Mormon History

Mormon history is fascinating. Especially the Utah war and the conflict between the Federal Government, like the Edmonds Tucker Act.

Alright! Mormon history! Probably one off Favorite religions to study, lots of really interesting, but overlooked history.

Here's an essay I wrote a while back on the obscure Strangite faction of the LDS church

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On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, founder and leader of the Latter-Day Saints Church (Mormonism) was killed by a mob in response to reports of Smith practicing polygamy, and rumors that he would declare himself theocratic king of America if his 1844 run for president was successful. Smith's death led to a succession crisis within the church over who was to become the church's new leader, and factionalism began to erupt. Many Mormon leaders, most notably Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon, Smith's planned running mate, were among those vying for leadership. Young argued that the Quorum of the Apostles, the governing body of the church, should jointly run the church, and that Smith had no one legitimate successor. The majority of Mormons agreed with Young, and went west with him to Utah, which became, and still is, the religious and cultural center of Mormonism. However, a significant minority of Mormons aligned themselves with the other potential successors, the largest being the Community of Christ, under the leadership of Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, and the other factions being led by Rigdon, the Rigdonites (now known as the Bickertonites), and James Strang, who led the Strangites. Note that these four factions aren't the only divisions of the LDS church, simply the ones that emerged immediatley following Smith's death. Strang's faction would go on to form a unique community in Michigan, fueled by Strang's eccentricity.

Strang was born in 1813 in Scipio, New York. He attended school until the age of twelve, but during that time, Strang was often neglected and mistreated by his teachers, and he spent most of his time alone and frequently had periods of emotional distress. Strang's diary from when he was young, partly written in a secret code not deciphered until a century after being written, shows that Strang had a strong desire for power, fame, and respect, writing how he hoped to rival Caesar and Napoleon, and lamenting that he hadn't attained a military or government position by the time he was nineteen. Strang chose not to follow in his farmer father's footsteps, and instead pursued a career in law. At 23, he was admitted to the bar, and also worked as postmaster for Cayuga County, an editor for a local paper, and later, a Baptist minister. In February of 1844, Strang left the Baptist church and joined the Mormons, he was ordained as an elder by Hyrum Smith, Joseph's brother, became close with Joseph himself who baptized him, and sent to Voree, Wisconsin to form a stake (roughly equivalent to a parish) there.

Shortly after Strang left for Wisconsin, Smith was killed, and the succession crisis began. In order to boost his claims, Strang created a letter of appointment claiming he was Smith's chosen successor, complete with a forged signature, he also "discovered" the Voree plates, small metal plates purpotedly carrying the record of an ancient Indian king, not too dissimilar to the original golden plates that kickstarted the entire Mormon religion. Finally, one of Strang's most significant pieces of evidence for his leadership being claims that an angel had visited him at the moment of Smith's death, and declared him to be the true successor, which Strang had verified by witnesses. In all, Strang had 12,000 followers convinced of his divine leadership. Due to the land prices around Voree, Strang had his congregation move to Beaver Island, Michigan in 1850, where he founded the township of St. James, and had himself declared king. Very quickly, Strang began to have conflict with both the non-Mormons of the area, and with his own congregation, primarily when Strang, who had previously been strongly opposed to polygamy suddenly became an advocate for it, and began taking more wives, five total. Strang's second wife, Elvira Field, was forced to dress like a man and was addressed as "Charlie Douglas", especially when the two were off trying to expand the Strangite church, yet none of his other wives were made to do this.

Tensions continued to grow between the Strangites and the non-Mormon residents of the island who opposed Strang's polygamy and attempts to charge them taxes and such, and he began to lose more followers as he introduced more objectionable practices such as sacrifice. In June of 1856, two ex-Strangites shot their former king, leading the church in disarray. Vigilantes, primarily made up of local police and Amerindians, rounded up the Strangites and forced them onto boats, scattering them across lake Michigan, so that they wouldn't join together into a single community again. Following Strang's death and the eviction of the Mormons from Beaver Island, without their preist-king to leave them and left deprived of their property and homes, the majority of Strangites joined other LDS factions, with most of them joining Joseph Smith III's faction. However, a handful of Strangites remained loyal to their prophet, and as of 1998, there were an estimated 300 left, scattered across the United States

That's really interesting, I've never really looked too much into the split off groups and what happened to them after they split off.

Mormon history is interesting and dark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre

^ For a while they were extremists.

EmperorTigerstar wrote:Mormon history is interesting and dark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre

^ For a while they were extremists.

I wouldn't call them extremists when they simply had enough of all the bad stuff happening to them.

Here is something I wrote on another post.

Anyways, to start, the Mormons that would eventually settle Utah had suffered massacres and forced migrations for a long time causing them to flee New York and Ohio and settling in Missouri. In Missouri many Missourians were angry at them being there, mainly because of the practice of Polygamy, but also because they voted together, and were attempting to convert the Native Americans. This anger culminated in the 1838 "Mormon War" and the Mormon Extermination Order. After that they fled to Nauvoo, Illinois and lived there until Joseph Smith was assassinated. After a series of raids and massacres the Mormons left to Utah in 1846, still controlled by Mexico at the time, but soon to fall into American hands two years later.

The resulting 55,000 Mormon Pioneers leaving was the largest single migration in US History. After they arrived in Utah in 1847, they quickly set up towns and colonized north and South through the valleys. The US Government denied initial statehood attempts and instead created the Utah Territory in 1851. Brigham Young was appointed the Leader. After being appointed, Brigham Young set up the "Theodemocratic" government that Joseph Smith had originally proposed. This, along with the Practice of Polygamy in the area caused anger in the Washington D.C. Eventually the US government sent 2,500 Soldiers to the Utah territory to secure it and more importantly, replace Brigham Young with a Non-Mormon leader. This resulted in the 1857-1858 "Utah War". At first, the Soldiers secured themselves in a fort and threatened to bombard Salt Lake City if the Mormons did not comply. After that, the War was small and mostly fought in Skirmishes across Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Eventually, 38 US soldiers died and an unknown number of Mormons died. The most notable event of this war is the still controversial Mountain Meadows Massacre, where Mormon and Native Militiamen ambushed and killed 120-140 American Settlers heading to Oregon. It was never determined if Brigham Young had anything to do with the massacre, but 9 were inevitably sentenced and one of which, John D. Lee, faced punishment...by a firing squad.

After the Utah War, President Buchanan successfully replaced Brigham Young with a Non-Mormon Democrat from Georgia (Alfred Cumming). Utah would never again have a church leader as a governor. There was lots of tension for years after the war but this would inevitably be alleviated in 1890 when the Mormons banned Polygamy. In 1896, nearly 50 years after the initial settlement of Utah, it would be admitted into the Union. Today, Mormons and Utahns in general are highly patriotic despite the troubled relations in the past.

Crazy Boris wrote:Alright! Mormon history! Probably one off Favorite religions to study, lots of really interesting, but overlooked history.

Here's an essay I wrote a while back on the obscure Strangite faction of the LDS church

---------------------------------------------------------
On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, founder and leader of the Latter-Day Saints Church (Mormonism) was killed by a mob in response to reports of Smith practicing polygamy, and rumors that he would declare himself theocratic king of America if his 1844 run for president was successful. Smith's death led to a succession crisis within the church over who was to become the church's new leader, and factionalism began to erupt. Many Mormon leaders, most notably Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon, Smith's planned running mate, were among those vying for leadership. Young argued that the Quorum of the Apostles, the governing body of the church, should jointly run the church, and that Smith had no one legitimate successor. The majority of Mormons agreed with Young, and went west with him to Utah, which became, and still is, the religious and cultural center of Mormonism. However, a significant minority of Mormons aligned themselves with the other potential successors, the largest being the Community of Christ, under the leadership of Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, and the other factions being led by Rigdon, the Rigdonites (now known as the Bickertonites), and James Strang, who led the Strangites. Note that these four factions aren't the only divisions of the LDS church, simply the ones that emerged immediatley following Smith's death. Strang's faction would go on to form a unique community in Michigan, fueled by Strang's eccentricity.

Strang was born in 1813 in Scipio, New York. He attended school until the age of twelve, but during that time, Strang was often neglected and mistreated by his teachers, and he spent most of his time alone and frequently had periods of emotional distress. Strang's diary from when he was young, partly written in a secret code not deciphered until a century after being written, shows that Strang had a strong desire for power, fame, and respect, writing how he hoped to rival Caesar and Napoleon, and lamenting that he hadn't attained a military or government position by the time he was nineteen. Strang chose not to follow in his farmer father's footsteps, and instead pursued a career in law. At 23, he was admitted to the bar, and also worked as postmaster for Cayuga County, an editor for a local paper, and later, a Baptist minister. In February of 1844, Strang left the Baptist church and joined the Mormons, he was ordained as an elder by Hyrum Smith, Joseph's brother, became close with Joseph himself who baptized him, and sent to Voree, Wisconsin to form a stake (roughly equivalent to a parish) there.

Shortly after Strang left for Wisconsin, Smith was killed, and the succession crisis began. In order to boost his claims, Strang created a letter of appointment claiming he was Smith's chosen successor, complete with a forged signature, he also "discovered" the Voree plates, small metal plates purpotedly carrying the record of an ancient Indian king, not too dissimilar to the original golden plates that kickstarted the entire Mormon religion. Finally, one of Strang's most significant pieces of evidence for his leadership being claims that an angel had visited him at the moment of Smith's death, and declared him to be the true successor, which Strang had verified by witnesses. In all, Strang had 12,000 followers convinced of his divine leadership. Due to the land prices around Voree, Strang had his congregation move to Beaver Island, Michigan in 1850, where he founded the township of St. James, and had himself declared king. Very quickly, Strang began to have conflict with both the non-Mormons of the area, and with his own congregation, primarily when Strang, who had previously been strongly opposed to polygamy suddenly became an advocate for it, and began taking more wives, five total. Strang's second wife, Elvira Field, was forced to dress like a man and was addressed as "Charlie Douglas", especially when the two were off trying to expand the Strangite church, yet none of his other wives were made to do this.

Tensions continued to grow between the Strangites and the non-Mormon residents of the island who opposed Strang's polygamy and attempts to charge them taxes and such, and he began to lose more followers as he introduced more objectionable practices such as sacrifice. In June of 1856, two ex-Strangites shot their former king, leading the church in disarray. Vigilantes, primarily made up of local police and Amerindians, rounded up the Strangites and forced them onto boats, scattering them across lake Michigan, so that they wouldn't join together into a single community again. Following Strang's death and the eviction of the Mormons from Beaver Island, without their preist-king to leave them and left deprived of their property and homes, the majority of Strangites joined other LDS factions, with most of them joining Joseph Smith III's faction. However, a handful of Strangites remained loyal to their prophet, and as of 1998, there were an estimated 300 left, scattered across the United States

If you don't mind me asking, are you Mormon? Or are you just interested in Mormon history?

CptCrape wrote:

Crazy Boris wrote:Alright! Mormon history! Probably one off Favorite religions to study, lots of really interesting, but overlooked history.

Here's an essay I wrote a while back on the obscure Strangite faction of the LDS church

---------------------------------------------------------
On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, founder and leader of the Latter-Day Saints Church (Mormonism) was killed by a mob in response to reports of Smith practicing polygamy, and rumors that he would declare himself theocratic king of America if his 1844 run for president was successful. Smith's death led to a succession crisis within the church over who was to become the church's new leader, and factionalism began to erupt. Many Mormon leaders, most notably Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon, Smith's planned running mate, were among those vying for leadership. Young argued that the Quorum of the Apostles, the governing body of the church, should jointly run the church, and that Smith had no one legitimate successor. The majority of Mormons agreed with Young, and went west with him to Utah, which became, and still is, the religious and cultural center of Mormonism. However, a significant minority of Mormons aligned themselves with the other potential successors, the largest being the Community of Christ, under the leadership of Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, and the other factions being led by Rigdon, the Rigdonites (now known as the Bickertonites), and James Strang, who led the Strangites. Note that these four factions aren't the only divisions of the LDS church, simply the ones that emerged immediatley following Smith's death. Strang's faction would go on to form a unique community in Michigan, fueled by Strang's eccentricity.

Strang was born in 1813 in Scipio, New York. He attended school until the age of twelve, but during that time, Strang was often neglected and mistreated by his teachers, and he spent most of his time alone and frequently had periods of emotional distress. Strang's diary from when he was young, partly written in a secret code not deciphered until a century after being written, shows that Strang had a strong desire for power, fame, and respect, writing how he hoped to rival Caesar and Napoleon, and lamenting that he hadn't attained a military or government position by the time he was nineteen. Strang chose not to follow in his farmer father's footsteps, and instead pursued a career in law. At 23, he was admitted to the bar, and also worked as postmaster for Cayuga County, an editor for a local paper, and later, a Baptist minister. In February of 1844, Strang left the Baptist church and joined the Mormons, he was ordained as an elder by Hyrum Smith, Joseph's brother, became close with Joseph himself who baptized him, and sent to Voree, Wisconsin to form a stake (roughly equivalent to a parish) there.

Shortly after Strang left for Wisconsin, Smith was killed, and the succession crisis began. In order to boost his claims, Strang created a letter of appointment claiming he was Smith's chosen successor, complete with a forged signature, he also "discovered" the Voree plates, small metal plates purpotedly carrying the record of an ancient Indian king, not too dissimilar to the original golden plates that kickstarted the entire Mormon religion. Finally, one of Strang's most significant pieces of evidence for his leadership being claims that an angel had visited him at the moment of Smith's death, and declared him to be the true successor, which Strang had verified by witnesses. In all, Strang had 12,000 followers convinced of his divine leadership. Due to the land prices around Voree, Strang had his congregation move to Beaver Island, Michigan in 1850, where he founded the township of St. James, and had himself declared king. Very quickly, Strang began to have conflict with both the non-Mormons of the area, and with his own congregation, primarily when Strang, who had previously been strongly opposed to polygamy suddenly became an advocate for it, and began taking more wives, five total. Strang's second wife, Elvira Field, was forced to dress like a man and was addressed as "Charlie Douglas", especially when the two were off trying to expand the Strangite church, yet none of his other wives were made to do this.

Tensions continued to grow between the Strangites and the non-Mormon residents of the island who opposed Strang's polygamy and attempts to charge them taxes and such, and he began to lose more followers as he introduced more objectionable practices such as sacrifice. In June of 1856, two ex-Strangites shot their former king, leading the church in disarray. Vigilantes, primarily made up of local police and Amerindians, rounded up the Strangites and forced them onto boats, scattering them across lake Michigan, so that they wouldn't join together into a single community again. Following Strang's death and the eviction of the Mormons from Beaver Island, without their preist-king to leave them and left deprived of their property and homes, the majority of Strangites joined other LDS factions, with most of them joining Joseph Smith III's faction. However, a handful of Strangites remained loyal to their prophet, and as of 1998, there were an estimated 300 left, scattered across the United States

If you don't mind me asking, are you Mormon? Or are you just interested in Mormon history?

Not Mormon myself, just really into the history.