Sidney Rigdon

Why was Sydney Rigdon so valuable to Joseph Smith and Mormonism?
Sydney Rigdon was one of the most influential and skilled religious organizers, ministers, biblical scholars and missionaries in northern Ohio during the 1820s. He was closely connected to Thomas and Alexander Campbell, the founder of The American Restoration Movement.
“As the 1820's ended, Rigdon's territory included seventeen congregations. Disciple records mention seven lieutenants who traveled with Sidney and preached to congregations other than their own: William Collins of the Chardon congregation, Matthew Clapp of Mentor, Symonds Ryder and Zeb Rudolph of Hiram, John Murdock of Orange, Lyman Wight of Kirtland, and Orson Hyde of Florence. After Rigdon's conversion to Mormonism, Murdock, Wight, and Hyde followed him with many from their congregations.”
“Sidney had spent years grooming a number of individuals for the ministry: administrators like Edward Partridge, Newell K. Whitney, Isaac Morley, and Frederick G. Williams; missionaries like Parley P. Pratt, John Murdock, and Orson Hyde; and scholars like Eliza R. Snow and Orson Pratt, all of whom would play significant roles in the fledgling church.”
“Sidney's skill and fame as a religious orator provided ready audiences throughout northern Ohio.” Hundreds of Rigdon’s congregants and those curious in his new religious ideals would end up joining the Mormon Movement in Ohio. Thanks to Rigdon and his associates “The Mormon Movement struck the entire Western Reserve like a roaring storm.”