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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.04.08 09:00l 39 Lines 1715 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 6
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
April 6, 1830
Mormon Church established
In Fayette Township, New York, Joseph Smith, founder of the
Mormon religion, organizes the Church of Christ during a meeting
with a small group of believers.
Born in Vermont in 1805, Smith claimed in 1823 that he had been
visited by a Christian angel named Moroni who spoke to him of an
ancient Hebrew text that had been lost for 1,500 years. The holy
text, supposedly engraved on gold plates by a Native American
historian in the fourth century, related the story of Israelite
peoples who had lived in America in ancient times. During the
next six years, Smith dictated an English translation of this
text to his wife and other scribes, and in 1830 The Book of
Mormon was published. In the same year, Smith founded the Church
of Christ--later known as the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints--in Fayette Township.
The religion rapidly gained converts, and Smith set up Mormon
communities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. However, the
Christian sect was also heavily criticized for its unorthodox
practices, such as polygamy, and on June 27, 1844, Smith and his
brother were murdered in a jail cell by an anti-Mormon mob in
Carthage, Illinois.
Two years later, Smith's successor, Brigham Young, led an exodus
of persecuted Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois, along the western
wagon trails in search of religious and political freedom. In
July 1847, the 148 initial Mormon pioneers reached Utah's Valley
of the Great Salt Lake. Upon viewing the valley, Young declared,
"This is the place," and the pioneers began preparations for the
tens of thousands of Mormon migrants who would follow them and
settle there.
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