Joseph Smith Jr's Kevo

Main article: Life of Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1831 to 1834
The church had more than doubled in size following the conversion of Sidney Rigdon, a former Campbellite minister in September 1830. Rigdon led several congregations of Restorationists in Ohio's Western Reserve area, and hundreds of his adherents followed him into Mormonism. Rigdon was soon called to be Smith's spokesman and quickly became one of the early leaders of the Movement.

To avoid further conflict encountered in New York and Pennsylvania, Smith moved with his family to Kirtland, Ohio, joining with the converts that joined with Rigdon. The church's headquarters were soon established there and Smith urged the rest of the membership to gather there or to a second outpost of the church in Missouri.

However, due to the controversy which followed him, he was not to escape persecution for long. In March of 1832, a violent mob came to Smith's house and attacked him. According to recorded accounts of the event, the mob broke down the front door, took Smith's oldest surviving adopted child from his arms (McKiernan 1971), and dragged Smith from the room. The mob beat, tarred and feathered, and attempted to poison Joseph.

This time period was prolific in its expansion of Church doctrine and organization; a number of new doctrines and leadership offices were added, based on Smith's teachings. An attempt to establish a communitarian economy based on Smith's "Law of Consecration" was established, but was abandoned after it was realized it was unfeasible.