Joseph Smith was the founding prophet, president, and first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born in Sharon, Vermont, on December 23, 1805, Smith moved to New York City at the age of twenty-one to pursue secular studies at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He was expelled for "unruly conduct" (later confirmed as gambling) and moved to Pennsylvania, where he began work as a schoolteacher. After experiencing an early crisis of faith, he sought divine guidance by praying about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon
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The angel Moroni appeared to him in 1823 and told him that he would be visited by two additional angels who would explain the contents of the book. Over the next several years, he received a visitation from God on a number of occasions and heard a voice instructing him on numerous matters. In 1827, Smith published a series of articles in a printing press owned by a local Methodist preacher.
The articles were subsequently compiled into a book called The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. In 1830, Smith organized a group that became known as the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). Later that year he traveled to Kirtland, Ohio, to establish an official church headquarters—a new city called Nauvoo that was chosen because it was located on an elevated spot "on a high hill above the flood." In Kirtland, Smith had become acquainted with Sidney Rigdon and had been introduced to some teachings from John Humphrey Noyes's Perfectionists.
Because they clashed with traditional Christianity and were considered heretical by many observers, Noyes's teachings were eventually rejected by most members of the church. Bishop Edward Partridge of Kirtland had been ordained as an apostle but was later excommunicated from the church over his disagreements with Smith's leadership style. In January 1831 Smith called upon Partridge to become his first counselor in Nauvoo; then in February he formally organized what became known as the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and established himself as its president.
On January 21, 1831—the same day that Joseph Smith Sr., Joseph Jr.'s father and namesake, died—the First Vision occurred: "And it came to pass after I had fallen asleep, I had a dream; and behold there stood before me as it were a Pillar." On July 16, 1831