Exactly. There are other common characteristics, most have some sort of prophet or revelation and extra scripture (even if they don’t call it that), most have ways that the ‘proper authority’ was ‘restored’ to only their founder, and all are pretty much exclusivists (only their group goes to Heaven). Mormonism is unique in that it is, at the same time, both exclusivist and universalist.
I am just starting a research project on the Campbell and the rise of restoration movements in the 19th century US.
Something that intrigues me is that at least 3 of these groups (LDS, JW, SDA) were founded in NY within about 60 years and 100 miles of each other.
I seem to recall someone calling that area "burned over district" - I think from the fact of previous religious awakenings. Have you seen reference to that?
Demons have locality. They all got the same messenger.
Christian Scientists were formed thereabouts too, correct? I would speculate that this was due to the mass of peoples and the intermingling of many cultures as well as the new "discoveries" and theories of Darwin, Marx, egyptologists etc coupled with all the progress in the industrial world. It seemed like a ripe time for new interpretations