part because of financial losses suffered in the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society. He was disfellowshipped at Kirtland on September 3, 1837. Johnson was later received back into fellowship for a short time, but in December 1837, he denounced Smith and resigned from the church. After leaving the church, Johnson moved to Cabell County, Virginia, where he taught at Marshall Academy and then studied medicine, ultimately setting up a medical practice in Kirtland. The church excommunicated Johnson in 1838 on charges of apostasy. In 1846, after the death of Smith, Johnson requested permission to address an assembly of the saints in Nauvoo, Illinois. He said: "I have stopped by the wayside and stood aloof from the work of the Lord .... But my heart is with this people. I want to be associated with the saints, go with them into the wilderness and continue with them to the end." Johnson's brother-in-law, Orson Hyde, rebaptized him into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 8, 1846. However, he never again served in the higher councils of the church. Johnson traveled with Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff to the Salt Lake Valley, serving as a captain of ten, as part of the first group of 143 Mormon pioneers in July 1847. He also served as a Captain of Fifty in the Daniel A. Miller/John W. Cooley Company (1853), while traveling with members of his family. Johnson settled in St. John, Tooele County, Utah, where he served as bishop of a local LDS congregation. He is the only man in the church's history who served as a bishop after being a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He died December 9, 1861, in the home of Orson Hyde in Salt Lake City and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery. Notes References . Jenson, Andrew. editor. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia; vol. 1 and vol. 4. Ludlow, Daniel H., A Companion to Your Study of the Doctrine and Covenants, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1978. . External links Luke S. Johnson diary, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Raymond P. Draper research papers, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Luke Johnson The John and Alice Johnson Family 1807 births 1861 deaths American Latter Day Saint missionaries American general authorities (LDS