Joseph Smith, Jr.
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Full Name Joseph Smith, Jr.
Born December 23, 1805
Place of birth Sharon, Vermont
Died June 27, 1844
Place of death Carthage, Illinois
President of the Church of Christ
First Vision Spring, 1820
Founder April 6, 1830
President January 25, 1832
Predecessor Founder
Successor see Succession crisis
Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805-June 27, 1844) was the principal founder and leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, also known as Mormonism, which includes such denominations as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ. Smith's followers revere him as a latter-day prophet.
Joseph Smith acquired many opponents and many believers throughout his life and is considered to be among the most influential individuals in American history. Smith's teachings were not welcomed by most in the existing Christian community. The doctrines he taught were considered to be blasphemy and contrary to their interpretation of The Bible. Others criticized Smith because of his immense political power ?- during his ministry he was a mayor, an opponent of slavery, and the commander of at least two militias (Zion's Camp and the Nauvoo Legion). Many of his detractors also opposed his practice of polygamy. Tensions with his enemies continuously escalated until June 27, 1844, when Smith and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed by a large mob in a prison shootout.
Adherents to denominations spawning from the Latter Day Saint movements number in the tens of millions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is by far the largest denomination, although other denominations of significant size (i.e., The Community of Christ) exist.
Main article: Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr.
Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont, 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 later recalled his feelings at that time in his own words. "During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong."
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 spoke to him. This theophany has become colloquially known as the First Vision. In 1823, when Smith was seventeen, Smith's family report that Joseph described being visited by a heavenly messenger (Moroni) who directed him to a hill near his home where there was said to be 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 former inhabitants of the Americas, engraved in ancient glyphs.
Smith was not allowed to receive the plates until 1827. In the meantime, with his father and brothers, he also was said to participate in a number of treasure-seeking expeditions in New York and Pennsylvania, and he met his future wife Emma Hale thusly engaged. Emma's father, a participant in the treasure-seeking company, disapproved of Smith, so the couple eloped in early 1827.
After his marriage, Smith returned to Palmyra and moved in with his parents. Four years had passed since Moroni, the angel that had told Smith about the plates, first appeared, with periodic visits occuring in the interim. Finally, in September 1827, the heavenly messenger allowed him to take the gold plates, Smith said, but had strictly forbidden him from showing them to any person without authorization.
1827 to 1831
Soon after Joseph Smith claimed he had the Golden Plates, his focus turned to getting the engravings he said were on them translated. 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.
In Harmony, Smith?-working behind a curtain out of view of Emma?-began transcribing characters he said were engraved on the plates, and attempting 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.
Martin 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), beginning with a story about a man named Lehi in Jerusalem, and ending with a story about King Benjamin, one of his descendants, in the Americas (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 deformed and stillborn (Howe 1834, p. 269). By the time Smith was able to inquire about the manuscript pages, Harris informed Smith that they were lost.
Devastated, Smith returned to Harmony and dictated to Emma his first written revelation, which rebuked him for losing the manuscript pages, but assured Smith that all was not lost, because if Smith repented of what he had done, God would "only cause thee to be afflicted for a season, and thou art still chosen, and wilt again be called to the work" (Phelps 1833, 2:7). As a penalty, Smith claimed the angel took away the plates and the Urim and Thummim, returning them that year on September 22, 1828. Between then and the spring of 1829, Smith's translation was sporadic.
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 he was dictating from the Golden Plates was a revolutionary and "marvelous work" of religion, and Smith believed Cowdery had a number of "gifts" that would aid in the effort. Cowdery, like Smith, 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 had 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 baptized each other immediately thereafter, exercising their new authority. Peter, James, and John also 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 Christ's Ancient Church.
When translation was complete, Smith published his dictated 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.
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, Ohio, and also 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: 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 that Jesus' Millennial reign had come. Even those of other faiths reported a heavenly light "resting" upon the temple.
The early Church grew rapidly, but there were often conflicts between the Saints and their neighbors. 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 and his counselor Sidney Rigdon. They threatened Smith with castration and with death, and one of his teeth was chipped when they attempted to force him to drink poison. The mob action led to the exposure and eventual death of Smith's adopted newborn twins. Sidney 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 uncertain, but likely were tied to a sermon given by Rigdon.
In his book, Under the Banner of Heaven, author Jon Krakauer links this particular episode to a sexual liaison Smith purportedly had with Benjamin Johnson's 15-year-old daughter, Miranda Nancy Johnson. Krakauer quotes Miranda's older brother Luke Johnson as saying that the mob "had Dr. Dennison there to perform the operation [of castration]; but when he saw the Prophet stripped and stretched on the plank, his heart failed him and he refused to operate."
Todd Compton, author of In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith reports that evidence of a relationship or marriage between Joseph and Miranda is not compelling. Miranda herself wrote, "Here I feel like bearing my testimony that during the whole year that Joseph was an inmate of my father's house I never saw aught in his daily life or conversation to make me doubt his divine mission." (231-32)
After tending to his wounds all night and into the early morning, Smith preached a sermon on forgiveness the following day. Though some reports state that members of the mob that had attacked him were present at this sermon, Smith did not mention the attack directly.
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 Saints (including prominent leaders) became disaffected in the wake of the Kirtland Safety Society debacle, in which Smith and several associates were accused of various illegal or unethical banking actions.
Most of the remaining church members left Kirtland for Missouri.
Plural marriage
Most believe that Smith began practicing a form of polygyny called celestial marriage (later called plural marriage) perhaps as early as 1833. Polygamy (marriage to multiple partners) was illegal in many U.S. States, including Illinois, and was felt by some to be an immoral or misguided practice.
Records indicate that Smith and a small number of followers practiced plural marriage during the later years of his life. Joseph's wife Emma was at times ambivalent and at times hostile to the practice. Sources indicate that Joseph concealed at least some of his plural marriages from her. However, she assented to others at various times, and stood as a witness in some of the weddings. After Joseph Smith's death, Emma stated publicly that he had never practiced plural marriage, and her son Joseph Smith III believed that Brigham Young introduced the practice.
There is disagreement as to the precise number of wives Smith may have had. One historian, Todd M. Compton, who contends that polygamy was a mistake for the Church, tried to document, using Utah LDS sources, at least thirty-three plural marriages or sealings during Smith's lifetime. It is without question that Joseph had multiple wives (as marriage certificates are available for some); but, as Compton states multiple times in his work "[a]bsolutely nothing is known of this marriage after the ceremony"; that is, it is unclear how many (if any) of these marriages Smith consummated. Information on the intention of some of the sealings is similarly ambiguous; Smith has been sealed to many people, male and female, as a father or a brother with no marital intention or obligation.
If these marriage sealings were indeed sexual unions, it would be reasonable to expect some children from them as there were from Smith's marriage to Emma. One of the plural wives made an allegation that Smith had fathered one of her children, but this is disputed, as is the theory that Smith fathered children with some of his plural wives that were raised as though they were the children of their other husbands. Dr. Scott Woodward and others are conducting DNA evidence of possible descendants of Joseph Smith. To date, none of these plural marriages has been shown to have produced genetic offspring of Joseph Smith [3].
The LDS Church believes that polygamy was instituted according to revelation from God to Joseph Smith, claiming parity with the practices of Old Testament figures (e.g. Jacob, David, and Solomon). The LDS Church publicly announced the practice in Utah in 1852, after which the doctrine was generally accepted, but not widely practiced. Plural marriage was later formally discontinued by the LDS Church (new plural marriages were banned by the Church following a revelation to President Wilford Woodruff in 1890), and the Church currently excommunicates members who practice it. The Community of Christ (formerly Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) denied for many years that Smith ever taught or practiced polygamy. More recently, Community of Christ historians have publicly supported the view that Smith taught the doctrine. [4] Many splinter groups of the Latter Day Saint Movement descended from the LDS Church continue to practice plural marriage.
Life in Missouri
Smith's early revelations identified western Missouri as Zion, the place for Mormons to gather in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Independence, Missouri, was identified as "the center place" (D&C 57:3) 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 violent conflicts and legal difficulties for Smith and his followers. Many people saw their new LDS neighbors as a religious and political threat. Mormons tended to vote in blocks, giving them a degree of political influence wherever they settled. Additionally, Mormons purchased vast amounts of land in which to establish settlements. The majority of Saints were northerners and held abolitionist viewpoints, including Smith himself, clashing with the pro-slavery persuasions of the Missourians. The tension was fueled by the belief that Jackson County, Missouri, and the surrounding lands were promised to the Church by God and that the Saints would soon dominate it. All of these factors contributed to aggressive mob violence and other harassments.
In response to the consistent persecution, a small group of Latter Day Saints organized themselves into a vigilante group called the Danites, led by Dr. Sampson Avard. Smith's exact role in the Danite society is unknown; some suggest that he held a leading or even founding position, while others believe he had no knowledge of the Danites before their existence was publicly recognized. Later, Smith stated that he disapproved of the group and Avard was excommunicated for his activities. [1]
Soon the "old Missourians" and the LDS settlers were engaged in a conflict sometimes referred to as the 1838 Mormon War. One key skirmish was the Battle of Crooked River, which involved Missouri state troops and a group of Saints. There is some debate as to whether the Mormons knew their opponents were government officials, but the battle's aftermath was pivotal in Church history.
This battle led to reports of a "Mormon insurrection" and the death of apostle David W. Patten. In consequence of these reports and the political influence of pro-slavery politicians, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued an executive order known as the "Extermination Order" on 27 October 1838. The order stated that the Mormon community was in "open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this State ... the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace?-their outrages are beyond all description." [2][3] The Extermination Order wasn't officially rescinded until 1976 by Governor Christopher S. Bond.
Soon after the "Extermination Order" was issued, vigilantes attacked an outlying Mormon settlement and killed 17. This event is 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. Although they were civilians, the militia leader threatened to try Smith and others in a military tribunal and 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.
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.
Instead of execution, Smith and others spent several months in Liberty Jail awaiting a trial that never came. With shaky legal grounds for imprisonment, guards, likely on the instructions of other authorities, eventually allowed their escape. They joined the rest of the Church in Illinois.
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 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.
Controversy in the City Beautiful
On the evening of May 6, 1842, a gunman shot through a window in Governor Boggs' home, hitting him four times. Sheriff J.H. Reynolds discovered a revolver at the scene, still loaded with buckshot and surmised that the suspect lost his firearm in the dark rainy night.
Some Saints saw the assassination attempt positively given Boggs' history of acting against the Church: An anonymous contributor to The Wasp, a Mormon newspaper in Nauvoo, wrote on May 28 that, "Boggs is undoubtedly killed according to report; but who did the noble deed remains to be found out."
Several doctors?-including Boggs' brother?-pronounced Boggs all but dead; at least one newspaper ran an obituary. To everyone's great surprise, Boggs not only survived, but gradually improved. The popular press?-and popular rumor?-was quick to blame Smith's friend and sometime bodyguard Porter Rockwell for the assassination attempt. By some reports, Smith had prophesied that Boggs would die violently, leading to speculation that Smith was involved. Rockwell denied involvement, stating that he would not have left the governor alive if he had indeed tried to kill him.
Also at about this time, Bennett had become disaffected from Smith and began publicizing what he said was Smith's practice of "Spiritual Wifery". (Bennett, earlier a pro-polygamy activist, knew of Smith's revelation on plural marriage and encouraged Smith to advocate the practice publicly. When this was rejected by Smith, Bennett began seducing women on his own and was subsequently excommunicated for practicing "Spiritual Wifery"[4]; which, incidentally, is not synonymous with plural marriage.) He stepped down as Nauvoo mayor?-ostensibly in protest of Smith's actions?-and also reported that Smith had offered a cash reward to anyone who would assassinate Boggs. He also reported that Smith had admitted to him that Rockwell had done the deed and that Rockwell had made a veiled threat on Bennett's life if he publicized the story. Smith vehemently denied Bennett's account, speculating that Boggs?-no longer governor, but campaigning for state senate?-was attacked by an election opponent. Bennett has been identified as "untruthful" by many historians and is seldom used as a reputable source.
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
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. 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 stayed in the jail at the request of Govenor Dunklin as there were to be additional charges filed the following day. According to Taylor and Richards, Dunklin promised to take Smith back to Nauvoo, however, 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.
After Smith's death
Smith's death created a crisis. 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 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 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 falled 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 [w]hom the mantle of the prophet Joseph has fallen."[5]
Most 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 Brigham Young led many Latter Day Saints out of the United States and into Utah, which was then Mexican territory.
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.
Two months before his death, Smith delivered a discourse on the nature of God at the funeral of a church member named King Follett. Although the address was not properly recorded or approved by Smith as official doctrine, it remains one of his most famous speeches. See King Follett Discourse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr.
