There was a universal vote, after which President Young called for the negative as follows:
“If there are any of the contrary mind, every man and every woman who does not want the twelve to preside, lift up your hands in like manner.”
There were no hands raised, and President Young then remarked that since the vote was unanimous it superseded the other question of presenting Sidney Rigdon as “guardian” and also trying the vote by quorums. In this manner the apostles, who were the rightful authorities according to the revelations of the Lord, were sustained by the vote of the people and by common consent, as the Lord had commanded that all things should be done. The matter of succession was properly and rightfully decided, and was now binding on the members of the Church. At the close of the services the Saints returned to their homes, their minds at rest, for they were, with very few exceptions, no longer in doubt regarding the authority of the Priesthood and the presidency of the Church.
Excommunication of Sidney Rigdon
Manifesting a bitter spirit and great disappointment, Sidney Rigdon returned to Pittsburgh. However, before he left Nauvoo he gave expression to his feelings declaring that the Church had not been led by the Spirit of the Lord for a long time, and he refused to sustain the apostles in their calling. A charge was made against him and his case was presented before the high council, with Bishop Newel K. Whitney presiding. After a lengthy hearing he was cut off the Church by the unanimous vote of the council. His case was then presented to the congregation of the Saints, and they sustained the action of the high council, only ten persons voting in the negative. After his return to Pittsburgh, he organized a church with officers after the order of the Church of Jesus Christ. He published a paper and prophesied that all who followed the apostles would go with them to destruction. He gathered around him a few of the disaffected spirits from Nauvoo, but his organization did not prosper and soon came to an end.
Action Against William Marks
At the October conference, 1844, the apostles were again sustained as the presiding quorum of the Church by a united vote of the members. When the name of William Marks, president of the Nauvoo Stake, was presented, objection was raised and he was rejected, only two persons voting to sustain him. He had favored the claim of Sidney Rigdon, although he supported the apostles, but his spirit was no longer in the work and he was found in rebellion. He later left the Church and followed James J. Strang[1] and others, and was excommunicated.
Trial of the Murderers of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
In October, 1844, a grand jury selected by the Hancock County circuit court, brought into court two bills of indictment against nine individuals for the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The trial took place in May, 1845, but proved to be nothing but a farce. The sentiment throughout the country was so bitter against the Saints that no attempt was made to obtain justice, which the governor had faithfully promised them. The jurors were instructed by the court to bring in a verdict of “not guilty,” which was accordingly done. Yet every man in the place, including the court and jury, knew that the defendants were among those who committed the murder. The blood of the martyrs was left unavenged to cry from the ground against their enemies, and with the blood of all the martyrs, shall continue to cry until the Son of Man shall come “red in his apparel” to take vengeance upon the ungodly.