Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was the American religious figure who founded the Latter Day Saint movement, also known as Mormonism. Smith's followers declared him to be the first latter-day prophet, whose mission was to restore the original Church of Jesus Christ, believed to have been lost soon after the death of the Apostles which caused an apostasy. This restoration included the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the priesthood authority, and the publication of the Book of Mormon and other new scriptures. As a leader of large settlement communities, Smith also was recognized as a political and military leader in the American Midwest.

Adherents to denominations originating from Joseph Smith's teachings currently number between thirteen and fourteen million. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest denomination with reported membership of over 13 million. The second largest is the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), with about 250,000 members. Other groups who follow Smith's teachings have membership numbering from dozens to the tens of thousands.

Life

Early life

Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont to Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. After his birth, the family moved to western New York, where they continued farming just outside the border of the town of Palmyra. This region was an area of intense revivalism and religious diversity during the Second Great Awakening. Although Smith had limited involvement with organized religion during his youth, he studied the Bible, held religious opinions, and was influenced by the common folk religion of the area.

To avoid further conflict encountered in New York and Pennsylvania, Smith moved with his family to Kirtland, Ohio, joining with the converts that joined with Rigdon. The church's headquarters were soon established there and Smith urged the rest of the membership to gather there or to a second outpost of the church in Missouri.

Smith reported that, in 1820 at the age of 14, he experienced a theophany, an appearance of God to man, or a divine disclosure, most commonly referred to by Latter Day Saints as the First Vision. Smith recorded several accounts of the vision later in life. The version which is most well-known and read was published in 1838.

Smith was concerned as to the correct church to join, and went to a grove of trees to pray. There he had a vision in which he saw God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, appear to him as two separate, glorious, resurrected beings . They told him that none of the churches established at the time were correct, and that he should join none of them.

Soon after, Smith reported his vision to a local minister, who pronounced it "of the devil," because the minister believed "there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and there would never be any more of them". Smith recounted that he was soon the object of much persecution and reviling in his neighborhood, for maintaining that he had seen a vision.

According to Smith, an 1823 visitation from a resurrected prophet named Moroni led to his finding and unearthing (in 1827) a long-buried book, inscribed on metal plates, which contained a record of God's dealings with the ancient Israelite inhabitants of the Americas. The record, along with other artifacts (including a breastplate and what Smith referred to as the Urim and Thummim), was buried in a hill near his home. On September 22, 1827, Smith's record indicates that the angel allowed him (after 4 years of waiting and preparation) to take the plates and other artifacts. Almost immediately thereafter Smith began having difficulties with people trying to discover where the plates were hidden on the Smith farm.

Smith left the family farm in October of 1825 and was hired by Josiah Stoal, who lived in nearby Chenango county, to search with others for a rumored lost silver mine established in the area by the Spanish. After working for about a month, Smith states that "I prevailed with the old gentleman to cease digging after it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-digger.". During this time, Joseph Smith met Emma Hale, whom he married on January 18, 1827. In March 1826, Smith was charged with being a "disorderly person and an impostor" by a court in Bainbridge, New York. Details surrounding the case are disputed by some historians such as Bushman.

Life from 1827 to 1830

Smith and his wife moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania, with the monetary and moral support of a wealthy Palmyra neighbor named Martin Harris. In Harmony, Smith reported to a few family members and colleagues including Harris that he had translated some of the Reformed Egyptian text from the Golden plates. According to Smith's history, he invited Harris to take a sample of the characters from the plates to a few well-known scholars including Charles Anthon. Harris returned to report that Anthon initially provided authentication to the translation of the Reformed Egyptian, but tore up his written statement upon hearing the story of how Joseph had obtained them. Harris returned, and acted as Smith's scribe while Smith translated words using Urim and Thummim. In June 1828, after completing the first 116 pages of the record, Smith allowed Harris to take the manuscript to Palmyra to show Harris' wife. Harris returned, long overdue, and informed Smith that the manuscript had been lost or stolen. According to Smith's record "the Lord took the Urim and Thummim and the plates", stopping the work of translation. Also, Smith's wife Emma gave birth to a stillborn son, their first child around the same time. Around February 1829, Smith recounts that the plates and the Urim and Thumim were returned to him by God. He resumed translating with Emma as scribe. Translation greatly intensified on April 7, 1829, when Oliver Cowdery, a school teacher in Palmyra, NY who had taken an interest in Smith's story while in Palmyra, and then set out for Harmony, PA to begin acting as Joseph's scribe.

At the beginning of June 1829, Smith and Cowdery moved to Fayette, New York for the remainder of the translation. The plates' title page indicated the book was to be entitled the Book of Mormon: An account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the Plates of Nephi . Translation was completed around July 1, 1829, and the Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra on March 26, 1830, with the financial assistance of Martin Harris.

Before publication, Joseph showed the ancient record to eleven other men. These men recorded their personal witnesses of seeing an angel show them the record (plates), seeing the record, handling the plates, and hearing the voice of the Lord command them to bear witness of the veracity of the record. These testimonies are included in the title pages of the Book of Mormon as The Testimony of the Three Witnesses, and The Testimony of The Eight Witnesses.

By the time the Book of Mormon was published, Smith's record indicates that he had received additional revelations and had begun the work of organizing a new Christian church. Smith and Cowdery reported having been visited by John the Baptist, the same as referenced in the New Testament. They stated that they were ordained by John the Baptist to "the Priesthood of Aaron. They said that he then commanded them to baptize one another.

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery stated that they were later visited by Peter, James, and John, the disciples of Christ found in the New Testament, not long after the appearance of John the Baptist. According to Smith and Cowdery, Peter, James and John came to them in order to restore the Melchizedek priesthood, which they said contained the necessary authority to restore Christ's church.

On April 6, 1830, a church was formally organized as the Church of Christ, and small branches were soon set up in Palmyra, Fayette, and Colesville, New York. There was strong local opposition to these branches, however, and Smith soon dictated a revelation (D & C 57:1-3) that the church would establish a "City of Zion" in Native American lands near Missouri. In preparation, Smith dispatched missionaries led by Oliver Cowdery to the area of this new "Zion". On their way, the missionaries converted a group of Disciples of Christ adherents in Kirtland, Ohio led by Sidney Rigdon. At the end of 1830, Smith dictated a revelation (D & C 37) that the three New York branches should gather in Ohio pending the results of Oliver Cowdery's mission to Missouri.

Life in Kirtland, Ohio

The church had more than doubled in size following the conversion of Sidney Rigdon, a former Campbellite minister in September 1830. Rigdon led several congregations of Restorationists in Ohio's Western Reserve area, and hundreds of his adherents followed him into Mormonism. Rigdon was soon called to be Smith's spokesman and quickly became one of the early leaders of the Movement.

To avoid further conflict encountered in New York and Pennsylvania, Smith moved with his family to Kirtland, Ohio, joining with the converts that joined with Rigdon. The church's headquarters were soon established there and Smith urged the rest of the membership to gather there or to a second outpost of the church in Missouri.

However, due to the controversy which followed him, he was not to escape persecution for long. In March of 1832, a violent mob came to Smith's house and attacked him. According to recorded accounts of the event, the mob broke down the front door, took Smith's oldest surviving adopted child from his arms , and dragged Smith from the room. The mob beat, tarred and feathered, and attempted to poison Joseph.

This time period was prolific in its expansion of Church doctrine and organization; a number of new doctrines and leadership offices were added, based on Smith's teachings. An attempt to establish a communitarian economy based on Smith's "Law of Consecration" was established, but was abandoned after it was realized it was unfeasible.

Under Smith's leadership & direction, the church's first temple was constructed in Kirtland. The work of building the Kirtland Temple was begun in 1833, and was completed by 1836. Around the time of its completion, many extraordinary events were reported: appearances by Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Elias, and numerous angels, speaking and singing in tongues, prophesying, and other spiritual experiences.

However, the construction of the temple, in addition to other ventures of Smith's, left him and the Church deeply in debt. To raise money, Smith planned a banking institution, which was called the Kirtland Safety Society. The State of Ohio denied Smith a charter to legally operate a bank causing Smith to rename the company under the advice of non-Mormon legal counsel as 'The Kirtland AntiBanking Safety Society' and he continued to operate the bank and print notes. The bank became insolvent after 21 days of operation in January and collapsed later that year. During this time, Smith and his associates were accused of illegal and unethical actions. In the wake of this bank failure, many Mormons, including prominent leaders who had backed the venture, became disaffected with Smith.

Eventually, lawsuits and indictments against Smith and his banking partners became so severe that, on January 12, 1838, Smith and Rigdon left Kirtland by dark of night for the Far West settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri. At the time, there were at least $6,100 in civil suits outstanding against him in Chardon, Ohio courts, and an arrest warrant had been issued for Smith on a charge of bank fraud. Those who continued to support Smith left Kirtland for Missouri shortly thereafter.

Life in Missouri

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. The Mormons and non-Mormons in Missouri were, in general, fundamentally very different people. Local leaders and residents saw the Latter Day Saint community as a threat to their property and their political control due to the Mormon practice of voting 'en bloc'. The tension was further fueled by the Mormon belief that Jackson County, Missouri, and the surrounding lands would become a "promised land" to the Mormons as they purchased property and built settlements, and that God would give them the land and dissenters would be 'plucked out'. The 'Latter Day Saints' began migrating to Missouri after Smith stated that Missouri would be the future center of the New Jerusalem. After Mormon leadership left Kirtland in 1838, the Saints from Kirtland followed them to Missouri increasing the church's numbers, which confirmed the fears of the local leaders and residents that the Mormons would dominate Missouri politics.

Later in 1838, many non-Mormon residents of Missouri, and the LDS settlers engaged in an ongoing conflict often referred to as the Mormon War. After several skirmishes, the Battle of Crooked River (which involved Missouri state militia troops and a group of Latter Day Saints) occurred. There is considerable debate as to whether the Mormons knew their opponents were government officials.

Many reports of this battle (some claimed that half of the militia's men had been lost, when in fact they had suffered only one casualty), as well as affidavits by ex-Mormons that Mormons were planning to burn both Liberty and Richmond, Missouri, made their way to Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs. Boggs issued an executive order in response on 27 October 1838, known as the "Extermination Order". It stated that the Mormon community had "made war upon the people of this State" and that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace". The Extermination Order was not officially rescinded until 1976 by Missouri Governor Christopher S. Bond.

Soon afterward, the 2,500 troops from the state militia converged on the Mormon headquarters at Far West. They raided Far West, ransacked homes, and killed several people. Smith and several other Church leaders were brought into the Missouri Militia by Colonel George M. Hinkle. Hinkle then handed the prisoners over to General Lucas. They were held at Liberty Jail, and spent several months in captivity. They were later transferred to a jail in Columbia, Missouri.

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 immediately left or been forced out by the spring of 1839.

Life in Nauvoo, Illinois

After escaping Missouri in 1839, Smith and his followers regrouped. They established a new headquarters in a town on the banks of the Mississippi River, called Commerce, in Hancock County, Illinois, which they renamed Nauvoo. They were granted a charter by the state of Illinois, and Nauvoo was quickly built up by the faithful, including many new arrivals. The Nauvoo city charter authorized independent municipal courts, the foundation of a university and the establishment of a militia unit known as the "Nauvoo Legion." These and other institutions gave the Latter Day Saints a considerable degree of autonomy.

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 alleged persecution and loss of property suffered by the Saints in Missouri.

Construction of a new temple in Nauvoo began in the autumn of 1840. It was significantly larger and more grandiose than the one left behind in Kirtland, as it was intended for different functions (member endowments and baptisms) than the first temple (which could be used for large gatherings). The cornerstones were laid during a conference on April 6, 1841. Although Smith was instrumental in its completion, it was not finished until more than five years after Smith's death. It was dedicated on May 1, 1846, well after Nauvoo citizens had begun abandoning the city for points west (the first significant exodus occurred in February 1846). Approximately four months afterward, Nauvoo had been abandoned by the majority of its citizens under threats of mob action.

Joseph Smith broke with short-time church member Dr. John C. Bennett in 1841 over the public scandal that arose when Bennett's 'spiritual wifery' conduct became known, and Nauvoo "rocked with tales that connected Joseph with Bennett's scandals. Bennett accused Smith of subsequently introducing new code words for polygamy — 'celestial marriage', 'plurality of wives', 'spiritual wifeism' — to conceal the controversial practice, which Smith and the leadership of the church publicly denied in statement after statement, endorsed by whole councils of the church. In April 1844, Joseph Smith referred to polygamy as "John C. Bennett's spiritual wife system" and warned "if any man writes to you, or preaches to you, doctrines contrary to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or the book of Doctrine and Covenants, set him down as an imposter." Smith mused

we cannot but express our surprise that any elder or priest who has been in Nauvoo, and has had an opportunity of hearing the principles of truth advanced, should for one moment give credence to the idea that any thing like iniquity is practised, much less taught or sanctioned, by the authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Published allegations of adultery against Sarah Pratt and Bennett appeared in local and church publications with signed affidavits from her neighbors Stephen and Zeruiah Goddard and others. Dr. Robert D. Foster made the following allegation against Bennett and Pratt:

Alas, none but the seduced join the seducer [Dr. Bennett]; those only who have been arraigned before a just tribunal for the same unhallowed conduct can be found to give countenance to any of his black hearted lies, and they, too, detest him for his seduction, these are the ladies to whom he refers his hearers to substantiate his assertions. Mrs. White, Mrs. Pratt, Niemans, Miller, Brotherton, and others.

Pratt later claimed that Zeruiah Goddard told her these testimonies were made under threat from Joseph's brother Hyrum Smith:

It is not my fault; Hyrum Smith [Joseph's brother] came to our house, with the affidavits all written out, and forced us to sign them. Joseph and the Church must be saved, said he. We saw that resistance was useless, they would have ruined us; so we signed the papers.

The author Richard S. Van Wagoner concluded that the adultery charges against Sarah Pratt are "highly improbable" and could "be dismissed as slander." In addition to Sarah Pratt, Van Wagoner states that Nancy Rigdon and Martha Brotherton, "also suffered slanderous attacks because they exposed the Church's private polygamy posture. Orson Pratt stood by his wife Sarah in preference to the denials of Smith, who told his disciple Orson that "If [Orson] did believe his wife and follow her suggestions he would go to hell". Wilford Woodruff stated that "Dr. John Cook Bennett was the ruin of Orson Pratt". Van Wagoner and Walker note that, on August 20, 1842, "after four days of fruitless efforts at reconciliation, the Twelve excommunicated Pratt for 'insubordination' and Sarah for 'adultery'".

Sidney Rigdon wrote a letter to the Messenger and Advocate in 1844 condemning the church's Quorum of the Twelve and their alleged connection to polygamy,

It is a fact so well known that the Twelve and their adherents have endeavored to carry on this spiritual wife business … and have gone to the most shameful and desperate lengths to keep from the public. First, insulting innocent females, and when they resented the insult, these monsters in human shape would assail their characters by lying, and perjuries, with a multitude of desperate men to help them effect the ruin of those whom they insulted, and all this to enable them to keep these corrupt practices from the world.

On March 15, 1842, Smith was initiated as an Entered Apprentice Mason at the Nauvoo Lodge. The next day, he was raised to the degree of Master Mason; the usual month-long wait between degrees was waived by the Illinois Lodge Grandmaster, Abraham Jonas. Some commentators have noted similarities between portions of temple ordinance of the endowment and the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry. (See Freemasonry and the Latter Day Saint movement.)

Smith purportedly received the 1843 polygamy revelation on July 12, although this was not published until 1852 in Utah. Smith taught doctrines which he claimed were practiced in the early Christian church such as Baptism for the dead. He also is purported to have introduced other teachings and ordinances such as the Endowment, and "the principle" of plural marriage neither of which are found in mainstream Christianity. Smith continued to publicly condemn polygamy and in May 1844 referred to those accusing him of practicing it as "perjurers".

In February, 1844, Smith announced his candidacy for President of the United States, with Sidney Rigdon as his vice-presidential running mate. He also theorized a quasi-republican political system which he termed Theodemocracy and organized the Council of Fifty based upon its principles.

Nauvoo Expositor and Death

Disaffected Mormons in Nauvoo published the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper on 7 June 1844, which was contained polygamy allegations against Smith, which Smith denied publicly, and his exercise of political power. The Nauvoo city council and its leader, Nauvoo Mayor Joseph Smith, voted on 1844-06-10 to declare the paper a public nuisance and ordered the paper's printing press destroyed. This action was seen as an illegal violation of freedom of the press. Violent threats were made against Smith and the Mormon community in Nauvoo. Warrants from outside Nauvoo were brought in against Smith. Smith declared martial law on June 18, causing Illinois Governor Thomas Ford to charge Smith and his brother Hyrum with treason against the state of Illinois. Smith submitted to incarceration in Carthage. Smith's brother, Hyrum, and eight of his associates including John Taylor and Willard Richards, accompanied him to the jail. The Governor had promised Smith protection and a fair trial.

On June 27, 1844, an armed group of about 200 men stormed the jail, and went to Smith's cell. After a brief struggle, the group was able to open fire on Smith and his associates. Hyrum Smith was shot in the face, and died immediately. As the mob burst through the doorway, Joseph Smith (who had earlier been given a six-shooter by a visitor) managed to fire three shots at the mob. Richards was unharmed, while Taylor was shot several times, but survived. (One of the bullets may have glanced off the pocket watch in his left breast pocket.) Smith, however, was shot multiple times while trying to jump out an open window. After he fell from the window, he was shot several more times, killing him. He was 38 years of age.

Smith and his brother were initially buried below the Smith Homestead in Nauvoo. They were later disinterred in 1928 on the orders of Smith's grandson Frederick M. Smith, then President of the RLDS Church, and reburied along with Smiths' wife Emma in a location thought to be safer from Mississippi flooding.

Revelations and The Book of Mormon

Smith lived near the remnants of a vanquished Indian civilization that had left behind numerous burial mounds; eight near the Smith farm itself. As argued by author Christopher Hitchens, "There were two … schools or factions who took a fascinated interest in [buried Indian artifacts]: the first were the gold-diggers and treasure-diviners [and] those who hoped to find the resting place of the lost tribe of Israel. Smith's cleverness was to be a member of both groups[.] Smith announced that he had been visited three times by the angel Moroni who informed Smith of a buried book "written upon Golden Plates" and also two magic stones, set in the twin breastplates Urim and Thummim of the Old Testament, that would enable Smith to translate the Book of Mormon. Smith refused to show the golden plates to anyone and claimed that it would mean death for anyone but Smith to view them. Smith, who could read but not write, enlisted the help of his neighbor Martin Harris, who mortgaged his farm to underwrite the translation of the Book of Mormon. Harris's wife Lucy, angry at her husband's gullibility, stole the first 116 pages of the translation and "challenged Smith to reproduce them, as presumably—given his power of revelation—he could". Fawn Brodie wrote that Smith "realized that it was impossible for him to reproduce the story exactly, and that to redictate it would be to invite devastating comparisons." Harris's wife taunted Smith:

If this be a divine communication, the same being who revealed it to you can easily replace it.

"After a few bad weeks," Smith admitted that he could not replicate the original, "which might be in the devil's hands," but instead claimed that God had provided him with smaller plates—those of Nephi—whose account was similar to but not the same of that told on the plates of Moroni, who Smith claimed had taken back the originals because he was angry that Smith allowed the translation to be stolen. Smith and Harris resumed the translation based upon the plates of Nephi, and when The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi was completed and published in 1830, the original golden plates were "transported to heaven."

Marriage to Emma Smith

Smith met Emma Hale in 1825 when he boarded with the Hales while he was employed in a company hoping to unearth buried treasure. Although the company was unsuccessful, Smith returned to Harmony several times seeking Emma's hand. Isaac Hale, Emma's father, refused to allow the marriage so the couple eloped across the state line to South Bainbridge, New York, present day Afton, New York, and were married on 18 January 1827, by the Village of Afton, New York Justice of the Peace. The couple initially moved to the home of Smith's parents on the edge of Manchester Township near Palmyra.

Children born to Emma Smith

During the early portion of their marriage, Joseph and Emma Smith had the following children:

*June 15, 1828, Alvin, who lived only a few hours.

*April 30, 1831, twins, Thaddeus and Louisa, who died hours after their premature birth.

*April 30, 1831, twins Joseph and Julia. These were the children of Julia Clapp Murdock and John Murdock. Murdock, upon his wife's death in childbirth, gave the infants to the Smiths (who had just lost their own twins) to adopt.

The couple later had four additional sons:

*November 6, 1832, Joseph Smith III

*June 29, 1836, Frederick Granger Williams Smith

*June 2, 1838, Alexander Hale Smith.

*November 17, 1844, David Hyrum Smith, born after Joseph's death.

Polygamous Marriages

Historians agree that Smith taught that polygamy was a divine commandment, and practiced it personally, by many accounts marrying dozens of women before his death. During Smith's life he publicly preached and wrote against the doctrine of plural marriage. The church's scripture, penned by Smith, mentioned polygamy in the 1835 and 1844 Doctrine and Covenants,

Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.

Affidavits and testimony of many individuals, made after Smith's death, indicate that many of the plural marriages were performed by Smith before his death in 1844, among them two fourteen year old girls, and several women in their 50's. Numerous early converts, including Brigham Young, who claimed to have married Lightner to Smith, Orson Pratt, and Lyman Johnson, asserted that Joseph Smith was teaching plural marriage as early as 1831 or 1832. Smith purportedly received the 1843 polygamy revelation, proclaimed in 1852 by Brigham Young, but Young was unable to produce the original document and declared that Emma Smith had burned it. To this Emma Smith replied that she had never seen such a document, and added concerning the story that she had destroyed the original: "It is false in all its parts, made out of whole cloth, without any foundation in truth. The revelation was codified in Mormon canon by Young in 1876 as part of the LDS Church Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants/Section 132, but rejected by the RLDS Church as not having been written by Smith. The text of the revelation states that Christ commands the practice of polygamy or plural marriage in a “new and an everlasting covenant” and declares that anyone who rejects the new practices will suffer damnation and will not “be permitted to enter into my glory.” There is also an alleged polygamy revelation that Smith received in 1831. Accusations of polygamy by disapproving Mormons were published in the Nauvoo Expositor in 1844. Smith responded to the polygamy accusations by again publicly denying them and declaring the paper a public nuisance and ordered the paper's printing press destroyed. Smith's subsequent arrest and murder by a mob prompted church members to leave the area, eventually leading to the Mormon Exodus to Utah in 1846–47.

According to Van Wagoner,

(Smith's) most pointed denial of plural marriage occurred on 5 October 1843 in instructions pronounced publicly in the streets of Nauvoo. Willard Richards wrote in Smith's diary that Joseph "gave instructions to try those who were preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives...Joseph forbids it and the practice thereof. No man shall have but one wife".

Children born to polygamous wives alleged to be Smith's

No alleged children of Joseph Smith, Jr. born to women other than Emma Smith has ever been proven, though the question of Smith's progeny from his alleged polygamous wives has been raised since his death. Several alleged Smith descendants have been identified but highly accurate DNA tests have in 2007 eliminated four candidates though research into this history is complicated by the facts that Y-DNA genetic testing for non-male lines is not possible, and two candidates died as infants. Smith was accused in 1886 by Sarah Pratt of allowing John C. Bennett, a medical doctor, to perform abortions on polygamous wives who were officially single, which she alleged limited Smith's progeny from these wives. She based this on statements made to her by Bennett. Orson Pratt, Sarah Pratt's husband, considered Bennett a liar: "J.C. Bennett has published lies concerning myself & family & the people with which I am connected....His book I have read with the greatest disgust. No candid honest man can or will believe it. He has disgraced himself in eyes of all civilized society who will despise his very name," whereas Sarah Pratt herself said, "[I] know that the principle statements in John C. Bennett's book on Mormonism are true."

Major teachings

During his adult life — from the time he began translating the Book of Mormon in 1827 until his death in 1844 — Smith introduced a large number of religious teachings. Although a number of his teachings are similar to doctrines circulating during his lifetime, several are unique to Smith.

Nearly all Smith's teachings had some root in the King James Version of the Bible, or his interpretation or elaboration of it. However, he believed in other scripture, and that in some instances, the Bible was translated incorrectly. Thus, he restored temples, orders of priesthood, and other elements of the Bible that he felt had been wrongly abandoned by most of Christianity as part of a Great Apostasy. Much of this restoration is presented in the Doctrine and Covenants, which is described as modern scripture.

In many cases, Smith's doctrines or interpretations of the Bible, as well as his own revelations, placed him at odds with mainstream Christianity. For example, he publicly rejected mainstream Christianity's long-standing formulation of the Trinity as recorded in the 4th century Nicene Creed.

In what has come to be known as the Wentworth letter, Joseph Smith, Jr. wrote and sent a list of the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to "Long" John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat. These articles of faith were subsequently published in Times and Seasons, a newspaper published by the church (see Articles of Faith (Latter Day Saints)).

Legacy

Immediate reaction

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. Brigham Young recorded in his journal his 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

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. Historian D. Michael Quinn wrote:

Most Latter Day Saints followed Young, but some aligned with other various people claiming to be Smith's successor. Some waited for Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, to assume leadership of the church despite his young age at the death of his father. The church had published a revelation in 1841 stating "I say unto my servant Joseph, In thee, and in thy seed, shall the kindred of the earth be blessed", and this was widely interpreted as endorsing the concept of Lineal Succession. Documentary evidence indicates also that Smith set apart his son as his successor at various private meetings and public gatherings, including Liberty and Nauvoo. Indeed, Brigham Young assured the bulk of Smith's followers as late as 1860 that young Joseph would eventually take his father's place. That year, on April 6, the younger Smith became leader of what was to later be incorporated as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now called the Community of Christ church) in the Midwest, made up of scattered church members not having journeyed west with Young, including Smith's widow Emma and two of Joseph III's brothers. Smith III stated at the conference:

In addition, Smith's Vice Presidential running mate Sidney Rigdon formed the Church of Jesus Christ, headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with a few more congregations scattered throughout the area.

Many of these smaller groups were spread throughout the midwestern United States, especially in Independence, Missouri, and several remain viable as religious groups. Issues relating to the succession crisis are still the subject of discussion and debate.

In the modern media

• In film, Joseph Smith has been portrayed by several actors including Vincent Price (Brigham Young), Dean Cain (September Dawn), Jonathan Scarfe (The Work and The Glory), Nathan Mitchell (Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration) and Richard Moll (Brigham).
• Smith was the subject of the cover of Newsweek Magazine, dated October 17, 2005. The cover was a reproduction of a stained-glass window portraying the First Vision. Many opinions on Joseph Smith were quoted, ranging from LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley to Mark Scherer, official historian of the Community of Christ.
• On TV, Joseph Smith's life was portrayed in the South Park episode "All About Mormons" in 2003. Joseph Smith was also featured as a member of the Super Best Friends, a superhero-type group of various major religious leaders and gods, on an earlier episode.
• On December 23 2005 a film titled Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration was produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is shown the Legacy Theater of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
• A PBS documentary called "The Mormons" aired April 30 and May 1 2007.

See also

Joseph Smith Jr.'s life 1805−1827 · 1827−1830 · 1831−1834 · 1835−1838 · 1838−1842 · 1842−1844 · Death · Polygamy · Teachings · Prophecies · Bibliography

Notes

References

In addition, Smith is also the main subject of virtually all works dealing with the early Latter Day Saint movement.

See also

• The Joseph Smith Papers
• Smith Political Family
• History of the Latter Day Saint movement
• Controversies regarding Mormonism
• Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (film)
• Joseph Smith, Jr. and Polygamy
• Lectures on Faith
• List of assassinated American politicians
• "Praise to the Man"

External links

• JosephSmithPapers.org
• Works by Joseph Smith, Jr. at Project Gutenberg
• "Who was Joseph Smith?" - At Mormon.org
• JosephSmith.net - The official web site on Joseph Smith by the LDS Church.
• JosephSmith.com
• Joseph Smith - collection of articles about Joseph Smith from LightPlanet.com
• Joseph Smith Daguerreotype - The only known photograph of Joseph Smith
• Joseph Smith, Jr. - The Prophet - a Mormon film about Joseph Smith
• The Restoration (Google Video) - a Mormon film about Joseph Smith
• LibraryThing author profile
• Joseph Smith Chronology Chart
• Joseph Smith: Mormon Prophet (YouTube) - a Mormon film about Joseph Smith

Leaders of the Church of Christ, later called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Founding president	Leader Claiming Succession Position in the Church of Christ Title & Latter Day Saint denominations Years
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1830–1844)
	Brigham Young was President of the Quorum of the Twelve President of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1844–1877
	Joseph Smith III was Direct Descendant of Joseph Smith, Jr. President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints later called the Community of Christ 1860–1914
	James Strang was an Elder with a Letter of appointment President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) 1844–1856
	Sidney Rigdon was senior surviving member of the First Presidency Guardian of the Church of Christ later called the Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion or Rigdonites 1844–1847