Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1838 to 1842
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The life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1838 to 1842 covers a period beginning when Smith left Missouri and settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, to 1842.
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[edit] Imprisonment
Instead of execution, Smith and others spent several months in Liberty Jail awaiting a trial that never came. With shaky legal grounds for imprisonment, guards, likely on the instructions of other authorities, eventually allowed their escape. They joined the rest of the church in Illinois.
[edit] Life in Nauvoo, Illinois
After leaving Missouri in 1839, Smith and his followers made headquarters in a town called Commerce, Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi River, which they renamed Nauvoo (meaning "to be beautiful"; - the word is found in the Hebrew of Isaiah 52:7 - Latter Day Saints often referred to Nauvoo as "the city beautiful", or "the city of Joseph"—which was actually the name of the city for a short time after the city charter was revoked—or other similar nicknames) after being granted a charter by the state of Illinois. Nauvoo was quickly built up by the faithful, including many new arrivals.
In October 1839, Smith and others left for Washington, D.C. to meet with Martin Van Buren, then the President of the United States. Smith and his delegation sought redress for the persecution and loss of property suffered by the Saints in Missouri.
In 1840, the Illinois State Legislature passed a city-state charter for Nauvoo. On December 16 the governor signed it into law, granting Smith and the city of Nauvoo broad powers.
Work on a temple in Nauvoo began in the autumn of 1840. The cornerstones were laid during a conference on April 6, 1841. Construction took five years and it was dedicated on May 1, 1846; about four months after Nauvoo was abandoned by the majority of the citizens.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Johnson, Luke (1864), "History of Luke Johnson, by Himself", The Latter Day Saints' Millennial Star 26: 834.
- McKiernan, F. Mark (1971), The Voice of One crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer, 1793-1876, Lawrense, KS, Corondao Press, ISBN not available, <http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/102-2883470-2803352?search-alias=aps&keywords=The%20Voice%20of%20One%20crying%20in%20the%20Wilderness:%20Sidney%20Rigdon,%20Religious%20Reformer,%201793-1876>.
- Newell, Linda King and Valeen Tippetts Avery (1984), Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe, Garden City, NY, Doubleday, ISBN 0-252-02399-4.
- Roberts, B. H. (1902), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 1, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, <http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC04890306>.
- Roberts, B. H. (1904), History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 2, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, <http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC04890306>.
- Smith, Lucy Mack (1853), Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations, Liverpool: S.W. Richards, <http://relarchive.byu.edu/19th/descriptions/biographical.html>.
