WILD WORLD 
OF RELIGION Field Guide to the

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-day Saints" (LDS)

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-day Saints"

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 © 2001-2011 by Pamela Starr Dewey.

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