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Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1805 - 1844

Biography

Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) was a prophet and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805, to parents Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. He was the fifth of eleven children. He worked on the family farm in Vermont and later in western New York. A series of remarkable spiritual experiences prepared him for his prophetic calling. Beginning in 1820 at Palmyra, New York, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in vision. Through revelation, he translated and published the Book of Mormon, organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830, and received revelations to guide the Church. By inspiration, he called Apostles and other Church leaders, defined doctrines, and taught the principles and ordinances that would lead to exaltation. Under his leadership, Latter-day Saints founded communities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He was sustained as First Elder of the Church on April 6, 1830. On June 27, 1844, at Carthage, Illinois, Joseph Smith died a martyr to his faith.

Citation:
Book of Mormon. Japanese. Morumon-kyō, 1909 (1950 printing): t.p. (Josefu Sumisu [in Japanese])

Book of Moemon. Armenian. Girkʻ Mōrmōni, 1937: t.p. (Kart. Chōzēf Smitʻh)

Britannica.com, Oct. 13, 2010 (Joseph Smith, originally Joseph Smith, Jr. (b. Dec. 23, 1805, Sharon, Vt., U.S.; d. June 27, 1844, Carthage, Ill.), prophet and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

The Book of Mormon, 1830: title page (Joseph Smith, Junior)

Doctrine and covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, 1835: title page (Joseph Smith, Junior)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, page 1331 (Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844), the Prophet Joseph Smith, founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; born December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont; moved to Palmyra, N.Y. in 1816; founded the Church in Fayette, N.Y. April 6, 1830; migrated with the Church to Kirtland, Ohio in 1831; then to Far West, Missouri in 1838; finally to Nauvoo, Ill. (which he founded) in 1839; killed by a mob in Carthage, Ill. June 27, 1844)

Found in 20 Collections and/or Records:

Transcription of the Averett Family ledger book

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197231046316]
Identifier: MSS 1303
Scope and Contents

Narrative of the history of members of the Averett family, including conversion, activities in Far West and Nauvoo, emigration westward, and settlement and activities in Utah Territory. The transcription was entrusted to P.T. Reilly.

Dates: 1972

Biography Joseph Alston

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230340819]
Identifier: MSS 2509
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a microfilm copy of a typed biography. Joseph Alston was born in 1821 in England, and he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839. He migrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he knew Joseph Smith, the first president of the Mormon Church. He migrated to Utah probably in 1850 and died in 1891.

Dates: 1940

John Lowe Butler autobiographies

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 390
Scope and Contents

Collection includes three typewritten versions of the autobiography of John Lowe Butler. The autobiographies describe Butler's conversion to the Latter-day Saint Church, building Nauvoo, Illinois, officiating in the temple, experiences as Joseph Smith's bodyguard, the martyrdom of Smith, the expulsion from Nauvoo, the journey to Utah, the colonization of Spanish Fork, Utah, the Utah War and genealogical information of the Butler family, family wills and patriarchal blessings.

Dates: 1957-1970

Dudley family correspondence

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 449
Scope and Contents

21 ALS's (plus typescripts of 11) referring to family matters, exhortations to join the Mormon Church, and descriptions of Nauvoo and settlement of Utah.

Dates: 1844-1897

Barzillai Frost travel journal

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 3276
Scope and Contents

Journal kept by Barzillai Frost during his travels in the West in 1843. Includes an account of his visit to Nauvoo, Ill., and his meeting with Joseph Smith and other prominent Mormons. A photocopy and transcript of the diary are also included in the collection, as well as articles and biographical information on Frost.

Dates: 1843

Ebeneezer Emory Gore autobiography

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230324037]
Identifier: MSS SC 2473
Scope and Contents Typewritten carbon copy of an autobiography with pencilled corrections composed in Lawrence, Kansas in 1904. Gore participated in an overland journey to Jacksonville, Oregon in 1852 and presents many insights into frontier and pioneer life. Gore was familiar with the Mormons in Kirtland, Ohio and in Nauvoo, Illinois. After the Mormons arrived in Kirtland, "the chicken-roosts suffered ... and the herds of stock frequently became reduced." When confronted the Mormons "would acknowledge the...
Dates: 1904

I. J. Harvey letter

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230312339]
Identifier: MSS SC 1386
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a handwritten letter addressed to Harvey's wife in Indiana. Harvey describes the experience of being a homesteader on the Missouri frontier and mentions the possibility of buying "negro" for 2 or 3 dollars. In a postscript Harvey relates a rumor that "Jo Smith and others have made their escape from the sheriff" by stealing two horses. He also states that supposedly Joseph Smith (1805-1844) had twenty thousand dollars with him.

Dates: 1839

Joseph Leland Heywood diaries

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 179
Scope and Contents Handwritten diaries for the years 1856 and 1857. In volume 1, Heywood traveled to California on government business. He left Salt Lake City for Washington, D.C. on 22 April 1866 and gives a short description of the overland journey to Atchison, Kansas. The remainder of the volume discusses political troubles in Washington, D.C. In volume 2, after resolving his affairs in Washington, D.C. and visiting family in Massachusetts, Heywood returned to Utah via St. Louis and Independence, Missouri....
Dates: 1855-1856

History of the life of Stephen Markham

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230310663]
Identifier: MSS SC 1297
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a typed history of Stephen Markham by Julina Markham Crow. The item gives an account of Stephen Markham's personal life as well as his involvement in the early history of Mormonism. This includes his close association with the Mormon Prophets, Joseph Smith (1805-1844) and Brigham Young (1801-1877), his participation with the initial Mormon pioneer company of 1847, and his involvement in the settlement of Utah.

Dates: 1950

James Holt autobiography

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230235910]
Identifier: MSS SC 190
Scope and Contents

Typescript of an autobiography. Holt writes about his childhood, conversion to the Mormon Church, mission for that faith in Tennessee, and migration to Salt Lake City, Utah. He also tells about the confusion in the Mormon Church after the death of its first president, Joseph Smith.

Dates: 1881