If you walked into a grove of trees in upstate New York back in 1820, you might have stumbled upon a confused teenager named Joseph Smith Jr. He was a farm boy. He didn’t have a degree. Honestly, he barely had any formal schooling to speak of. Yet, he is the definitive answer to who founded Latter Day Saints, starting a movement that would eventually span the globe, build massive cities in the desert, and influence everything from American politics to modern genealogy.
But it wasn't just a simple "I had a vision" and then a church appeared. Not even close. It was messy. It was controversial. It involved allegations of treasure hunting, ancient gold records, and a series of events that sounds like a fever dream to some and divine intervention to others.
The Teenager in the Woods
Joseph Smith lived in what historians call the "Burned-over District." It was a region of New York so scorched by religious revivals that people were constantly jumping from one sect to another. Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists—everyone was fighting for souls. Young Joseph was caught in the middle. He wanted to know which church was right.
So, he did what any pious kid in 1820 would do: he went into the woods to pray. According to his own account, which he didn't actually write down until years later, he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. They told him none of the existing churches were right. Basically, he was told to wait.
This is the "First Vision." It's the bedrock of the faith. But for a few years after that, Joseph just went back to being a normal kid on a farm. He worked. He struggled. He even got into the local business of "money digging"—using seer stones to look for buried Spanish treasure. Critics love to bring this up. Believers see it as a developmental stage for his spiritual gifts. Regardless of how you view it, these early years shaped the man who founded Latter Day Saints more than most people realize.
The Appearance of Moroni
Fast forward to 1823. Joseph says an angel named Moroni appeared in his bedroom. Talk about an intense wake-up call. Moroni told him about a book written on gold plates, buried in a nearby hill called Cumorah. These plates supposedly contained the history of ancient inhabitants of the Americas.
He didn't get them right away. He had to wait four years. Every year on the same date, he’d go to the hill, and every year the angel would say, "Not yet." Finally, in 1827, he was allowed to take them. Imagine the scene: a 21-year-old walking home in the dark, clutching a heavy "Gold Bible" that his neighbors desperately wanted to steal.
Translating a Language Nobody Knew
Joseph didn't "read" the plates in the traditional sense. He used "interpreters"—spectacles with clear stones—and later, a single brown seer stone he placed in a hat. He’d put his face in the hat to block out the light and dictate the words to a scribe.
Oliver Cowdery was the main guy who wrote it all down. They sat behind a curtain. Word by word, the Book of Mormon emerged. It wasn't easy. They were poor. They were being harassed. At one point, 116 pages of the manuscript were lost because Joseph’s friend, Martin Harris, took them home to show his wife and—well—they vanished. Joseph was devastated. He thought he’d lost his "gift" forever.
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Eventually, the work resumed. By 1830, they had a finished manuscript. They found a printer in Palmyra named Egbert B. Grandin who agreed to publish 5,000 copies for the then-massive sum of $3,000. Martin Harris mortgaged his farm to pay for it. That’s commitment.
April 6, 1830: The Official Launch
On a Tuesday in Fayette, New York, the Church of Christ was officially organized. Only six men were legally required to sign the papers to meet New York state law, but about 30 people were there. This was the moment Joseph Smith officially became the person who founded Latter Day Saints.
They didn't call themselves "Mormons" at first. That was a nickname given to them by outsiders. It was meant to be an insult, actually. But the name stuck. People were fascinated by the idea of a "New American Bible." It broke the traditional mold of Christianity. It claimed that Jesus had visited America. It claimed that the heavens were open again.
Why It Spread So Fast
You’ve got to wonder why people bought into it. In the 1830s, the U.S. was a young, chaotic country. People were looking for something solid. Joseph offered:
- Authority. He claimed he had the same Priesthood power as Peter and Paul.
- Clarity. The Book of Mormon answered theological questions that had been debated for centuries.
- Community. It wasn't just a Sunday thing; it was a "gather together and build a city" thing.
Missionaries like Parley P. Pratt and Brigham Young started traveling. They went to Canada. They went to England. They found thousands of converts who were tired of the "cold" religions of the day. They wanted a living prophet. And Joseph Smith, the man who founded Latter Day Saints, was more than happy to lead them.
The Move Westward and the Kirtland Collapse
The movement didn't stay in New York for long. Neighbors weren't exactly thrilled with a new religion that claimed everyone else was wrong. The Saints moved to Kirtland, Ohio.
In Kirtland, things got big. They built a temple—a massive, beautiful structure that still stands today. But they also started a bank. The Kirtland Safety Society. It failed spectacularly during the Panic of 1837. People lost their life savings. Some of Joseph’s closest friends turned on him. They called him a fallen prophet.
Joseph had to flee Kirtland in the middle of the night to avoid being arrested or lynched. He headed for Missouri, where he thought the "New Jerusalem" would be built. But Missouri was even worse.
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The Mormon War of 1838
Missourians didn't like the Mormons. The Mormons voted as a bloc. They were mostly abolitionists in a slave-leaning state. Tensions boiled over into actual combat. The Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs, eventually issued Executive Order 44—the "Extermination Order." It stated that Mormons must be treated as enemies and "exterminated or driven from the state."
Joseph Smith ended up in Liberty Jail, a cold, cramped stone dungeon, while his followers fled across the frozen Mississippi River into Illinois. It looked like the end. Most people thought the man who founded Latter Day Saints would die in that jail.
Nauvoo: The City of Joseph
Somehow, Joseph got out. He joined his people in Illinois and turned a swampy bend in the river into a city called Nauvoo. For a few years, it was one of the largest cities in the state, rivaling Chicago.
This is where the religion got "weird" for many outsiders. In Nauvoo, Joseph introduced:
- Baptisms for the dead. The idea that you could save your ancestors who died without the gospel.
- Eternal Marriage. The belief that families are together forever.
- Plural Marriage. Polygamy.
Polygamy was the spark that eventually blew everything up. Joseph secretly married multiple wives, and when rumors started spreading, the internal and external pressure became unbearable. He was the mayor. He was the Lieutenant General of his own militia (the Nauvoo Legion). He was even running for President of the United States.
He was at the height of his power, and also on the brink of disaster.
The Martyrdom at Carthage
In June 1844, a group of dissenters published a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor, exposing Joseph’s polygamy and political ambitions. Joseph, acting as mayor, ordered the printing press destroyed.
That was the legal opening his enemies needed. He was charged with inciting a riot. He surrendered and was taken to Carthage Jail. On June 27, 1844, a mob with blackened faces stormed the jail. Joseph Smith was shot and fell from a second-story window. He was 38 years old.
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Who Really Led After the Founder?
When the man who founded Latter Day Saints died, the church faced a massive succession crisis. There was no clear "Vice President."
- Brigham Young: The President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He argued the Apostles should lead.
- Sidney Rigdon: Joseph’s counselor, who claimed he should be a "guardian" of the church.
- James Strang: He produced a letter (many say forged) claiming Joseph appointed him.
- Joseph Smith III: Joseph’s son, who eventually led the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ).
Brigham Young won the vote of the majority. He led the epic trek across the plains to the Great Salt Lake Valley. This is why most people today associate the "Mormons" with Utah.
Modern Misconceptions
People often confuse the "Latter Day Saint" movement with a single church. It's actually a whole family of churches. While the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the biggest (17 million+ members), there are dozens of smaller sects.
One common myth is that Joseph Smith wanted to start a cult of personality. Historians like Richard Bushman (author of Rough Stone Rolling) argue it was more complex. Smith seemed genuinely convinced he was a vessel for God. Whether he was a "pious fraud" or a true prophet is the question that still divides historians today.
Another misconception? That the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible. It doesn't. The man who founded Latter Day Saints taught that the Book of Mormon was a "companion" to the Bible.
Legacy of the Founder
Joseph Smith’s influence is undeniable. He produced hundreds of pages of scripture, founded cities, and created a culture of self-reliance that persists today. His followers are known for their "word of wisdom" (no alcohol, tobacco, or coffee) and their massive missionary program.
He wasn't a perfect man. He was boastful at times, made poor financial decisions, and his practice of polygamy remains a deeply painful point of history for many. But his ability to inspire thousands of people to leave their homes and build a new civilization in the wilderness is one of the most remarkable feats in American history.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
If you’re looking to dig deeper into the life of the man who founded Latter Day Saints, here’s how to do it without getting lost in the "pro-Mormon" vs. "anti-Mormon" noise:
- Read the Primary Sources: Check out the Joseph Smith Papers Project. It’s a massive, non-partisan academic effort to digitize every single thing Joseph wrote or dictated. You can see the original handwriting of the Book of Mormon scribes online.
- Visit the Sites: If you’re ever in New York, Kirtland, or Nauvoo, the historical sites are free. Even if you don't care about the religion, the frontier history is fascinating.
- Compare the Branches: Look at the differences between the Utah church and the Community of Christ (based in Independence, Missouri). It shows how two groups can interpret the same founder in very different ways.
- Check the Bibliographies: Look for books by non-LDS historians like Jan Shipps or Fawn Brodie (though Brodie is controversial) to get a balanced view of the 19th-century context.
Joseph Smith’s life ended in a hail of bullets in a dusty Illinois jail, but the movement he started never stopped growing. Whether he was a prophet or a pretender, he remains one of the most influential figures ever born on American soil.