Succession crisis (Mormonism)
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Background
Joseph Smith Jr. organized the Latter Day Saint Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. Between that time and his death in 1844, both the church and Smith's role within it expanded. Even prior to the formal establishment of the church, Smith claimed for himself the title of "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," a title unanimously supported by the other founding saints (and one used by all successive Presidents of the Church). Additionally, because he claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon, his title expanded to "Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator."Because the church was "organized" rather than legally "incorporated," its property needed to be held in trust by a trustee; Smith became the church's Trustee-in-Trust.
Initially, the highest leadership position in the church was that of "elder," and church elders were sometimes called "apostles." Smith's initial title in the church was "First Elder," while his friend and associate, Oliver Cowdery, was given the title "Second Elder." In March of 1832, Smith created a quorum of three presidents known as the First Presidency. Smith became President of the First Presidency, a title which became associated with the office of "President of the Church"; Sidney Rigdon and Jesse Gause became Smith's counselors in the First Presidency.
On December 18, 1833, Smith created the office of "Patriarch over the Church" and ordained his father, Joseph, Sr., to fill the role. The "Presiding Patriarch," as the office came to be called, often presided over church meetings and was sometimes sustained at church conferences ahead of all other church officers.
On February 17, 1834, Smith created a High Council in Kirtland, Ohio. This body consisted of twelve men, headed by the First Presidency. This High Council took on the role of chief judicial and legislative body of the local church and handled such things as excommunication trials and approval of all church spending. This High Council became subordinate to the High Council of Zion, which was organized in Far West, Jackson County, Missouri. Later, when other High Councils were established in newly formed stakes of the Church, the High Council of Zion took on a role of "presiding" over the lesser Stake High Councils (see the LDS Doctrine and Covenants 107:37). Cases tried in the High Councils of outlying stakes were regularly appealed to the High Council of Zion, and then to the First Presidency.
In 1835, Smith created an additional "Traveling High Council" of twelve men, ordained to the office of Apostle to oversee the missionary work of the church. Thomas B. Marsh was made president of this council, which, in practice, was initially subordinate to the Presiding High Council of Zion. For example, in 1838, when vacancies arose in the Traveling High Council, it was the Presiding High Council at Far West that filled the vacancies. Later, as the Traveling High Council evolved and began to be known as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, it acquired equal status with the Presiding High Council; both were subordinate to the First Presidency. When the Presiding High Council of Zion was dissolved after the Church was expelled from Missouri, Nauvoo, Illinois became the headquarters of the church. There, Joseph Smith formed a new Presiding High Council, led by William Marks, which supervised the High Councils of outlying stakes, under the direction of the First Presidency.
In 1844, Smith created the Council of Fifty to be the "living constitution" of the "Kingdom," which, in turn, sustained Smith as "Prophet, Priest and King." This council consisted mostly of prominent Latter-day Saint associates of Joseph Smith, but contained a few prominent non-Mormons from the Nauvoo area.
Smith also created the Anointed Quorum, an inner group of strong and trusted Church members (both male and female) who had received the temple endowment, and sometimes the Second Anointing (called the "fullness of the priesthood"). Others who had been given important priesthood authority in the church were the Quorum of Three Witnesses, the Associate President of the Church, Hyrum Smith, and earlier, the Presidency of the Church in Zion, which included David Whitmer and W.W. Phelps.
The 1844 Succession
At the time of his murder, Smith thus held the roles: "Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator," "President of the Church," "President of the First Presidency," and "Trustee-in-Trust" of the Church. It was unclear if all of these offices should be held together by any one successor and it was equally unclear who such a successor should be.Theoretical Successors
Following Smith's murder, it was not immediately clear to Latter Day Saints who would lead the church. Others, including Illinois governor Thomas Ford, predicted that the movement would dissolve.Contemporary statements of Church leaders indicate that had Smith's brother Hyrum survived, he would have been the successor. Hyrum had been ordained Associate President and Presiding Patriarch of the church, and the successor of Oliver Cowdery, who had been excommunicated (See Times and Seasons, 2 (1 June 1841): 128; cf. Doctrine and Covenants 124:94-95). Hyrum, however, was killed in Carthage, Illinois with Joseph Smith. Regarding Hyrum, Brigham Young stated:
- "Did Joseph Smith ordain any man to take his place. He did. Who was it? It was Hyrum, but Hyrum fell a martyr before Joseph did. If Hyrum had lived he would have acted for Joseph" (Times and Seasons, 5 [Oct. 15, 1844]: 683).
Joseph Smith Jr. also seems to have given indications that one of his sons would succeed him. Several church leaders later claimed that on August 27, 1834, and April 22, 1839, Joseph Smith indicated his eldest son, Joseph Smith III, would be his successor (See Roger Launius, Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet). At the time of Smith's death, however, Joseph Smith III was eleven years old — far too young to lead the church. Similarly, in April 1844, Joseph Smith had reportedly prophesied his unborn child would be a son who was to be named "David" and would eventually become "president and king of Israel" (See Valery Tippetts Avery, From Mission to Madness: The Last Son of the Mormon Prophet). In the 1980s, Mark Hofmann, forged a copy of a Patriarchal Blessing given to Joseph Smith III, naming the young Joseph as Smith's successor. Although this document was a forgery, it was based on contemporary reports of such a blessing.
Some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speculate that had Joseph's wife, Emma, followed Brigham Young and the other saints to Utah, Joseph III could very well have fulfilled his father's alleged prophecy that he would lead the church someday.
Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, had they not been previously excommunicated, might also have had credible claims to be Smith's successor. Oliver Cowdery had been the "Second Elder" of the church after Joseph Smith, and until the time of his excommunication held the keys of the dispensation with Joseph. In addition, he was with Smith at all the important events of the early church. Like Hyrum later, Joseph Smith had ordained Cowdery as the Associate President, and had given him authority "to assist in presiding over the whole Church and to officiate in the absence of the President" (Manuscript History of the Church, Book A-1, p. 11, Church Archives). However, Cowdery was excommunicated on April 12, 1838 (Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, pp. 162-171).
Whitmer had been ordained President of the High Council in Zion (Jackson County, Missouri), and Joseph had blessed him on July 7, 1834, "to be a leader or a prophet to this Church, which (ordination) was on condition that he (J. Smith, Jr) did not live to God himself" (Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, p. 151). Upon forming the High Council in Jackson County, Smith stated "if he should be taken away that he had accomplished the great work which the Lord had laid before him, and that which he had desired of the Lord, and that he now had done his duty in organizing the High Council, through which Council the will of the Lord might be known" (Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, pp. 71-72). Whitmer, however, was excommunicated on April 13, 1838 (Id., pp. 176-178).
Immediate Successors
Joseph Smith's death left a number of important church leaders, councils, and quorums, many of which had overlapping and/or evolving functions, without guidance.The highest executive council of the church was the First Presidency. The death of both Joseph and Hyrum Smith left Sidney Rigdon as the only surviving member of the First Presidency. As early as April 19, 1834, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had "laid hands upon bro. Sidney [Rigdon] and confirmed upon him the blessings of wisdom and knowledge to preside over the Church in the absence of brother Joseph" (Joseph Smith Diary, 19 Apr. 1834, Church Archives; Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, vol. 2, pp. 31-32). In the spring of 1844, Joseph Smith had begun running a third-party candidacy to be elected President of the United States. Sidney Rigdon was nominated as Smith's Vice Presidential running mate and had moved to Pennsylvania to establish legal residency there (the United States Constitution dictates that the President and Vice President must come from separate states). Upon receiving word of Smith's death, Rigdon claimed to receive a revelation calling him to succeed Smith as "guardian" of the church and he hurriedly returned to Nauvoo to exercise his claim.
After the First Presidency, the (Presiding) Nauvoo High Council was the church's chief legislative and judicial council. Nauvoo Stake President William Marks was president of the High Council at the time. Smith's widow, Emma urged Marks to succeed Smith as President and Trustee-in-Trust of the church, but Marks supported the claims of Rigdon.
The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were originally ordained to be traveling ministers, and had been delegated leadership of outlying areas of the world in which no "stakes" — local congregations — were established. In 1835, Smith had stated, "The twelve apostles have no right to go into Zion or any of its stakes where there is a regular high council established, to regulate any matter pertaining thereto" (Minutes of a Grand High Council, 2 May 1835, in Patriarchal Blessing Book, p. 2, Church Archives). In later years, however, Smith had given the Quorum a greater role in governing the Church, and Quorum President Brigham Young became one of Smith's closest confidants. Long after Smith's death, members of the Twelve in Utah claimed that Smith gave them a "last charge" on March 26, 1844, in which he stated at a meeting of the Council of Fifty:
- "Upon the shoulders of the Twelve must the responsibility of leading this Church henceforth rest until you shall appoint others to succeed you...I roll the burden and responsibility of leading this church off from my shoulders on to yours. Now, round up your shoulders and stand under it like men; for the Lord is going to let me rest awhile" (Undated certificate of the Twelve Apostles, Brigham Young Papers, Church Archives).
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who believe Brigham Young was the true successor to Joseph Smith, dispute this claim that the "last charge" could have been directed to any other group than the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Joseph Smith had received a revelation on 28 March 1835 stating that the Twelve Apostles "form a quorum equal in authority and power to the three presidents [of the First Presidency]" (Doctrine and Covenants 107:24), and at a special conference on August 16, 1841, Joseph Smith appointed Brigham Young to preside in his absence (it was later at that conference, after Smith arrived, that he revealed the changes in responsibility of the Twelve). Soon after the conference, Wilford Woodruff wrote, "The temporal business of the Church is laid upon the hands of the Twelve" (Wilford Woodruff Diary, 8 October 1841, Church Archives). Nevertheless, the most telling evidence of Brigham Young's authority to lead the church as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is his alleged transfiguration into Joseph Smith at the conference on August 8, 1844.
Conference of August 8, 1844
At the time of Smith's death, Rigdon, Young, and many other church leaders were out of the state on evangelical missions for the church. Rigdon returned to Nauvoo first (August 3) and the next day announced at a public meeting that he had received a revelation appointing him "Guardian of the Church." President William Marks called for a conference on August 8 to decide the issue. On August 6, Brigham Young and the rest of the Twelve returned to Nauvoo; the next day, they met with Sidney Rigdon, who repeated his claim to become the guardian of the Church. Brigham Young responded, "Joseph conferred upon our heads all the keys and powers belonging to the apostleship which he himself held before he was taken away" (Smith, History of the Church, 7:224-230).At the conference on August 8, Ridgon spoke first to the assembled, asking the saints to confirm his role as "guardian." To back his claim, Rigdon cited his long relationship with Smith and the fact that he was the only surviving member of the First Presidency. Rigdon also argued that Smith had sent him to Pennsylvania to prevent the entire presidency from being killed in the ongoing conflict.
After Rigdon spoke for ninety minutes, Young called for a recess of two and a half hours. When the conference resumed, Young spoke, emphasizing the idea that no man could ever replace Joseph Smith. However, he stated that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles retained all the "keys of the priesthood" that Smith had held. He answered Rigdon’s proposal to be named "guardian" by claiming that Rigdon and Smith had become estranged in recent years. Rather than a single guardian, Young proposed that the Quorum of the Twelve be named the church's First Presidency. Rigdon declined an offer to rebut Young, asking W. W. Phelps to speak for him. Instead Phelps spoke in favor of Young's proposal.
The assembled church members then voted, according to the principle of common consent, either to accept Rigdon as church guardian or to set the Twelve as guardians over the church. The overwhelming majority voted in favor of the latter, squarely defeating Rigdon.
Brigham's Transfiguration into Joseph
Many Latter-day Saints recorded that as Brigham Young spoke, he appeared to them to look and/or sound like the late Joseph Smith. The story of this "transfiguration" is often repeated and has become church tradition (or folklore, according to some).George Laub wrote:
- "Now when President Young arose to address the congregation his voice was the voice of Bro[ther] Joseph and his face appeared as Joseph's face & should I have not seen his face but heard his voice I should have declared that it was Joseph" (Eugene English, "George Laub Nauvoo Diary," BYU Studies, 18 [Winter 1978]: 167).
- "But their [Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith's] places were filed by others much better than I once supposed they could have been, the spirit of Joseph appeared to rest upon Brigham" (William Burton Diary, May 1845. Church Archives).
- "But as soon as he spoke I jumped upon my feet, for in every possible degree it was Joseph's voice, and his person, in look, attitude, dress and appearance; [it] was Joseph himself, personified and I knew in a moment the spirit and mantle of Joseph was upon him" (Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life's Review [Independence, 1928], p. 103- 104).
- "Although only a boy, I saw the mantle of the Prophet Joseph rest upon Brigham Young; and he arose lion-like to the occasion and led the people forth" (Life Story of Mosiah Hancock, p. 23, BYU Library).
- "If I had not seen him with my own eyes, there is no one that could have convinced me that it was not Joseph Smith" (Deseret News, 15 Mar. 1892).
- "[When Brigham Young spoke] it was with the voice of Joseph himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard, but it seemed in the eyes of the people as though it was the every person of Joseph which stood before them" (Juvenile Instructor, 22 [29 Oct. 1870]: 174-175).
Church reorganization after the conference
With the support of the church, Brigham Young quickly got to work reorganizing the church. He met with the Twelve and members of the Anointed Quorum on August 9; Bishops Newel K. Whitney and George Miller "were appointed to settle the affairs of the late Trustee-in-Trust, Joseph Smith, and be prepared to enter upon the duties as Trustees of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Smith, History of the Church, 7:247).Meanwhile, Sidney Rigdon did not abandon his claims and began organizing supporters in Nauvoo. The Twelve Apostles discovered that Rigdon was undermining their authority; on September 3, 1844, Rigdon claimed "he had power and authority above the Twelve Apostles and did not consider himself amenable to their counsel" (Smith, History of the Church, 7:267). The Twelve then disfellowshipped Rigdon, on grounds of "Making a Division in the Church [by] ordaining Prophet, Priests & Kings contrary to the Say [way?] of God" (George A. Smith Diary, Sept. 3, 1844, Church Archives). He was excommunicated by the Twelve in a public Bishop's Court on September 8 (Times and Seasons, 5 [Sept. 15, Oct. 1, 15, 1844]: 647-655, 660-667, 685-687). Rigdon, claiming that Young's supporters had threatened his life, fled from Nauvoo and established a separate sect of the church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which excommunicated Young and most of the Twelve.
At the General Conference of October 6-7, 1844, the Quorum of the Twelve presided as the church's highest authority for the first time; Brigham Young was sustained as "the president of the quorum of the Twelve and first presidency of the church." The saints did not sustain William Marks as President of the Nauvoo Stake, sustaining John Smith in his place (Times and Seasons, 5 [1 Nov. 1844]: 692).
At this conference, Brigham Young also addressed the issue of revelation. More specifically, did revelations cease with Smith's death, or, if not, who would receive and publish them? He indicated his own uncertainty concerning the subject, concluding, "Every member has the right of receiving revelations for themselves, both male and female." Then he elaborated: "If you don't know whose right it is to give revelations, I will tell you. It is I" (Times and Seasons, Vol. V, pp. 682-683).
The Claims of James J. Strang
While these events were going on in Nauvoo, another successor of Smith began to exercise his claim in the church's outlying branches in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Although he was a recent convert (baptized in February 1844), James J. Strang posed a strong, determined, and initially quite successful challenge to the claims of Young and Rigdon. Strang was an elder in the church, charged with establishing a stake in Wisconsin, should the Latter Day Saints be forced to abandon their headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois. He possessed a letter, known as the Letter of Appointment. This letter, purportedly written by Smith the month of his death, appointed Strang to be Smith's successor as church president. Strang also claimed that at the moment of Smith's death, he was visited by angels who ordained him as Smith's successor.Strang's claim appealed to many Latter Day Saints who had been attracted to the early church's doctrines of continuing revelation through the mouth of a living prophet. In the August 8, 1844, Conference, Young had emphasized that no single man could replace the prophet Joseph Smith. Young subsequently used the Times and Seasons newspaper to announce to the church, "You no longer have a prophet, but you have apostles." Strang, by contrast, announced that there was, indeed, a new Mormon prophet to succeed Smith. Strang claimed to commune with angels and that he found and translated supposedly ancient records engraved upon metal plates, just as Smith had.
Many prominent Latter Day Saints believed in the Letter of Appointment and accepted Strang as the Church's second "Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator." One such follower was William Smith (Joseph's last surviving brother); he had asked to be ordained Presiding Patriarch in May 1845 and subsequently claimed that his ordination meant he should be the President of the Church, because of Hyrum Smith's position as both Presiding Patriarch and Associate President. Others included Book of Mormon witness Martin Harris, former Nauvoo Stake President William Marks, Presiding Bishop and Trustee-in-Trust George Miller, Apostle John E. Page, former Apostle William E. McLellin, and John C. Bennett (excommunicated by Smith).
Strang's newspaper printed a statement allegedly signed by William Smith, Joseph Smith's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, and three of Joseph's sisters, certifying that "the Smith family do believe in the appointment of J. J. Strang." However, Lucy Mack Smith addressed the saints at the October 1844 General Conference and stated that she hoped all her children would accompany the saints to the West, and if they did she would go. Brigham Young then said: "We have extended the helping hand to Mother Smith. She has the best carriage in the city, and, while she lives, shall ride in it when and where she pleases" (Millennial Star, Vol. VII, p. 23). Whether she shifted her support from Brigham Young to Strang in the year following that October Conference is a matter of debate; what is certain is that she never made it to Utah, staying instead with her daughter-in-law, Emma, in Nauvoo until her death in the summer of 1856.
Strang established his separate church organization in Voree, Wisconsin, and called upon the Latter Day Saints to gather there. He and his hierarchy were excommunicated by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Nauvoo and vice-versa. Strang was shot June 15, 1856, and died shortly thereafter. Most of his followers then joined with Joseph Smith III and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now called the Community of Christ).
Aftermath
The great majority of Latter Day Saints accepted the leadership of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, either immediately or within the following two decades. In 1846, this group was forced to leave their homes and beautiful new temple in Nauvoo because of mounting persecutions (the temple was soon destroyed). The saints began to migrate west, though slowly at first because of the harsh winters; the wagon trains halted at Winter Quarters, Nebraska before eventually leaving to settle in the Great Basin in what is now Utah.In 1847, Brigham Young and the other Apostles formed a new First Presidency, as required by the Doctrine and Covenants. Young, who had already been sustained as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, thus became the second President of what is now known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest sect of Mormonism by a factor of fifty (with 12,560,869 members worldwide, as of December 31, 2005). His two counselors were Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, the latter of whom was present when Joseph Smith was killed. Young's succession became a precedent without exception; with the death of each President, the First Presidency is dissolved and the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes the new President. Latter-day Saints sustain the new prophet and his counselors at a "solemn assembly" during the next General Conference.
Sidney Rigdon's church dissolved a few years after its organization, but it was reorganized as the Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) in 1862, which continues to this day.
James J. Strang's leadership was based predominantly on his claim to be a prophet called by God. When he was mortally wounded by assassins in 1856, he refused to name a successor, leaving the matter in God's hands. When no prophet appeared, the bulk of his church dissolved, though a few loyal congregations remain today.
Many Latter Day Saints, including Strang, believed that one or more of Joseph Smith's sons would eventually lead the church. Even Brigham Young may have recognized the patrilineal right of succession for Smith’s sons. Decades after Smith’s murder, Young made apparently earnest entreaties to Smith’s sons, Joseph Smith III and David Hyrum Smith, to join his church's hierarchy in Utah.
Both Smiths were, however, profoundly opposed to a number of practices, especially plural marriage, and refused to join the Utah church led by Brigham Young. Eventually, many Latter Day Saints in the Midwest coalesced behind the leadership of Jason W. Briggs, Zenas H. Gurley, William Marks and others. In the late 1850s, they proposed the creation of a New Organization of the church and asked Joseph Smith III to be their president. Joseph III refused to lead any church unless he felt inspired to do so. By 1860, he reported that he had received such inspiration and became Prophet/President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Today, this denomination (now called the Community of Christ) is the second-largest Latter Day Saint denomination consisting of 250,000 members.
There were several other Latter Day Saint branches in Bloomington, Crow Creek, Half Moon Prairie, and Eagle Creek, Illinois, and Vermillion, Indiana, each left leaderless after the 1844 succession crisis. In 1863, these groups united under the leadership of Granville Hedrick. This group inherited the name "Church of Christ" and became known popularly as the Hedrickites. Today, this small church has ownership of the temple site in Independence, Missouri, and its members are commonly known as the Temple Lot Mormons.
Table
| Successor | Prior Position in Church | Years | Later leader of this Latter Day Saint movement church | Current Worldwide Membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel H. Smith | Brother to Smith High Priest (Mormonism) Appointed Lineal Successor | Died from Pneumonia-like symptoms in 1844 | ||
| Sidney Rigdon | Counselor in the First Presidency | 1844–1876 | Guardian of Church later Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) | 15,000 |
| Brigham Young | President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | 1844–1847 & 1847–1877 | President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 12,560,869 |
| James Strang | Elder (Mormonism) (Letter of Appointment) | 1844–1856 | President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) | <1000 |
| William Smith | Apostle and potential Lineal Successor | 1844 and 1850s | Church of Christ (Williamite) | Defunct |
| Granville Hedrick | No ordination record available; likely Elder | late 1850s-1881 | Church of Christ (Temple Lot) | 12,000 |
| Joseph Smith III (1860) Jason W. Briggs Zenas H. Gurley William Marks | Joseph Smith's son and
later Lineal Successor after death of William Smith in 1894. Blessing appointed him as successor to his father in the Patriarchal Priesthood Briggs was an Elder Gurley was a Seventy Marks was a high priest | 1860–1914 | President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Now called the Community of Christ) | 250,000 |
See also
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