The Wild Origins of the Mormon Religion

The Wild Origins of the Mormon Religion

In the annals of American political history, we often speak of the “great tragedies”—the theater in Washington D.C. where Lincoln fell, or the sun-drenched motorcade in Dallas that took Kennedy. But before the secret service, before the modern era of high-stakes campaigning, and before the world knew the name of the “Latter-day Saints” as a global powerhouse, there was a man who tried to be both the King of Heaven and the President of the United States.

His name was Joseph Smith. And in 1844, he became the first-ever U.S. presidential candidate to be assassinated while running for office.

This is not just a story of religion; it is a story of a “Sovereign Override” gone wrong, a tale of upstate New York mysticism colliding with the brutal reality of Midwestern vigilante justice. It is the story of how a “Staten Island” boy from Nazareth—or rather, a farm boy from Palmyra—tried to annex Texas for God.

THE PLATES IN THE HILLS OF NEW YORK

The American story of Joseph Smith begins in 1823, in the rugged, forested hills of Upstate New York. Long before it was the “Empire State” of skyscrapers, it was a hotbed of “Burned-over District” revivalism.

“Joseph Smith claimed to have a ‘CIA experience’ with the divine,” says Dr. Arthur Vance, a historian at the University of Ohio. “Context, Interpretation, and Application. He claimed an angel named Moroni directed him to a hill where golden plates were buried—the record of an ancient American civilization.”

According to the narrative, a group of ancient Israelites had fled the Babylonian captivity, built ships, and sailed to the shores of the Americas (specifically, according to some interpretations, the Jersey Shore and the East Coast). They built vast civilizations, fought “Lord of the Rings”-style battles across the Midwest, and even claimed that the original Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County, Missouri.

“It sounds wacky to the modern ear,” says Vance. “But Smith had witnesses. He had thirteen signed affidavits from men who swore they saw the plates. When modern critics call it a ‘cult,’ Mormons point to the lack of eyewitness accounts for other ancient events. They say, ‘We have the paperwork; we have the press reports.'”

THE SEER STONE AND THE HAT

The translation process was uniquely American. Smith didn’t use a laboratory; he used a hat.

“He would take a ‘Seer Stone’—a special rock he found in a well—place it in his hat, and bury his face in it to block out the light,” explains Vance. “The stone would start ‘glowing,’ translating the ‘Reformed Hieroglyphics’ into English. He would dictate, and a scribe would write it down. To his followers, it was a miracle. To the authorities in New York and Ohio, it was a fraud.”

This friction began a decade-long exodus. The group moved from New York to Kirtland, Ohio, and then to Missouri, where the American dream turned into a nightmare.

ORDER 44: THE EXTERMINATION OF AMERICANS

By the late 1830s, the “Mormon” presence in Missouri had become a political and social flashpoint. The settlers were organized, they voted in blocks, and they held radical views on land and communal living.

The tension peaked when the Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs, issued Executive Order 44—better known as the “Mormon Extermination Order.”

“The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description.”

“Think about that,” says investigative researcher Sean Ryan. “In the United States of America, a governor signed a law saying you could hunt and kill a specific group of white Americans because of their beliefs. It is one of the darkest, most ‘un-American’ chapters in our history. They were driven out by fire and sword, fleeing across the frozen Mississippi River into Illinois.”

THE KINGDOM OF NAUVOO AND THE RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

In Illinois, Smith founded the city of Nauvoo. Within years, it rivaled Chicago in size and power. Smith wasn’t just the religious leader; he was the Mayor, the Chief Justice, and the Lieutenant General of the “Nauvoo Legion”—a private army of thousands.

But Smith had larger ambitions. In 1844, he declared his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.

“His platform was radical,” says Vance. “He wanted to annex Texas to create a Mormon ‘Sovereign State.’ He wanted to abolish slavery by selling public lands to buy the freedom of every slave. He was a political revolutionary who looked more like a general than a preacher.”

But the “Sovereign Override” was about to meet the “Guns of Carthage.”

THE PRISON SHOOTOUT AT CARTHAGE

The end began when Smith ordered the destruction of a local newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor, which had criticized his practice of polygamy (multiple wives) and his growing political power.

The move sparked a riot. The Governor of Illinois demanded Smith face trial, promising him protection. Smith surrendered and was held in the second-floor room of the Carthage Jail.

On the afternoon of June 27, 1844, a mob of nearly 200 men—their faces blackened with gunpowder and soot—stormed the jail.

“It wasn’t an execution; it was a shootout,” says Ryan. “Smith had a small six-shooter smuggled into the cell. When the mob broke down the door and shot his brother, Hyrum, in the face, Joseph fired back. He hit three men before he ran out of bullets.”

Desperate, Smith tried to leap from the second-story window. He was shot mid-air and hit the ground. The mob then gathered around his broken body and shot him dead again.

“He died in a hail of lead, falling from a window in Illinois,” says Ryan. “The first presidential candidate to be taken out by a mob. For his followers, it was the ultimate martyrdom. For his enemies, it was the only way to stop a ‘Theocracy’ from taking over the American West.”

THE SUCCESSION AND THE ROAD TO UTAH

The death of Smith triggered a “Succession Crisis.” While several groups splintered off—some staying in the Midwest—the majority followed a man named Brigham Young.

“Young was the ‘American Moses,'” says Vance. “During his first major speech, witnesses claimed his face transfigured to look exactly like the fallen Joseph Smith. He led the survivors on a brutal trek across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley.”

The growth of the movement since then has defied all sociological expectations. Statistics show that the expansion of the Mormon Church in its first 200 years mirrors almost exactly the growth rate of early Christianity in the Roman Empire.

“When people say, ‘How could anyone believe a guy from Upstate New York met an angel?’ you have to ask: ‘How could anyone believe a guy from Nazareth—a ‘Staten Island’ nowhere town—was the Son of God?'” Ryan notes. “To the Romans, Jesus was a ‘hippie’ or a ‘badass’ political revolutionary who flipped tables and told people to hate their families if they didn’t put him first. Joseph Smith was the American version of that same disruptive energy.”

THE LEGACY: THE MARTYR’S CELL

Today, the Carthage Jail is a site of pilgrimage. The blood-stained floorboards are gone, but the window remains.

As I stood outside that building in the humid Illinois heat, I realized that the story of Joseph Smith is the ultimate American story. It is a story of extreme ambition, religious fervor, government overreach, and the violent clash of cultures.

“We think of our history as a series of neat elections and policy debates,” Gaggio said as he reviewed the records of the era. “But underneath, it’s always been about ‘Sovereign Overrides.’ Joseph Smith tried to override the American system with a Kingdom. The system hit back. And in the process, it created a martyr whose influence still shapes the American West from Phoenix to Seattle.”

Whether he was a prophet, a politician, or a “magician” with a stone in a hat, Joseph Smith remains the most controversial candidate to ever seek the highest office in the land. He didn’t get to Texas, but he left a trail of blood and gold that Americans are still trying to map today.