George J. Adams

George J. Adams
Image ca. 1841
Founder of the Church of the Messiah
1861
Member of the First Presidency in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite).
1846 – 1851
Called by	James Strang
End reason	Excommunicated from the Strangite church
Member of the Council of Fifty
Between Mar. 14 and Apr. 11, 1844 – February 4, 1845
Called by	Joseph Smith
End reason	Excommunicated from LDS Church
Personal details
Born	ca. 1811 Oxford, New Jersey
Died	May 11, 1880 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Cause of death	"typhoid pneumonia"

George Jones Adams (ca. 1811 – May 11, 1880) was the leader of a schismatic Latter Day Saint sect who led an ill-fated effort to establish a colony of Americans in Palestine. Adams was also briefly a member of the First Presidency in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite). In preparation for colonizing Palestine, he changed his name to George Washington Joshua Adams, to tie himself to two well-known country builders: George Washington of the United States and Joshua of ancient Israel.

Adams was born in Oxford, New Jersey of Welsh descent. By the 1830s, he had been trained as a Methodist preacher and was a merchant tailor. He was also an aspiring Shakespearean actor, but had little success in being cast in roles.

While travelling from Boston to New York City in February 1840, Adams heard the preaching of Latter Day Saint apostle Heber C. Kimball, and was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the same week. Within a month he had become an elder in the church. In 1841, Adams traveled to England as a missionary for the church; he was successful in winning numerous converts and stayed in England for eighteen months.

In October 1843, church president Joseph Smith asked Adams to travel with apostle Orson Hyde as a missionary to Russia. In 1844, Smith invited Adams to join the exclusive Council of Fifty. On June 7, 1844, Smith set apart Adams "to be an apostle and special witness ... to the empire of Russia", in preparation for the Mormon political kingdom. However, just prior to Adams' planned departure later that month, all church political efforts were suspended after Smith was killed and the church was thrown into turmoil. Adams returned to New England as a regular missionary, and, along with William Smith, Joseph Smith's surviving brother, created much turmoil among the branches there, claiming to be the "Thirteenth Apostle" and "greater than Paul," and therefore having more authority than any of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. On April 10, 1845, Adams was excommunicated by the Quorum of Twelve Apostles for proposing that the church be led by Joseph Smith III (Joseph Smith's eldest son) under the guardianship of William Smith.

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