The Eight Possible Succession Paths

The immediate aftermath of the tragic murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in 1844 was marked by shock and grief within the church, and in the weeks that followed, an ecclesiastical crisis arose concerning who should be Joseph Smith’s successor as president of the church. As it turns out, Joseph Smith had never publicly and unambiguously designated a clear successor to the presidency of the church. And confusion arose not because Joseph had never addressed the issue directly, but because of the fact that he had made several statements at various times which seemed to open up multiple succession options—eight, to be exact. In this episode of Church History Matters, we’ll walk through the eight possible succession paths that were either explicitly laid out by Joseph Smith or were viewed as entirely plausible based on certain interpretations of statements Joseph made or actions he took. In addition to being historically interesting, these eight plausible paths help us understand why succession in the presidency wasn’t immediately cut and dry in the minds of many church members in 1844 and helps us understand the basis on which several other branches of the Restoration exist today, outside of the one initially led by Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Originally published July 23, 2024

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[paultoscano]

I’ll try again:

I believe the subject of your first episode is well-chosen. The question of the rightful successor of the Prophet Joseph Smith is probably the most important historical question of the Mormon Restoration.

As you have noted at the beginning of your podcast, the late D. Michael Quinn addressed this question in 1975 in an issue of BYU Studies, the University’s academic journal (in which, serendipitously, my article on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure also happened to appear).

Quinn was one of Mormonism’s best historians. However, as I pointed out to him while he lived, his 1975 monograph entirely ignored the historical quorum with the highest and best claim to succeed Joseph Smith, namely, the Quorum of the Anointed, consisting of men and women fully endowed after May of 1842 and fully anointed after September of 1843 to the Holy Order of God, that is as kings and priests and queens and priestesses of the fullness of the priesthood.

At the August 1844 trial of Sydney Rigdon, which was reported soon after in the Times and Seasons, Brigham Young made no claim that the Twelve had a right to succeed Joseph Smith as head of the Church. Members of the Twelve only testified as witnesses at that trial, while William Marks and the High Council of Zion presided as judges. The testimony of members of the Twelve did not claim that the Twelve should succeed Joseph Smith, but rather that Sydney Rigdon had insufficient priesthood authority to lead the Church. Apostle W. W. Phelps explained why: Sydney Rigdon had not received his full endowment or his second anointing and washings and, therefore, did not possess the fullness of the priesthood that would allow him to succeed Joseph Smith as Church president and president of the Holy Order.

Moreover, at that trial, Brigham Young did not assert Doctrine and Covenants 107:24 to claim that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had authority equal to the First Presidency over the Church. He did not do this because he understood (what many do not understand now) that D&C 107:23 limits the scope of D&C 107:24. Taken together, those two verses mean that the Twelve have authority with the First Presidency, not over the Church, but in the mission field where the Church is not organized. D&C 107:24 is misunderstood because we have forgotten that its context is “Church versus World.” The First Presidency, the High Council of Zion, and the high councils of the stakes of Zion are priesthood bodies with authority over the Saints in the Church. The Twelve are a traveling high council in the World, not the Church. With the assistance of the Seventy, the Twelve have authority equal to the First Presidency to preach the gospel in the mission fields where there is no Church organized and to build up the Church by organizing branches and stakes. Once organized, these structures fall under the direction of the First Presidency, the High Council of Zion, and the various high councils at the stakes of Zion. Because he understood D&C 107:23-24, Brigham Young did not claim succession on behalf of the Twelve at the trial of Rigdon.

There is nowhere in the Mormon canon a revelation which has been sustained by the General Assembly of the Church that the Twelve are the legitimate successors to Joseph and Hyrum Smith. There is no revelation sustained by the members that the apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve with the longest uninterrupted service in that quorum should be president of the Church.

Based on the records of Second Anointings, the first couple to receive their second anointing was Joseph and Emma Smith. At the time they were anointed Joseph Smith was anointed president of the Anointed Quorum and “companion [Ditto]” (I believe the record of this ritual appears in the Joseph Smith Papers under the date, September 28, 1843). Based on this evidence, I believe that upon the death of Joseph Smith, the person with the strongest claim to succeed him was Emma Smith, who had been anointed with her husband Joseph as co-president of the Quorum of the Anointed.

I believe Quinn amended his original assertions in his 1975 monograph because, in later papers, he wrote that the Quorum of the Anointed was more than a mere prayer circle, as he assumed earlier, but that it was actually a priesthood body that governed the Church in the last 18 months of Joseph Smith’s life.

I understand how shocking these assertions are. I also understand that, because I am an excommunicant my research carries little weight. However, as I argue in my book The Serpent and the Dove (of which you are apparently unaware) only the Anointed Quorum of men and women fully endowed and jointly anointed to the fullness of the priesthood could possibly, as a theological matter, have had in 1844 the full priesthood authority to succeed and preside over the Church and the priesthood orders after the murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

[likeuntoammon]

Did you guys reference the work of Andrew Ehat on this topic? He had a great masters thesis Wayback that I am in possession of and that you can get from BYU. Lots of good stuff in there.

[richardrubert]

Jospeh Smith had designated his successor, especially to the Quorum of the Twelve. All the others were power gabs by leading individuals. That is why so many left the Church afterwards.

[paultoscano]

I attempted to post a comment, but it doesn’t appear. I can’t tell if it is unwanted or was too long.