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Steele, James Ephraim, president of the Bingham Stake of Zion, is the son of James Steele and Elizabeth Wylie, and was born in Manchester, England, June 22, 1852. He emigrated with his parents to Utah in 1856. His parents crossed the plains with hand-carts, and James, who was but four years old, had to walk nearly all the way. At a place called Bitter Creek, Wyo., his father died. His mother and her two little boys arrived in Salt Lake City Dec. 25, 1856, and were sent to American Fork, Utah county, where the subject of this sketch was raised and lived until 1885, when he moved to Idaho. He was baptized June 22, 1860, by John Curry. In 1880 he was ordained an Elder by Bishop Leonard E. Harrington; in 1882 he was ordained a Seventy, and in 1886 he was ordained to the office of a High Priest and set apart by Apostle John W. Taylor as Bishop of Iona Ward, which was organized at that time. In 1890 Thos. E. Ricks chose him as his first counselor in the presidency of the Bannock Stake, in which capacity he served about five years. At a Stake conference held at Iona, in June, 1895, Apostle John Henry Smith being present, the Bannock Stake was divided, and all the settlements lying south of the south fork of Snake river were organized into a new Stake called Bingham. Elder Steele was set apart as president of the same June 9, 1895.
Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 vols. Salt Lake City 1:453 |
Biographies 
