Life of Joseph Smith From 1827 To 1830

The life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1827 to 1830 includes some of his life's most significant events, and some of the most important history of the Latter Day Saint movement, the Restorationist religious movement he initiated during this period. This movement gave rise to Mormonism, and includes such denominations as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ. The period covered by this article begins in late 1827, after Smith announced he had obtained a book of Golden Plates buried in a hill, guarded by an angel, near his home in Manchester, New York (near Palmyra village). See Early life of Joseph Smith, Jr. Because of opposition by former treasure-seeking colleagues who believed they owned a share of the Golden Plates, Smith was preparing to leave the Palmyra area for his wife's hometown of Harmony, Pennsylvania (now Oakland). From late 1827 to the end of 1830, Smith would translate the Golden Plates, publish the Book of Mormon, and establish his Church of Christ.

To translate the Golden Plates, Smith enlisted the assistance of Martin Harris, a wealthy Palmyra landowner who acted as Smith's scribe. To translate, Smith used seer stones (one set of which Smith called the Urim and Thummim), and Smith said the stones showed him the translation. Translation ceased, however, when Harris lost 116 manuscript pages of un-copied text. Translation resumed in earnest when Smith was joined in May 1829 by a Smith family associate named Oliver Cowdery. Translation was completed near the end of July 1829, and the resulting manuscript was published as the Book of Mormon on March 26, 1830 in Palmyra.

By the time the Book of Mormon was published, Smith had baptized several followers who called themselves the Church of Christ. On April 6, 1830, Smith and five others formally established the Church of Christ in western New York. Among the most notable early converts was Sidney Rigdon, a Disciples of Christ (Campbell Movement) minister from Kirtland, Ohio, who already shared many early beliefs of the Latter Day Saint movement. With Rigdon came most of Rigdon's congregation, and at the end of 1830, Smith decided that all members of his new church should move to Kirtland.