Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)
The succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement occurred after the killing of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, on June 27, 1844.
For roughly six months after Smith's death, several people competed to take over his role, the leading contenders being Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, and James Strang.[1] The majority of the Latter Day Saint movement elected to follow Young's leadership, which eventually resulted in the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but several smaller Latter Day Saint churches emerged from the succession crisis. This significant event in early Latter Day Saint history precipitated several permanent schisms.
Background[edit]
The Church of Christ was organized by a small group of men led by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. Between that time and Smith's death in 1844, the administrative and ecclesiastical organization of the new church evolved from an egalitarian group of believers into an institution based on hierarchy of priesthood offices. This gradual change was driven by both the growth in church membership and the evolution of Smith's role as leader of the church.
Prior to the formal establishment of the Church of Christ, Smith held the title of "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator", a title unanimously supported by the other founding members of the church. However, as 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.[2]
Initially, the highest leadership position in the Church of Christ was that of "elder", and church elders were sometimes called "apostles".[3] Smith's initial title in the church was "First Elder", while his friend and associate, Oliver Cowdery, was given the title "Second Elder".[4] In March 1832, Smith created a quorum of three presidents known as the First Presidency. He became president of the First Presidency, a title which became associated with the office of "President of the Church", with Sidney Rigdon and Jesse Gause serving as his counselors in the First Presidency.
On December 18, 1833, Smith created the office of "Patriarch over the Church" and ordained his father, Joseph Smith 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.[5] Two months later, in Kirtland, Ohio, Smith created a High Council, a body consisting of twelve men, headed by the First Presidency. The High Council took on the role of chief judicial and legislative body of the church, handling such matters as excommunication trials and approval of all church spending.
Several months later, on July 3, 1834, the High Council of Zion was organized in Far West, Missouri.[6] This council is also known as the Presiding High Council, for it was designated to preside over the council established in Kirtland, as well as all future High Councils at the various Stakes of Zion.[7] Cases tried in the standing High Councils of outlying stakes were regularly appealed to the High Council of Zion, it being the penultimate court standing only second to the First Presidency. The Presiding High Council also provided clearance for ordinations in the standing High Councils at the Stakes of Zion.
On February 14, 1835, nearly one year after the High Council in Kirtland was organized, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world", was formed as a "Traveling Presiding High Council."[6][8] This council consisted of twelve men, called and ordained by the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon to the office of apostle, and appointed to oversee the missionary work of the church—meaning that their presiding role was outside of the Stakes of Zion. Thomas B. Marsh was set apart as their president. In practice, while both this group and the High Council in Zion were Presiding High Councils, their jurisdictions were divided with one as “standing” ministers over the Stakes of Zion, and the other “traveling” outside of the Stakes. Initially, the Quorum was subordinate to the High Council of Zion; for example, in 1838, when vacancies arose in the quorum, it was the Standing Presiding High Council at Far West that filled the vacancies.
When the High Council in Zion was dissolved after the church was expelled from Missouri, the headquarters of the church were moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, There, 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.
Latter Day Saint scripture finalized in 1835 indicated that the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, and Standing Presiding High Council were equal in authority,[9] though remaining subordinate "under the direction of the Presidency of the Church."[10] This coequality would become a driving force for the succession of Marks to the presidency, as espoused by Smith's widow, Emma Hale Smith, as well as in modern times by historian D. Michael Quinn.[11]