“I’m wonderful,” she said, still a little dazed. “But how—”
“We just arrived at the north landing. Came down the river from Galena.”
“Oh, Brigham!” Jenny said. “You don’t know how glad we are to have you back.”
“And the others of the Twelve?” Matthew said, realizing with Jenny’s words just what this meant for Nauvoo.
“There are five of us—Wilford, Heber, Orson Pratt, Lyman Wight, and myself. We came as quickly as we could.”
“Won’t you sit down?” Jenny said, motioning toward a chair.
“No, no! I saw your light and just wanted to stop and say hello to my partner. I haven’t been home yet. We just arrived, not twenty minutes ago.”
“And just in the nick of time,” Matthew said. “Sidney Rigdon’s here, saying that he should lead the Church. There’s much confusion.”
A quick frown momentarily crossed the Apostle’s face. “We heard. That’s why the Twelve will gather tomorrow. I understand there’s to be a big meeting on Thursday.”
Kathryn answered him. “Yes. Sidney wanted it for today, but there were protests and so President Marks said it would be—” Suddenly her eyes grew wide. “If it had been today, you wouldn’t have been here.”
He nodded, as though he had already considered that. “Well, we are here. Everything’s going to be fine.” He turned back around to Matthew. “I also hear that my partner is running the finest woodworking and cabinet shop in all of Hancock County.”
Matthew flushed a little under Brigham’s open look of admiration. “Well, business has been good and—”
Reaching out with both hands, Brigham grasped Matthew’s shoulders and shook him gently. “How can I ever thank you, dear friend? I’m afraid affairs in the kingdom haven’t left me much time to be a good business partner.”
“It’s fine. Things are going well.”
“Thank you,” Brigham said again, his voice husky now. “Thank you, Brother Matthew.” Then he stepped back. “Well, as you can imagine, I am most anxious to see Mary Ann and the children again. I shall be off. But I just had to stop and say hello to three of my dearest friends. It is so good to see you all again.”
And then he was gone as quickly as he had come, leaving the three of them to stare at each other in wonder.
“Brigham’s back,” Matthew finally said, grinning happily. He swung around. “I’ve got to go tell Nathan and Pa. They won’t believe it.”
Under date of August sixth, 1844, Elder Wilford Woodruff recorded the following in his journal: “We arrived in the city of Nauvoo at 8 o’clock in the evening at the upper stone house. We were hailed with joy by all the citizens we met. I accompanied the Quorum of the Twelve to their families, after which I was conveyed to my own and truly felt to rejoice to once more embrace my wife and children. I spent the night at home with my family. Thus it is with me. I have not spent but one summer either at home or with the Church for the last 10 years, as my lot has been all the day long in the vineyard. I go and come from year to year. . . . When we landed in the city, there was a deep gloom seemed to rest over the city of Nauvoo which we never experienced before.”
By morning, news that five more members of the Twelve had returned, including Brigham Young, President of the Quorum, did much to dispel that gloom. The Twelve were back. This is what the people had been told to wait for. Now a decision could be made. This was more than simple good fortune. Many saw the clear hand of Providence in the return of the Twelve at this particular juncture.
The next morning, Wednesday, August seventh, eight men came to the home of John Taylor. For the first time in months, a majority of the Twelve were together to meet in council. Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, and Lyman Wight—all assembled together at the home of the wounded Apostle. William Smith, John Page, and Orson Hyde had not yet returned. But there were nine Apostles present. Three-fourths of the Quorum. A clear majority. It was enough. It was a time of sorrowing for the loss of their beloved Joseph and Hyrum. It was a time of rejoicing that they were together again. It was a time for action. With the meeting called by President Marks scheduled for the next day, they could not delay.
“Brother Brigham is going to let President Marks go ahead with the meeting tomorrow,” Benjamin said, reaching out to take his wife’s hands.
“He is? Is that wise? They have barely had time to assess the situation.”
“I know, but Brigham told me Sidney is now claiming that it’s only meant to be a prayer meeting. And think what it will mean if they try to cancel it. First of all, it is President Marks who called the meeting. I think if Brigham asks him to cancel it, he will refuse. Second, if they do cancel, it will look as though the Twelve are afraid of Sidney’s power.”
“So what will they do?”
“The Twelve have called for a meeting of the stake high council and the high priests quorum. It will be held at four o’clock this afternoon at the Seventies Hall.”
“But I didn’t think the hall was finished yet.”
“No, but it is close enough. There won’t be benches, but it is still a good place to meet.”
“So you and Nathan will be going.”
“Yes, and a lot more. Brigham has sent out runners to spread the word across the city.”
The moment President Marks, president of the Nauvoo Stake, finished his prayer and sat down, Brigham Young stood and came to the pulpit. The hall was jammed to capacity. Every temporary bench was filled, and men stood three and four deep around the perimeter of the hall. Great solemnity was the prevailing mood. There had been little talking as they assembled and waited for the appointed hour. Benjamin and Nathan Steed sat near the center. Nathan looked at his father and smiled as Brigham stood. The crisis was not yet over, but the Twelve were here. It would be all right now.
“Brethren,” Brigham began, “as you know, President Sidney Rigdon has recently returned to Nauvoo. Many of you have already heard him speak about a vision and revelation he has received which has to do with the leadership of the Church. Unfortunately, only a few of the Twelve were here to hear that statement. Therefore, I should like to call on President Rigdon now to speak to us and to put forth his claims.”
There was a stir and many men looked at each other in surprise. They hadn’t expected Brigham to turn the podium over to Brother Rigdon. Sidney nodded and stood, waiting for Brigham to be seated again before he moved to the pulpit.
He stood there for a moment, calm and dignified, though it surely must have created some anxiety within him. “Brethren, the object of my mission was to visit the Saints and offer myself to them as a guardian. As I said on Sunday, I had a vision at Pittsburgh, on June twenty-seventh. I did not know at that time that it was the very day that our beloved Joseph was slain. This vision was presented to my mind not as an open vision, but rather a continuation of the vision mentioned in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, the one having to do with the three degrees of glory.”
Benjamin turned and looked at Nathan. That was not quite how he had expressed it at the Sunday meeting. He had not said anything about it not being an open vision. Nathan nodded, understanding exactly what his father was thinking, and they both turned back to the front.
“In that vision, it was shown to me that this church must be built up to Joseph, and that all the blessings we receive must come through him. I have been previously ordained as spokesman to Joseph. In the vision I was told that I must come to Nauvoo and see that the Church is governed in a proper manner. Joseph sustains the same relationship to this church as he has always done. No man can be the successor of Joseph.
“The kingdom is to be built up to Jesus Christ through Joseph. There must be revelation still. The martyred prophet is still the head of this church. Every quorum should stand as you stood in your washings and consecrations. I have been consecrated a spokesman to Joseph, and I was commanded to speak for him. The Church is not disorganized, though our head is gone.”
He stopped, letting the men have a moment to consider his words. As Nathan looked around, he saw one or two heads nodding, but for the most part the expression on the faces of the brethren was unreadable. They were listening, and listening with attentiveness. But they were not committing themselves—at least not visibly—one way or the other.
“We may have a diversity of feelings on this matter. I have been called to be a spokesman unto Joseph, and I want to build up the Church unto him. And if the people want to sustain me in this position, I want it upon the principle that every individual shall acknowledge it for himself. I propose to be a guardian to the people. In this I have discharged my duty and done what God has commanded me, and the people can please themselves whether they accept me or not.”
His head came up slightly as he looked around. Then he nodded briefly and said, “Thank you,” and sat down again.
Brigham rose slowly, his face grave. He looked tired, and it struck Nathan that it had not been even twenty-four hours since their return. There had been no time to rest after weeks of difficult travel. And it showed on his face. He came to the pulpit, laid his hands upon it, and leaned forward.
“My beloved brethren, I would like to make my position very clear. I do not care who leads the Church, even though it were Ann Lee.”
He paused to enjoy the quick look of surprise and then the immediate grins that followed. Ann Lee had been the leader of the United Society of Believers—or “Shakers,” as they were commonly called—in the late 1700s. The Shakers believed in communal property, condemned marriage as a lower order of life, and refused to eat pork (some abstaining from all meats). They taught that the second coming of Christ had already taken place but that he had returned in the form of a woman, namely Ann Lee. Back in Kirtland, the Shakers had been influential, and some members of the Church found their teachings attractive. A revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants had been given by the Lord to refute their teachings. Brigham couldn’t have chosen a more unlikely name to put forth as to the kind of person who should lead the Church.
“That’s right,” Brigham affirmed, “even though it were Ann Lee.” Now he raised his right hand, stabbing at the air to emphasize his words. “There is only one thing I must know, and that is what God says about it. If God were to bring Ann Lee back and say she is to lead the Church, I would accept that. But there is something else you must consider. As President of the Quorum, I have the keys and the means of obtaining the mind of God on the subject.
“I know there are those in our midst who will seek the lives of the Twelve as they did the lives of Joseph and Hyrum. I know that we still have enemies around us. But we in the Twelve shall ordain others and give them the fulness of the priesthood so that if we are killed the fulness of the priesthood may remain. Brethren, I tell you now that Joseph conferred upon our heads all the keys and powers belonging to the apostleship which he himself held before he was taken away. And no man or set of men can get between Joseph and the Twelve in this world or in the world to come. How often has Joseph said to the Twelve, ‘I have laid the foundation and you must build thereon, for upon your shoulders the kingdom rests’?”
Nathan felt a little thrill. Now heads all around him were nodding up and down. This is what they needed—a firm, bold declaration of where the keys and power were. Here was a clear reminder of what Joseph had planned in case of his death.
“Brethren, you need to know that the Twelve, as a quorum, will not be permitted to tarry here long. They will go abroad and bear off the kingdom to the nations of the earth.” Now his voice rose sharply. “And we will baptize the people faster than mobs can kill them off. I would like, were it my privilege, to take my valise and travel and preach till we had a people gathered who would be true. My private feelings would be to let the affairs of men and women alone, only go and preach and baptize them into the kingdom of God. But my private feelings do not matter. Whatever duty God places upon me, in his strength I intend to fulfill it.”
He turned and glanced at Sidney Rigdon, then at the Twelve who were behind him. When he turned back, his face was suddenly at peace. “As you know, President Marks has called for a prayer meeting to be held tomorrow. President Rigdon has privately told some of the Twelve that it is not his intent to have the Church vote tomorrow on whether or not to choose a guardian. He tells us it is to be only a prayer meeting and interchange of thought and feeling, and will provide a chance for us to warm each other’s hearts.”
It was said with a level voice, and there was not the slightest touch of either sarcasm or irony in how he said it. But there were few who didn’t see it as the highly ironical statement that it was. No more than a prayer meeting? Hardly.
Brigham went on in a softer voice now. “The prayer meeting will be held, but I want to see this people, with the various quorums of the priesthood, assembled together in special conference next Tuesday at 10 a.m.”
Several heads came up at that, including Nathan’s. Seated by quorums? That meant a solemn assembly. That meant far more than a prayer meeting or even a normal worship service. Was Brigham going to call for resolution to the question then? Did he want to—
“Brethren, that is my recommendation. All in favor show by the raise of the right hand.”
Every hand in the hall came up, some with a swift jerk, others slowly, still showing how surprised they were by Brigham’s decisiveness.
Brigham gave a curt nod. “Thank you. We shall now be dismissed until tomorrow morning.”
And he sat down. After a moment, amid the buzz that erupted in the hall, President Marks stood up and, looking a little dazed himself, called on one of the brethren to give the benediction.
Chapter Notes
The return of five members of the Twelve just two days before the meeting called by President Marks and the events of the following day, including the address by Sidney Rigdon and the response by Brigham Young, are chronicled in the history of the Church (see
HC
7:225–30).