No Man Knows My History (Arkosh History)

by Fawn M. Brodie

William Law had been his Second Counselor for more than two years, proving as steadfast and incorruptible as John C. Bennett had been treacherous and dissolute. Law had come from Canada a wealthy man. He had invested in real estate, construction, and steam mills, fostering more than anyone else the sorely needed industrialization of the city. In the beginning Law hid his resentment over the prophet’s monopoly of the management of real estate in and about the city, though he thought it unseemly in a man of God. He had been particularly shocked when Joseph threatened to excommunicate any wealthy convert who came to Nauvoo and purchased land without his counsel. Finally he came to mistrust Joseph’s business judgment and refused to invest money in the publication of the revised version of the Bible, placing his funds instead in a steam mill and hemp farm.*