Background
Bernhisel was born at Sandy Hill, Tyrone Township, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Bernhisel was born at Sandy Hill, Tyrone Township, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1827, and began practicing medicine in New York City.
His name at birth was John Martin Bernheisel, which he changed as an adult. Bernhisel served as the personal physician to Joseph Smith, and lived in his home. He delivered some of Emma Smith"s children.
After Smith"s death, Bernhisel followed Brigham Young and moved west with the majority of the Latter-day Saints.
He settled in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, in 1848 and continued the practice of medicine. He was selected to the Thirty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1859).
After returning briefly to his medical practice, he also ran and served in the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863). Bernhisel also served as regent of the University of Utah.
The couple had one child, also named John Milton Bernhisel (born in 1846).
He died in Salt Lake City on September 28, 1881, and is interned at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.