Addressing some of the most consquential yet esoteric subjects and events in Latter-day Saint Church history, this 1971 dissertation makes available items from early Mormon history never previously so thoroughly documented. Specifically, Dr. Larry C. Porter carefully delineates the dynamics of Joseph Smith's life and movement (and the subsequent movement of the Church) in the context of the infant years of the Church, an era whose documented treatment has been previously obscure and sketchy.