| Show CHURCH HISTORY OFFICE G S SL L city auw aus oth 1855 1835 S EDITOR OF TH THE E ngos sir sin the enclosed correspondence not na t bev i hagg 1 jrr appeared in it the peoples journal 3 I 1 thought proper to present you yon on with the rough monh jonh inabu capt 1 which y apu ipu 9 u are at hart liberty y to publish li in ourt X columns if you w think proper t yours re wt I 1 A GEO A SMITH GREAT salt SAIT salt LAKE city QTY i march iop lap EDITOR OF 01 PEOPLES PEor LEPS JOURNAL by ily the request reque stef president brigha brigham I 1 in youry I 1 have ar your letter letier to him bearing date sept kept IS 1854 of which the following isa is a 6 copy 6 py deann deaun str sta we are re publishing a an all taj th religious now extant their risen re flunde founder articles arriles of faith statistics ac wo V have published several froin tram the triest T f able abie pe 4 an the t be and our object in writing this is taso to 1 your aid jn in this ihl matter malter maat cr Tobe to be brief brier v will ill lil you write us a history of yo yoga rf crecli cie clE 1 h cil cli h or the latter day sainta saints aud and lowge your tour seh beh affy lociy which dras bras was long delayed in co consequence nse quence of the tile of the tho mails malls not hot one fourth of the mail matter die dle die city eity having arrived for the last five months which is owing to admel gome ap neglect elect lect or derangement 46 we suppose of thetos the post I office department 1 I 1 have llave taken considerable pains to liri iiii answer from tile the best authorities at hand band as briefly al a so extensive a subject could well welt be considered I 1 wish you xou 0 U to publish heh the astory story entire ivyon if yon you do not 1 choose se to publish it entire and eed ded eda please return it to me as the editor of the news has dil all already ead requested me moe roe to furnish a copy which I 1 refused as I 1 intended it for yourselves be pleased to furnish a couple coupie of copies of the number in which it is published one to lo gbye young youw an and d one directed to thie the Histo nisto historians nans office and oblige s very yours 1 GEL GEO A S SMITH ff r r historian of the church of jesus jesul christ t of latter day saints joseph smith jun ivas ikas was born in sharon windsor county vermont december 1805 moved with his father to ontario co con conov tv new york and irr lir m the jear year 1819 resided i in manchester he be ws by occupation a farmer and his advantages r of education were limited at the age of 15 lie he began begen to reflect seriously on the necessity of being prepared prapai ed for a future state ot of existence he went among the different denominations that existed in that state stale and his mind became perplexed with the cl clashing ashim and contention which existed among those who professed the name of christ disgusted with the concu confusion zion which his researches disclosed and encouraged by the promise of saint james if any of you lack wisdom let him ask sk of rod god iod who give jou gou unto all men liberally and upbraid eth rot and arid it shall be given him hi rohe mohe J he retired to a grove groffe and in ill earnet earnest prayer besought the lord to reveal the way layf cf salvation and while thus engaged he beheld two gi glorious coriou s beings wrapped in in a brilliant and glorious light who who informed him that all the religious sects of the present age had departed from the ancient I 1 gospel of jesus christ and his apostles with its gifts and priesthood which should be made known to him hunt in in due season many glorious things were shown him in this vision on the Septem september bor 1823 while engaged in prayer and striving to exercise f faith falth the room was filled with light sur surpassing pasing that of noon day in the midst mi ast dst of which was a person whose countenance was wag as lightning and yet so full rf ef inno cence and goodness and ind of such a glori glorious oils appearance as to toi banish all apprehension app he was an angel commissioned of god to inform him hiiri that the covenants with ancient israel touching their posterity should soon be fulfilled and arid that the great I 1 work to prepare for the second coming of christ should now Dow commence the f onese of the gospel be made known to all nations that the native inhabitants of america berea were a remnant of israel who had anciently enjoyed the ministry of inspired men that records con coh containing their history had been Tre preserved served to the period of their national d degeneracy t beracy and that these records had been conceta concealed iid lid in the earth and the lord promised they should soon be revealed on the following follo lay day the angel returned and chewed him the spot where the sacred record was deposited A small rock projecting a little above the earths earthy surface covered a stone stong box he be opened it and beheld the plates the angel said you cannot at this time obtain them and when they are obtained it must t be by prayer and faithfulness in irs obeying obey ing the lord they are not deposited here for the saie sake of accumulating gain or wealth or for the glory of his this world they thy are of no worth to the tile children bt bf men only for the knowledge they contain which is the f ulness of the thi gospel of jesus christ as it was wag gi gwen V en to the ancient people of this land the stature of this thil personage was a little above the common size of men in this age ins his garments were perfectly white and they ibey appealed to tobe lobe be without seams much instruction was given by the angel to mr smitha during a period of four years and on the tile september 1827 the an angelof el of tile the lord delivered the I 1 records into his big hands they were engra engraved vedon on plates which had bad the appearance of eold gold each plate was not far from 7 inches by 8 in width and length not quite a as thick as common tin beautifully engraved on both sides in reformed egy egyptian wn characters bound together in a volume as E the leaves of a book faster fastened iii lle at t ihk the he edge with three rings running through the bogk with the records was found a curious instrument called by the ancients the arim and Thum maim raim by the gift and power of god through its means he translated the he record ril rel which is he the book of mormon the girs firs first edition of 5 copies was vork gork published yom yoa u ba is hed by r joseph smith at palmyra new the church of jesus christ of batter latter JL atter day saints was organized in Moc manchester hester bester new york on the il 1830 and was then com composed ased of six members who who were baptized by immersi ammerson im merson ion kon under tinder the hands of joseph smith and oliver cowdery who received the apostleship by command ment meat from god and the pid ministration administration of beav heaten n ly messengers messenger sand and were the f first elders of the charch I 1 the book of mormon mornion being printed the church began to attract the attention of newl newspaper paper editors who immediately opened heir their artillery against joseph smith and awl the handful who had fiad received his testimony the tocsin of persecution was immediately sounded and continued TO increase with scarcely any cessation during hii his whole life through the labor laborg of joseph smith avrum smith oliver cowdery and other elders who had been ordained branches were established in new york pennsylvania ohio the british provinces and new england slates A large branch of the church was established in in kirtland geauga geaugh county ohio and the s spirit of persecution pursuing all the branches branch ds to a very area irea I 1 extent the ibe saints commenced gathering to kirtland and soon after affer Jose joseph hr smith ivia several of the elders visited jackson county missouri and commenced settlements of the he saints upper urner missouri being at that time but th inhabited I 1 I 1 in juri june 1831 ii a conference was held at kirtland a number of the elders eiders were orddin ordained ea high priests by joeph smith he being pres president dent of the h high h priesthood and of the whole church chuich being ci called ailed of the lord like unto urto unto moses a seer revelator ve lator translator and aej prophet and it was his big privilege to have two counselors to act aci as assistant pi 81 lents which form the first presidency dency of the church churell in junei june 1832 W V IV phelps co commenced printing a monthly periodical at independence I 1 missouri devoted expressly to the spreading in bt of the principles of the gospel aid ard publishing the revelations of god goa to the church A mercantile house was established by the firm of A S gilbert co and several hundreds of farms farais were opened and mills and many extensive I 1 improvements commenced the elders eldera continued to preach with unabated zeal zea notwithstanding they were constandy constancy subjected to abuse on M march arch 25 2 1832 joseph smith and elder sdney rigdon ri don doh were dragged iam ral ged eed from their beds at midnight ll 11 in the town of hiram portage county chio daubed with tar and feat feathers liers and severely in sj injured 1 ed aqua f fori orti was poured into president smiths 1 mouth and he be was heid held by the throat until left for dead one of his bis children was sick with the and being 11 in bed with him at the time of the outrage was thereby exposed to the night air and died almost immediately she may therefore be called the tile first martyr of this dispensation in june 1833 a commencement was made for the building of a temple in ill kirtland I 1 on the july 1833 the printing office of W IV phelps at independence 1 missouri liss ouri onri was sit sti surrounded by a mob of about five hundred men inen the he press was destroyed the type pied pled and the house a two story brick building pulled down loss of property 6 this mob violence continued from day to ly day edward partridge the presiding bishop of the church was publicly stripped alid and tarred and und feathered on the tile public square in the presence of several hundred spectators mr charles alien allen a member of the church wece Cece received ived the same gom com compliment ciment the tar wi was mixed with some corrosive su substance stance the store of gilbert and whitney was broken open thelt their roods goods promiscuously scattered in the streets ilves lives threatened individuals whipped and a great number of houses unroofed by parties visiting the different settlements upwards of two hundred houses were destroyed dest royed roved by fire and 1500 imo pat pal prisons sons driven from their homes bomes and scatter scattered ed into the adio adlo adjoining ining counties principally into clay without any means of subsist subsistence encel a great number having baving r perished from wounds bruises and exposure As the saints were scattered along the banks of the missouri river a piot plot was wag laid by a party parly of the mob to murder all who should be leff left on the jackson side on oa the morning ing of the 13 h of october very early they beheld the wonderful meteoric phenomenon of ol the stars falling from heaven which caused the hearts of the saints to rejoice and the mob to abandon their pur poet poel some of the mob were so affected by the sigh siah that they wept believing the theuay day of judgment at hand I 1 am sorry to sa say y that clergymen of various denominations sanctified these deeds of cruelty cruelly by their pre presence sence and said participation in the fall of 1833 a printing press preas was established in kirtland olo ollo olio where oliver cowdery commenced the republication of the evening and an in 1834 joseph smith accompanied by men visited clay cou rity missouri and att attempted IM ted to bring about a reconciliation ion lon with lle ile tile lie depre people of jackson his hh excellency daniel dahiel dun Dan dunklin kiin klin then governor of missouri notified the legislature in his annual message that the means of enforcing he the hw both bolh bollt civil and military were so insufficient ur that the mormons cormons could rot be protected in the state ile he had previously written to col COI J thornton under dyte dite of fhe the h ah june 1834 as a follows 1 I am fulty fully persuaded th hat hit it the tile ccuen eccentricity of the religious opinions 4 and nd pr practices artices of th e mormons cormons Mor mons is at tie the bottom of he the a out outrages tajes hages committed a against ainest ahem 1 by bv industry economy and prudence the saints in cly clay oly and uie ule hie adjoining counties had begun b gun to acquire ac am wealth and to eni enjoy y prosperity ity and wee eibl enabled to considerable tracts of land this aided th tho jackson county mob to raise all ali excitement in clay clap county public meeting ulc cic eting 4 were beld hild and the saints notified by their afric al resolutions ois that they must cease to mace make male improvements prove ments in county or oe to purchase oher ohen her la lands d and required them to leave leae the county ot of clay C la A location was accordingly ude mide nde jn n a new uninhabited uninhibited naked prairie counts county desti tute of timber by the unanimous co cora cori sent of th t mob who sall sail said sald it was fit fer nothing else but the mormons cormons Mor mons the saints of clay county purchased the lands of the government and moved immediately into caldwell i in 1 1334 34 joseph smith senior was set apart ai a patriarch over the whole church to bl biess bless ss the fatherless pith i anthe february 1835 1833 J jqseph joseph S by bi a of god selected and ard ordained twelve apostles to be special witnesses in all the world of the falness of the to preside ovar the church in all cages cases when the presidency were absent and during the tha year 1835 they visited all the states east of ohio and also the british Pia lice fice comforting the scattered branches preaching the gospel and building up new bra branches many mahy hund bund hundreds reels were baptized during the season about the same time he also ordained a quorum of seventy elders for the same purpose many of whom devoted the most of their time to tra travelling velling ipg ing and I 1 preaching going forth without purse or s soup soap the temple in kirtland was so far completed as is to be dedicated on the march elders eiders being present sn a general council cauncil on oil the evening of the t ah e dedication d ed i cation this temple is a stone building 80 feet by 60 the walls walla 50 feet high and the tower feet high there are wo main halls 55 feet by 65 in the inner court four vestries in in the front and five school rooms r in 1 I the attic the building is well finished and a fine specimen of architecture in june 1837 heber 0 kimball ki dball orson hyde willard richards and joseph fielding with three others started from kirtland on a mission to the british mands hands they arrived in england on the of july without a farthing in their pockets and rn the commenced preaching in preston nn at christmas the church had extended e X from preston to Long london lonnon ton fon southport southwort South port eccleston Eccle eccie ston slon whittle and hunters hill the number of members amounting to about one thousand in 1837 the weater peater g reater portion of the saints in kirtland moved to missouri and settled in caldwell daviess clinton Car carroll rolland and ray counties the county of caldwell had been organized and the city of far par west established establish d in december the printing office in kirtland was destroyed by fire the work of an incendiary in in the spring of 1838 the emigration to missouri so uri url continued most of the saints lints S a leaving kirtland the foundation of a town was laid on grand river in Daviess county called adam ondi |
