Church officials immediately recognized his leadership gifts and offered Hamblin the chance to join them in Nauvoo, Illinois.

His amicable relations with the natives did not go unnoticed—Brigham Young commissioned Hamblin to serve a mission to the Paiutes (believed by the church members to be Lamanites).

After taking a group of Paiute to Salt Lake City (and marrying another wife, Priscilla Leavitt), he encountered John D. Lee, who had just organized the Mountain Meadows massacre of the Baker-Fancher party.

Horrified by the slaughter,[citation needed] Hamblin recovered all of the surviving children from the party and brought them back to Santa Clara.

Identical rooms were constructed on opposite ends of the house, to accommodate Hamblin's two wives, each with a fireplace and staircase to the second floor.

The dedication was held under the direction of State Senator Orval Hafen, and was part of a two-day, 500-person Hamblin family reunion.

[7] The Jacob Hamblin House first opened, under church control, in April 1975,[8] but closed that August for additional restoration work and repairs.