LDS History, 1837 December

-- During 1837 December
Martin Harris excommunicated. (1)

Many people are excommunicated from the church for various reasons. (2)

-- During 1837 late December
[Joseph Smith] High council excommunicated twenty-eight dissenters, including Martin Harris, Warren Parrish, and apostles Luke Johnson and John F. Boynton, Kirtland. (3)

-- During 1837
Notable problems begin in the Kirtland Safety Society. (2)

-- During 1837-1838
[Periodicals] Elders' Journal; Joseph Smith, Jr. Kirtland and Far West, Missouri (Periodical) (4)

-- During 1837
[U.S. Religious History] England, Birth of Mormonism (5)

-- 5 Jan. 1838
[Lucy Mack Smith] At a conference in Far West, the Saints reject David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and W. W. Phelps as the local presidency; then the high council excommunicates Phelps and John Whitmer. (6)

-- 11 Jan. 1838
[Lucy Mack Smith] At a meeting in the home of Joseph Sr. and Lucy, Joseph Jr. gives instructions to the brethren, then assures them that his life is safe for five more years (1843). (6)

-- 1838 12 January
Joseph Smith fled persecution in Kirtland, Ohio. (1)

-- 1838 January 12
Joseph Smith Jr. and others flee Kirtland, fearing their safety in wake of assertions dealing with the legality and financial viability of the Kirtland Safety Society. (2)

-- January 12, 1838
[Joseph Smith] Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon fled Kirtland to escape mob violence. (7)

[Joseph Smith] Josephs life is threatened and he leaves Kirtland. He waits in Norton for his family to join him. He is followed for nearly two hundred miles by those who threatened him. (8)

-- 1838 January 12
[Joseph Smith] Departed Kirtland for move to Far West. (3)


Footnotes:
1 - http://www.lds.net/forums/scripture-study-forum/12108-church-chronology-1800-2000-part-1-a.html#post214550
2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century_(Mormonism)
3 - Joseph Smith Papers: Chronology for the Years 1832-1839
4 - Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.4, Appendix 3: Church Periodicals
5 - Milton Backman, Regional Studies, British Isles, Birth of Mormonism, p.27. Preliminaries to the Restoration: Chronology
6 - Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, Edited by Lavina Fielding Anderson, 2001, Signature Books
7 - BYU Studies Journal, volume 46, no. 4: A Chronology of the Life of Joseph Smith
8 - http://www.prophetjosephsmith.org/joseph_smith_timeline

Clair Barrus