Visual Chart • Historical Analysis

The Succession Crisis
A Tale of Two Churches

When the founder of the LDS movement died in 1844, chaos erupted. When each Apostle of Christ died, the Church carried on without interruption. What does this tell us about where true authority resides?

One of the most revealing tests of a church's divine origin is what happens when its leader dies. If authority is truly established by God, then the death of any individual — even the founder — should not plunge the institution into crisis. The mechanism of succession should already be in place, ordained by God rather than improvised by men.

The contrast between what happened after Joseph Smith's death on June 27, 1844, and what happened after each of the Apostles of Christ died could not be more striking. Smith left behind no clear succession plan, at least eight competing methods of succession (according to LDS historian D. Michael Quinn), and a movement that immediately fractured into rival factions — many of which persist to this day.

The early Catholic Church, by contrast, experienced the martyrdom of nearly every one of its founding Apostles, including St. Peter, and never once suffered a succession crisis. Authority passed in an orderly, recognized manner through the laying on of hands — the same apostolic succession that continues unbroken to the present day.

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." — Matthew 16:18
June 27, 1844
Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum are killed by a mob at Carthage Jail, Illinois. Hyrum — widely understood to be Joseph's designated successor — dies alongside him. Most of the Twelve Apostles are scattered across the eastern United States campaigning for Smith's presidential bid. Only the wounded John Taylor and Willard Richards remain in Nauvoo. The New York Herald predicts this will "seal the fate of Mormonism."
July 30, 1844
Suspicious Death of Samuel Smith
Joseph's next surviving brother, Samuel Harrison Smith — whom Joseph reportedly named as successor if both he and Hyrum perished — dies suddenly, just one month after the murders. William Smith Joseph's last surviving brother, later alleges Samuel was poisoned at the behest of Brigham Young. No investigation is conducted.
August 3, 1844
Sidney Rigdon Arrives and Claims Authority
Sidney Rigdon the sole surviving member of the First Presidency (Smith's senior counselor), races back to Nauvoo from Pennsylvania. He claims a revelation appointing him as "guardian" of the Church. As the highest-ranking surviving officer, Rigdon has a strong institutional claim.
August 6, 1844
Brigham Young Returns to Nauvoo
Brigham Young president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, arrives in Nauvoo with four other Apostles. He immediately begins countering Rigdon's claims, asserting that the keys of the priesthood rest with the Quorum of the Twelve as a body, not with any individual successor.
August 8, 1844
The Showdown: Young vs. Rigdon
In a pivotal all-day meeting, Rigdon presents his case in the morning. Young counters in the afternoon, arguing no single man can replace Smith and that the Twelve hold collective authority. A vote is taken and the Saints in Nauvoo side with Young. Later accounts — written years after the event — claim Young miraculously appeared to look and sound like Joseph Smith (the "mantle" experience), though no contemporary accounts describe a physical transformation.
September 1844
Rigdon Excommunicated — Founds Rival Church
Rigdon is excommunicated by the Common Council of the Church. He returns to Pennsylvania and organizes the Church of Christ, attracting followers who view Young's assumption of power as illegitimate. This church eventually becomes the basis for the Bickertonite movement.
Late 1844
James Strang Produces the "Letter of Appointment"
James J. Strang — baptized only four months before Smith's death — presents a letter he claims was written by Joseph Smith, appointing Strang as successor. He also claims angelic ordination at the moment of Smith's death. Major figures join Strang, including Book of Mormon witness Martin Harris, Joseph's brother William Smith, and Apostle John E. Page.
1845
Lyman Wight Takes Saints to Texas
Lyman Wight — a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — claims to have received direct orders from Joseph Smith to lead a colony to Texas. Taking roughly 150 followers, he breaks with the main body and establishes the settlement of Zodiac on the Pedernales River.
1846–1847
Nauvoo Exodus — Young Consolidates Power
Brigham Young leads the main body of Saints westward toward the Great Basin. Alpheus Cutler — a member of the Council of Fifty and a close associate of Smith — refuses to follow and establishes his own community in Iowa, focused on what he considers the "kingdom" authority conferred by the Council of Fifty.
December 1847
Young Becomes President — With a Bare Majority
Over three years after Smith's death, Young finally reorganizes the First Presidency with himself as President. Of the original Twelve, William Smith, John E. Page, and Lyman Wight have all denounced the proceedings and are absent. John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt are in the Salt Lake Valley. Only seven Apostles are present — Young must vote for himself to achieve a majority.
1850
Strang Crowned King on Beaver Island
Strang has his followers crown him king on Beaver Island, Michigan. He introduces his own endowment ritual, practices polygamy, and claims to have found and translated ancient plates (echoing Smith's own foundational narrative). He is eventually murdered by disaffected followers in 1856, and his church — like Smith's — fragments.
1853
Granville Hedrick Claims Independence, Missouri
Granville Hedrick organizes a return to Independence, Missouri — the site Joseph Smith designated as the New Jerusalem. His group purchases the Temple Lot, the parcel Smith dedicated for a future temple. The Church of Christ (Temple Lot) persists to this day.
April 6, 1860
Joseph Smith III Organizes the Reorganized Church
Joseph Smith III — the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, whom multiple witnesses say the elder Smith designated as his successor — is ordained president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ). He was eleven at his father's death. The Reorganization gathers remnants of the Strangite, Cutlerite, and Wightite factions, becoming the second-largest Latter Day Saint body.

The Fractured "Restoration": Major Splinter Groups from 1844

Joseph Smith's Church (1830–1844)
Brigham Young LDS Church (Utah) 1847
Sidney Rigdon Church of Christ (PA) 1844
James Strang Strangite Church (WI/MI) 1844
Joseph Smith III RLDS / Community of Christ 1860
Lyman Wight Wightites (Texas) 1845
Alpheus Cutler Cutlerites (Iowa) 1853
Granville Hedrick Temple Lot (MO) 1863

The Core Problem

LDS historian D. Michael Quinn identified eight distinct methods of succession that Joseph Smith established by word or action between 1834 and 1844 — but never settled on one definitive plan. This ambiguity was not a failure of administration. It reveals that Smith's authority was personal and charismatic, not institutional and sacramental. When the charismatic leader died, there was no sacramental mechanism to transfer authority. The result was exactly what one would expect: competing power claims and permanent schism.

Source: D. Michael Quinn, "The Mormon Succession Crisis of 1844," BYU Studies 16:2 (1976)
c. AD 33
Christ Establishes the Church on Peter
Jesus commissions Simon Peter as head of the Apostles: "Feed my lambs… tend my sheep… feed my sheep" (John 21:15–17). He gives Peter the keys of the Kingdom (Matthew 16:18–19). Authority is conferred sacramentally through the laying on of hands and divine commission — not through personal charisma alone.
c. AD 44
Martyrdom of James the Greater
King Herod Agrippa I has James, the brother of John, killed by the sword (Acts 12:2). He is the first Apostle martyred. No succession crisis follows. The Church continues under Peter's leadership with the remaining Apostles. Matthias had already been chosen to replace Judas (Acts 1:26), demonstrating that the apostolic office was understood as an ongoing institution, not a personal gift that died with its holder.
c. AD 49
Council of Jerusalem — Institutional Authority in Action
When doctrinal controversy arises over Gentile circumcision, the Apostles and elders convene a council (Acts 15). Peter speaks authoritatively, James renders the definitive judgment, and the decision is binding on all churches. This is institutional, conciliar authority — not the charismatic authority of a single prophet whose death would dissolve the institution.
c. AD 62
Martyrdom of James the Just (Bishop of Jerusalem)
James the Just, the "brother of the Lord" and first Bishop of Jerusalem, is thrown from the Temple and clubbed to death. No succession crisis follows. Simeon, a relative of Jesus, succeeds James as Bishop of Jerusalem. The early historian Hegesippus records the orderly transition. The office continues.
c. AD 64–67
Martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Rome
Both Peter and Paul are martyred in Rome under Nero — Peter by crucifixion (upside down, according to tradition) and Paul by beheading. The founder of the visible Church and its greatest missionary are both dead. No succession crisis follows. Linus succeeds Peter as Bishop of Rome. St. Irenaeus later records: "The blessed apostles, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate."
c. AD 76
Linus Dies — Succeeded by Anacletus
Linus, the first successor of Peter, dies. No succession crisis follows. Anacletus (also called Cletus) takes up the see of Rome. The mechanism is understood: the bishop of Rome holds Peter's chair, and when one bishop dies, another is consecrated.
c. AD 88
Anacletus Dies — Succeeded by Clement of Rome
Clement of Rome becomes the fourth leader of the Roman Church (or third, by some reckonings). No succession crisis follows. In fact, Clement writes his famous First Epistle to the Corinthians (c. AD 96) — in which he intervenes authoritatively in the affairs of a distant church, asserting Rome's right to govern. This letter is one of the earliest extra-biblical witnesses to Roman primacy and orderly succession.
c. AD 99
Death of the Apostle John — Last of the Twelve
The Apostle John, the last surviving member of the original Twelve, dies in Ephesus. Every one of the Twelve is now dead. No succession crisis follows. The churches continue under their bishops — Polycarp in Smyrna (personally trained by John), Ignatius in Antioch, Clement in Rome. The sacramental structure Christ established carries authority forward independent of any single person.
c. AD 107
Ignatius of Antioch — Succession is Already Established Doctrine
On his way to martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius writes seven letters to churches throughout the Mediterranean. He repeatedly insists: "Do nothing without the bishop." He describes a threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon already well established across multiple churches. There is no trace of a "succession crisis" or competing claimants — because authority was never invested in a single charismatic leader to begin with.
c. AD 180
Irenaeus Documents the Unbroken Chain
St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, publishes Against Heresies, in which he traces the succession of Roman bishops from Peter through Linus, Anacletus, Clement, and onward to his contemporary, Pope Eleutherius — the twelfth successor of Peter. Irenaeus offers this list as proof of authentic apostolic teaching: the unbroken chain guarantees doctrinal fidelity. No such chain exists — or can exist — for the LDS Church.

The Unbroken Chain: Peter to Eleutherius (c. AD 33–189)

St. Peter c. 33–67
St. Linus c. 67–76
St. Anacletus c. 76–88
St. Clement I c. 88–99
St. Evaristus c. 99–107
St. Alexander I c. 107–115
St. Sixtus I c. 115–125
St. Telesphorus c. 125–136
St. Hyginus c. 136–140
St. Pius I c. 140–155
St. Anicetus c. 155–166
St. Soter c. 166–175
St. Eleutherius c. 175–189
CONTINUES UNBROKEN TO POPE FRANCIS (266TH)

The Key Distinction: Sacramental vs. Charismatic Authority

The reason the early Church never experienced a succession crisis is that Christ established sacramental authority, not charismatic authority. The power to teach, govern, and sanctify was conferred through the laying on of hands (ordination) and was attached to the office, not to the personality of the officeholder. When Peter died, the office of the Bishop of Rome did not die with him — just as when a king dies, the crown does not die. Smith's authority, by contrast, was personal and prophetic. When the prophet died, the "priesthood" he claimed to hold had no institutional mechanism for transfer — which is why eight different succession theories existed and none was decisive.

Cf. St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III.3.1–3; Catechism of the Catholic Church §§ 861–862

Side-by-Side: Two Models of Succession

Category LDS Church (1844) Catholic Church (AD 33–180)
Succession Plan None definitive — 8 competing methods (Quinn) Laying on of hands; episcopal ordination
When Founder Died Immediate power vacuum and factional struggle Orderly transition to Linus; no disruption
Competing Claimants At least 7 major rival leaders Zero — succession was recognized by all
Resulting Schisms 100+ denominations over time None from succession itself
Time to New Leader 3.5 years (Dec. 1847) for First Presidency Immediate upon each bishop's death
Authority Model Charismatic — bound to one prophetic figure Sacramental — bound to the office, not the man
Historical Documentation Contradictory accounts; "mantle" narrative added later Irenaeus lists bishops by name (c. AD 180)
Biblical Precedent None — prophetic succession is not a biblical model Acts 1:26 (Matthias); 2 Tim 2:2; Titus 1:5
"The blessed apostles, having founded and built up the Church,
committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate."
— St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III.3.3 (c. AD 180)

The LDS succession crisis is not simply a historical embarrassment — it is a theological revelation. It reveals that the authority Joseph Smith claimed was personal, not institutional; charismatic, not sacramental. When the man died, the authority died with him, and no amount of retroactive narrative (the "mantle" story, the appeal to "keys") could resolve the fundamental problem: Christ's Church was built on a rock, not on a personality. The rock endures.