Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Organization
Dates
- Existence: 1830-
Administrative History
The Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (est. 1830) is a restorationist Christian church with a world-wide membership. Originally established in Upstate New York by Joseph Smith, Jr., the church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is commonly abbreviated as the LDS Church and colloquially referred to as the Mormon Church.
During the 1820s, the church's founder, Joseph Smith, experienced visions and was led to the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. The Church was officially founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830, in Palmyra, New York. The members of the religion faced a series of persecutions, and eventually fled to Utah for refuge beginning in 1847. The Church continued to grow and expand beyond Utah, and today it has a membership numbering over 16 million. It is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Presidents of the Church have included Joseph Smith Jr. (1832-1844), Brigham Young (1847-1877), John Taylor (1880-1887), Wilford Woodruff (1889-1898), Lorenzo Snow (1898-1901), Joseph F. Smith (1901-1918), Heber J. Grant (1918-1945), George Albert Smith (1945-1951), David O. McKay (1951-1970), Joseph Fielding Smith (1970-1972), Harold B. Lee (1972-1973), Spencer W. Kimball (1973-1985), Ezra Taft Benson (1985-1994), Howard W. Hunter (1994-1995), Gordon B. Hinckley (1995-2008), Thomas S. Monson (2008-2018), and Russell M. Nelson (2018- ).
During the 1820s, the church's founder, Joseph Smith, experienced visions and was led to the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. The Church was officially founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830, in Palmyra, New York. The members of the religion faced a series of persecutions, and eventually fled to Utah for refuge beginning in 1847. The Church continued to grow and expand beyond Utah, and today it has a membership numbering over 16 million. It is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Presidents of the Church have included Joseph Smith Jr. (1832-1844), Brigham Young (1847-1877), John Taylor (1880-1887), Wilford Woodruff (1889-1898), Lorenzo Snow (1898-1901), Joseph F. Smith (1901-1918), Heber J. Grant (1918-1945), George Albert Smith (1945-1951), David O. McKay (1951-1970), Joseph Fielding Smith (1970-1972), Harold B. Lee (1972-1973), Spencer W. Kimball (1973-1985), Ezra Taft Benson (1985-1994), Howard W. Hunter (1994-1995), Gordon B. Hinckley (1995-2008), Thomas S. Monson (2008-2018), and Russell M. Nelson (2018- ).
Found in 58 Collections and/or Records:
Eliza Maria Partridge Lyman diary
File — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 1217
Scope and Contents
Photocopy of a typescript of a diary kept by Patridge. The item begins with a brief autobiography. Lyman writes about being sealed to the first president of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, her marriage to Amasa Lyman after Smith's death, her life in Nauvoo, Illinois, her migration to Utah, the excommunication of her husband from the Mormon Church, her life in Fillmore, Utah, and her efforts in favor of the Mormon practice of polygamy.
Dates:
1846-1885
Biographies of Peter Madsen
File — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 556
Scope and Contents
Typewritten biographies of Peter Madsen written by some of his descendants. Madsen was the bishop of the Lake View Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lake View, Utah, for thirty years. He migrated to Utah, was a prominent fisherman on Utah Lake, and went on missions for the Church to Hawaii and to Denmark.
Dates:
approximately 1961
William Anderson McGinley journal
File — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS 4108
Scope and Contents
The journal of William Anderson McGinley, officially bears the name, "Loose thoughts, rambles in the South, southern scenes, the aimless dreams of one and twenty, the 'ominous gatherings' of idle hours commenced in the early part of my 22nd year, 1852." He accounts of leaving home on 28 January 1852 and studying at Mount Pisgah (Arkansas?) in November young McGinley has entered. This journal records in an interesting and chatty manner William's struggles to abandon a rather dissipated life--and...
Dates:
1852
Henry Landon Miles collection on John Horne Miles
Collection
Identifier: MSS 2310
Scope and Contents
Contains research material, mostly photocopies, gathered by Henry Landon Miles regarding the life of his great-grandfather, John Horne Miles. Subjects include the merchant marines, John’s missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the polygamy trial in which John was involved in Utah. The materials are dated 1858 to 2001.
Dates:
1858-2001
Price W. Nelson journal and autobiography
File — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 3121
Scope and Contents
Photocopy of a microfilm copy of a typescript. The item is an autobiography of Price W. Nelson. The account is largely retrospective even though much of it is written like diary entries. Also included is a diary to Nelson dated 5 Aug. 1935. Nelson writes about his birth in California in 1855, his journey to Utah in 1857. He also settled in Franklin, Idaho, in 1859 and moved to Logan, Utah, in 1864. He later moved to Glendale, Utah. He lived in numerous other places in Arizona and Utah. ...
Dates:
approximately 1913-1946
L. John Nuttall papers
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 790
Scope and Contents
Handwritten diaries, correspondence, lists, minutes, patriarchal blessings, and notes. The materials relate to Nuttall's involvement in numerous Mormon Church and Utah Militia activities. Nuttall's position as secretary to the president of the Mormon Church allowed him to record various items on church conduct and doctrine. He records many of the meetings of the ruling bodies of that faith. Nuttall also recounts campaigns against the Ute Indians during the Black Hawk War (1865-1872) and other...
Dates:
1857-1904
On morality, polygamy and the Mormon faith
File — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS SC 1404
Scope and Contents
Handwritten notes for a speech by an unknown author given at a Mormon conference at Liverpool, England of which the first 8 pages are missing. The item discusses the doctrines of salvation, morality, polygamy, and the Mormon faith.
Dates:
approximately 1850
Polygamy article
File — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS SC 1004
Scope and Contents
Two anonymous, photocopied articles relating to Mormon polygamy. One is typewritten and outlines the author's belief that the Mormon Church was in error when it discontinued plural marriage. Five leaves of the document (pages 8-15) are missing. The other item is a holograph manuscript which tells about the issuing of the "Manifesto" in 1890 which formally ended polygamy among the Mormons.
Dates:
Publication: 1975
Found in:
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
/
Polygamy article
Belinda Marden Pratt papers
File — Folder: 1
Identifier: MSS SC 2868
Scope and Contents
Letter to Belinda from her husband, Parley P. Pratt, written from San Francisco in January 1855, focusing on family concerns; and a fifteen-page autobiographical sketch written by her, dated 1884 on page one and 1889 on page eleven. Also includes an undated biographical sketch of Belinda written by Parker Pratt Robison, based on her autobiographical account. Her account discusses her conversion to Mormonism, church service, and marriage to Parley P. Pratt.
Dates:
1855-1889
Parley P. Pratt papers
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 7
Overview
The collection contains correspondence, missionary journals, writings, discourses, sermons, mission records, genealogy records, legislative service records, and miscellaneous biographical materials covering 1837-1967.
Dates:
1837-1967