The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power

720 Pages·1994·25.92 MB·English

by  D. Michael Quinn

The Mormon Hierarchy
Also by
D. MICHAEL QUINN
J. Reuben Clark: The Church Years
Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
The New Mormon History:
Revisionist Essays on the Past (editor)
The Mormon Hierarchy
ORIGINS OF POWER
D. Michael Quinn
Signature Books
in association with Smith Research Associates
Salt Lake City
1994
To my mother, a sixth-generation Mormon, whose love for
Mormonism and her faith in its essentials continue strong
despite the difficulties of her own experience and her
awareness of the “weaknesses of men. ” Thank you for
nurturing that love and faith in me.
Jacket design by O’Very/Covey
The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power was printed on acid-free paper meeting
the permanence of the American National Standard for Information Sciences.
© by Smith Research Associates. All rights reserved.
Printed and bound in the United States by Signature Books.
Signature Books is a registered trademark of Signature Books, Inc.
<» Printed on acid free paper.
98 97 96 95 94 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Quinn, D. Michael
The Mormon Hierarchy : origins of power / D. Michael Quinn.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-56085-056-6
1. Mormon Church—History 2. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints—History 3. Mormon Church—Government—History.
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—Government—History.
5. Authority (Religion) I. Title.
BX8611.Q56 1994
262’. 1’088283—dc20 94-14854
CIP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction..................................................................................ix
Chapter 1. The Evolution of Authority.......................................1
From Private Religion to Public Ministry
The Concept of “Church”
Developments in the Concept of “Authority”
The Restoration of Priesthood
Two Priesthoods
Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood
High or Melchizedek Priesthood
Patriarchal Priesthood
Further Developments
Conclusion
Chapter 2. The First Five Presiding Priesthood Quorums . . 39
The First Presidency
Presiding Patriarch
The Quorum of the Twelve Aposdes
The Seventy
The Presiding Bishopric
The Founder’s Legacy: Five Presiding Quorums
Chapter 3. Theocratic Beginnings..............................................79
Mormon Civil Theology
Pacifism, Militarism, and Zion’s Camp
Theocratic Foreshadowings in Kirtland, Ohio
The Danites of Far West, Missouri
VI CONTENTS
Chapter 4. The Kingdom of God in Nauvoo, Illinois . . . . 105
Political Life in Nauvoo
A New “Kingdom of God,” Theocratic Ethics, and Blood
Atonement
Freemasonry, the Anointed Quorum, and Danites as
Policemen
Joseph Smith for President
The Council of Fifty and Its King
The Kingdom’s Non-Mormons and Masonic-Danite
Connections
The National and International Reach of the Kingdom
The Death of the Latter-day King
Chapter 5. The 1844 Succession Crisis and the Twelve . . . 143
The Succession Crisis of 1844
Three Quorums
The Quorum of the Twelve and the Stake High Council
The Presidency Counselor
The Vote of the Nauvoo Church
Continuation of Joseph Smith’s Secret Heritage
The Ascension of Brigham Young
Sidney Rigdon: From Counselor to Successor
Chapter 6. Other Succession Options....................................187
Ordained Successors: Book of Mormon Witnesses
David Whitmer
Oliver Cowdery
Secret Appointments
The Council of Fifty
Lyman Wight
Alpheus Cutler
James J. Strang
Kinship and Succession: Brothers and Sons
William Smith
Joseph Smith III and David Hyrum Smith
Conclusion
CONTENTS Vll
Chapter 7. The Nature of Apostolic Succession ................245
Notes...............................................................................................265
Appendices.
1. General Officers of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47 .......................................... 465
2. Mormon Security Forces, 1833-47 .................................... 469
3. Danites in 1838: A Partial L ist..............................................479
4. Meetings and Initiations of the Anointed Quorum
(“Holy Order”), 1842-45 ................................................. 491
5. Members of the Council of Fifty, 1844-45 ....................... 521
6. Biographical Sketches of General Officers
of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 1830-47 ................................................. 533
7. Selected Chronology of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47 615
Index...............................................................................................661

INTRODUCTION
The highest leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints (LDS or “Mormon” church) has led its followers in an
unparalleled social and geographical American exodus. When
Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon as new scripture at
Palmyra, New York, in 1830, he had only a few dozen followers.
Within a few years Mormons convulsed the social and political
order of four states. Mormon leaders fled lawsuits in New York in
1831 and in Ohio in 1837. They were embroiled in civil war
twice—in Missouri in 1838 and again at the Mormon capital and
second-largest city of Illinois during 1845 and 1846. Mormons
then created a metropolis in the high desert of the Far West and
launched a half century of conflict with the United States. In 1857
the U.S. president sent federal troops to invade the Mormon
capital of Salt Lake City. Congress passed its first anti-Mormon law
in 1862. In 1879 Mormonism was the cause for the U.S. Supreme
Court’s first limitation on the free expression of religion. In 1887
Congress declared Mormonism an organized rebellion, disincor­
porated the LDS church, and confiscated its assets. By 1890
Congress and the Supreme Court were prepared to deny civil
rights to all members of the LDS church. In a stunning turnabout,
a century later the LDS church had become the darling of the
Republican White House and of such middle-class barometers as
The Reader’s Digest.
As a social phenomenon, Mormonism has also altered the
landscape of America, becoming the first or second largest reli­
gious denomination in nine western states and influencing politics
and culture throughout the west. The LDS church is the fifth
largest religious organization in the nation and doubles its popu­
lation every ten-twelve years. Not surprisingly, the church has
become a player in trade-offs and accommodations of national
politics. In addition, its nearly 9 million members throughout the
world constitute a higher proportion of the population in several
countries than in the United States: 1.6 percent as of the 1990 U.S.
X INTRODUCTION
census. Tonga is 33.3 percent Mormon, Samoa 29 percent, Niue
12 percent, Kiribati 6.3 percent, Tahiti 6.1 percent, Cook Islands
4.4 percent, Marshall Islands 4 percent, Chile 2.4 percent, New
Zealand 2.3 percent, Alberta province, Canada 2.3 percent, Belau
2.2 percent, Uruguay 1.9 percent, and Micronesia 1.8 percent.
This present study is the outgrowth of thirty years of research
into the Mormon experience. Although other authors have written
about similar themes, it seems to me that certain essential features
of the church’s evolution and leadership have been misunderstood
or ignored. Generalizations and cursory analysis have been the
norm in viewing a leadership group which requires extensive
analysis. The present volume emphasizes the development of
ecclesiastical and theocratic powers in Mormonism, primarily
during the lifetime of its founder Joseph Smith (1805-44), but also
including Brigham Young’s transfer of the Mormon hierarchy to
Utah in 1847. A companion volume focuses on ecclesiastical,
dynastic, theocratic, political, and economic issues—primarily dur­
ing the lifetimes of Smith’s successors in Utah up to the present.
These 165 years of Mormon leadership require a detailed
examination that risks obscuring the larger experience of Mor­
monism. Thus the “Selected Chronology” appendix found at the
end of this volume may be the most important single component
in my study. First, it allows readers to see how the close analysis of
leadership topics fits within other contemporary developments of
Mormonism. Second, it provides a reference to all the major issues
of my larger study. Third, it provides a sense for the diversity, the
continuities, and the discontinuities of the Mormon experience
for both its leadership and its rank-and-file. Therefore, the reader
may wish to begin with the chronology.
For the benefit of all readers, the narrative gives careful
explanation of subjects that may be obvious to some. Likewise, the
endnotes give detailed sources for the benefit of those who wish
to explore particular topics. Because source notes are bibliog­
raphic, there is no separate bibliography.
My purpose in this study is to examine the evidence of Mor-
monism’s social realities. Both believers and nonbelievers must
remember that history can demonstrate human experience incom­
pletely at best. History can (and should) examine what others say
about metaphysical experiences, but history cannot demonstrate,