March 27, 1836 - Kirtland Temple Dedicated
Prior to the temple dedication, Saints came pouring into Kirtland by the hundreds, many of whom were very poor. The number of Saints in Kirtland triples from 500 to 1500 in just a few years.
January 2, 1837 - Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Co. opens for business
As a means to help the church get out of debt and to help the poor Saints, Joseph Smith decided to start a bank. Their plan was denied by the legislature, so instead they started a private joint-stock company called the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company. The majority of the society’s capital was in land, rather than hard currency such as gold and silver. settled in Missouri and began to prosper. Guerilla warfare raged while the Saints tried to protect their homes and families.
May 1837 - Panic of 1837 hits Ohio
The Saints economic problems were compounded by a panic that spread west from New York into other parts of the nation. Money was scarce during the panic, and many creditors were unable to extend credit or postpone dates when debts were due.
November 1837 - Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Co. closes its doors By the end of 1837, enemies of the church obtained enough notes to initiate a run on the bank. The two hundred individuals who invested in the bank lost nearly everything they had invested.
March 14, 1838 - Prophet arrives to settle in Far West, Missouri After the events that occurred with the Safety Society, backbiting against Joseph Smith was common. As a means to not only escape his enemies, but to help other church members, Joseph and his family move to Far West Missouri.
Summer 1838 -
Relations between Saints and their Missouri neighbors deteriorate* Hostility towards the Saints grew as more members settled in Missouri and began to prosper. Guerilla warfare raged while the Saints tried to protect their homes and families.
October 25, 1838 - Governor Boggs issues the extermination order
A hostile militia forces the Saints in Ray County toabandon their farms or be killed. In defense, a milita organized by Latter-day Saints, confronts the aggressors at Crooked River. Governor Boggs accuses the Saints of initiating the conflict. In response he issues the extermination order, declaring that the Mormons "must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the State." The order authorized the killing of Mormons on sight, and was not officially lifted until June 25, 1976.
*film ends at this point
