Smith settled in Nashville, Iowa Territory, across the river from Nauvoo, Illinois. In the organization of the stake in Lee County, Iowa, he was made a member of the stake high council; he was subsequently ordained to act as bishop of the stake, a position he held until the stake was disbanded and he moved to Nauvoo. At Nauvoo, Smith was associated with the press and became the manager of the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor. In 1844, Smith became a member of the Council of Fifty. After the assassination of his cousins Joseph and Hyrum, he followed the leadership of Brigham Young, as did apostle George A. Smith and George's father John, who was made presiding patriarch of the church.
