1.
Joseph Smith
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Joseph Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was twenty-four, Smith published the Book of Mormon, by the time of his death fourteen years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religious culture that continues to the present. In 1830, Smith published what he said was an English translation of these plates, the same year he organized the Church of Christ, calling it a restoration of the early Christian church. Members of the church were later called Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, in 1831, Smith and his followers moved west, planning to build a communalistic American Zion. They first gathered in Kirtland, Ohio, and established an outpost in Independence, Missouri, during the 1830s, Smith sent out missionaries, published revelations, and supervised construction of the expensive Kirtland Temple. In 1844, Smith and the Nauvoo city council angered non-Mormons by destroying a newspaper that had criticized Smiths power, after Smith was imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois, he was killed when a mob stormed the jailhouse. Smith published many revelations and other texts that his followers regard as scripture and his teachings include unique views about the nature of God, cosmology, family structures, political organization, and religious collectivism. Joseph Smith Jr. was born on December 23,1805, in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack Smith and her husband Joseph Sr. a merchant, after suffering a crippling bone infection when he was seven, the younger Smith used crutches for three years. During the Second Great Awakening, the region was a hotbed of religious enthusiasm, although Smiths parents disagreed about religion, the family was caught up in this excitement. Smith later said he became interested in religion at about the age of twelve, he participated in church classes, as a teenager, he may have been sympathetic to Methodism. With other family members, Smith also engaged in folk magic. Both his parents and his grandfather reportedly had visions or dreams that they believed communicated messages from God. Smith said that although he had become concerned about the welfare of his soul, years later Smith said that in 1820 he had received a vision that resolved his religious confusion. While praying in an area near his home, he said that God, in a vision, had told him his sins were forgiven. Smith said he told the experience to a preacher, who dismissed the story with contempt, but the experience was largely unknown, even to most Mormons, until the 1840s. Although Smith may have understood the event as a conversion, this First Vision later grew in importance among Mormons. Smith said he attempted to remove the plates the next morning but was unsuccessful because the angel prevented him, Smith reported that during the next four years, he made annual visits to the hill but each time returned without the plates. Meanwhile, the Smith family faced financial hardship due in part to the November 1823 death of Smiths oldest brother Alvin, Family members supplemented their meager farm income by hiring out for odd jobs and working as treasure seekers, a type of magical supernaturalism common during the period
2.
Independence, Missouri
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Independence is the fifth-largest city in the state of Missouri. It lies within Jackson County, of which it is the county seat, Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2010, it had a population of 116,830. Independence is known as the Queen City of the Trails because it was a point of departure for the California, Oregon and Santa Fe Trails. Independence was also the hometown of U. S. President Harry S. Truman, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum is located in the city, and Truman and First Lady Bess Truman are buried here. The city is also sacred to many Latter Day Saints, with Joseph Smiths 1831 Temple Lot being located here, Independence was originally inhabited by Missouri and Osage Indians, followed by the Spanish and a brief French tenure. It became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Lewis and Clark recorded in their journals that they stopped in 1804 to pick plums, raspberries, and wild apples at a site that would later form part of the city. Named after the Declaration of Independence, Independence was founded on March 29,1827, Independence immediately became a jumping-off point for the emerging fur trade, accommodating merchants and adventurers beginning the long trek westward on the Santa Fe Trail. In 1831, members of the Latter Day Saint movement began moving to the Jackson County, Missouri area. Shortly thereafter, founder Joseph Smith declared a spot west of the Courthouse Square to be the place for his temple of the New Jerusalem. Tension grew with local Missourians until the Latter Day Saints were driven from the area in 1833, several branches of this movement gradually returned to the city beginning in 1867, with many making their headquarters there. These include the Community of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ, Independence saw great prosperity from the late 1830s through the mid-1840s, while the business of outfitting pioneers boomed. Between 1848 and 1868, it was a hub of the California Trail, on March 8,1849, the Missouri General Assembly granted a home-rule charter to the town and on July 18,1849, William McCoy was elected as its first mayor. In the mid-19th century an Act of the United States Congress defined Independence as the start of the Oregon Trail. The war took its toll on Independence and the town was never able to regain its previous prosperity, United States President Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence, and in 1922 was elected judge of the county Court of Jackson County, Missouri. Although he was defeated for reelection in 1924, he won back the office in 1926 and was reelected in 1930 and he would later return to the city after two terms as President. His wife, First Lady Bess Truman, was born and raised in Independence, the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum are both located in Independence, as is one of Trumans boyhood residences. Independence is located at 39°4′47″N 94°24′24″W and it lies on the south bank of the Missouri River, near the western edge of the state
3.
Missouri
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Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1821. With over six million residents, it is the eighteenth most populous state, the largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capitol is in Jefferson City on the Missouri River, the state is the twenty-first most extensive by area and is geographically diverse. The Northern Plains were once covered by glaciers, then tallgrass prairie, in the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Mississippi River forms the border of the state, eventually flowing into the swampy Missouri Bootheel. Humans have inhabited the land now known as Missouri for at least 12,000 years, the Mississippian culture built cities and mounds, before declining in the 1300s. When European explorers arrived in the 1600s they encountered the Osage, the French established Louisiana, a part of New France, and founded Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764, after a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory, many from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland, Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, as a border state, Missouris role in the American Civil War was complex and there were many conflicts within. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business, today, the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouris culture blends elements from the Midwestern and Southern United States, the musical styles of ragtime, Kansas City jazz, and St. Louis Blues, developed in Missouri. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and lesser known St. Louis-style barbecue can be found across the state, St. Louis is also a major center of beer brewing, Anheuser-Busch is the largest producer in the world. Missouri wine is produced in the nearby Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks, Missouris alcohol laws are among the most permissive in the United States. Outside of the large cities popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, U. S. President Harry S. Truman is from Missouri. Other well known Missourians include Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, some of the largest companies based in the state include Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, and OReilly Auto Parts. Missouri has been called the Mother of the West and the Cave State, however, Missouris most famous nickname is the Show Me State, the state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe
4.
Hyrum Smith
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Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the brother of the movements founder, Joseph Smith. Hyrum was born in Tunbridge, Vermont, the son of Joseph Smith, Sr. Smith received an education, and established himself as a farmer. Smith attended Dartmouth College in his teens and this may have been one of the factors behind Dr. Nathan Smith treating Smiths brother Josephs leg. During the translation of the Book of Mormon and the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Smith was a close advisor, in June 1829, Smith was baptized in Seneca Lake, New York. He was one of the Eight Witnesses who examined and testified of the reality of the golden plates and he also saw the angel Moroni at some point. When the Church of Christ was organized on April 6,1830, six men signed their names as members, at the age of 30. Smith served as presiding officer of a branch in Colesville. As the church headquarters and membership moved west, Smith and his family relocated, in 1831, he established a home in Kirtland, Ohio. During his residence there, he served as foreman of the quarry providing stone for the Kirtland Temple, between 1831 and 1833, he served proselyting missions to Missouri and Ohio. In 1834, under the direction of Joseph Smith, he recruited members for a militia, Zions Camp and he was appointed Second Counselor in the churchs First Presidency in November 1837. In 1838 and 1839, Hyrum, Joseph and three church leaders shared a jail cell in Liberty, Missouri while awaiting trial. After relocating to Nauvoo, Illinois, Smith became Presiding Patriarch of the Church, although Hyrum Smith was never explicitly ordained to the priesthood office of apostle, his appointment as assistant president may have included such authority. When warned of danger, Joseph urged Smith and his family to flee to Cincinnati. Smith refused and, in 1844, traveled with Joseph to Carthage, Illinois, Joseph, Hyrum, John Taylor and Willard Richards were held awaiting trial in a jail in Carthage. On June 27,1844, the building was attacked by a mob of between sixty and two hundred men. While attempting to barricade the door to prevent the mob from entering, Smith was shot in the face and exclaimed, I am a dead man, Taylor was struck by several bullets but survived with the help of Richards
5.
John Taylor (Mormon)
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John Taylor was an English religious leader who served as the third president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1880 to 1887. He is the president of the LDS Church to have been born outside of the United States. Taylor was born in Milnthorpe, Westmorland, England, the son of James and Agnes Taylor and he had formal schooling up to age fourteen, and then he served an initial apprenticeship to a cooper and later received training as a woodturner and cabinetmaker. He claimed that as a man, he had a vision of “an angel in the heavens, holding a trumpet to his mouth. He was christened in the Church of England, but joined the Methodist church at sixteen and he was appointed a lay preacher a year later, and felt a calling to preach in America. Taylors parents and siblings emigrated to Upper Canada in 1830, Taylor stayed in England to dispose of the family property and joined his family in Toronto in 1832. He met Leonora Cannon from the Isle of Man while attending a Toronto Methodist Church and, although she rejected his proposal. Between 1834 and 1836, John and Leonora Taylor participated in a study group in Toronto. The group discussed problems and concerns with their Methodist faith, other members included Joseph Fielding and his sisters Mary and Mercy, who later also became prominent in the Latter Day Saint movement. While in Toronto Taylor continued to work in his trade as a woodturner, Taylor and his wife first came in contact with the Church of the Latter Day Saints in 1836 after meeting Parley P. Pratt, an apostle in the church, in Toronto. Leonora was the first to join the church and she persuaded Taylor to continue his studies with Pratt, after the couples baptism into the church, they were active in preaching and the organization of the church in Upper Canada. They then moved to Far West, Missouri, where Taylor was ordained an apostle on December 19,1838 and he assisted other church members as they fled frequent conflicts to Commerce, Illinois. In 1839, Taylor and some of his fellow apostles served missions in Britain, while there, Taylor preached in Liverpool and was responsible for Mormon preaching in Ireland and the Isle of Man. Taylor returned to Nauvoo, Illinois to serve as a city councilman, a chaplain, a colonel, an editor. Taylor edited two newspapers in Nauvoo, Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor, Taylor also edited the more politically concerned Nauvoo Neighbor and the Wasp, the predecessor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, for about a year. Taylor was thus the editor of Nauvoos two main papers from 1842 to 1846, in 1844, Taylor was with church founder Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum Smith, and fellow apostle Willard Richards in the Carthage, Illinois jail when the Smiths were killed by a mob. Taylor was severely wounded in the conflict and his life may have been spared when a musket ball directed towards his chest was stopped by a pocket watch which he was carrying at the time. However, recent analysis shows the watch may instead have been damaged when Taylor fell against the windowsill, in 1845 Taylor became the president of the Nauvoo Tradesmen Association
6.
Alpheus Cutler
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John Alpheus Cutler was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement who founded the Church of Jesus Christ in 1853. Following the death of Joseph Smith in June 1844, Cutler at first followed the Twelve Apostles under Brigham Young, Cutler claimed that his was the sole legitimate continuation of Smiths organization, and he served as its leader until his death. Cutler was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, to Knight Cutler, a veteran of the American Revolution and he married Lois Lathrop of Lebanon, New Hampshire on November 17,1808. Lathrop was a descendant of Rev. John Lothropp, and thus a distant cousin of Latter Day Saint prophet Joseph Smith, Cutler fought as a private in the War of 1812, serving in Cpt. E. Smiths company of New York Militia from September to December 1812, Cutler was a stonemason by occupation. Some of Cutlers contemporaries would later refer to him as having a natural parabolical, allegorical, symbolical, mysterious, secretive way of telling things. Following what they claimed to be a cure of their daughter by Pattons prayers and laying on of hands, Cutler. He moved to the main Mormon settlement at Kirtland, Ohio the following year, an enthusiastic convert, Cutler was invited to attend Smiths School of the Prophets in Kirtland, and assisted in the construction of the Kirtland Temple there. He also claimed in this vision to have seen a gold chain draped across the newly completed edifice. When Joseph Smith moved church headquarters to Caldwell County, Missouri in 1837, Cutler followed him there, a victim of Governor Lilburn Boggss Extermination Order, Cutler was expelled from the state with the other Latter Day Saints during the winter of 1838–39. Relocating with his religious brethren to Nauvoo, Illinois, Cutler was appointed one of three members of a committee to oversee construction of the Nauvoo Temple on 3 October 1840. While in Nauvoo, Cutler served on the Nauvoo High Council, Cutler also served as captain of Smiths bodyguard. Prior to Smiths murder in 1844, Cutler was called by Smith to undertake a mission to the Lamanites, however, he had not yet departed when Smith was killed on 27 June at the jail in Carthage, Illinois. Smiths death produced a succession crisis in his movement, with members torn between competing claimants for Smiths prophetic mantle. At first, Cutler threw in his lot with the Twelve and he continued to work on the Nauvoo Temple, where he was reportedly sealed to Lois on 14 February 1846. When Brigham Young decided to commence the Saints trek to the Salt Lake Valley,3, one of twenty-five such travelling units into which the Mormon pioneers were organized. Cutler established Cutlers Park, Nebraska in 1846, and was appointed presiding member of the municipal High Council on 9 August of that year. Barely a month later, he was asked to find a new location for a settlement, on 11 September he selected the site that would become Winter Quarters, Nebraska
7.
Death of Joseph Smith
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The assassination of Joseph Smith on June 27,1844, marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois and he was killed while jailed in Carthage, Illinois, on charges relating to his ordering the destruction of facilities producing the Nauvoo Expositor. The newspaper had reported that Smith was practicing polygamy and claimed that he intended to set himself up as a theocratic king, Smith voluntarily surrendered to the authorities at the county seat at Carthage to face the charges against him. While he was in jail awaiting trial, a mob of men with painted faces stormed the jail, they shot and killed him. Since then, Latter Day Saints generally view the two men as religious martyrs, five men were indicted for their murders but were acquitted at a jury trial. The Mormons began to move into Hancock County in 1839, at the time, after their people were expelled from Missouri, Joseph Smith went to Washington, DC and met with President Martin Van Buren, seeking intervention and compensation for lost property. Van Buren said he could do nothing to help, after returning to Illinois, Smith vowed to join the Whig Party. Most of his supporters switched with him, adding political tensions to the suspicions in which this group were held. Several of Smiths disaffected associates at Nauvoo and Hancock County, Illinois and its first and only issue was published June 7,1844. Based on allegations by some of associates, the newspaper reported that Smith practiced polygamy. It said that he tried to marry wives of some of his associates, about eight of Smiths wives had already been married to other men at the time they married Smith. Typically, these continued to live with their first husband. Some accounts say Smith may have had relations with one wife. The reliability of sources is disputed by some Latter Day Saints. DNA investigations performed to date have consistently shown that Smith was not the father of children thought to be his based on written and they reached this decision after lengthy discussion, including citation of William Blackstones legal canon, which defined a libelous press as a public nuisance. Under the councils new ordinance, Smith, as Nauvoos mayor, in conjunction with the city council, ordered the city marshal to destroy the paper, by the city marshals account, the destruction of the press type was carried out orderly and peaceably. However, Charles A. Foster, a co-publisher of the Expositor, reported on June 12 that not only was the press destroyed. Smiths critics said that the action of destroying the press violated freedom of the press, some sought legal charges against Smith for the destruction of the press, including charges of treason and inciting riot
8.
Brigham Young
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Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877 and he founded Salt Lake City and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Young also led the foundings of the precursors to the University of Utah, Young was dubbed by his followers the Lion of the Lord for his bold personality and was also commonly called Brother Brigham by Latter-day Saints. Young was a polygamist and was involved in controversies regarding black people and the Priesthood, the Utah War, and the Mountain Meadows massacre. Young was born to John Young and Abigail Nabby Howe, a family in Whitingham, Vermont. Young was first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works, though he had converted to the Methodist faith in 1823, Young was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary, after his wife died in 1832, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1844, while in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith, several claimants to the role of church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Young opposed this reasoning and motion, the majority in attendance were persuaded that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was to lead the church with Young as the Quorums president. Many of Youngs followers would later reminisce that while Young spoke to the congregation, he looked or sounded exactly like Smith, Young was ordained President of the Church in December 1847, three and a half years after Smiths death. Rigdon became the president of a church organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Repeated conflict led Young to relocate his group of Latter-day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley, Young organized the journey that would take the Mormon pioneers to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846, then to the Salt Lake Valley. By the time Young arrived at the destination, it had come under American control as a result of war with Mexico. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24,1847, Youngs expedition was one of the largest and one of the best organized westward treks. On August 22,29 days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, after three years of leading the church as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Young reorganized a new First Presidency and was declared president of the church on December 27,1847. As colonizer and founder of Salt Lake City, Young was appointed the territorys first governor, during his time as prophet, Young directed the establishment of settlements throughout present-day Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, California and parts of southern Colorado and northern Mexico. Young was also one of the first to subscribe to Union Pacific stock, Young organized the first legislature and established Fillmore as the territorys first capital. Young organized a Board of Regents to establish a university in the Salt Lake Valley and it was established on February 28,1850, as the University of Deseret, its name was eventually changed to the University of Utah
9.
President of the Church (LDS Church)
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In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the President of the Church is the highest office of the church. It was the held by Joseph Smith, founder of the church. The President of the LDS Church is the leader and the head of the First Presidency. Latter-day Saints consider the president of the church to be a prophet, seer, and revelator, and refer to him as the Prophet, when the name of the president is used by adherents, it is usually prefaced by the title President. The President of the Church serves as the head of both the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes and the Council of the Church, the President of the Church also serves as the ex officio chairman of the Church Boards of Trustees/Education. The concept that the Church of Christ would have a single presiding officer arose in late 1831, initially, after the churchs formation on April 6,1830, Joseph Smith referred to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and elder of the church. However, there was another apostle—Oliver Cowdery—and several other elders of the church, for he receiveth them even as Moses. This established Smiths exclusive right to lead the church, in early June 1831, Smith was ordained to the high priesthood, along with twenty-two other men, including prominent figures in the church such as Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and Martin Harris. As high priests, these men were higher in the hierarchy than the elders of the church. However, it was unclear whether Smiths and Cowderys callings as apostles gave them superior authority to that of other high priests. And again the duty of the President of the priesthood is to preside over the whole church. Smith was ordained to this position and sustained by the church on January 25,1832, at a conference in Amherst, in 1835, the Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ were revised, changing the phrase an. Elder of the church to the first elder of this Church, thus, subsequent to 1835, Smith was sometimes referred to as the First Elder of the church. The 1835 revision also added a verse referring to the office of president of the high priesthood, in 1844, while in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith was killed by an armed mob. Hyrum Smith, his successor, was killed in the same incident. Smith had not indisputably established who was next in line as successor to President of the Church, several claimants to the role of church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Young would not be ordained President of the Church until December 1847, thomas S. Monson is the 16th and current President of the LDS Church. As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a prophet, seer, a printer by trade, Monson has spent most of his life engaged in various church leadership positions and in public service
10.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations, according to the church, it has over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Adherents, often referred to as Latter-day Saints, or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion. The church has a canon which includes four scriptural texts, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. The current president is Thomas S. Monson, individual members of the church believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations, Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood, Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but do occupy leadership roles in some church auxiliary organizations. Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes, faithful members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The LDS Church was formally organized by Joseph Smith on April 6,1830, Smith intended to establish the New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion. In 1831, the moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Latter Day Saints from Jackson County, the Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections. Smith regrouped with the church in Far West, Missouri. Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered that the Saints be exterminated or driven from the State, in 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the churchs new headquarters. Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere gained new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo, meanwhile, Smith introduced polygamy to his closest associates. He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow people to become gods in the afterlife. He also introduced the church to an accounting of his First Vision. This vision would come to be regarded by the LDS Church as the most important event in history since the resurrection of Jesus
11.
James Strang
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James Jesse Strang was an American religious leader, politician and self-proclaimed monarch. Building an organization that eventually rivaled Youngs in Utah, Strang gained nearly 12,000 adherents prior to his murder in 1856 and he offered a sophisticated set of teachings that differed in many significant aspects from any other version of Mormonism, including that preached by Smith. These are accepted as scripture by his followers, but not by any other Latter Day Saint church, while most of Strangs followers eventually disavowed him, a small but devout remnant continues to carry on his teachings and organization today. In addition to his calling, Strang served one full term and part of a second as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was also at times an attorney, educator, temperance lecturer, newspaper editor, Baptist minister, correspondent for the New York Tribune. However, his polygamous lifestyle and sometimes abrasive personality made him many enemies inside his church and out of it, James Jesse Strang was born March 21,1813, in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York. He was the second of three children, and his parents had a reputation in their community. James mother was very tender with him as a consequence of delicate health, yet she required him to render an account of all his actions and he estimated that his time in a classroom during those years totaled six months. But none of this meant that Strang was illiterate or simple, although his teachers not unfrequently turned me off with little or no attention, as though I was too stupid to learn and too dull to feel neglect, Strang recalled that he spent long weary days. Upon the floor, thinking, thinking, thinking and my mind wandered over fields that old men shrink from, seeking rest and finding none till darkness gathered thick around and I burst into tears. He studied works by Thomas Paine and the Comte de Volney, as a youth, Strang kept a rather profound personal diary, written partly in a secret code that was not deciphered until over one hundred years after it was authored. At age twelve, Strang was baptized a Baptist and he did not wish to follow his fathers calling as a farmer, so he took up the study of law. Strang was admitted to the bar in New York at age 23 and he became county Postmaster and edited a local newspaper, the Randolph Herald. Later, in the midst of his duties on Beaver Island, he would find time to found and publish the Daily Northern Islander. Strang, who described himself as a cool philosopher and a freethinker, became a Baptist minister. He quickly found favor with Joseph Smith, though they had each other only a short time. On March 3 of that year he was ordained an Elder by Josephs brother Hyrum and sent forthwith at Smiths request to Wisconsin, shortly after Strangs departure, Joseph Smith was murdered by an anti-Mormon mob in Carthage, Illinois. Following Smiths demise, several men claimed the right to lead the Latter Day Saints, the most significant of these were Brigham Young, president of Smiths Twelve Apostles, Sidney Rigdon, the sole surviving member of Smiths First Presidency, and James Strang
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