Hamblin continued to serve as a missionary to the Native American tribes in the Southern Utah area. Following enactment of Edmunds Act of 1882, an arrest order was issued naming Hamblin and others known to practice polygamy. Hamblin moved his families from Utah into Arizona and New Mexico and some even moved into Chihuahua, Mexico. Until his death on 31 August 1886, Hamblin was usually moving from one family to another to evade federal officers and see to the needs of his widespread family. He had four wives: Lucinda Taylor (married April 1839, separated February 1849); Rachel Judd (married 30 September 1849); Sarah Priscilla Leavitt (married September 1857); Louisa Boneli (married 16 November 1865). He fathered twenty-four children and had several adopted children. His lasting legacy was as a missionary and friend to the Native Americans, helping smooth relations between them and the more recent arrivals to the land.

See: Paul Dayton Bailey, Jacob Hamblin, Buckskin Apostle (1961); Juanita Brooks, Jacob Hamblin: Mormon Apostle to the Indians (1980); and Pearson Harris Corbett, Jacob Hamblin: The Peacemaker (1952).

Jay M. Haymond