It was later alleged by fellow prisoner and church apostle Lyman Wight that during one of these visits, his father laid his hands upon Joseph III's head and said, "You are my successor when I depart.

"[7] While his father was still imprisoned in 1839, Joseph III left Missouri with his mother and siblings and moved to Quincy, Illinois, and later to the new settlement of Nauvoo.

According to later reminiscences, Joseph III was blessed by his father at a special council meeting of church officials held on the second floor of the Smith family's Red Brick Store in Nauvoo.

Then the elder Smith reportedly pronounced a special blessing upon his son's head that suggested that Joseph III would succeed him as church president if he lived righteously.

A succession crisis ensued which resulted in Brigham Young taking lead of the majority of church members as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

They had seven children: David Carlos, Mary Audentia, Frederick Madison, Israel "Dutch" Alexander, Kenneth, Bertha Azuba, and Hale.

[8] In the late 1840s and early 1850s, the bulk of the Latter Day Saints either aligned themselves with Young and emigrated to Utah or they remained in the Midwest and looked to Strang as church president.

Many midwestern Latter Day Saints were adamantly opposed to plural marriage and when Strang began to openly practice the doctrine in 1849, several key leaders, including Jason W. Briggs and Zenas H. Gurley, Sr. broke with his leadership.

Latter Day Saints repeatedly visited Smith and asked him to take up his father's mantle, but his reply was that he would only assume the church presidency if he were inspired by God to do so.

Smith III stated at the conference: I would say to you, brethren, as I hope you may be, and in faith I trust you are, as a people that God has promised his blessings upon, I came not here of myself, but by the influence of the Spirit.

Smith also resisted calls from his followers to announce a new gathering place or to quickly "redeem" and build up "Zion" (Independence, Missouri).

Meanwhile, Latter Day Saints adhering to the reorganization established a colony in Lamoni, Iowa, where they attempted to practice the "Law of Consecration" or "Order of Enoch."

Rather than focusing on the practical ownership results of the cases, Smith emphasized these court judgements for the remainder of his life as legal validation of the RLDS Church's claims.

Smith served many missions to the western United States where he met with and interviewed associates and women claiming to be widows of his father, who attempted to present him with evidence to the contrary.

However, many members of the Community of Christ, and some of the groups that were formerly associated with it are still not convinced that Joseph Smith III's father did indeed engage in plural marriage, and feel that the evidence that he did so is largely flawed.