since its founding in 1830, members of the lds church were often harshly treated by their neighbors, partially due to their religious beliefs, sometimes as a reaction against the actions and the words of the lds church and its members and leaders. these and other reasons caused the body of the church to move from one place to another—to ohio, missouri, and then to illinois, where church members built the city of nauvoo. sidney rigdon was the first counselor in the lds first presidency, and as its spokesman, rigdon preached several controversial sermons in missouri, including the salt sermon and the july 4th oration. these speeches have sometimes been seen as contributing to the conflict known as the 1838 mormon war in missouri. as a result of the conflict, the mormons were expelled from the state by governor boggs, and rigdon and smith were arrested and imprisoned in liberty jail. rigdon was released on a writ of "habeas corpus" and made his way to illinois, where he joined the main body of mormon refugees in 1839. in 1844 joseph smith, and his brother hyrum smith were killed by a mob while in custody in the city of carthage, illinois. in 1846, religious tensions reached their peak, and in 1848 mobs burned the latter-day saint temple in nauvoo.