Latter Day Saint Martyrs

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 26. Chapters: Joseph Smith, Jr., James Strang, Joseph Standing, Parley P. Pratt, David W. Patten, Hyrum Smith, Haun's Mill massacre, Rulon C. Allred, Joel LeBaron, Edward Partridge, Rafael Monroy. Excerpt: Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 - June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Regarded as a prophet by his followers, Smith was also a theocrat, city planner, military leader, political theorist, and polygamist. Smith was born in Vermont and reared in western New York by a poor family that had been influenced by the religious enthusiasm of the Second Great Awakening. During the early 1820s, Smith himself was paid to search for buried treasure. Later in the decade, Smith said that an angel had directed him to a buried book of golden plates inscribed with a religious history of ancient American peoples. After publishing what he said was an English translation of the plates as the Book of Mormon, he organized branches of the Church of Christ, a church whose adherents were later called Latter Day Saints, Saints, or Mormons. In 1831, Smith moved west to Kirtland, Ohio intending to establish the city of Zion in western Missouri, but his plans were frustrated when Missouri settlers expelled the Saints in 1833. After leading Zion's Camp, an unsuccessful paramilitary expedition to recover the land, Smith began building a temple in Kirtland. In 1837, the Kirtland Safety Society, a bank established by Smith and other church leaders, suffered a major financial crisis, and the following year Smith joined his followers in northern Missouri. The 1838 Mormon War ensued with Missourians who believed Smith had incited insurrection. When the Saints lost the war, they were expelled, and Smith was imprisoned on capital charges. After being allowed to escape state custody in 1839, Smith...