John Carter was baptized in 1832, was ordained an elder, and proselytized with his brother on a mission in Vermont, where they established congregations in North West Bay and Bolton.
In September 1833, Carter moved to Jackson County, Missouri, the location that Smith had identified as the gathering place of Latter Day Saints.
Carter did not immediately leave on this mission, but instead volunteered to be part of Zion's Camp, an expedition of Latter Day Saints that intended to walk from Kirtland to Jackson County, Missouri, in an attempt to regain land that members of the church had been expelled from by non-Mormon settlers.
But there were some who would not give heed to my words.Smith's record from June 24, 1834, while the camp was in Clay County, Missouri, states:[3] This night the cholera burst forth among us, and about midnight it was manifested in its most virulent form.
When the cholera made its appearance, Elder John S. Carter was the first man who stepped forward to rebuke it, and upon this, was instantly seized, and became the first victim in the camp.