Relative short story of Joseph Smith, Jr.
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Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1804 - June 27, 1844) founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is believed by the members of the Church, Latter-day Saints or Mormons, to be the translator of The Book of Mormon. In 1844 he was also the first U.S. Presidential candidate assassinated during a campaign.
The devout Mormon belief is that Smith was chosen by God as a "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" in the "latter days", and to restore Christ's church to a world that had fallen away in apostasy. Critics regarded him and the religion he started with contempt and often with violence. Smith and his legacy continue to evoke strong emotion. His life and works are subject to considerable ongoing debate and research. Some Mormons consider negative criticism as verification of prophecies that Smith's name and reputation would be subject to both praise and scorn.
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Early life
Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont, to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. The Smiths suffered considerable financial problems and moved several times in search of better prosperity.
During the winter of 1812 - 1813 Smith?s leg became seriously infected. Some doctors advised amputation, but Smith's family refused. Smith later recovered, though he used crutches for several years and was for the rest of his life bothered with a limp.
There are reports Smith was tried on March 20, 1826; charged with and convicted of disorderly conduct for so-called money-digging. Some argue associated court documents were forged or were alterered to cast Smith in a unfair light. Other critics argue the trial was an early example what they consider Smith's deceptive nature and use of occult methods.
Smith married Emma Hale on Jan 18, 1827. Some sources report the couple eloped due to the Hale family's disapproval of Smith.
The First Vision
In 1820, not long after the family moved to Palmyra, New York from Vermont, Smith claimed that he was visited by God, Jesus Christ and several angels at the age of fourteen. There are a number of sometimes conflicting records depicting Smith's claims, most of which were made second hand. Given that Smith felt that much of the experience was personal, he did not record it until 1831 or 1832, and detailed accounts were only published about a decade later. Critics claim that the various records are inconsistent. They suggest that Smith's earliest recitals of his experience claim only that an angel visited him, rather than God and Jesus Christ, and that Joseph changed his story over time.
For more details, see First Vision.
After this First Vision, Smith claimed he was visited by an angel, Moroni, three times during the evening of September 22, 1823. Moroni told Smith about gold plates hidden in the ground near his home, on a hill called Cummorah. These plates were said to contain an account of ancient inhabitants of North America, enscribed in "Reformed Egyptian" characters.
The next morning, Smith said he went to the place indicated and tried to recover the plates, but was rebuked by Moroni, who said Smith was obsessed with thoughts of fortune.
Smith claimed Moroni returned on the evenings of September 22, 1824, 1825 and 1826, each night repeating his advice to Smith. Only on September 22, 1827 was Smith allowed to take the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and a breastplate.
Translation
Smith claimed to translate portions of the plates from December 1827 to February 1828, using Emma Smith and her brother Reuben as scribes.
Martin Harris acted as scribe for Smith?s translations from April to June of 1828.
(Need info on the ?Lost 116 Pages?? and Dr Charles Anthon? )
In early April, 1829, Smith began translating again, with Oliver Cowdery as scribe. When translation was complete, Smith claimed to have returned the plates to Moroni.
Rumors and accounts of the gold plates, translations and associated events circulated in the area. Some considered Smith?s claims genuine, while others thought he was a charlatan.
The Book of Mormon (Later subtitled ??Another Testament of Jesus Christ ??) was first published March 26, 1830.
Founder of a religion
Sometime between May, 1829 and April, 1830, Smith and Cowdry claimed that the Biblical figures Peter, James and John appeared to them and ordained them into the Melchezedek Priesthood.
On April 6 1830, Smith and five of his associates incorporated "The Church of Christ" under New York state laws. (Later officially called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) Smith and others immediately began proselytizing for new members.
At this approximate time, Smith began recording what he claimed were prophecies from God. These prophecies were compiled as ??The Book of Commandments,?? later called Doctrine and Covenants.
Ohio
To avoid religious persecution encountered in New York and Pennsylvania, Smith and his wife, Emma, eventually removed to Kirtland, Ohio early in 1831. They lived with Isacc Morley's family while a house was built for them on the Morley farm. Church members gathered in Kirtland and Jackson County, Missouri. While in Kirtland, church members built their first temple. According to its history, church members experienced a number of extraordinary events attendant to the dedication of the temple including: the visitation of Jesus Christ, Moses, Elijah, Elias and numerous angels; speaking and singing in tongues or "divine language" often with translations; heavenly light upon the temple; prophesying; and other spiritual experiences. Some members believed that the Jesus' Millennial reign had come.
The early church grew rapidly, but many non-Mormons felt threatened by the message and actions of the new movement. These conflicts were sometimes violent: On the evening of March 24, 1832 in Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, and tarred and feathered Smith. They threatened Smith with castration and with death, and one of his teeth was chipped when someone attempted to force Smith to drink poison.
This mob action also led to the exposure and eventual death of Smith's adopted newborn twins. Sidney Rigdon, another Church leader at the time, was attacked that night and suffered a severe concussion after being dragged on the ground. According to some accounts, Rigdon was delirious for several days, threatening Smith's life and his own wife's life.
After attending to his wounds all night and into the early morning, Smith preached a sermon the following Sunday morning. Some reports state that though members of the mob were present, Smith did not mention the attack.
On January 12, 1838 Smith and Rigdon left Kirtland for Clay 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, a large number of Mormons, including prominent Church leaders, became disaffected in the wake of the Kirtland Safety Society debacle. Those who were not cut off from the Church left Kirtland to gather with the other main body of the Church in Missouri.
Missouri
The Missouri period was marked by mob violence and legal difficulties for Smith and his followers. Many of the old settlers saw the Mormon settlers as a religious and political threat, especially because Mormons were anti-slavery, unlike most Missourians at the time, and the Mormons tended to vote in blocs. In addition, Mormons purchased vast amounts of land, in which to establish settlements. Soon the old Missourians and new settlers were engaged in numerous skirmishes, culminating in the Battle of Crooked River.
This battle led to exaggerated and false reports of a Mormon insurrection (Were these reports exaggerated or were these reports false? Were there conflicting reports? Is more detail needed?). Due to these reports, Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issued the infamous "Extermination Order," which stated, in part, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State."
In 1976 Missouri Governor Christopher S. Bond formally apologized for the treatment of Mormons in Missouri and officially rescinded the "Extermination Order". The full text of the order is available at this external link:
http://www.unco.edu/drshaff/Hist330Spr2001/extermorder.htm
Soon after this "Extermination Order" was issued, a hastily-organized militia attacked several Mormon settlements. In Far West, Smith and several other prominent Church leaders were later taken into custody on charges of treason. Although they were civilians, the militia leader threatened to try Smith and others in a militay tribunal and have them immediately executed. Were it not for the bravery of General Alexander Doniphan of the militia, the murderous plans of General [name] would have likely been carried out. Instead Smith and three of his associates spent several, miserable, winter months in Liberty Jail awaiting trial that never came. With no legal grounds for trying the captives, their captors eventually allowed them to escape. They fled to join the other members of the church in Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi River. By the spring of 1839, most members of the church had already been driven out of Missouri into Illinois.
King Follett Discourse
Two months before his death, Smith delivered a discourse on the nature of God to a Church Conference at the funeral service of Elder King Follett. This address delivered at a peak point in the doctrinal development of Church theology is considered by devout Mormons one of the most precious expositions on the nature of God given by Smith. See King Follett Discourse.
Nauvoo
After leaving Missouri in 1839, Smith and his followers made headquarters in a town called Commerce, Illinois, which they soon renamed Nauvoo. Again the church began to flourish as faithful Mormons built up the city. But again, tensions arose, both within the church and between the church and some of its neighbors.
Some sources report that Smith was violently ill on 05 November 1843, and that Smith accused his wife Emma of poisoning him. Some of these reports were hearsay, and others not recorded until many years after the supposed events.
Smith's death in Carthage
Eventually, several of Smith's disaffected associates joined together to publish a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor. Its first and only issue was published June 7, 1844.
The bulk of the issue was devoted to criticism of Joseph Smith. The article stated three main points: The opinion that Smith had once been a true prophet, but had fallen by advocating polygamy and other controversial doctrines; The opinon that Smith, as Mayor of Nauvoo and President of the church had too much power and had overstepped his bounds; And the belief that Smith had corrupted young women by forcing or coercing them into polygamy.
(Smith was privately advocating, practicing and inducting others into the practice of Plural Marriage, although leaders of the Church denied the practice as rumor. See Plural Marriage (Mormonism))
The Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance declaring the press a nuisance designed to promote violence against Smith and the Latter-day Saints. They reached this decision after some discussion, including citation of William Blackstone's legal canon that included a libellous press as a nuisance. Under the council's new ordinance, Smith, as Mayor of Nauvoo and in conjunction with the city council, ordered the city marshall to destroy the paper and the press on June 10, 1844.
The destruction of printing press caused considerable distubance, and Smith called out the Nauvoo Legion, a private milita of about 5000 men. Smith declared martal law on June 18.
Smith fled Nauvoo into Iowa, intending to depart for the Rocky Mountains and reestablish the church there. However, he returned at the request of Mormons who feared that a militia gathering outside the city would make good on its threats to attack the city if Smith was not delivered into its custody.
Illinois Governor Ford proposed a trial in Carthage, the county seat. Smith agreed and stayed in the Carthage Jail, under the promised protection of the Govenor. Ford agreed to stay in Carthage, but left after Smith's inprisonment.
Before a trial could be held, a mob of about 200 armed men (some painted as indians) stormed Carthage Jail. Some in the mob were militia members appointed to protect Smith.
Smith attempted to defend himself and his associates with a small pistol, but was shot from behind and in front as he tried to escape through a window in his second story room.
There are varrying accounts of what happened next. Some claim Smith was dead when he landed after his fall; other accounts suggest Smith was alive when mob members propped his body against a nearby well and shot him several more times before they fled. Another account claims one man tried to decapitate Smith.
Smith's brother Hyrum was killed in the attack. Smith's associates, John Taylor and Dr. Willard Richards, were also present. Taylor was seriously wounded in the attack, but aided by Richards.
After Smith's murder
After Smith's murder several people claimed leadership of the church. These included Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, James Strang, and Smith's young son, Joseph Smith III. Most regarded Young as the only legitimate successor.
About two years after Smith's death in Carthage, Illinois, mob violence continued to grow and threaten the Mormon establishment at Nauvoo. Brigham Young, hoping to find peace for the Latter-day Saints led many Mormons out of the United States and into Utah, which was then Mexican Territory.
This new settlement was named the "State of Deseret". This was an area in the Rocky Mountains separated from other settlements where Mormons flourished, largely away from persecution and conflict. (See Utah War.) As of 2003 the LDS church claims over 11 million adherents and has achieved world-wide significance.
In 1945 Fawn M. Brodie's controversial biography of Smith, No Man Knows My History was published, making many claims contrary to official LDS statements about Smth's life and works. The biography has been criticised as speculative and biased, but remains notable.
Prominent LDS writer Hugh Nibley challenged many of Brodie's claims in No, Ma'am, That's Not History.
See History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
See Controversies regarding Mormonism for some topics related to Joseph Smith.
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Joseph Smith, Jr." http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith September 20, 2003
