Fmr 1837 $5 Kirtland Ohio Obsolete Mormon Joseph Smith Signature Bank Note For Sale

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Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844) was the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons call him a prophet because, according to the traditional role of prophets recorded in the Old and New Testaments, he relied on revelation from God for teaching the people, and not on his own wisdom or learning.

The ProphetJoseph Smithis one of the most charismatic and influential religious figures in American history. Joseph Smith acquired many followers throughout his life, but also many opponents, because his teachings were not welcomed by most people in the existing Christian community. For many of them, the doctrines he taught were nothing more than blasphemy and contrary to their interpretation of the Bible. At the beginning, the main sticking point was Joseph's Smith's claim to revelation, which most Christians believed had ceased upon the death of Christ's apostles.

History of Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith's ancestors were ordinary New England farm people who emigrated from England to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Massachusetts. Joseph Smith was born on December 23,1805, in Sharon, Vermont, the son of Joseph andLucy Mack Smith. In his youth Joseph was largely deprived of a formal education, but he was instructed in reading, writing, and the basic rules of arithmetic; his mother reported that he was often given to meditation and deep study.

The Smiths moved several times in less than twenty years. When Joseph was eleven, his family moved toPalmyra, New York, where Joseph lived almost all of his later childhood. This area was known as the "burned-over district," because it was given to frequent and fervent religious excitement. Various Christian sects sponsored tent meetings and revivals, and they competed vigorously for converts.

In 1820, at the age of fourteen, Joseph was deeply perplexed about which church he should join, and the conflicting preaching of many religious ministers increased his uncertainty. Members of his immediate family were drawn to the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. Joseph was determined to know which of the many religions was right. After reading a passage in the Bible in the Book of James, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God" (James 1:5), Joseph decided to turn directly to God for guidance.

Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph went to a secluded wood to ask God which church he should follow. As he was praying, as he recounted later, God the Father and His Son, JesusChrist, appeared to him. This experience is called the First Visionin Mormonism and considered a pivotal event in the history of humankind, second only to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The importance of the event hinges on its definition as the beginning of the restoration of Christ's true gospel on earth, which was lost upon the death of the original apostles.

Later, in 1823, Smithsaid he was also visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. Joseph was shown the forest location of the record's hiding place by the angel. However, he was also told that he should wait another four years before being able to obtain the record, and that until then he should return each year to the same place to receive further instructions. In 1827, Joseph was finally able to retrieve the record, which was inscribed on golden plates. Shortly after obtaining these golden plates, Joseph Smith began translatingits words by the "gift of God."

The result of his translating efforts became known as the Book of Mormon-Another testament of Jesus Christ, which was published in March of 1830. Following the publication of the Book of Mormon, on April 6, 1830, the prophet finally organized the Church and became its first president.

While working in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Joseph Smith met Emma Hale. On January 18, 1827, Joseph and Emma were married. Together they had eleven children (including two who were adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. Joseph deeply loved his family, and his personal writings are filled with concerns and prayers for the welfare of his family.

Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon

That there was an ancient record hidden in a hill nearby, was revealed to Joseph Smith in his late teens by the Angel Moroni, an Israelite prophet who dwelled in the Americas. Joseph Smith first saw the Gold Plates in 1823, but he was not allowed to extract them from the stone box where they lay. He returned to the location every year for several years, receiving instruction from Moroni, and purging himself of any thought of using the ancient record to get gain. When he finally returned to retrieve the plates for translation, his wife, Emma, was with him.

With the gold plates was found the Urim and Thummim, seer stones used anciently in Israel, and with a single seer stone. Joseph began translation using seer stones, but soon was able to continue without them, as he essentially became a vessel for the Holy Ghost. Emma Hale Smith wrote the following:

There are many such accounts. Or as Richard Turley and William Slaughter explain in their recent How We Got the Book of Mormon (published by Deseret Book): "Several people . . . said he looked into the interpreters or another seer stone, blocking out external light, such as by placing the interpreters in his hat and putting his face down into it."

For some reason, detractors and anti-Mormons find these actions so pitiable, that they use them to defame the prophet and mock the Church. Yet, if people would review their own behaviors, they will perhaps call to memory times they tried to block out the light, and if they had had a hat, would surely have used it.

Many detractors of Joseph Smith and ,Mormonism have commented on the later changes made to the Book of Mormon, but the book was not received and translated into chapters and verses, but often unpunctuated paragraphs. Joseph had only 3 years of formal education, and his wife said he could barely construct a written sentence in English. Yet, because of tutelage from on high, he became a scholar.

Joseph himself made most of the changes to the Book of Mormon, in order to make it readable. The non-Mormon printer helped with chapters and verses. The changes make no difference to meaning. Later changes by the general authorities of the Church actually reverted the test back to older versions.

The Martyrdom

On June 27, 1844, while in Carthage Jail, Joseph Smith and his brother were killed by a mobconsisting of men with blackened faces. After the Prophet's death, John Taylor, an eyewitness to the martyrdom, wrote the following:

He has been described by men not of his faith as the most influential religious leader in American history. He was definitely a controversial figure who attracted persecution because he challenged established creeds.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not worship the Prophet Joseph, but they do revere him as the instrument by which the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth.

Sidney Rigdon was born on February 19, 1793, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1817, while caring for his widowed mother, Rigdon joined a church and within a year had became qualified as a licensed preacher of the Regular Baptists. He then moved to Eastern Ohio to preach and learn more. In 1820, Rigdon married Phebe Brooks and was ordained as a Baptist minister. He was a successful preacher, and his congregation soon became one of the largest in Pittsburgh. Rigdon, however, was constantly looking for the pure church of Christ as described in the New Testament. In 1830, in Kirtland, Rigdon set up a Church that was looking for the restoration of Christ’s Church. His Church was at first associated with the Campbellite movement, which sought to bring back New Testament Christianity.

In October of 1830, missionaries from the Church visited Rigdon while traveling through northern Ohio. After two weeks of studying about the Church and reading the Book of Mormon, Rigdon announced that he believed the Church was true. In November, he was baptized and ordained an Elder in the Church. More than a hundred members of his congregation also converted. Ultimately, nearly 3,000 Campbellites would join the Mormon Church. Almost immediately after joining the Church, Rigdon left for New York in order to meet Joseph Smith. He soon began working as a scribe for Joseph Smith for the translation of the Bible and for parts of the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price.

When the Mormons relocated to Kirtland, Rigdon assumed a greater role. He was present for many important revelations, including the vision of the three degrees of glory. Because of his prominence, in March of 1832, he and Joseph Smith were dragged from their homes, beaten, and tarred and feathered. Rigdon received a severe head injury, from which he never fully recovered.

In March of 1833, Rigdon was set apart as the First counselor to Joseph Smith. He had been called a year earlier but not set apart. At this time Joseph Smith said of Rigdon, “Brother Sidney is a man whom I love, but he is not capable of that pure and steadfast love for those who are his benefactors that should characterize a President of the Church of Christ. This, with some other little things, such as selfishness and independence of mind…are his faults. But notwithstanding these things, he is a very great and good man; a man of great power of words, and can gain the friendship of his hearers very quickly. He is a man whom God will uphold, if he will continue faithful to his calling (History of the Church 1:443).” Though a man of great intelligence and wit, and a very capable orator, Rigdon was unstable. Nevertheless, he was for the time being, a friend to the Prophet.

In the following years, Rigdon helped Joseph teach, arranged the revelation found in the Doctrine and Covenants for printing, and composed and compiled the lectures of faith under Joseph's direction. In 1838, he moved toMissouri. In Missouri, during the so-called "Mormon War," when the Mormons were being driven and harassed by mobs, he delivered two fiery orations—one called the "Salt Sermon" in which he compared the Mormons' enemies to the salt which has lost its savor and should be cast out. These speeches only stirred up more trouble and led to leaders of the Church, Rigdon included, being imprisoned. He was later released because of severe seizures caused by his former head injury. Because he was one of the few leaders of the Church not in prison, Rigdon was active in helping the Mormons escape Missouri after the Extermination Order, and later in founding Nauvoo, Illinois. In Nauvoo, Rigdon was elected to the City Council. He was also the city attorney and postmaster, and was appointed the professor of Church history in the never-built Nauvoo University. During this time, Rigdon was often sick and rarely preached.

All Is Not Well

Rigdon was accused of associating with people who wanted to displace Joseph Smith, though he denied these charges. Rigdon did not agree with the new doctrine of plural marriage, but never opposed it. In early 1844, Rigdon went to Pittsburgh against the Lord's command. In an earlier revelation, The Lord chastened Sidney, saying:

Rigdon returned immediately after the death of Joseph Smith and offered to be the “guardian of the Church,” but his offer was rejected by the members of the Church. Rigdon became upset and tried to set up a separate leadership. It was for this that Rigdon was excommunicated in September 1844. Rigdon left Nauvoo and moved to Pennsylvania, where he established his own church, often called the Rigdonites, which was comprised of other dissident Mormons who opposed polygamy and other doctrines. The Church eventually collapsed, and members formed their own churches. Rigdon moved to Friendship, New York, where he spent the rest of his life living off the charity of his relatives.

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GEM UNCIRCULATED:A note that is flawless, with the same freshness, crispness and bright colors as when first printed. It must be perfectly centered, with full margins, and free of any marks, blemishes or traces of handling.

CHOICE CRISP UNCIRCULATED:An uncirculated note which is fresher and brighter than the norm for its particular issue. Almost as nice as GEM UNCIRCULATED, but not quite there. Must be reasonably well centered.

UNCIRCULATED:A note which shows no trace of circulation. It may have perfect centering and may have one or more pinholes, counting smudges, or other evidence of improper handling, while still retaining its original crispness.

ABOUT UNCIRCULATED:A bright, crisp note that appears new but upon close examination shows a trace of very light use, such as a corner fold or faint crease. ABOUT UNCIRCULATED is a borderline condition, applied to a note which may not be quite uncirculated, but yet is obviously better than an average EXTRA FINE note. Such notes command a price slightly below a new note and are highly desirable.

EXTRA FINE:A note that shows some faint evidence of circulation, although it will be bright and retain nearly full crispness. It may have two or three minor folds but NO tears, or stains and NO discolorations.

VERY FINE:A note that has been in circulation, but not actively or for long. It still retains some crispness and is still choice enough in its condition to be altogether desirable. It may show folds or creases, or some light smudges from the hands of a past generation.

FINE:A FINE note shows evidence of much more circulation, has lost its crispness and very fine detail, and creases are more pronounced, although the note is not seriously soiled or stained.

VERY GOOD:A note that has had considerable wear or circulation and may be limp, soiled or dark in appearance and even have a small tear or two on an edge.

GOOD: A note that is badly worn, with margin or body tears, frayed margins or missing corners.

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This item has been shown 347 times. Fmr 1837 $5 Kirtland Ohio Obsolete Mormon Joseph Smith Signature Bank Note: $1,180