John Van Cott - Early Life and Conversion

Early Life and Conversion

John Van Cott was descended from a Dutch settler named Claes Cornelissen Van Cott who came from Holland to what is now New York in 1662. His father died of consumption when he was 10 years old. He first heard of The Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from his cousin LDS Apostle Parley P. Pratt who was seven years his senior. (John's mother, Lovina Pratt and Parley's father, Jared, were siblings.) Some accounts put this first introduction as early as 1833 but, unlike his cousin, he did not join for some time. In 1835 he married Lucy Sackett and they had four children in Canaan, New York. Some members of the van Cott family confuse their family name to a famous old Van Cats family of Holland. There is no official proof of the connection, nor has any claims of the connection between these two different family names been accepted by any Dutch officials.

In 1843, Lucy joined the church. Historical material is somewhat sketchy here as most sources say that Van Cott himself was baptized by Pratt in Nauvoo in 1844 or 45, but others imply that the family moved to Nauvoo after he was baptized. Records are consistent in saying that the family was in Nauvoo in 1846 and stayed for a time at Pratt's home and that Van Cott donated about $400 towards the completion of the Nauvoo Temple.