Page:History of Utah.djvu/396



all the affairs of the church, temporrl and spiritual; the first president is the prophet of God, seer, reve- lator, and translator.

Next in authority are twelve apostles, who are a travelling presiding high-council, and with whom, on the death of the president of the church, the supreme rulership rests until another first presidency is in- stalled,^*^ The president of the twelve, chosen in the

tute a quorum and first presidency, to receive the oracles for the whole church. Law's selection was to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Hyrum Smith to be patriarch. Mil. Star, xviii. 3G3. In this tame month Joseph notified the recorder of Hancock county that he (Joseph) had been elected sole trustee of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day sauits by the church at Nauvoo, to hold ofiice during life. Id., 373. Smith, Rigdon, and Law were continued in office by the annual conference, convened in April 1843. After the murder of the Smiths in 1S44, the first presidency lapsed, and for moi'e than three years the church was governed by the quorum of the twelve apostles, of which Brigham was president. At a meeting of the twelve apos- tles, high-council, and high-priests at Nauvoo, in August 1844, Sidney Rigdon offered himself as guardian to the church, claiming that his action was in obedience to revelation. Young opposed Rigdon's claims, and the assembly decided that the twelve should govern the church, with Young at their head. Mil. Star, x.KV. 215-17, '2G3-4. In Dec. 1847 Brigham Young, Heber C. Kim- ball, and Willard Richards were chosen to constitute the first presidency. Jav. Inst., xiv. 128. Young died in 1877, and the presidency remained vacant imtil October ISSO, when John Taylor was chosen, with George Q. Can- non and Joseph F. Smith as councillors. Marshall, Through America, IGl. This conference lasted five days. S. L. Tribune, Oct. 11, 1880. On the death of the president the quorum is dissolved, and its members, as a presidency, have no status. Richards'" Narr., MS., 51.

'"On Feb. 14, 1835, the church at Kirtland met for the purpose of choos- ing and ordaining the twelve apostles. The business occupied several days. Briefly, the ceremonies were as follows: The assemblage consented to accept the names presented by the three witnesses who had been appointed to make the selection. P. P. Pratt saj's, in his Autobiog., 127-28, the ceremonies were performed by Smith, Whitmer, and Cowdery, and that they acted in accord- ance with the revelation of June 1829; but in the history of Jos. Smith, Mil. Star, Mar. and Apr. 1853, the three witnesses only are mentioned. Martin Harris' name does not appear in the revelation referred to. See Doctrine and Covenants, 190-2. In an article by 'R. A.' in the Juv. Inst., xiv. 128, the selection is accredited to the three Avitnesses, who are mentioned by name. As Pratt was one of the ordained, it would seem that his account should be reliable. Each candidate came forward as summoned, and in re- turn received a blessing, and a charge from one of the three. The order of ordination was as follows: On Feb. 14th, Lyman E. Johnson, Brigham Young, and Heber C. Kimball. On the next day, Orson Hyde, David W. Patten, Luke Johnson, Wm E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, and William Smith. On Feb. 21st, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and Thos B. Mai'sh, who were absent on a mission, were ordained upon their return to Kirtland, which occurred later. Mil. Star, xv. 200-12. Shortly after, the names were arranged according to seniority, when they stood. Marsh, Patten, Young, Kimball, Hyde, McLellin, P. P. Pratt, Luke Johnson, Smith, O. Pi'att, Boynton, and L. E. Johnson. Four of the above apostatized in 1838, viz. : McLellin, the Johnsons, and Boynton; John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, and Willard Richards were appointed instead. Shortly after this, Marsh, the