Abstract: In the weeks, months, and years following the murders of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, several aspirants stepped forward to claim the mantle of the prophet. Who were these individuals with claims to the leadership of the church? What were their motives? How were these men able to inspire large numbers of saints to follow them? What became of their efforts and how are their works manifest in the present day? The reasons that members or prospective members chose or rejected the claims of these aspirants are examined, as are the churches of the organizations that were established by them. That study is augmented by a discussion of where these religious “expressions” subsequently gathered and the status of those entities today.


Those individuals even modestly familiar with the history of the Restoration are familiar with the immediate return of Sidney Rigdon to Nauvoo as soon as he received the news of the death of Joseph Smith and of Rigdon’s claim to be the Guardian of the church. Likewise, many church adherents are also familiar with Brigham Young’s return to Nauvoo from his mission in the Eastern States, arriving just in time for a subsequent showdown with Rigdon at a hastily arranged conference. Many of those in attendance at that historic 8 August 1844 conference believed they saw the image or heard the voice of Joseph Smith when Young spoke to the estimated 5,000 in attendance.1
[Page 336]What is generally not known, however, is that: 1) in the aftermath of the martyrdom there were several individuals who claimed that they had been directed to take charge of what they now surmised was a leaderless church, or 2) as circumstances developed, they came to that conclusion. Subsequently, a considerable number of organized groups departed from the church that Joseph Smith originally organized. How extensive were those departures? Historian Steven L. Shields has tallied that, during the 194 years since the Church of Christ was founded at Fayette, New York, on 6 April 1830, approximately 500 separations from the original church have occurred. Furthermore, he has documented some 125 church organizations or associations functioning today that consider Joseph Smith the prophet of the Restoration.2
It is not possible to discuss all the organizations in a single article. We can, however, gain a better understanding of the aftermath of the martyrdom and the leadership issues that were faced by the saints. We can also gain some understanding of who the aspirants to the mantle of Joseph Smith were and what motivated them to pursue their quest to lead what they now perceived as a leaderless flock. To facilitate that understanding, I will present a brief sketch of the influential leaders who were either aspirants who sought the mantle or promoted others to seek that mantle.
To avoid sensitivities with terms like off-shoots, splinter groups, and schisms, I use the word expression to refer to the separate organizations or associations that emanated from the original church. Most expressions either consider themselves the original church, or that their expression has been reconstituted or divinely separated. Each individual or aspirant and the expression associated with that person is listed below in...