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Famous Residents
Joseph
Smith was born in Vermont on December 23, 1805. At the early age of
14 he received a revelation from God. Eleven years later he translated the
Book of Mormon and provided the foundation for the Mormon religion. His
power and charisma, along with the Book of Mormon scripture, created a large,
faithful group of followers.
Due to persecution, in 1839 Smith moved his followers to Commerce, Illinois and renamed it Nauvoo. Within a short period of time Nauvoo's population would reach 20,000 rivaling Chicago as the largest city in Illinois.
Smith was not only a Mormon prophet but President of the Mormon Church, Mayor of Nauvoo, commander of the Nauvoo Legion State Militia, Justice of the Peace, and University Chancellor.
In February 1844 he announced his intentions to run for President of the United States. A local paper, ran by
Mormon dissenters, decided to attack Smith and published an article charging Smith with polygamy. The paper's printing
press was destroyed and Smith along with his brother, Hyrum, were arrested in connection with the incident and
imprisoned at the Carthage City Jail. A mob of armed men stormed the jail on June 27, 1844 and murdered the brothers.
He was succeeded by Brigham Young as the new prophet and leader with about 80% of the Nauvoo Mormons following
him to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Brigham Young, said to be the greatest molder of the Mormon religion, was born in 1801. In 1829 he would
meet Joseph Smith and four years later he would join Smith in Ohio and become a Mormon.
As a faithful Mormon, Young served as a missionary for the church, traveling throughout the United States and
Great Britain. He became second in authority to Joseph Smith when he was named President of the Quorum of Twelve
Apostles. Young was away on a missionary trip when Smith was killed. He organized the exodus of Nauvoo Mormons
to Utah's Salt Lake Valley. In 1847 he was named President and Prophet of the church. Under Young's direction,
the Mormons flourished with increased missionary activities, a growing economy, and a population boom. Young died
on August 29, 1877.
Etienne Cabet was born in 1788 in France. Cabet, a French utopian socialist, gained followers through his
book, "A Voyage into Icaria". Written in 1840, the book tells a story of a utopian community, The Island
of Icaria.
Forced to leave France because of his political views, Cabet and several hundred loyal followers landed in Texas
for a brief time period before traveling to Nauvoo in 1849. Cabet served as leader of the commune for seven years
until he was defeated in the presidency. Cabet and a minority of the Icarians left Nauvoo in 1856 and went to Saint
Louis where he died shortly after arriving.
Jonathan Browning, originally
from Tennessee, moved to Nauvoo and joined the Mormon community in the 1840's. As a young man he started earning
a living as a blacksmith and later switched to become a lock and gunsmith. He invented several kinds of repeating
firearms, but his son, John Moses Browning, became the more famous gun maker. Young Browning learned the
art of gun making in his father's Nauvoo shop. Religious persecution caused the Browning Family to abandon their
home and business and moved to Ogden, Utah in the late 1840's.
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