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Appendix 3: Orson Hyde, Statement about Quorum of the Twelve, circa Late March 1845

Source Note

Orson Hyde, Statement, [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. late Mar. 1845]; handwriting of ; docket in handwriting of ; two pages; Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878, CHL.
Single leaf measuring 12⅜ × 8 inches (31 × 20 cm). The document was folded for filing and docketed: “March 1844 | Declaration of the 12 apostles”. A graphite check mark appears next to the docket. The document has the same embossment, “S. FINE”, that is found in the Council of Fifty minute books.

Historical Introduction

On 25 March 1845 presented this two-page “certificate” to the Council of Fifty to document an event that he indicated had occurred in the council “in the latter part of the month of March last”—probably on 26 March 1844. At the March 1845 meeting, Hyde “read a certificate which he had wrote for publication concerning prest. Joseph Smith appointing the Twelve to take the responsibility of leading the church.” Hyde intended this account to be published as part of a history that he was preparing on . A former counselor to JS in the First Presidency, Rigdon was excommunicated 8 September 1844 in a public trial in which Hyde played a prominent role. Hyde continued to publicly oppose Rigdon, and by March 1845 he had begun writing a detailed account of Rigdon’s course. Presumably was aware of this when at the 22 March 1845 meeting of the Council of Fifty he proposed that Hyde “publish in pamphlet form the whole history of Sidney Rigdon for the few years past as a farewel to Rigdonism.” In the next meeting of the council, Hyde submitted this certificate to the council in advance of placing it in that history.
At ’s trial in September 1844, spoke both as a witness against the claims and actions of Rigdon and in favor of the authority and commission of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of which he was a member, to lead the church following the murders of JS and . Speaking of the Twelve, Hyde referenced “a charge [that] has been laid upon us” by JS, and then recounted that after JS had prepared them over a period of months, he announced to them that “on your shoulders will the responsibility of leading this people rest, for the Lord is going to let me rest a while.” Hyde wrote the following document to serve as a more extensive and more formal statement of JS’s instructions and the charge he gave the Twelve Apostles shortly before his death.
’s draft is undated and unsigned because when the document was discussed on 25 March 1845, rejected the idea of publishing a certificate attesting to the authority of the Twelve. He instructed Hyde to “write his farewell to Rigdonism and let the Twelve alone. He dont care whether the world know the authority and power of the Twelve or not, when the time comes they shall feel our power and we shall not try to prove it to them.”
The document was, as ’s comment suggests, an effort by to emphasize the authority of the apostles. But because the declaration was never finished or signed, it is not clear from the document alone whom Hyde expected to sign it. The final paragraph slips into a voice as if it were written by and intended to be signed by the apostles, which may explain a later clerical notation that identifies it as a “March 1844 | Declaration of the 12 Apostles.” Similarly, ’s minutes of a 30 September 1855 meeting in Young’s office during which the certificate was discussed refers to it as “purporting to be a declaration of the Twelve Apostles, in the hand writing of O. Hyde.”
However, the beginning of the document and discussions about the document both in 1845 and in 1855 suggest that it was intended to be signed by others as well. The first paragraph notes that in addition to members of the Quorum of the Twelve named as present on that occasion, attendees included “many others who were of the quorum of high Priests to which we ourselves belong.” On 25 March 1845 asked the council members which of them had been present when JS “laid the responsibility of leading the church on the Twelve.” Later in the meeting he said his purpose in presenting the document to the council was “to find out how many of those here were present at the time it was done, and who can sign it as witnesses.” Had he intended the statement to be signed only by the apostles present on that day in March 1844, he could have consulted them in any of their frequent quorum meetings. Hyde brought the document to the council seeking other “witnesses” who could attest to what JS had said in that March council about the Twelve. The conversation about the document on 30 September 1855 confirms this intention. Reviewing the statement with , , , and others, remembered that Hyde “wanted & other Hi[gh] Priests who were present; to sign it.” All were members of the council on 26 March 1844 and likely present that day and therefore could have signed.
The reason and the others discussed the document on 30 September 1855 was to determine if it should be inserted into JS’s multivolume history, which had been completed up to the point where this document about a late March 1844 meeting was relevant. Young seemed as indifferent to the certificate in 1855 as he had been in 1845: “I don’t see that it adds or diminishes.” , who likely was not at the meeting in 1844 when JS “charged” the apostles, saw the certificate statement mainly as further proof of JS’s premonitions of death: “I did not see the necessity of it in the History, there is plenty said, where he foretells his death.” Conversation then drifted to their shock at JS’s death despite his having forewarned them. “I had no idea of him going to die,” said Young, to which Smith responded, “I look back now with astonishment to think I could not see it then.” Only spoke to the content of the document itself, indicating that he did not remember “all those statements in connection,” presumably meaning that he did not recall JS making all of them in the late March 1844 meeting of the Council of Fifty. Had the certificate document been signed and dated, it might have been included in the history, but in its unfinished state it was refiled and forgotten.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Editorial Note preceding Council of Fifty, “Record,” 26 Mar. 1844.

  2. [2]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 25 Mar. 1845.

  3. [3]

    Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 8 Sept. 1844; and “Trial of Elder Rigdon,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1844, 5:647–655; “Continuation of Elder Rigdon’s Trial,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1844, 5:660–667; and “Conclusion of Elder Rigdon’s Trial,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1844, 5:685–687.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. [4]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845. According to the minutes, Hyde responded to this proposal by suggesting that the history of Rigdon ought to also be published in the Nauvoo newspapers, “or at least so much of it as he has already written.”

  5. [5]

    “Trial of Elder Rigdon,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1844, 5:650–651.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  6. [6]

    Council of Fifty, “Record,” 25 Mar. 1845.

  7. [7]

    Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 30 Sept. 1855.

  8. [8]

    Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 30 Sept. 1855.

  9. [9]

    Bernhisel, Rich, and Spencer are mentioned in the 26 March 1844 minutes. No roll exists to confirm the attendance of Cahoon and Snow, but Snow was present for meetings held both before and after 26 March and likely attended on that day too. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 21 and 26 Mar. 1844; 4 Apr. 1844.)

  10. [10]

    Robert L. Campbell, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to J. L. Smith, 30 Sept. 1855, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 261; George A. Smith, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to “Editor of the Mormon,” 30 Sept. 1855, Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 276.

  11. [11]

    Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 30 Sept. 1855. Although Woodruff may have disagreed with some of the details in Hyde’s document (or at least that they were said on that specific occasion), he many times spoke or wrote about JS’s “charge” to the apostles and recounted statements made by JS that are similar to those reported by Hyde. (See, for example, Wilford Woodruff to “the Church of Jesus Christ,” 11 Oct. 1844, Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:698–700; Wilford Woodruff, in Journal of Discourses, 16 Sept. 1877, 19:226; and Wilford Woodruff, Testimony, 21 Sept. 1883, CHL.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.

Page [1]

We, the undersigned, do hereby solemly, sincerely, and truly testify before God, angels, and men, with all people unto whom this certificate may come, that we were present at a Council in the latter part of the month of March last [1844], held in the City of in the upper part of the brick building situate upon Water Street, commonly known here as “,” in which Council Joseph Smith did preside; and the greater part of the Twelve Apostles were present namely, , , , , , , , and . These we feel confident were all present on that occasion besides many others who were of the quorum of high Priests to which we ourselves belong.
In this Council, Joseph Smith seemed somewhat depressed in Spirit, and took the liberty to open his heart to us concerning his presentiments of the future. His own language to us on that occasion, as nearly as we can recollect, was as follows.
Brethren, the Lord bids me hasten the work in which we are engaged. He will not suffer that you should wait for your endowments until the is done. Some important scene is near to take place. It may be that my enemies will kill me, and in case they should, and the keys and power which rest on me not be imparted to you, they will be lost from the Earth; but if I can only succeed in placing them upon your heads, then let me fall a victim to murderous hands if God will suffer it, and I can go with all pleasure and satisfaction, knowing that my work is done, and the foundation laid on which the kingdom of God is to be reared in this dispensation of the fulness of times. Upon the shoulders of the Twelve must the responsibility of leading this church hence forth rest until you shall appoint others to succeed you. Your enemies cannot kill you all at once, and should any of you be killed, you can lay your hands upon others and fill up your quorum. Thus can this power and these keys be perpetuated in the Earth. Brethren, you have many storms to pass through, and many sore trials await you. You [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Appendix 3: Orson Hyde, Statement about Quorum of the Twelve, circa Late March 1845
ID #
10316
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Although they were not all mentioned in the minutes for the 26 March 1844 council meeting, these named members of the Quorum of the Twelve were likely all present that day except for Orson Pratt, who had left for Washington. In March 1844 Lyman was not a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, though he was an apostle and a counselor in the First Presidency. In August and October 1844 Lyman was sustained as a counselor to the Quorum of the Twelve; in April 1845 he was sustained in the church’s conference as a member of Quorum of the Twelve. (See Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 8 Aug. 1844; “October Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1844, 5:692; Historian’s Office, General Church Minutes, 7 Apr. 1845.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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