Birth: Born Dec. 23, 1805, in Sharon, Windsor Co., Vermont,
to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack.
Marriage: Married Emma Hale on Jan. 18, 1827.
Ordained an Apostle: May or June 1829 at age 23.
Became President: Jan. 25, 1832 at age 26. Served 12 years (1832–1844).
Death: Died on June 27, 1844, at the age of 38, in Carthage,
Hancock Co., Illinois.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Historical Summary
1805 December 23
Born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy
Mack.
1816 Age 11 Joseph Smith Sr.
family moved to Palmyra, N.Y., and a few years later to a farm in
nearby Manchester, N.Y.
1820 Spring Age 14 Received the
First Vision in answer to his prayer concerning which church to join.
Joseph was visited by the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove in
upstate New York.
1823 September 21–22 Age 17
Visited five times by the resurrected Moroni who revealed to Joseph the
existence of ancient gold plates (from which the Book of Mormon was
translated) and instructed him on his role in restoring the gospel.
1827 January 18 Age 21 Married
Emma Hale in South Bainbridge, N.Y.
1827 September 22 Age 21 Received
the gold plates from the angel Moroni at the Hill Cumorah in upstate
New York. Also received the Urim and Thummim, which was used in
translating the Book of Mormon.
1828 February Age 22 Martin
Harris took a transcript and partial translation of the Book of Mormon
to Professor Charles Anthon of Columbia College and to Dr. Samuel L.
Mitchell of New York. In June, Harris borrowed and lost 116 manuscript
pages.
1829 May 15 Age 23 John the
Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Joseph and Oliver baptized one
another, as instructed.
1829 May or June Age 23 Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Melchizedek Priesthood from
Peter, James, and John near the Susquehanna River between Harmony,
Pennsylvania, and Colesville, New York.
1829 June Age 23 Translation of
the Book of Mormon completed. The Three Witnesses and the Eight
Witnesses were shown the gold plates.
1830 March 26 Age 24 First
printed copies of the Book of Mormon available in Palmyra, New York
(5,000 copies printed by E.B. Grandin).
1830 April 6 Age 24 Organization
of the Church in Fayette, New York.
1830 June Age 24 Arrested on
false charges of disorderly conduct but was acquitted in a trial at
South Bainbridge, N.Y.
1830 September–October Age 24
First missionaries called to preach to the Native Americans.
1830 December–1831 January Age 25
The Lord commanded the Saints to gather to Ohio.
1831 July 20 Age 25 Site for the
city of Zion (the New Jerusalem) in Independence, Missouri, revealed to
the Prophet Joseph Smith.
1832 January 25 Age 26 Sustained
president of the high priesthood at a conference at Amherst, Ohio.
1833 March 18 Age 27 First
Presidency organized with Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams set
apart as counselors.
1833 November 7 Age 27 Saints
began fleeing from mobs in Jackson County, Missouri, across the
Missouri River and into Clay County, Missouri.
1833 December 18 Age 27 Gave the
first patriarchal blessings in this dispensation to his parents, three
of his brothers, and Oliver Cowdery.
1834 February 17 Age 28 First
stake organized in Kirtland, Ohio, with Joseph Smith as stake president.
1834 May 8 Age 28 Left New
Portage, Ohio, for Missouri as the leader of Zion's Camp to bring
relief to Saints expelled from Jackson County.
1835 February 14 Age 29 Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles organized in Kirtland, Ohio.
1835 February 28 Age 29 First
Quorum of the Seventy organized in Kirtland, Ohio.
1835 August 17 Age 29 Doctrine
and Covenants accepted as a standard work of the Church in Kirtland,
Ohio.
1836 March 27 Age 30 Kirtland
Temple dedicated.
1836 April 3 Age 30 Jesus Christ
appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple.
Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared and conveyed priesthood keys.
1838 April 26 Age 32 Name of the
Church—-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—given by
revelation.
1838 December 1–1839 April 16 Age 33
Imprisoned with others at Liberty Jail in Liberty,
Missouri.
1839 April 16 Age 33 Allowed to
escape while being transferred from Daviess County to Boone County
(Missouri) under a change of venue in their case.
1839 October 29 Age 33 Left for
Washington, D. C., to seek redress from the President of the United
States for wrongs suffered by the Saints in Missouri.
1841 January 19 Age 35 Revelation
to build Nauvoo Temple received. Baptism for the dead was introduced as
a temple ordinance.
1842 March 1 Age 36 Articles of
Faith first published in the Times and Seasons.
1842 March 17 Age 36 Female
Relief Society of Nauvoo organized.
1842 May 4 Age 36 First full
temple endowments received in Nauvoo, Illinois.
1844 January 29 Age 38 Nominated
as a candidate for president of the United States.
1844 June 22 Age 38 Joseph and
Hyrum Smith crossed the Mississippi River to flee to the Great Basin.
Illinois Governor Thomas Ford promised the Prophet safety, and so, at
the pleadings of others, the pair returned to Nauvoo and turned
themselves over to government agents.
1844 June 27 Age 38 Joseph and
Hyrum Smith martyred at Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois.