His death at age 25 resulted in his younger brothers Hyrum and Joseph taking more of a leading role in family affairs.

Young Joe (as we called him then) has worked for me, and he was a good worker; they all were.”[3] In the early 1820s, Smith was involved with his father and brothers in a number of treasure digging excavations in the Palmyra–Manchester area.

[5][6] On November 19, 1823, at age 25, Smith died of mercury poisoning from calomel, which had been administered to cure a case of "bilious colic".

His death occurred two months after Joseph's first visit to the hill from which he was eventually said to have recovered the golden plates that would later be the source for the Book of Mormon.

This method is taken for the purpose of satisfying the minds of those who may have heard the report, and of informing those who have put it in circulation, that it is earnestly requested they would desist therefrom.In Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet, historian Dan Vogel notes that “Joseph Sr.’s explanation for disinterring Alvin’s body is questionable because one should have been able to determine if the grave had been disturbed without exhuming the body.

It seems probable, therefore, that Joseph Sr. himself may have been the source of the rumor, that the story was a ruse to exhume Alvin’s body for its use in attempting to get the gold plates.”[14] Historian D. Michael Quinn, in his book Early Mormonism and the Magical World View, suggests that the newspaper notice published by Smith Sr. is evidence that the "guardian," "spirit" or "angel" commanded Joseph to bring a piece of Alvin's body to the hiding place of the golden plates as a requirement for seeing them.

Additionally, Quinn suggests that this information was obscured in official church history because it implies Smith's participation in necromancy.

Joseph says, "who is the right Person?” The answer was “your oldest Brother.”[17]According to Historian Richard Lyman Bushman "Stories circulated of a requirement to bring Alvin to the hill to get the plates; and when he died, someone else.".

[18] Speculation surrounding the exhumation of Alvin Smith has spawned a number of publications and films questioning the teachings of the LDS Church.

One such film, The God Makers II, suggests that Joseph Smith was required to dig up Alvin's body and bring a part of it with him to the hill Cumorah in order to obtain the gold plates.