Joseph Smith – 1805-1844

On April 6, 1830, at Fayette, New York, Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church) with 30 members, basing its theology on The Book of Mormon, a scripture he had published earlier in the year as his translation of golden tablets he claimed to have unearthed in 1827 at Palmyra, New York. Smith and his fellow Mormons were persecuted everywhere they attempted to settle, and on June 27, 1844, Smith and his brother were murdered in the Mormon community of Nauvoo, Illinois, by outsiders. After this, most of the Mormons followed Brigham Young to a new settlement on the Salt Lake in Utah.