This material is part of a Field Guide profile on Mormonism: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Click here to go to the main page of the Mormon profile.
1805 Birth of Joseph Smith, Jr. (JS) in Vermont
1816 Smith family moves to Palmyra NY
1820 JS is alleged to have received his "First Vision"
1823 JS allegedly first sees the golden plates said to contain the Book of Mormon
1827 JS marries first wife, Emma
1827 JS allegedly receives the plates and begins "translating by the gift and power of God"
1829 Apostles James and John allegedly "ordain" JS and Oliver Cowdery to the "Melchisedec priesthood"
1830 Book of Mormon first published
1830 Mormons incorporate first as a Church, taking name "Church of Christ," with six members in Fayette NY
1831 Church HQ is moved to Kirtland OH
1834 Name is changed to "Church of the Latter-
1835 LDS group purchases mummies and papyri that yield the Book of Abraham
1836 First LDS temple completed, in Kirtland
1837 Martin Harris (one of the "Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon") excommunicated
1838 Church name changed finally to "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
1838 Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, the other two of the Three Witnesses, are excommunicated
1839 HQ of LDS moves to Nauvoo IL
1841 Doctrine of "Baptism for the dead" is introduced
1842 JS becomes a Mason
1844 Death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27
1844 Brigham Young chosen new leader over Sidney Rigdon on August 8
1847 Majority of Mormons in Nauvoo leave with Young to emigrate west. Arrive in Great Salt Lake Valley 7/24
1852 Doctrine of "plural marriages" (polygamy) publicly announced
1857 Utah War begins
1860 Reorganized LDS Church (RLDS) is formed with Joseph Smith Jr.'s son as first prophet and president
1877 Death of Brigham Young
1880 John Taylor becomes LDS Prophet # 3
1887 Death of John Taylor
1889 Wilford Woodruff becomes LDS Prophet # 4
1890 Woodruff issues document officially abolishing polygamy within LDS Church
1895 Utah becomes 45 th state
1898 Woodruff dies, Lorenzo Snow becomes fifth prophet
1901 Snow dies, Joseph F Smith becomes sixth prophet
1918 Smith dies, Heber Grant becomes seventh prophet
1929 Mormon Tabernacle begins weekly NBC radio broadcast
1945 Grant dies, George Albert Smith becomes eighth prophet
1947 LDS Church membership hits 1 Million mark
1951 GA Smith dies, David O. McKay becomes ninth prophet
1966 First "Visitor Center" built in Salt Lake City, starting trend of public relations buildings
1967 Egyptian papyri used by Smith to create Book of Abraham found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
1970 McKay dies, Joseph Fielding Smith becomes tenth prophet
1972 Joseph Fielding Smith dies, Harold B Lee becomes eleventh prophet
1973 Lee dies, Spencer Kimball becomes twelfth prophet
1978 Kimball receives an alleged revelation that Blacks can receive the Priesthood
1982 LDS Church reaches 5 Million member mark
1985 Kimball dies, Ezra Taft Benson becomes 13 th prophet
1990 LDS Temple ceremony drastically changed, including removal of "mocking of Christian pastors"
1991 LDS Church reaches 8 Million mark
1994 Benson dies, Howard W Hunter becomes 14 th prophet
1995 Hunter dies, Gordon B Hinckley becomes 15 th prophet
1996 LDS Church marks 10 Million mark
The information in this timeline was compiled from a variety of sources. One of the most useful was:
The Top 101 Events in the History of Mormonism, an appendix to the book Mormonism 101. (See the Bibliography of the main page of the Mormon profile for details on this book.)
Unless otherwise noted, all original material on this Field Guide website
is © 2001-
Careful effort has been made to give credit as clearly as possible to any specific material quoted or ideas extensively adapted from any one resource. Corrections and clarifications regarding citations for any source material are welcome, and will be promptly added to any sections which are found to be inadequately documented as to source.
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Time Line of Significant Points in Mormon History