Mormonisms: A Documentary History, 1844-1860

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Edited by Christine Elyse Blythe and Christopher James Blythe

Available 2014

Book Description:

Mormonisms is an effort to bring to life the varied and embattled world of post-martyrdom Mormonism as it existed outside of the Intermountain West. Although the majority of Latter Day Saints – certainly the majority in Nauvoo – followed the Quorum of Twelve Apostles with Brigham Young at their head, to what would become the Territory of Deseret, many remained in Illinois and Iowa, while others’ organized their own exoduses to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Texas, and so forth. In this context, new prophet figures emerged to sponsor their own continuations and re-fashionings of the tradition.
The approach in Mormonisms is conflict history--focusing on sources that offer us a glimpse of how Mormon sects interacted with and defined themselves against their competitors. In fact, a large portion of the sources included in the volume could be considered heresiographical, in that they are documents expounding on one sect written by an opposing sect. Also included are minutes of quorum meetings, excommunication trials, sermons, memoirs, and diary entries geared to understand how these groups established themselves through processes of identity formation.