Friday, December 1, 2023

Brian C. Passantino on Brigham Young's deep-seated hatred for Lucy Mack Smith's Memoirs

  

Historians have grappled over Brigham Young’s deep-seated hatred for Lucy Mack Smith’s book and have sought to find answers for why its existence angered him so much. In one instance, Brigham ranted against a section in the book that seemed to laud William Smith, Joseph’s younger brother, as a virtuous and saintly man. Young scoffed at the notion and recounted a time when he heard William speak ill of Joseph and wish death upon him (Joseph). William had also left the Church following the death of Joseph and set himself up as the true successor to his brother . Another possible reason for Young’s dislike of the book stems from its alternative history of the Church that places the Smith family at the center of the saga and deemphasizes the authority of the Twelve Apostles, and the importance of temple ordinances, and plural marriage. It appeared that the history would align nicely with the claims of the Reorganized Church, spearheaded by Joseph Smith III, and could thwart Young’s prophetic claims. Because Young was literally written out of Lucy’s history (except for noting his conversion) and the doctrines promulgated by the Church in Utah were minimized, the book could not continue its current course of publication without severe modifications.

 

Brigham Young was keenly aware of his place and importance in the Latter-day Saint movement. From the beginning, he controlled the Church’s official histories and worried about competing accounts of events. Many of his worries were justified due to the explosion of schismatic groups that began cropping up almost immediately after Joseph Smith’s death. Young desired for the Saints to know that he had been chosen as God’s rightful heir to Smith’s prophetic enterprise. One major way that he could assure that was to remind the Saints of his loyalty and faith since the earliest days of the Church. This was accomplished by means of one of Joseph Smith’s revelations that he received on Young’s behalf. (Brian C. Passantino, “Orson Pratt and the Expansion of the Doctrine and Covenants” [MA Thesis; Utah State University, 2020], 47-48)