No Man Knows My History (Arkosh History)

by Fawn M. Brodie

Until now the question of a successor had never seriously troubled him. He had taken it for granted that his mantle would descend, in true dynastic fashion, upon his eldest son, Joseph, now a bright, eager twelve-year-old and a favorite in the church. Shortly after he had escaped to Nauvoo from Liberty jail, Joseph had blessed the boy and promised him the succession; but few of the Saints had knowledge of the incident. In the winter of 1843, however, during a sermon to his people in the grove, he had called his son to the stand beside him and said with emphasis : “I have often been asked who would succeed me as the prophet to the church. My son Joseph will be your next prophet.” [65] At that time trouble had seemed very remote. But now Joseph feared that an assassin would cut short his days before he saw the age of forty. On April 4,1844, when he met with the apostles in one of their last meetings before they left on a campaign tour, he rushed through instructions which Orson Hyde described as “every ordinance of the holy priesthood.” Then he said: “Now if they kill me you have got all the keys, and all the ordinances and you can confer them upon others, and the hosts of Satan will not be able to tear down the kingdom as fast as you will be able to build it up.” * After Joseph’s death Brigham Young, who was president of the apostles, looked back to this meeting and concluded that the prophet had placed the authority of die church and all rights of succession directly in hi...