Joseph Smith (23 December 1805 – 27 June 1844) was an American religious leader and the founder of Mormonism and the LDS Church. In 1823, he said that he was visited by the angel Moroni and told the location of a buried book made of golden plates, as well as a set of interpreters. He supposedly translated the plates from "reformed Egyptian" into English and published them as "the Book of Mormon" in 1830; that same year, he created the LDS Church, which he claimed was a restoration of the early Christian church. During the 1830s, Smith and his followers moved out west to establish a communalistic American "Zion", and he became a political leader in Nauvoo, Illinois after several forced relocations. He was imprisoned after destroying an anti-Mormon newspaper, and a lynch mob stormed his prison in Carthage, Illinois and shot him dead.
Biography[]
The Apostles Peter, James, and John conferring the "Melchizedek priesthood" on Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was born on 23 December 1805 in Sharon, Vermont, United States, the son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith, and the brother of Hyrum and Alvin Smith. In 1817, Smith's family moved to western New York, where the Second Great Awakening had begun. Smith had only a third-grade education, and he worked as a farmer during his youth. While praying for clarity in which Great Awakening religion was the true faith, he experienced a series of visions, including one in 1823, in which he saw God and Jesus and another where an angel named Moroni guided him to buried golden plates which contained an ancient history of American civilization. Smith dug up the golden plates in his backyard at Hill Cumorah in Rochester, and the angel Moroni appeared to him and told him the history of Moroni's people. Smith was told to never show the plates to anyone else, and he wrote down what he found on the plates, publishing the Book of Mormon. Smith believed that it was his duty to restore the original Christian church, so he founded Mormonism and sought to deliver this message to everyone's house. In 1831, Smith and his followers set up "Zion" in Independence, Missouri, and he sent out missionaries and published revelations to convert others to his religion. Smith sought to find a town for his followers to settle in, but they were kicked out of every town that they had stayed in. Skirmishes with non-Mormon Missourians led to the Mormons relocating to Nauvoo, Illinois, and in 1844 he angered non-Mormons again by destroying a newspaper that criticized his belief in polygamy. He was jailed for his destruction of the newspaper, and on 27 June 1844 a mob of angry people stormed the jail and shot and killed Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith. Brigham Young became the new leader of the Mormons.