with Bishops Miller and Whitney and Elder Cahoon, met at her house to talk over these visions in respect to William. Several members of her family were present. It was also arranged for William Smith to be present, but he failed to appear. I copy from Elder Taylor's journal, under date of June 30th:

The conversation was full and free. President Young stated that William was aiming at power and authority and priesthood that did not belong to him; that he would sustain William in his office and calling, but would not allow him to tread upon his or any other man's neck; that if the Church wanted to have William Smith, he would mention it to them, and they should have their choice. This, however, neither the Church, nor the Twelve would consent to; for if it had been put to them—I do not suppose that twenty would have voted for him, out of the many thousands there are in the Church. Mother Smith said he [William] did not want it; she did not profess to be a revelator only for herself and family, that she wanted peace, union and harmony. The Twelve all expressed the same feeling and manifested the greatest kindness to Mother Smith as did also the bishops.

Though William did not meet with the Twelve, he addressed a letter to President Brigham Young which was read at the above meeting. After complaining about the article on Patriarchs, which had appeared in the Times and Seasons, he concludes thus:

"My proposition is, my share of the kingdom, and if you will publish in the Neighbor and Times and Seasons the true state of the case in regard to my office as Patriarch over the whole Church, this will give me a right to visit all branches of the Church, and intrude on no man's rights; and further to attend to all of the ordinances of God, no man being my head, I will reconcile all difficulties, and Elder Young can stand as the President of the Church, and by my most hearty wish and consent. This will settle all difficulties and restore peace and good order, and farther than this, I cannot say, only that I want all men to understand that my father's family are of the royal blood, and promised seed, and no man or set of men can take their crown or place in time nor eternity. Brother Young, the above is my proposition and will settle all difficulties at once, and these are my avowed sentiments and no equivocation.

WILLIAM SMITH."[A]

[Footnote A: Taylor's Journal under date of June 30, 1845.]

To this letter the Twelve wrote an answer before leaving the house of Mother Smith. In said letter the brethren regretted not having had the pleasure of meeting William. They had had considerable talk with

"Mother Smith, and find her possessing the best of feelings towards the whole Church. As to your requests in your letter we would say: we are perfectly willing and wish to have all things right, but there are some ordinances in the Church that cannot be administered by any person out of this place at present, but must be done here. As to having the right to administer all ordinances in the world and no one standing at your head, we could not sanction, because the President of the Church, and each one of our quorum are amenable to the quorum of which you are a member. But as to your right to officiate in the office of Patriarch, we say you have the right to officiate in all the world wherever your lot may be cast, and no one to dictate or control you excepting the Twelve, which body of men must preside over the whole Church in all the world."

The following postscript was added:

"We have read this to Mother Smith, Catherine, Lucy, and Arthur, and they express their satisfaction with it, as well as those of the council who are present."[A]

[Footnote A: John Taylor's journal, under date of June 30, 1845.]

Elder Taylor thus concludes his account of this visit with "Mother Smith:"

"We prayed with Mother Smith before we left her; and she and the family manifested good feelings. I am sorry the old lady should be troubled, she is a good woman and has passed through much trouble for the cause of truth, and has the respect and confidence of the whole Church."[A]

[Footnote A: Ibid.]

After his failure in Nauvoo, and in Wisconsin in connection with Mr. Strang, we next hear of William Smith in the winter and spring of 1850, visiting those who had been members of the church in Illinois and Kentucky, teaching "lineal priesthood as applied to the Presidency of the church." That is, he taught that his brother Joseph's eldest son had a right by virtue of lineage to succeed to the Presidency of the church; but also taught in connection with this that it was his right as the only surviving brother of the former President, uncle and natural guardian of the "seed" of Joseph the prophet, to stand, in the interim, as president pro tem of the church. There seemed to be a general acquiescence with this by the members of the church remaining in the districts where he labored—most of whom were either apostates or weak in the faith—and in the spring of 1850, he called a conference to assemble in Covington, Kentucky, where he effected an organization by having himself sustained as President pro tem, of the church, and Lyman Wight[A] and Aaron Hook as counselors pro tem to the President pro tem, and Joseph Wood as counselor and spokesman. It is claimed that many of the "saints" in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, were identified with this movement.[B]

[Footnote A: I cannot learn that Lyman Wight, once a member of the quorum of the Twelve, sanctioned this use of his name, or that he ever was connected with this attempt at organization on the part of Wm. Smith.]

[Footnote B: See Jason W. Briggs quoted by Tullidge in his supplement to the Life of Joseph, Josephite edition, p. 577.]

A year later, viz., in the summer of 1851, Palestine, Lee county, Illinois, was designated as a Stake of Zion, a gathering place for the saints, and the home of William Smith. At the October conference held at Palestine that year, there was a confession of belief in and the practice of polygamy, which resulted in many immediately withdrawing from the organization; and, it is said, that the declaration proved the means ultimately of its complete destruction.[A]

[Footnote A: Tullidge's Hist. of Joseph the prophet (Josephite edition, p. 577). Tullidge must be regarded as favorably disposed to the "Josephites," as he became identified with that movement. I mention the fact here as I find it necessary to depend upon him for facts occasionally.]

This was the last effort of William Smith at organizing a church; subsequently, when an organization was effected with Joseph Smith, eldest son of the prophet, as its President, he became nominally connected with that movement, but he was never prominent or influential. In the summer of 1880, the writer, then on a mission in the state of Iowa, in company with Hyrum Jensen, called at the home of William Smith, near Elkader, and found him living in poverty and obscurity.

As I think upon this man, and of how far he fell—from the office of an Apostle and Patriarch to the Church—when I think of his vain attempt to become President of the church, and, failing in that, attempting to lead away a party, then organizing a faction from the remnants of the