OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Mormon settlements in Ohio from 1830 to 1847
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Cindy Irwin
jirwin@sprint.ca
June 30, 1998
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Here is a brief overview of the Mormon settlements from 1830 to 1847:

Western New York state (1830-1831)
The Mormon church  was organized by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830 in
Fayette, New York, about 30 miles SE of Palmyra. Joseph and Emma Smith
had moved from NY in 1827 and were living in Harmony, PA (now Oakland)
until 1830. To escape religious intolerance in NY and PA, in 1831 the
Mormons moved west. 

Kirtland, Ohio (1831-1838) and Jackson and Caldwell Counties, Missouri
(1831-1839)
Groups of the church settled in Kirtland, Ohio (near Cleveland) and the
surrounding area, and in Missouri. Independence, Jackson Co., MO,
located immediately east of Kansas City, was an early gathering place
for the Mormons in Missouri. Mobs drove them out of the area soon after
they began building the city and by 1834, they had moved to Far West,
Caldwell Co, Missouri. In Kirtland, conditions of religious intolerance
necessitated a further move, and in 1838 Smith moved to Missouri.
However, following 8 years of settlement by thousands of Mormons in
Missouri, tensions with neighboring communities reached a climax. A
military order signed by Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs on October
27, 1838, directed that the Mormons be driven from the state or
exterminated, declaring, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and
must be exterminated, or driven from the State, if necessary for the
public peace." This military directive forced the mid-winter exodus from
Missouri of approximately 10,000 men, women and children from their own
purchased farms, homes and properties. (On June 25, 1976, Missouri
Governor Christopher S. Bond issued an executive order rescinding the
Extermination Order, noting its legal invalidity and formally
apologizing in behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had
caused the Mormons.)  

Commerce/Nauvoo, Illinois (1839-1848)
The Mormons then went to Illinois. They purchased a large tract of swamp
land around the village of Commerce on the Mississippi River. They
drained the swamp and built the city of Nauvoo in Hancock Co., which
became at its height the largest city in Illinois (larger than Chicago).
Over the next few years, an estimated 16,000 members took up residence
in Nauvoo or the surrounding area. Religious intolerance in Illinois was
again very high and Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were imprisoned
in Carthage, Illinois (15 miles SE of Nauvoo). While awaiting trial in
jail, they were shot and killed June 27, 1844, by an armed mob who broke
into the jail. Once again the Mormons abandoned their homes. From
February - September of 1846, thousands abandoned Nauvoo, fleeing to the
West in barges and ferries across the Mississippi River. The majority,
some 7,000 or more, left between March and May.

Utah (1846-present)
After being expelled from Illinois, they traveled to western Iowa and
established camps on both sides of the Missouri River at Council Bluffs,
Iowa and Florence, Nebraska (called Winter Quarters at the time and now
a suburb of Omaha). Brigham Young became leader of the Church. Under his
direction the Mormons left these settlements and traveled to Utah which
they hoped was far enough west so that they would not be forced out
again. The first group arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.
About 60,000 to 70,000 Mormons emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley in the
late 1800s. From there, settlements were established all over the
western US, Mexico and Canada.
Cindy