Table of Content
Thus, in early October 1827, they moved to Harmony, with the glass box reportedly holding the plates hidden during the trip in a barrel of beans. An 1841 engraving of "Mormon Hill" , where Smith said he found the golden plates on the west side, near the peak. After the messenger departed, Smith said he had two more encounters with him that night and an additional one the next morning, after which he told his father and soon thereafter the rest of his family, who believed his story, but generally kept it within the family. He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; also that there were two stones in silver bows—and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim—deposited with the plates". From about 1819, Smith regularly practiced scrying, a form of divination in which a "seer" looked into a seer stone to receive supernatural knowledge.
The exact details of the First Vision vary somewhat depending upon who is recounting the story and when. Smith's first account in 1832 dated the vision to 1821 and stated that he saw "a piller of fire light above the brightness of the sun at noon day", and that "the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee". Joseph Smith's ancestors had an eclectic variety of religious views and affiliations. For instance, Joseph Smith's paternal grandfather, Asael, was a Universalist who opposed evangelical religion. Joseph Smith had little formal schooling, but may have attended school briefly in Palmyra and received instruction in his home. Young Joseph worked on his family farm and perhaps took an occasional odd job or worked for nearby farmers.
American Experience
Joseph Smith (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement whose current followers include members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Community of Christ, and other Latter Day Saint denominations. The early life of Joseph Smith covers his life from his birth to the end of 1827. Malm, Christensen’s counterpart from Cache Valley, Utah, has been painting for about 27 years. He added that he hopes the paintings serve as a “springboard” for people to ponder on what happened at those sites. Four new paintings depicting early events of the Restoration have been on display at the Sacred Grove Welcome Center since March 2020. After a period of investigating a variety of Christian faiths, however, she had decided that they did not provide the kind of devotional depth and biblical concordance she was looking for.
Thus, at Lucy Smith's request, Harris went to the Smith home, heard the story from Smith, and hefted a glass box that Smith said contained the plates. Smith convinced Harris that he had the plates, and that the angel had told him to "quit the company of the money-diggers". Convinced, Harris immediately gave Smith $50 (equivalent to $1,200 in 2021), and committed to sponsor the translation of the plates. Around 1820 Smith is said to have experienced a theophany, now known as his First Vision among adherents. Around this time he, along with other male members of his family, was hired to assist in searching for buried treasure. In 1823, Smith said an angel directed him to a nearby hill where he said was buried a book of golden plates containing a Christian history of ancient American civilizations.
Joseph Smith, Jr.'s 1842 Account of Angel Moroni's Visit
The Smith family first built a log home, then in 1822, under the supervision of Joseph Smith's oldest brother Alvin, they began building a larger frame house. Alvin died in November 1823, possibly as a result of being given calomel for "bilious fever", and the house remained uncompleted for a year. By this time Joseph Smith Sr. may have partially abdicated family leadership to Alvin, and in 1825, the Smiths were unable to make their mortgage payments.
Therefore, Smith sent his mother to the home of Martin Harris, a local landowner said at the time to be worth about $8,000 to $10,000. Over the next few days, Smith took a well-digging job in nearby Macedon to obtain money to buy a solid lockable chest in which he said he would put the plates. By then, however, some of Smith's treasure-seeking company had heard that Smith was successful in obtaining the plates, and they wanted what they believed was their cut of the profits from what they saw as part of their joint venture. When Emma heard of this, she went to Macedon and informed Smith Jr., who reportedly determined through his Urim and Thummim that the plates were safe, but nevertheless he hurriedly traveled home by horseback. Once home in Palmyra, he then walked to Cumorah and said he removed the plates from their hiding place, and walked back home with the plates wrapped in a linen frock under his arm, suffering a dislocated thumb as he fended off attackers.
RELIGIOUS CLIMATE
When their creditor foreclosed, the family persuaded a local Quaker, Lemuel Durfee, to buy the farm and rent it to them. Nevertheless, in 1829, the Smiths and five of their children moved back into the log house, with Hyrum Smith and his wife. Harris had apparently been a close confidant of the Smith family since at least 1826, and he may have heard about Smith's attempts to obtain the plates from the angel even earlier from Smith Sr. When Lucy visited Harris, he had heard about Smith's report to have found golden plates through the grapevine in Palmyra, and was interested in finding out more.
When Martin did not return to Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Joseph and Emma lived at the time, Joseph traveled to Palmyra to inquire the reason for Martin Harris’ delayed return. Word was sent to the Harris home that Joseph needed to speak with Martin immediately. Hours passed before Martin entered the Smith home, where he sat at the kitchen table with his head in his hands avoiding eye contact with Joseph. ” When Martin informed Joseph that he had lost the manuscript, Lucy Mack Smith said that Joseph clinched his hands together and exclaimed, “All is lost, is lost! It is I who tempted the wrath of God by asking him for that which I had no right to ask, as I was differently instructed by the angel.” And he wept and groaned, walking the floor continually.
The Bible Or The Book Of Mormon?
The first convoy to arrive at the place that will become Winter Quarters divides the camp into wards, plants crops and builds log cabins. By 1844, the dynamic settlement's population has grown to 12,000, rivaling the size of Chicago. Smith has himself appointed chief justice of the city court and lieutenant general of a Nauvoo militia, merging church and state in a thriving theocracy, where Mormons wield political and military might. In the summer of 1833, an angry mob storms the newspaper's offices, destroys the press, and tars and feathers two Mormon leaders. The tensions and skirmishes escalate, forcing the Missouri Mormons to relocate several times over the next few years.
The comfortable, but meager financial state of the Smiths is reflected in the simplicity of this room. A replica of Hyrum’s chest used to secure the Book of Mormon plates is placed on the dresser on the northern wall. Soon after Joseph brought the plates to the Smith home, the hearth stones of the fireplace were removed, the plates were safely situated beneath them, and then the hearth was carefully replaced to avoid suspicion. Founder of a uniquely American religion, Joseph Smith was a poor farm boy who became a charismatic prophet, much criticized polygamist, town and temple builder, and finally a martyr for the faith he had established. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of America's fastest growing religions.
Smith usually practiced crystal gazing by putting a stone at the bottom of a white stovepipe hat, putting his face over the hat to block the light, then divining information from the stone. Smith and his father achieved "something of a mysterious local reputation in the profession—mysterious because there is no record that they ever found anything despite the readiness of some local residents to pay for their efforts." Smith said he had become concerned about religion "at about the age of twelve years," although later he seems to have wondered whether "a Supreme being did exist." Smith apparently attended the Presbyterian Sunday school as a child, and later as an adolescent, he displayed interest in Methodism. One of Smith's acquaintances said that Smith had caught "a spark of Methodism" at camp meetings "away down in the woods, on the Vienna road." He even reportedly spoke during some of these meetings, and the acquaintance described Smith as a "very passable exhorter." The artists visited Palmyra in December 2019 to experience the sites and capture details they wanted to reflect in the paintings. In order to begin to understand and properly appreciate Joseph Smith’s First Vision, it is advisable to first explore some of its background and underlying themes.
Smith’s new “church” was extremely controversial and contained a blend of the Christian doctrines and folk magic with which he grew up. He attempted to convert some of the local people, but was driven out of various towns for “corrupting public morals” with his practices of divination and polygamy . The polygamy charge is uncertain, as both Smith and his wife Emma denied any polygamous relationships, but some records show that Smith had married four other women.
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