R Eric Smith News Today

Church leaders, historians and guests celebrated the final volume of the Joseph Smith Papers, published June 27. Here’s what happened.

On Tuesday, the 179th anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church Historians Press released the final print volume of “The Joseph Smith Papers.” The 22-year, 27-volume work — “The Joseph Smith Papers” — began in June 2001. The project brings together Smith’s surviving papers, including the […]

Joseph Smith was born to poor tenant farmers in Vermont. At age 38, he was shot by a mob, in a jail, in a small town in Illinois. In between, he faced so much adversity that his story is almost the stuff of myth. Around age 7, Joseph endured a painful leg surgery that required him to use crutches for several years. At 14, he was rejected and ridiculed when he reported on his First Vision to a minister. When Joseph was 17, his older brother Alvin died—one of four brothers who predeceased him. ...