Benjamin Winchester was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement

Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...

. Winchester was the youngest adult member of Zion's Camp

Zion's Camp

Zion's Camp was a paramilitary expedition of Latter Day Saints, led by Joseph Smith, Jr., from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settlers...

, an original member of the first Quorum of the Seventy, editor of the first independent Mormon

Mormon

The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

 periodical, the Gospel Reflector

Gospel Reflector

The Gospel Reflector was the first independent Mormon periodical. It was published by Benjamin Winchester, the president of the Philadelphia Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....

, president

Branch President

A branch president is a leader of a "branch" congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The calling of branch president is very similar to the calling of bishop, except that instead of presiding over a ward, the branch president presides over a branch...

 of a large branch

Branch (Mormonism)

In denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement , a branch is the term used for what is called a congregation in other Christian denominations.-See also:*Bishop*Stake*Ward...

 of the church in Philadelphia, a zealous missionary

Mormon missionary

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...

 who baptized thousands, a Rigdonite

Rigdonite

Rigdonite is a name given to members of the Latter Day Saint movement who accept Sidney Rigdon as the successor in the church presidency to movement founder, Joseph Smith, Jr. The early history of the Rigdonite movement is shared with the history of the Latter Day Saint movement, but as of the...

 Apostle

Apostle (Mormonism)

In the Latter Day Saint movement, an Apostle is a "special witness of the name of Jesus Christ who is sent to teach the principles of salvation to others." In many Latter Day Saint churches, an Apostle is a priesthood office of high authority within the church hierarchy. In many churches, apostles...

, and ultimately a dissenter who repudiated Mormonism altogether.