Frederick G. Williams Removed
A conference of the elders held in Far West, November 7, 1837, refused to sustain Frederick G. Williams as a counselor to President Joseph Smith, and Hyrum Smith was appointed in his place. President Williams, Lyman E. Johnson, Parley P. Pratt and Warren Parrish had previously been cited to appear before a council of the Church, charges having been preferred against them, but the council being improperly organized, no action was taken at that time. President Williams became disaffected with many others, due to speculations and financial troubles in the fore part of the year 1837, and permitted himself to become estranged from the work.
Flight of Brigham Young
The feeling of opposition against the Prophet became so intense near the close of the year 1837, that it was with danger that anyone in Kirtland could speak in his defense. On the morning of December 22, 1837, Elder Brigham Young left Kirtland because of the fury of the enemies of the Church. Apostates had threatened to destroy him because he continued to proclaim publicly that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Most High and had not transgressed and fallen, as the apostates declared.
This was the condition of affairs in Kirtland at the close of the year 1837.
Notes
[1. ] The minutes of these meetings and the communications involved in the question of the removal of the Saints are found in full in the Documentary History of the Church, vol. 2:448–462.
[2. ] The Missourians were willing—feeling that the section chosen by the “Mormons” was of little value.
[3. ] The inspiration of the Prophet Joseph to send elders to Great Britain for the salvation of the Church, was fully attested, for members were baptized by the thousands in the course of a few months following. Many of them emigrated and became stalwarts in the Church, and branches of great magnitude were raised up in various parts of England.