Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was the principal founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement,a religious faction commonly knownn as Mormonism. Smith's followers revere him as a latter-day prophet. Adherents to denominations originating from Joseph Smith's teaching number approximately thirteen million. While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often commonly known as the "Mormon" Church) is by far the largest denomination with over 12 million members, other denominations range in size from around 250,000 (in the Community of Christ) to less than a few hundred members in the smallest sects.

Though many people were converted to the message of the gospel restoration taught by Joseph Smith, he likewise was actively opposed throughout his ministry. Smith's teachings were not welcomed by the existing Christian community. This rejection was later compounded by other detractors who felt he possessed too much political and military power for a religious leader.

Early life, family, and religious experiences

Main article: Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.

Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont (in what is today South Royalton), the fifth child of Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. After attempting to establish roots in various towns in Vermont, but being forced out by three successive years of crop failures, the Smith family settled in western New York, and began working a farm just outside the border of the town of Palmyra (Berge 1985).

Although young Joseph assisted his father and elder brothers in farming by clearing land, hauling rocks, and other duties, his mother, Lucy, reported that as a boy Joseph was often found in serious reflection thinking about the welfare of his soul. He wrote later that he had been troubled about the choices of religion available, feeling that he was too young "and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong", and although he was drawn somewhat towards the Methodist sect, he did not identify fully with any of the parties.

At Palmyra, Joseph Smith, Sr., opened a "cake and beer shop," carrying gingerbread, pies, boiled eggs, root-beer and other similar products (Tucker 1867, pp. 14–15).

Smith claimed that he had a theophany when he was about fourteen years old, in which God and Jesus spoke to him. This theophany has become colloquially known as the First Vision. In 1823, when Smith was seventeen, his family reported that Joseph described being visited by a heavenly messenger (Moroni) who directed him to a hill near his home where this angel indicated was buried a set of Golden Plates and other artifacts. The angel, Smith said, had buried the artifacts in about 400 C.E., and had been charged with their protection. By carefully following the messenger's instructions, Smith claimed he would eventually be able to retrieve the Golden Plates, which were said to contain the religious records of some of the former inhabitants of the Americas, engraved in ancient glyphs.

Smith reported that he was not allowed to receive the plates until 1827. In the meantime, with his father and brothers, he was said to participate in a number of precious ore mining operations for which later critics alleged him to be a treasure-seeker. While engaged in these mostly gold and silver pursuing activities in New York and Pennsylvania, he met his future wife Emma Hale and became engaged. Emma's father, a participant in a mining venture, disapproved of Smith. However, the couple eloped in early 1827.

After their marriage, Smith returned to Palmyra and moved in with his parents. It had been four years since Smith's account of the first visit from the angel Moroni and his message concerning the gold plates. During these intervening four years, Smith described additional, periodic visits occurring with the angel until finally, in September 1827, Smith indicated that Moroni allowed him to take the gold plates but strictly forbade him from initially showing them to any person without authorization. Three of Smith's associates (referred to in Mormonism as the "Three Witnesses") later stated having seen the plates in a religious vision; and later eight relatives and friends of Smith (the "Eight Witnesses") stated that Smith had shown them the plates.

1827 to 1831

Main article: Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1831

Soon after Smith indicated he had received the Golden Plates, his focus turned to producing what he described as a translation of the engravings on the plates. With the financial and moral support of a wealthy Palmyra landowner named Martin Harris, Smith set off with Emma to Harmony, Pennsylvania to live near Emma's family.

According to his wife's own account, once in Harmony Smith began transcribing characters engraved on the plates and attempted to translate some of them by looking into the Urim and Thummim, a set of "large spectacles" he said was among the artifacts he acquired from Moroni. Smith's friends at the time say that the spectacles were too large to be worn, and that while viewing them, Smith placed them into his hat and covered his face.

Harris came to Harmony in February 1828 to act as Smith's scribe (Roberts 1902, p. 19). By the middle of June 1828, Smith had dictated about 116 manuscript pages of text (Roberts 1902, p. 20), (Smith et al. 1835, sec. 36, v. 41)). Harris, however, who was having marital problems at the time, convinced Smith to allow him to take the manuscript pages home to Palmyra to show his skeptical wife. At about the same time, Emma gave birth to the young couple's first child (Smith 1853, p. 118), but the boy was stillborn (Howe 1834, p. 269). By the time Smith was able to inquire about the manuscript pages, Harris informed Smith that they had been lost.

Smith indicated that he was devastated by the loss of these first records. Smith returned to Harmony and began dictating to Emma what would become the third section in the Doctrine and Covenants. This section consists of a supposed revelation in which Smith was rebuked for losing the manuscript pages, but was assured that all was not lost. Smith said that if he repented of what he had done, God would "only cause thee to be afflicted for a season, and

On April 7, 1829, Smith was joined in Harmony by a new scribe, Oliver Cowdery (Cowdery 1834, p. 14). By at least that time, Smith believed that the work in which he was engaged was a revolutionary and "marvelous work" of religion, and Smith believed Cowdery had a number of "gifts" that would aid in the effort. According to Smith, Cowdery had the "gift" of translating ancient documents, as well as the "gift" of working with the "rod of nature", which would allow him to discern God's will much as Smith claimed to have been doing by looking through his seer stones and Urim and Thummim. Cowdery acted as Smith's scribe for the majority of Smith's dictation.

According to Cowdery and Smith, on May 15, 1829, John the Baptist appeared and ordained them to the Aaronic Priesthood. They report that upon receiving this priesthood they baptized each other immediately thereafter in accordance with their understanding of this priesthood authority. Cowdery and Smith also recount that Peter, James, and John came to them during either May or June 1829 and ordained them to the Melchizedek Priesthood. Latter Day Saints believe that the authority found in these priesthoods was necessary for a complete restoration of Jesus' Ancient Church.

When the dictation was complete, Smith published the work as the Book of Mormon, on March 26, 1830. Later, the subtitle Another Testament of Jesus Christ was added.

On April 6, 1830, Smith founded the first Latter Day Saint church, and soon organized three branches in the surrounding area of New York.

1831 to 1844

Main article: Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1831 to 1844

Life in Kirtland, Ohio

To avoid conflict and persecution encountered in New York and Pennsylvania, Smith and Emma moved to Kirtland, Ohio early in 1831. They lived with Isaac Morley's family while a house was built for them on the Morley farm. Many of Smith's followers and associates settled in Kirtland and to the north in Jackson County, Missouri, where Smith said he was instructed by revelation to build Zion.

In Kirtland the church's first temple was built and many extraordinary events were reported by both Mormons and non-Mormons alike: appearances by Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Elias, and numerous angels; speaking and singing in tongues, often with translations; prophesying; and other spiritual experiences. Some Mormons believed erroneously that Jesus' Millennial reign had begun.

"In early 1832, opposition took a violent turn. On Saturday, March 24, Joseph was dragged from his bedroom in the dead of night. His attackers strangled him until he blacked out, tore off his shirt and drawers, beat and scratched him, and jammed a vial of poison against his teeth until it broke. After tarring and feathering his body, they left him for dead. Joseph limped back to the Johnsons' house and cried out for a blanket. Through the night, his friends scraped off the tar until his flesh was raw." (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 178). The critical historian Fawn Brodie (No Man Knows, 119) speculated that one of John Johnson's sons, Eli, meant to punish Joseph by having him castrated for an intimacy with his sister, Nancy Marinda Johnson, but Bushman states that hypothesis failed. A more probable motivation is recorded by Symonds Ryder, a participant in the event, who felt Smith was plotting to take property from members of the community and a company of citizens violently warned Smith that they would not accept those actions. Coincidentally, the mob action led to the exposure and eventual death of one of Smith's adopted newborn twins. Rigdon suffered a severe concussion after being dragged on the ground. According to some accounts, Rigdon was delirious for several days. The reasons for this attack are disputed.

Many believe that Smith began practicing a form of polygyny, later called Plural Marriage, perhaps as early as 1833. Polygamy (marriage to multiple partners) was illegal in many U.S. States, and was widely perceived as an immoral and misguided practice. (See also Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Jr. and Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1831 to 1844#Plural marriage for more information.) However, Smith is on record of having spoken against polygamy and claiming his innocence of these charges. Smith continued to deny practicing polygamy until his death. Critics cite this as a deliberate deception by Joseph Smith.

On January 12, 1838 Smith and Rigdon left Kirtland for Far West in Caldwell County, Missouri, in Smith's words, "to escape mob violence, which was about to burst upon us under the color of legal process to cover the hellish designs of our enemies." Just prior to their departure, many Latter Day Saints (including prominent leaders) became disaffected in the wake of the Kirtland Safety Society debacle, in which Smith and several of Smith's associates were accused of various illegal or unethical banking actions when the aforementioned bank, presided by Smith, collapsed during a nation-wide banking crisis.

Most of the remaining church members left Kirtland for Missouri.

Life in Missouri

Smith reported early revelations that identified western Missouri as Zion, the place for Mormons to gather in preparation for the second coming of Jesus. Independence, Missouri, was identified as "the center place" () and the spot for building a temple. Smith first visited Independence in the summer of 1831, and a site was dedicated for the construction of the temple. Soon afterward, Mormon converts—most of them from the New England area—began immigrating in large numbers to Independence and the surrounding area.

The Missouri period was marked by many instances of violent conflict and legal difficulties for Smith and his followers. Many factors contributed to deep suspicion, harassment and mob violence against Mormons:

• Latter Day Saints tended to vote in blocs, giving them a degree of political influence wherever they settled.
• Latter Day Saints purchased vast amounts of land in which to establish settlements which threatened the previous residents of the community.
• The majority of Latter Day Saints were northerners and held abolitionist viewpoints, including Smith himself, which clashed with the pro-slavery persuasions of the Missourians.
• The tension was further fueled by the Mormon belief that Jackson County, Missouri, and the surrounding lands were promised to the Church by God and that the Latter Day Saints would soon dominate the area.

All of these things caused many local leaders and residents to see the Latter Day Saint community as a religious and political threat.

The Latter Day Saints had been migrating to Missouri ever since Smith had claimed the area to be Zion. They simultaneously occupyed the Kirtland area, as well as the Independence area for around seven years. After Smith had been forced out of Kirtland in 1838, he, and the rest of the remaining Latter Day Saints from Kirtland, came to Missouri.

Later that year, many of the "old Missourians" and the LDS settlers began and engaged in an ongoing conflict often referred to as the Mormon War. One key skirmish was the Battle of Crooked River, which involved Missouri state troops and a group of Latter Day Saints. There is some debate as to whether the Mormons knew their opponents were government officials.

This battle

Soon after the "Extermination Order" was issued, vigilantes attacked an outlying Mormon settlement and killed seventeen people; an event that was later identified as the Haun's Mill Massacre.

Soon afterward, the 2,500 troops from the state militia converged on the Mormon headquarters at Far West. Smith and several other Church leaders surrendered to state authorities on charges of treason. The militia leader threatened to have them immediately executed. Were it not for the actions of General Alexander William Doniphan in defense of due process, the plans of the militia leaders likely would have been carried out. Doniphan allowed Smith and his party to escape to Nauvoo, Illinois. Though they escaped, Smith was pursued constantly to be returned to face this charge of treason.

The legality of Boggs' "Extermination Order" was debated in the legislature, but its objectives were achieved. Most of the Mormon community in Missouri had either left or been forced out by the spring of 1839.

Life in Nauvoo, Illinois

After leaving Missouri in 1839, Smith and his followers made headquarters in a town called Commerce, Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi River, which they renamed Nauvoo (meaning "to be beautiful"; - the word is found in the Hebrew of Isaiah 52:7 - Latter Day Saints often referred to Nauvoo as "the city beautiful", or "the city of Joseph"—which was actually the name of the city for a short time after the city charter was revoked—or other similar nicknames) after being granted a charter by the state of Illinois. Nauvoo was quickly built up by the faithful, including many new arrivals.

In October 1839, Smith and others left for Washington, D.C. to meet with Martin Van Buren, then the President of the United States. Smith and his delegation sought redress for the persecution and loss of property suffered by the Latter Day Saints in Missouri. Van Buren told Smith, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you."

Work on a temple in Nauvoo began in the autumn of 1840. The cornerstones were laid during a conference on April 6, 1841. Construction took five years and it was dedicated on May 1, 1846; about four months after Nauvoo was abandoned by the majority of the citizens.

In March 1842, Smith was initiated as a Freemason (as an Entered Apprentice Mason on March 15, and Master Mason the next day—the usual month wait between degrees was waived by the Illinois Lodge Grandmaster, Abraham Jonas) at the Nauvoo Lodge, one of less than a half-dozen Masonic meetings he attended. He was introduced by John C. Bennett, a Mason from the northeast.

Nauvoo's population peaked in 1845 when it may have had as many as 12,000 inhabitants (and several nearly-as-large suburbs) — rivaling Chicago, Illinois, whose 1845 population was about 15,000, and its suburbs.

Due to increasing tensions, critics suggested that Nauvoo's charter should be revoked, and the Illinois legislature considered the notion. In response, Smith petitioned the U.S. Congress to make Nauvoo a territory. His petition was declined.

In February, 1844, Smith announced his candidacy for President of the United States, with Sidney Rigdon as his vice-presidential running mate.

Smith's death

Main article: Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.

Several of Smith's disaffected associates at Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois—some of whom asserted that Smith had tried to seduce their wives into plural marriage—joined together to publish a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor. Its first and only issue was published 7 June 1844.

The paper was highly critical of Smith, expounding the beliefs that he had become a fallen prophet, held too much power as both mayor of Nauvoo and President of the Church, and that he was corrupting women through the practice of plural marriage. It also outlined several grievances, including the numerous court actions against Smith and his followers for false imprisonment and violation of rights. The publication of this material disturbed many of Nauvoo's citizens, and the city council responded by passing an ordinance declaring the newspaper a public nuisance designed to promote violence against Smith and his followers. Under the council's new ordinance, Smith, as Nauvoo's mayor, in conjunction with the city council, ordered the city marshal to destroy the paper and the press on June 10, 1844.

The legality of this action was challenged and many accused Smith of violating freedom of the press. Violent threats were made against Smith and the Mormon community. Thomas Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal, a newspaper hostile to the Mormons, editorialized:

War and extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!!!—Can you stand by, and suffer such INFERNAL DEVILS! To ROB men of their property and RIGHTS, without avenging them. We have no time for comment, every man will make his own. LET IT BE MADE WITH POWDER AND BALL!!! (Warsaw Signal, 12 June 1844, p. 2.)

Charges were brought against Smith and he submitted to incarceration in Carthage, the county seat. Smith's brother, Hyrum, and several friends, including John Taylor and Willard Richards, accompanied him to the jail.

After a hearing, Smith was released but rearrested and tried for treason, a charge for which no bail was postable. According to Taylor and Richards, Thomas Ford (Governor of Illinois) promised to take Smith back to Nauvoo; however, he left Carthage without him. At about 5:00 p.m. on June 27, 1844, a mob of about 200 armed men stormed Carthage Jail. The mob shot and killed Smith and his brother Hyrum, and wounded John Taylor.

Smith's legacy

After Smith's death

Smith's death created a crisis for the Latter Day Saints. Their charismatic founder was dead and their hierarchy was scattered on missionary efforts and in support of Smith's presidential campaign. Historian D. Michael Quinn quotes Brigham Young's initial concern after Smith's murder: "The first thing which I thought of was, whether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth." Without "the keys of the kingdom", that is, the appropriate Priesthood authority, Young recognized the possibility that, according to the church's doctrine and Smith's own teachings, the church lacked a divinely-sanctioned leader.

Because of ongoing tensions, the state legislature revoked Nauvoo's city charter and it was disincorporated. All protection, public services, self-government and other public benefits were revoked. Those who lived in the former City of Nauvoo referred to it as the City of Joseph--He being its founder--after this time, until the city was again granted a charter. Without official defenses, city residents continued to be persecuted by opponents, leading Young to consider other areas for settlement, including Texas, California, Iowa, and the Great Basin region.

Succession

Main article: Succession crisis (Mormonism)

Smith left ambiguous or contradictory succession instructions that led to arguments and disagreements among the church's members and leadership, several of whom claimed rights to leadership.

An August 8 1844 conference which established Young's leadership is the source of an oft-repeated legend. Multiple journal and eyewitness accounts from those who followed Young state that when Young spoke regarding the claims of succession by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he appeared to look or sound like the late Smith. Although many of these accounts were written years after the event, there were contemporary records. D. Michael Quinn wrote:

There were contemporary references to Young's "transfiguration." The Times and Seasons reported that just before the sustaining vote at the afternoon session of the August meeting, "every Saint could see that Elijah's mantle had truly fallen upon the 'Twelve.'" Although the church newspaper did not refer to Young specifically for the "mantle" experience, on 15 November 1844 Henry and Catharine Brooke wrote from Nauvoo that Young "favours Br Joseph, both in person, manner of speaking more than any person ever you saw, looks like another." Five days later Arza Hinckley referred to "Brigham Young on hom the mantle of the prophet Joseph has fallen."

Most Latter Day Saints followed Young, but some aligned with other various people claiming to be Smith's successor. Many of these smaller groups were spread out throughout the midwestern United States, especially in Independence, Missouri. Reverberations of the succession crisis continue to the present day.

Mob violence and conflict continued to grow and threaten the Mormon establishment at Nauvoo. By 1847, the city was deemed unsafe and Young led many Latter Day Saints out of the United States and into Utah, which was then Mexican territory.

Major teachings

The amount of Smith's teachings was immense - from the time he established the Church of Chirst in 1830 to his death in 1844, he taught new things continually.

In 1842, Joseph summarized the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Wentworth letter, which contained a series of short doctrinal statements that later became known as the .

Many of his most important teachings are fundamental to Mormon faiths; these are listed below.

Christianity

Main article: Christian views of Jesus

Joseph Smith taught that Jesus was the Christ and the promised Messiah. He also taught that we must follow the example of Christ, and that mankind should pray and worship in the name of Jesus.

He taught that Christ performed the Atonement to save all of humanity from damnation. He began the Atonement in Gethsemane, and went through agony so great that he bled from evey pore

Nature Of God

Main article: Godhead (Mormonism)

Joseph Smith taught that God is the Heavenly Father of all mankind and that mankind is made in His express image. Smith taught that God Himself has a like a man and that God loves us and wants mankind to progress to become like him. Joseph taught that Jesus, God's only begotten son in the flesh, is our example to follow. See also his teachings on the as well as the King Follett Discourse, delivered two months before his death.

Immortality, Eternity, and the Purpose of Life

Smith taught that all of mankind lived before they were born, and that men live after their physical bodies die. He taught that the reason that mankind is on earth is to progress, and that this life is but a "drop in the bucket", a single step in our eternal progression, and part of the Plan of Salvation.

Smith taught that all mankind, good and bad alike, will be resurrected and become immortal, receiving back their bodies whole. It is a gift from God provided by Jesus' Atonement.

However, those who repent and are worthy will receive greater blessings, the greatest of which is Eternal Life, which is to live with God in the Celestial Kingdom. He taught that after the resurrection, "all men will come from the grave as they lie down; whether old or young, there will not be added unto their stature one cubit, neither taken from it.".

Families

Joseph taught that families are a central part of God's plan for mankind, and an important part of our growth and progression. He taught that if people live worthily, that their family relationships can last beyond death so that families can be together forever. See also his teachings on

Because Smith taught the temple ordinance of sealing, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (beginning with Wilford Woodruff) teaches that it is the divine responsibility of every person to search out their ancestors and do their , so that parents can be sealed to children, and families united eternally. This is why they operate the largest in the world.

The Book of Mormon

Main article: Book of Mormon

Smith taught that that "the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion Mormonism, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." According to the title page of the Book of Mormon, it has a purpose, "Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever— And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations." (See also Smith's teachings on )

The Book of Mormon claims to be a record of the former inhabitants of the American continent. It said that these people had a knowledge of Jesus, that they had prophets that recorded their own scriptures that testified of Jesus, that they built temples on the American continent similar to the temple in Jerusalem, that they practiced ordinances such as baptism, sacrament, and the laying on of hands for the conferring of the gift of the Holy Ghost (confirmation).

The Gathering Of Israel

Smith taught that the lost tribes of Israel would literally be gathered back to the land of Palestine and form the nation of Israel once again. Smith taught that he was commanded by the Lord to send Orson Hyde to Israel in 1840 to Israel to dedicate Israel for the return of the Jews.

See also: Mormonism and Judaism

The Word Of Wisdom

Main article: Word of Wisdom

Joseph taught that the Lord revealed to him a code of health designed for Latter-day Saints, in which members of the Church were asked to abstain from tobacco, coffee, tea (except herbal tea), alcoholic beverages, and to eat meat sparingly. In exchange for doing this, members were promised that the Lord would bless them that they "shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; … shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint." In addition, people were promised that they "shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures." Compliance with this policy was not immediately considered mandatory. See the

Temples

Main article: Temple (Mormonism)

In 1832, Smith claimed to recieve a revelation to build a building that could serve as a "house of God" - namely, a temple. He taught that within these temples, ordinances could be performed necessary for the exaltation of mankind. These ordinances could be performed for both the living, as well as the dead.

Major prophecies

Smith's claim to be a prophet of God has led to much controversy. Some of his prophecies are listed in Prophecies of Joseph Smith. Smith was a polarizing figure in his time, and he continues to be a focus of controversy between his millions of followers, most of whom revere him as a prophet with the same authority as prophets in the standard Christian canon, and opponents of Mormonism, who believe he was either delusional or fraudulent.

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