Lineal Succession (Latter Day Saints) - The Office of Presiding Patriarch

The Office of Presiding Patriarch

Most Latter Day Saints originally believed that the Presiding Patriarch of the Church should be transmitted by lineal succession. Ordained December 18, 1833, the first Presiding Patriarch, Joseph Smith, Sr., was the father of the founding prophet. On his death bed, Joseph Sr. appointed his eldest living son, Hyrum Smith, Presiding Patriarch "by right" of inheritance. When Hyrum was assassinated in 1844, his youngest brother, the Apostle William Smith became Presiding Patriarch. William broke with Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was acting as President of the Church in Nauvoo, Illinois, in part over the office. William asserted that the Presiding Patriarch's title was "Patriarch over the Church" and Young argued for the less grand "Patriarch to the Church." William was later excommunicated by Young's faction which became The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. William then joined with James J. Strang, a rival claimant for the church presidency. Breaking with the Strangites, William eventually joined his nephew, Joseph Smith III, and the Reorganization. William petitioned Joseph III to restore him to the office of Presiding Patriarch of the RLDS church, but the re-appointment never occurred.

After William's death, Joseph Smith III reinstituted the office of Presiding Patriarch, calling his brother Alexander Hale Smith to fill the office. Thereafter the office of Presiding Patriarch in the RLDS church remained within the Smith family and was passed by lineal succession until 1958. In that year, Church President W. Wallace Smith ended the tradition by calling Roy Cheville to be Presiding Patriarch. Today, Presiding Patriarchs of what is now the Community of Christ church are known as "Presiding Evangelists."

After William Smith was excommunicated by Brigham Young, "Uncle" John Smith (brother of Joseph Smith, Sr.) was called by Young to be Presiding Patriarch of the LDS Church. This group was the largest faction of Latter Day Saints and soon after relocated to the Salt Lake Valley in what is now Utah. After the death of Uncle John Smith, another John Smith became Presiding Patriarch of the LDS church in Utah. This John Smith was the son of Hyrum and Jerusha Smith. Thereafter, the majority of the Presiding Patriarchs of the LDS Church were descendants of Hyrum, in keeping with the tradition of lineal succession. The LDS Church ceased to sustain Presiding Patriarchs in its hierarchy after 1979.