The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mississippi refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its members in Mississippi. The first small branch was established in 1842. It has since grown to 21,649 members in 49 congregations. Official church membership as a percentage of general population was 0.72% in 2014. According to the 2014 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, 1% of Mississippins self-identify themselves most closely with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church is the 10th largest denomination in Mississippi. History Missionaries John D. Hunter and Benjamin L. Clapp arrived in Tishomingo County in 1839. On December 26, 1839, Hunter reported they baptized six people. Seven more were baptized in 1840 by Norvel M. Head. Five more people were baptized on December 1, 1841, by elders Daniel Tyler and R. D. Sheldon. Escaping persecution, a group of 80–90 members in 40 wagons arrived in Nauvoo from Mississippi in April 1842. A small branch was organized in Monroe County in 1842, where others were converted. Other branches were created in Mississippi as membership increased. On April 8, 1846, a company of settlers left Monroe County expecting to join the main body of Latter-day Saints in Winter Quarters that was then planning to travel to the Rocky Mountains. This group was led by John Brown, who had been a leading missionary in Alabama and Mississippi. They instead became the first group of Mormons to cross the plains, wintering with fur trappers in Pueblo, Colorado that same year. These were the first to establish a religious colony in the west since the Spanish priests of 1769. Later, they founded a second colony at Cottonwood and Holladay in the Salt Lake Valley (once called the Mississippi Ward). They also helped found San Bernardino and were involved in other colonies along the Little Colorado in Arizona. Alice Rowan, one of the children of these first pioneers who taught at Riverside California, was among the first African American women to teach at a public school in the U.S. Missionary work in Mississippi halted during the Civil War. This was resumed in 1877 with the arrival of W. H. Crawford and others. The Baldwin Branch was organized on July 27, 1877. In 1880, opposition tried, but failed to enlist the governor’s help in forcing missionaries to leave the state. Missionary Alma