Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)

The succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement occurred after the death of Joseph Smith, the movement's founder, on June 27, 1844. For roughly six months after Joseph Smith's death, several people competed to take over his role. The leading contenders were Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, and James Strang. The majority of Latter Day Saints elected to follow Young's leadership, but several smaller churches emerged from the succession crisis. This significant event in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement precipitated several permanent schisms. Background: The new Church of Christ was organized by Joseph Smith and a small group of men on April 6, 1830. Between that time and his death in 1844, the administrative and ecclesiastical organization of the new church evolved from an egalitarian group of believers to an institution based on hierarchy of priesthood offices. This change over time was driven by both the growth in church population and the evolution of Smith's role as leader of the church. Prior to the formal establishment of the church, 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. 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 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. The Kirtland 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. Several months later on July 3, 1834, the High Council of Zion was organized in Far West, Jackson County, Missouri. This High Council in Zion 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. 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 Kirtland High Council 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." 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 of the Twelve 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, 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.