Benjamin C. Pykles

Benjamin C. Pykles is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. in anthropology at Brigham Young University. He wishes to thank the staff at the Museum of Church History and Art, Salt Lake City, for their assistance with this article. I am particularly indebted to Mark Staker, who always provided important historical details concerning the ashery, and Donald Enders, Steven Olsen, and T. Michael Smith, who were a constant source of insight and enthusiastic encouragement. This article is intended to be a prelude to their more comprehensive historical work on the Latter-day Saints in Kirtland.