the Bible. He continued in this belief till 1828, when he and he wife were baptized into the Campbellite Church, by Elder Sidney Rigdon in Mentor, though they resided in Painsville, Ohio. He continued a member of this Church, though doubting at times its being the true one till P. P. Pratt, O. Cowdery, P. Whitmer and Z. Peterson came along with the Book of Mormon. When he began to investigate the subject of religion anew; went with Sidney Rigdon to Fayette, N.Y., where on the 11^th of December, I (Joseph Smith) baptized him in the Seneca River. Other incidents of his life will be noticed in their time and place.”

(Discovered in Joseph Smith’s history by Emily Dow Partridge Young (Smith)

[see “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 4:21 (15 Sept. 1843); Millennial Star, 5:2 (July 1844); see also Contributor, 6:5 (Oct. 1884)]

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EXTRACT FROM THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH’S JOURNAL

“As Edward Partridge now appears by revelation, as one of the heads of the Church, I will give a sketch of his history.

He was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on the 27^th of August, 1793, of William and Jemima Partridge. His father’s ancestors emigrated from Berwich, Scotland during the seventeenth century, and settled at Haldey, Massachusetts, on the Connecticut River. Nothing worthy of note transpired in his youth, with this exception, that he remembers (though the precise time he cannot recollect) that the spirit of the Lord strove with him a number of times, insomuch that his heart was made tender, and he went and wept, and sometimes he went silently and poured the effusions of his soul to God in prayer. At the age of sixteen he went to learn the hatting trade, and continued as an apprentice for about four years. At the age of twenty he had become disgusted with the religious world. He saw no beauty, comeliness, or loveliness in the character of the God that was preached up by the sects. He, however, heard a universal Restorationer preach upon the love of God; this sermon gave him exalted opinions of God, and he concluded that universal restoration was right according to the bible.

He continued in this belief till 1828, when he and his wife were baptized into the Campbellite Church, by Elder Sidney Rigdon, in Mentor, though they resided in Painsville, Ohio. He continued a member of this Church, though doubting at times its being the true one, till P. P. Pratt, O. Cowdery, P. Whitmer and Z. Peterson came along with the Book of Mormon. When he began to investigate the subject of religion anew; went with Sidney Rigdon to Fayette, N.Y., where on the 11^th of December, I (Joseph Smith) baptized him in the Seneca River. Other incidents of his life will be noticed in their time and place.”

[See “History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 4:24 (1 Nov. 1843); Millennial Star, 5 (June 1844)]