TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY: 25 May

[Hemidakota]

1829 - Samuel H. Smith, Joseph's younger brother, is baptized by Oliver Cowdery at Harmony, Pennsylvania. He made the visit to Harmony to visit his brother and learn of their work. Joseph and Oliver Cowdery "labored to persuade him concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . He was not, however, very easily persuaded on these things." Samuel retired to the woods to pray for an answer himself, "the result was that he obtained revelation for himself sufficient to convince him of the truth of our assertions to him" (History of the Church, 1:44). Samuel is the third person baptized in this dispensation.

1834 - Zion's Camp woke this Sunday morning at their first camp in the state of Illinois. They had no Sabbath meeting but spent the day resting and in washing, baking, and preparing for the remainder of their journey to Missouri. A man in disguise entered the camp and swore they would never reach Jackson County and would never cross the Mississippi alive. Joseph Smith recorded that he was a spy as he had seen him in Jackson County previously.

1856 - The ship Horizon leaves Liverpool, England, for Boston, Massachusetts, carrying 856 Saints led by Edward Martin. Most of this company would later become part of the ill-fated Martin and Willie handcart companies that suffered so much on the plains of Wyoming during the trek to Utah.

1906 - The press on which the first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed, is purchased by President Joseph F. Smith.

1946 - President George Albert Smith gives one of the first speeches ever made by a President of the Church in Mexico at a mission conference at the Irmeta Branch near Mexico City.

1984 - The Boise Idaho Temple is dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley of the First Presidency.

2000 - Near the temple lot in Independence, Missouri, civic, Church, and historical association leaders gathered to dedicate the first plaque in a project known as the Missouri Mormon Walking Tour.