Isaac was called by revelation on a mission to Missouri to preach the Gospel. He traveled through the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. (June 7, 14, 1831)
Isaac, in traveling from Clay County, Missouri to Kirtland, Ohio, preached in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. (Jan. 27, April 29, 1835)
Isaac traveled in the Eastern States together with Bishop Edward Partridge. (June 2, Oct. 29, Nov. 10, 1835)
Isaac came to Utah in 1847. He was first counselor to the first bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was the first man to settle in Manti, Sanpete, UT. He plowed the first furrow there and also built the first home. He made the first table in that new settlement.
Isaac was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature, 1851-55. He was made president of the Lima, Illinois Stake, Oct. 22, 1840. He was made presiding member of the Salt Lake high council, Feb. 15, 1849.
Isaac served in the War of 1812.
Isaac journeyed to Missouri to preach the gospel. (Doctrine and Covenants 52:23) Isaac was told the Lord's anger towards war. (Doctrine and Covenants 64:15-16, 20)
Isaac was first counselor to Bishop Edward Partridge from 1831 to 1840. He was set apart June 3, 1831. This office he filled until the demise of Bishop Partridge in 1840.
Isaac was an early settler in the so-called Western Reserve, being one of the men that cut down the woods and introduced agriculture in northern Ohio. He served his country in the war with Great Britain in 1812-15, and also held the position of captain in the Ohio militia.
When Oliver Cowdery and missionary companions passed through Ohio in the latter part of 1830 Isaac was among the first converts. At that time he was the owner of a good farm and considerable property, which he devoted to the establishment of the latter-day work.
In June, 1831 Isaac was appointed by revelation to travel to Missouri in company with Ezra Booth, preaching by the way. (Doctrine and Covenants 52) During the month of July, 1833 the Jackson county mob tarred and feathered Bishop Edward Partridge. Isaac and five others stepped forward and offered themselves as a ransom for their brethren, willing to be scourged or die, if it would but appease the anger of the mob.
In 1835 Isaac visited the Eastern States on a mission, in company with Bishop Partridge. On their return to Kirtland, in November, Joseph the prophet wrote: "The word of the Lord came to me, saying: 'Behold I am well pleased with my servant Isaac Morley and my servant Edward Partridge, because of the integrity of their hearts in laboring in my vineyard, for the salvation of the souls of men.'" Isaac attended the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in March, 1836 and received his blessings in the same, after which he returned to Missouri and helped to locate the city of Far West, where he settled his family. He remained at Far West until the arrival of General John Clark and army with the exterminating order of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. Isaac was one of the 56 citizens taken by the military and marched to Richmond, Ray county to await trial; he was turned over to the civil authorities at that place, where he and others were discharged by Judge Austin A. King, November 24, 1838.
Upon the final expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, Isaac located in Illinois, near Lima. The settlement made by him and others was named Yelrome. Here he began to gather round him the comforts of life by his industry, being engaged principally in the coopering business. In the fall of 1845 his houses, cooper's shop, property and grain were burned by a mob, and he was driven from the ashes by his hard-earned home to Nauvoo. He ramined there until the expulsion of the Saints from Illinois. He removed to Winter Quarters, where he buried his wife, and emigrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1848.
In the fall of 1849 Isaac took charge of the company which settled Sanpete valley. The winter which followed was very severe, and notwithstanding the supplies of the settlers were barely sufficient to subsist upon, the Indians were not allowed to starve; some of the settlers had to shovel the snow from the grass that their animals might have something to eat. These things nearly disheartened most of the settlers yet "Father Morley", as he was familiarly called, was never discouraged. He exhorted his brethren to diligence, faithfulness and good works, and encouraged them by telling them that it would be one of the best settlements in the mountains.
Isaac lived to see Sanpete valley dotted with thriving villages and termed the granary of Utah. Isaac served as a senator in the general assembly of the provisional State of Deseret. In 1851 he held a seat in the legislative council of Utah Territory, as a councilor from Sanpete county. He was re-elected to this office in 1853 and 1855. During the last ten years of his life he devoted himself exclusively to the duties of his calling as a Patriarch, conferring blessings upon thousands of the Saints.
Isaac was of a kind and gentle disposition, unassuming in his manner; and his public preaching and that of his fellow-laborer, Bishop Partridge, was spoken of by the Prophet Joseph in the following characteristic terms: "Their discourses were all adapted to the times in which we live and the circumstances under which we are placed. Their words are words of wisdom, like apples of gold in pictures of silver, spoken in the simple accents of a child, yet sublime as the voice of an angel."