| 33 and he make satisfaction. I do this individually; I leave others to do as they please. The motion being seconded, a vote was then taken to sustain him, but was lost unanimously."-Times and Seasons, vol. 6, p. 1008.
He was also rejected as Patriarch on the same day.
It is claimed by the church in Utah that they soon after formally expelled him. Possibly they did, but when they represent that his advocacy of lineal priesthood was an after consideration, and that he did not mention the claim until five years later, they greatly err, as we have seen by their own publications that he was advocating this position in St. Louis the next month after the culmination of the breach between him and the people in Nauvoo. One of the chief objections urged against him by Mr. James Kay was that he proposed "organizing the church on the old original plan, according to the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Mormon, and New Testament."
He continued to visit the churches, advocating the rights of "Young Joseph," and obtained quite a following. To trace the details of his movements would be uninteresting, as the organization, after several years of troublesome existence, ceased, and the members were scattered.
The following brief but comprehensive statement of the movement under William Smith is from the pen of Elder Jason W. Briggs:-
"In the general disorder and darkness that prevailed from the death of Joseph Smith, here and there appeared a gleam of light and hope, a manifestation of the Spirit that all was not lost, but that truth should yet prevail. Many ran to and fro in the character of prophets, leaders, and shepherds. Among these appeared William Smith, who, in the spring of 1850, called a conference at Covington, Kentucky; from which time he visited many of the branches and scattered saints, teaching "lineal priesthood" as applying to the Presidency of the Church; and thus disposing of all pretenders already arisen, or to arise out [outside] of the posterity of the original President of the Church. T his principle, though pretty clearly shown in the books, had been almost entirely overlooked or forgotten by the saints;
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