It arose when Joseph Smith learned how to commit miracles using a stone (a seer stone). But he already had a far more important talent: the ability: to make other people believe in him, no matter what he did.
This also made other people hate him and resulted in his untimely death in 1844.
When he died, there was no more church until Brigham Young took over, and led the LDS over the Rocky Mountains to the Great Salt Lake, where it still remains strong.
Joseph's wife Emma remained in Nauvoo, Illinois with her four sons, children of Joseph.
Nauvoo was a ghost town, but she stayed anyway. And did not inform her sons of Joseph's transgressions, which included polygamy. Her sons grew up and married local women, but had no money.
Meanwhile, another Mormon group formed in Northern Illinois (nearly as far North as Chicago). They called it the RLDS (Reorganized LDS). They needed a religious leader and selected Joseph Smith's oldest son Joseph Smith III (who was in Nauvoo) for this. He moved North, with his family.
THE RLDS bought land in Southern Iowa, and built a town on it they called Lamoni. JS III moved there with them, and took over leadership of the Church, and made it grow in membership and income.
But this growth did not continue for long when it moved to Independence, Mo. It remained a small church, and for this reason, I dropped out in 1960. It now calls itself the Community of Christ church.
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