Item Detail
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30079
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2
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41
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English
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Sampson Avard : The First Danite
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Mormon Historical Studies
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Fall 2004
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5
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2
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Salt Lake City, UT
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Mormon Historical Sites Foundation
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37-60
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"In 1974, BYU Studies published an article by Leland H. Gentry entitled,
'The Danite Band of 1838.' The article, one of the first serious academic
studies of the Danites, presented Gentry’s interpretation of the events of the 1838 Mormon War, focusing on the development and organization of the
group commonly known as the Danites. Throughout his narrative, Gentry
discusses the activities of Sampson Avard, the reported leader and organizer of the Danite society. He presents a very sketchy background of him, which includes little more than a description of his actions between October 1835, when he joined the Latter-day Saints, until his excommunication on 17 March 1839. Gentry further characterizes him as a malevolent shadow, seeking power and destruction. In his conclusion, he placed the responsibility for the actions taken by the Missourians against the Saints in northern Missouri
squarely on the shoulders of Avard.Since Gentry’s article first appeared, other Mormon historians have
attempted to explain the Danites and their activities in Missouri, including
Avard’s connections. However, in the opinion of the writer, these studies
still have not adequately explored his life and, more specifically, his Mormon
activities prior to the establishment of the Danites, the leadership role he
played, and his disaffection from the Church. Although Sampson Avard
was a relatively minor character in early LDS history, this paper is an
attempt to examine more thoroughly and to explain this controversial figure
and his role in the Danite organization." -
A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints (Commonly Called Mormons)
A Call to Arms : The 1838 Defense of Northern Missouri
A Chronology of Danite Meetings in Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri : July to September 1838
An Appeal to the American People
Biography of Lorenzo Dow Young
Clarification of Boggs' 'Order' and Joseph Smith's Constitutionalism
Conflict at Kirtland : The Nature and Causes of External and Internal Conflict of the Mormons in Ohio between 1830 and 1838
Cultural Crisis in the Mormon Kingdom : A Reconsideration of the Causes of Kirtland Dissent
Documents Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c. In Relation to the Disturbances with the Mormons
Early Days on the Grand River and the Mormon War
Far West Record : Minutes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1844
Herbal Remedies : God's Medicine?
'High Treason and Murder' : The Examination of Mormon Prisoners at Richmond, Missouri, in November 1838
History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period I : History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, by Himself
Joseph Smith and the Law of Consecration
Kirtland Council Minute Book
Medicine and the Mormons : A Historical Perspective
Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848
Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838
Mormonism Unveiled
Mormon Redress Petitions : Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict
My Best for the Kingdom : History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler, A Mormon Frontiersman
Oliver Cowdery, Second Elder and Scribe
Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer
The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri
The Book of Daniel in Early Mormon Thought
The Danite Band of 1838
The Danites Reconsidered : Were They Vigilantes or Just the Mormons' Version of the Elks Club?
The Election Day Battle at Gallatin
The Far West Dissenters and the Gamblers at Vicksburg : An Examination of the Documentary Evidence and Historical Context of Sidney Rigdon's Salt Sermon
The Heavens Resound : A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838
The Kirtland Economy Revisited : A Market Critique of Sectarian Economics
The Kirtland Elders' Quorum Record, 1836-1841
The Last Months of Mormonism in Missouri : The Albert Perry Rockwood Journal
The Mormon Hierarchy : Origins of Power
The Orson Pratt Journals
The Papers of Joseph Smith, Volume 2 : Journal, 1832-1842
The Quest for a Restoration : The Birth of Mormonism in Ohio
The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith by His Mother
Two Rare Missouri Documents
'We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois' : The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839