Portraits of the past: Benbow home and farm

On March 4, 1840, Elder Wilford Woodruff arrived at the home of John and Jane Benbow at Hill Farm near the village of Castle Frome, Herefordshire, England. He preached that evening and spent the night there. Two days later, Elder Woodruff baptized the Benbows and several others into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a pond on the Benbow farm. The influence and generosity of the Benbows were monumental in this chapter of LDS history. The next months proved to be one of the most productive periods of missionary conversions in the history of the church. During his time in the Herefordshire area, Elder Woodruff frequently used the Benbow home as a base for his missionary labors there and in several other counties.