LEAVES STRANG AND JOINS THOMPSON'S ORGANIZATION—HIS OWN STATEMENT.
"Epistle of WILLIAM MARKS, chief evangelical teacher of the school of faith to all the traveling teachers' quorums and classes of said school, and Jehovah's presbytery of Zion, Greeting:
"Beloved Brethren:—Having been chosen and ordained chief evangelical teacher of the school of faith in Jehovah's presbytery of Zion, it becomes my duty to say something by way of encouragement and also by way of instruction to those who are placed under my care and supervision; and first by way of encouragement, let me state what I know in reference to the work in which we are engaged. In order to do this, I must of necessity refer to my experience in the Church. I was a member of the Church some ten years before the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I was appointed President of the Stake in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1837, and continued in that office at Kirtland until the fall of 1838, when I was called by revelation to Farr West, Missouri, but before I arrived there the Saints were ordered to leave the state, and when the Stake was organized at Nauvoo, in the fall of 1839, I was appointed President thereof, and continued in that office up to the death of Joseph the Prophet. I always believed the work was of divine origin, and that Joseph Smith was called of God to establish the Church among the Gentiles. During my administration in the Church I saw and heard many things that was practiced and taught that I DID NOT BELIEVED BE OF GOD, but I continued to do and teach such principles as were plainly revealed as the law of the Church, for I thought that pure and holy principles only would have a tendency to benefit mankind, therefore, when the doctrine of polygamy was introduced into the Church as a principle of exaltation I took a decided stand against it, which stand rendered me quite unpopular with many of the leading ones of the Church." (Harbinger and Organ, Vol. 3, Pages 52-3-4, Year 1853.)