Joseph Smith III during the 1892 “Temple Lot Case” repudiated the necessity of lineal descent:
I claim to be his successor by
lineal right, and by his blessing, and lastly by the right of selection and
appointment. It is not necessarily a birthright to be the President of the
Church. It comes by virtue of fitness and qualification, I may say, good
behavior and the choice of the people, recognizing a call or a right. Lineal
rights do not necessarily assume these qualifications. In my case I cannot say
that it assumed these qualifications; that is a matter I apprehend to be
proven. I do not know whether the doctrine of lineal right was a doctrine of
the church prior to the death of my father. I do not know other than what may
be found in the books, and they are open to the inspection of all, there is a
traditional teaching in the books to that effect. In the church to which I
belong it is not a lineal right, excepting so far as it is found in the books.
The right of the firstborn is found in the Book of Mormon, and also in the Bible.
That is the traditional right of the firstborn to whatever may attach to the
parent. That right is expressed or understood in such a way that whatever
rights I hold or am gifted with by reason of the position I hold, would descend
to my eldest son, with certain qualifications, all other things being equal.
The same attaches to the firstborn of every family. Now the claim of the
Reorganized Church to the succession of the original is a claim of the
individuals who were members of the church at the time of my father's death,
and who hold their membership, and their rights to be regarded as members of
the body in the Reorganized Church. I do not regard my lineal successorship as
one of the claims, not necessarily. The existence of the Reorganized Church does
not depend on my lineal successorship as I understand it. (The
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Complainant, Vs. the
Church of Christ at Independence, Missouri
[Lamoni, Iowa: Herald Publishing House, 1894], 79-80)
