Essentials in Church History A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"

By virtue of his position as president of the council of apostles, Heber J. Grant became the presiding officer of the Church at the death of President Smith. Heeding the instruc...

Wednesday, February 4, 1846, the first of the Saints left Nauvoo and crossed the Mississippi River on the journey to the West.[1] On the 6th of February Bishop George Miller and...

Instead of granting statehood in answer to the petition of the people of Utah, Congress passed an "anti-bigamy law" in opposition to the practice of plural marriage. It was pres...

At the election held at Gallatin, Daviess County, Missouri, August 6, 1838, hostilities between the Missourians and the "Mormons" broke out. This was the kindling of the flame w...

In the various gathering places of the Saints from the days of Kirtland the Lord commanded that temples to his name should be built. In Jackson County and Far West, they were pr...

Chief Justice Lazarus H. Reed, after a short stay in Utah, resigned because of ill-health, and returned to the East where he died in the spring of 1855. He was succeeded as chie...

When the first settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, they were directed exclusively by Church authority. However, the people realized that civil government must be inaugurat...

June 11, 1844, Francis M. Higbee made complaint before Thomas Morrison, a justice of the peace at Carthage, charging Joseph Smith and the members of the Nauvoo city council with...

General John B. Clark was a resident of Jackson County. So was General Samuel D. Lucas. Both assisted in driving the "Mormons" from that county in 1833. Governor Lilburn W. Bogg...

The martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith came as a terrible shock to the members of the Church. The thought that the Prophet was to be taken from them had not entered their minds...

January 14, 1847, the word of the Lord came to President Brigham Young, at Winter Quarters, giving instructions for the guidance of the camps of Israel on their journeyings to t...

April 6, 1880, was just fifty years from the day of the organization of the Church. On this date and the three succeeding days, the fiftieth annual conference of the Church was...

On the 26th day of April, 1839, a majority of the apostles took their leave of the Saints at Far West--then a hostile land--to go forth and declare the everlasting Gospel "over...

Following the removal of Governor Harding in 1863, Utah was blessed for a time with the presence of governors who were inclined to attend to the duties of their office without m...

treated him with every consideration as though he had been his own son. After an eventful journey the Prophet and Judge Higbee arrived in Washington, November 28, 1839. They did...

Following the unsuccessful attempt to carry President Joseph Smith into Missouri, the hatred of his enemies became intense. Lying accusations were published in anti-"Mormon" pap...

Doctor John C. Bennett came to Nauvoo in August, 1841, and joined the Church. Through his zealous activity in assisting to procure the Nauvoo Charter, he was honored by the citi...

On Sunday, April 11, 1830, the work of proselyting was publicly launched. The first discourse was preached by Oliver Cowdery. The meeting was held by appointment at the home of...

At the regular weekly meeting of the apostles, held in the Salt Lake Temple, October 17, 1901, the First Presidency was re-organized. Joseph F. Smith, the senior apostle, was su...

In December, 1838, the Legislature of Missouri met. Governor Boggs laid before that body the information in his hands relative to the difficulty with the Latter-day Saints. This...

As already stated, there was some dissension in Zion's Camp on the way to Missouri. One of the chief offenders on that trip was Sylvester Smith, and when he returned to Kirtland...

The impending storm about to break over the heads of the Saints in Missouri was foreseen by the Prophet Joseph Smith. In January, 1833, he wrote to William W. Phelps as follows:...

Governor Daniel Dunklin, of Missouri, who showed some sense of honor and willingness to enforce the law at the beginning of the trouble in Jackson County, later manifested a spi...

December 18, 1833, a number of elders assembled in the printing office in Kirtland and dedicated the printing press, with all that pertained thereunto, unto the service of the L...

Each year, on the twenty-second day of September, between the years 1823 and 1827, Joseph went to the Hill Cumorah, as the angel had instructed him, where he was taught in matte...

Threatening and sinister were the clouds which hung over the Church at the beginning of the year 1838. Apostasy had broken into the ranks, and many of the former faithful defend...

At the death of President Brigham Young, there was rejoicing among the enemies of the Church, who thought it was due to his strong personality and force of character that "Mormo...

In January, 1839, the threats of the mob, and their violence, became so severe that the Saints at Far West were forced to flee from Missouri. In November, 1838, those members of...

In due time, in June 1829, the Book of Mormon translation was finished. Three special witnesses must now be chosen who should behold the plates through divine favor and bear rec...

July 25, 1847, was the Sabbath. It was a pleasant day, and at ten o'clock the pioneers met in worship in the circle of their encampment. Elders George A. Smith, Heber C. Kimball...

August 28, the day after the return of the brethren from Missouri, fell on Sunday. An inspirational meeting was held at which the brethren reported their labors. Among the busin...

At the beginning of the year 1843, peace reigned in Nauvoo; for a time the Saints remained undisturbed, and the Prophet had a breathing spell of freedom. Yet there were ripples...

It was the part of wisdom for President Brigham Young and his associates to insist on the camp of the army being far removed from Salt Lake City. It was with reluctance that the...

"I continued to pursue my common vocations in life until the twenty-first of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, all the time suffering severe persecution at...

"I have come among you, instructed by Colonel S. W. Kearny, of the U. S. Army, now commanding the Army of the West, to visit the 'Mormon' Camp, and accept the services for twelv...

Another revelation given in July, 1830, instructed Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer, to devote their time to the study of the scriptures, to preaching and confirmin...

Following the death of President Taylor the duty of presidency again devolved upon the council of the apostles, Counselors Cannon and Smith resuming their places with the twelve...

In October 1830, Ezra Thayer and Northrop Sweet were called by revelation, as they had sought the will of the Lord, to preach the Gospel unto "a crooked and perverse generation....

By the time President Brigham Young's administration came to a close, the Latter-day Saints had become a great people in the Rocky Mountains. They were destined still to grow in...

Never has the story of the wonderful vision of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith been told so effectively and clearly as by Joseph Smith, himself, as he has related it in c...

June 13, 1843, Governor Reynolds issued the requisition and Joseph H. Reynolds was dispatched to Illinois. Governor Ford lost no time in issuing the warrant for the arrest and p...

About the middle of July, 1831, the missionaries commenced to arrive in western Missouri, and were met with tears of joy by their brethren there. Here, on the borders of the Uni...

Notwithstanding that the early officers of the Church were endowed with the Holy Priesthood and exercised the spiritual gifts, which were to remain until all came "unto a perfec...

In the fall of 1832 and continuing through the winter and spring of 1833, a number of remarkable revelations were given for the edification and guidance of the Church. Great pri...

thirty-three acres, of which nearly nine hundred acres were planted in winter wheat. With the aid of irrigation all things looked favorable, and it appeared that there would be...

Not content with absolute dominion over the spiritual and temporal affairs of the people, this papal kingdom attempted the exercise of authority also over the consciences of men...

Before the Church could be organized it was essential that there be revealed such matters as pertained to the organization of the Church. This was done between the time the witn...

Joseph Smith, son of Asael, was born in Topsfield, July 12, 1771. Near the close of the eighteenth century he was residing in Tunbridge, Vermont, where he owned a good farm and...

Eleven days after the death of President Wilford Woodruff the apostles met in council and re-organized the First Presidency. Lorenzo Snow, then in his 85th year, was sustained a...

Joseph Smith was born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, December 23, 1805. He was the third son and fourth child of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith, who had a family of ten childre...

While Captain Van Vliet was interviewing President Brigham Young, there was occurring in the southwest corner of Utah--about three hundred miles from Salt Lake City--the most ho...

From the time of the exodus from Egypt until the advent of Jesus Christ the Israelites were subject to the laws given to Moses. The belief is held by many that when the Savior s...

As soon as the apostles arrived at Winter Quarters they held council meetings almost daily, which continued during the months of November and December, for there was much to be...

It was made known, shortly after the bestowal of the Melchizedek Priesthood, that the Church of Jesus Christ was to be organized. It was after Joseph Smith and his companions ha...

The work of the Protestant revolution having been accomplished, and the land of America having been prepared by the sowing of the seed of religious freedom, the time for the res...

Having appealed in vain to the courts, the governor and the legislature of Missouri, the Saints now determined to "importune for redress and redemption at the feet of the Presid...

When John C. Bennett wrote to Sidney Rigdon and Orson Pratt, saying he was on his way to Missouri to obtain a new requisition for Joseph Smith and others, it was not an idle thr...