Mormons
the church of Latter Day Saints. An American religious sect. It was founded by Joseph Smith at Fayette, New York, in 1830. In this year he published The Book of the Mormon People, purporting to be a translation of the inscriptions on certain golden plates showed to him by an angel as early as 1823. The plates were never made public, but the book was accompanied by a certificate from eleven men saying that they had seen them. The book gives an account of the miraculous migration of King Zedekiah of Jerusalem and others from Palestine to America, where they became the ancestors and chiefs of Indian tribes. Mormon, the hero of the book, was a pious Christian chief who rescued the red man from idolatry. The new sect gathered several hundred members within a few months and then moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Zealous missionaries added new recruits. In 1831 the sect began to centralize in Jackson County, Missouri. In 1833 the Mormons were driven out of the county, being objected to both on account of their religious views and the fact that they were Abolitionists. They then settled in Clay County. In 1838 they were, by proclamation of the governor; expelled from the state. They next settled in Hancock County, Illinois, where they built the Mormon town of Nauvoo. Here they built a handsome temple according to plans drawn by Smith, and seemed likely to prosper. Charges of immorality against Smith and his leading followers got abroad. Prejudice was added to fact; Smith and his brother Hyrum were arrested and lodged in the county jail for breaking up an objectionable printing office in Nauvoo. There was talk of organizing a force of volunteer militia to drive the Mormons out of the state. June 27, 1844, a mob surrounded the county jail and overpowered the jailor and guards. Smith and his brother were taken out and killed, and other leaders were maltreated. Brigham Young was then promoted to the leadership of the church.
In 1846 he and a committee of others went west to look up a new home. In 1847 they conducted a company to the Great Salt Lake Valley. It was then a mere alkali desert surrounding the lake. The colony endured great privations, almost perishing of starvation. They constructed irrigation ditches from the surrounding mountains and soon made "the wilderness blossom like the rose." The city of Salt Lake was founded. It became an important station in the wagon route to California. Missionaries were sent throughout the United States and Europe to beat up recruits. The colony grew. The agricultural region was extended. Brigham Young died in 1877. Subsequent presidents of the church have been Taylor, Woodruff, and Snow. In 1901 Joseph Smith, a nephew of the founder, was made president.
The Mormons hold to a belief in the Trinity, in future punishment, and in the atonement of Christ. They practice baptism. They believe that Zion will one day be restored. The government of the church is what is known as a theocracy. The president is supreme. He is assisted by two counselors. There are twelve apostles and a regular gradation of patriarchs, high priests, elders and bishops, preachers and teachers. The distinguishing tenet of Mormonism was polygamy. Following the example of the Old Testament patriarchs, they maintained that it was not only the privilege but the duty of each man to wed and maintain as many wives as his means would permit. This tenet of their faith was not promulgated until they had settled in Utah.
As early as 1862 the general government of the United States passed a law forbidding polygamy. The act was ignored until 1884, when over 1,000 members of the church were sent to the penitentiary by the United States courts. The authorities, acting under the Edmunds law, ordered the Mormon church, as such, to disband, and confiscated the greater part of its property. In 1890 rather than suffer further persecution, as they termed it, the authorities of the church, through President Woodruff, issued a proclamation forbidding future polygamous marriages. The membership of the Mormon church is now reckoned at about 300,000. The Mormons are increasing rapidly in the irrigated districts of states adjacent to Utah.
For an account of the famous Mormon tabernacle and temple, see SALT LAKE CITY. See also UTAH.