Who became head of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was murdered?

Answer 1

After Joseph Smith, Jr. was killed in 1844, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon" church) was split. The majority of Church members traveled to Utah, where they appointed Brigham Young (who was the senior Apostle under Joseph Smith) as Prophet and President in 1847. A small number stayed in Illinois and eventually moved to Missouri. They appointed Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, as their leader. Today this group is called the Community of Christ.

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Answer 2

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" church) believe that Jesus Christ has always been the leader of their Church.

However, the Church does have a mortal leader, the Prophet. When the first Prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith Jr., was killed, there was some confusion over who should be the next leader, and if that leader would be a Prophet or not. Quite a large majority believed that Brigham Young, the most senior Apostle, should be the new leader, and that he would be a prophet. These followed Brigham Young to Utah and there he became the second Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah and has over 14,000,000 members worldwide.

Others believed that leadership should be passed down in the family, and thought that Joseph Smith's young son should lead the Church once he was of age. They accepted Sidney Ridgon as a leader until Joseph Smith III was old enough to take over. This group stayed in the midwest and is today known as the Community of Christ. This group is now headquartered in Missouri and has about 250,000 members worldwide.

Still there were others who believed that someone else should be a leader, or that there should be no leader at all. Many of these stayed "Mormons" independent of any leaders. One more prominent purported leader was James Strang. There are still a handful of believers (approximately 500) in James Strang, called 'Strangites', scattered around the United States. Most of them do not believe that anyone succeeded James Strang and have lived quite independently since his death.

Answer 3

After Joseph Smith was murdered, there was some confusion over who (if any) would take his place as leader of the Church. This was at the same time that the government of Illinois was asking the Mormons to leave the state, so needless to say there was a lot of stress and confusion.Several within the church took advantage of the confusion and began announcing that they were Joseph's proper successor. While several small factions formed, the majority of the membership followed the majority of the Twelve Apostles- including the President of the Quorum, Brigham Young- west to what is now Utah. Brigham Young was chosen and ordained as President of the Church in 1847, 3 years after Joseph's murder.While most Mormons moved to Utah, a fairly significant number, including Joseph's wife and children, remained in the Midwest. These remained unorganized for some time, and eventually organized themselves under the leadership of Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III. This group is still in existence and has become known as the Community of Christ.Several of the other small factions formed during the "Mormon Succession Crisis" still exist (such as the Strangites - those who believed that James Strang was ordained as Joseph's successor by an angel shortly after Joseph's murder), while other factions have disappeared or merged with other Christian groups.

Answer 4

Brigham Young became president of the church (December 27, 1847) after Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844.

Answer 5

Brigham Young

Answer 6

Brigham Young