First, a bit about Joseph Smith, Jr. and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:
The roots of the Mormon Church grew out of a time of quite a bit of religious experimentation that took place around the turn of the 19th century in western New York. As far back as 1791, Joseph Smith's aunt claimed to have had a vision that led to her miraculous healing after a two year illness. In 1800, Joseph Smith's father was associated with the New Israelites, a group of dowsers who claimed they could find and dig up money. In 1803, Smith's mother heard "the voice of God" while she was deathly ill and later had a vision.
When Joseph Smith, Jr. was born in 1805, he had a "caul" - part of the placenta covered his head and shoulders - which was supposed to be a sign of important things to come. His father said he planned to buy young Joseph a "stone" for him to see all over the world. In 1807, Joseph Smith, Sr. testified against a group of counterfeiters, but many suspected that he was actually part of the group and testified against them to keep his name out of it. About three years later, Smith, Sr. became excited about religion and argued for the restoration of primitive Christianity.
In 1811, Joseph Smith, Jr.'s maternal grandfather had a vision and heard a voice. Then Smith, Sr. told his family about his first vision. Also in 1811, that maternal grandfather self-published a book describing his visions. The next year, Smith, Sr. had another vision. He claimed six visions between 1811 and 1819. By 1816, the good folks of Norwich, Vermont, had had enough and the family was warned to get out of town. After they left, the property where they had been staying was found to be literally covered with holes where they had apparently been digging for "treasure".
In 1820, fifteen year old Joseph Smith, Jr. announced that an angel had given him a set of golden plates engraved with the ancient history of an American people that only he could translate. In 1830, his translation was published as the Book of Mormon, and he founded the Church of Christ in western New York.
The church was moved to Kirkland, Ohio, in 1831 and attracted hundreds of converts. The Kirkland Bank was formed in 1836 for the use of church members. Smith withdrew his money in 1837, and the bank failed a few months later. Smith fled after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Also in 1837, the first Mormon missionaries outside the U.S. were sent to England. Their first converts were baptized in Preston, Lancashire, in July of that year.
Some of the converts were sent to Jackson County, Missouri, to establish a city of Zion, near Independence. Smith had convinced his followers that the Mormons were destined to inherit the land from the current settlers (who naturally became their enemies). The government had agreed to allow them to settle in certain areas, but the Mormons wouldn't stick to those areas, so trouble arose between the original settlers and the Mormons. In 1833, the Mormons were expelled from Zion by anti-Mormon mobs. They were kicked out of Missouri all together after the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, which lasted about three months. Apparently, not all the Mormons believed everything they were being told. Some began questioning some of the revelations of the leaders. A group called "Danites" was formed to excommunicate and force dissenters out.
In 1839, the group moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and Smith was the commander of his own militia. On May 6, 1842, a suspected Mormon gunman shot Illinois Governor Boggs. In 1843, Smith announced his candidacy for President of the United States. When a local newspaper criticized some Mormon doctrines, such as plural marriage, Smith ordered the newspaper destroyed as a nuisance. In 1844, Joseph Smith, Jr. was killed by a mob.
In 1846, under Brigham Young, the Mormon pioneers began to leave Nauvoo, Illinois, and head west to Utah. By 1860, it had become a massive migration. The new converts from overseas went directly to Utah. The church was eventually required to give up polygamy in order to have Utah declared a state.
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Our first family member to be baptized Mormon was George Washington Wilkins, on 9 October 1842. He had learned about the church from missionaries in New Hampshire. His brother James Wilson Wilkins, my great-great grandfather, was baptized on 3 January 1844. His wife Adeline joined in 1847. They joined the western migration to Utah. James' oldest child was born in Iowa, but the rest were born in Utah. All of them joined the church as children. James' mother, Mary Emmons, who lived to be very old, may have moved to Utah in her old age and joined the church in 1879.
Ann Field Jakeman, my third great grandmother, converted in England, and caused a big family controversy by leaving her husband (who did not convert) and immigrating to Utah with some of her children, who had also converted. Her daughter, Mary Jakeman Waters, my great-great-grandmother, also joined the church as a child in England in 1854 and immigrated with her mother. In Utah, she met and married Allen Benson Waters, who had moved to Utah from California as a child when his widowed mother remarried, moved there and joined the church. He was baptized in 1865, a year after he'd married Mary. All of their children were born in Utah and probably baptized as children, including Mary Ann Elizabeth Waters, my great-grandmother. All of her children were born in Utah and baptized young.
My grandmother Mary Alta Wilkins Sterndahl grew up Mormon. As noted in my step-grandfather Merrill's journal, he and his brother stayed with relatives in Utah as they worked their way to California. However, I can't imagine that any of them were Mormon because he never mentioned anything about church at all in the journal. So I assume that first Laurel and then Merrill joined the church after they met my grandmother. My father, Kenneth, and Uncle Dennis were raised Mormon, but were not practicing by the time they were adults. My brother, sister, and I were also taken to church by my grandparents and baptized as children. I realized that the church and I did not agree and quit going at about 12 years old. I don't believe my brother or sister have had anything to do with the church since about that time, either.
I am sure that we still have cousins that are active members of the church, but I don't know who.
* The Mormon history comes mostly from Wikipedia.
** The family history related to their religion comes from baptismal dates on Family Group Records filed with the LDS church. I can only assume they are correct.
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