Without Disclosing My True Identity
to relieve his father’s burden (caused by his mother), Joseph made his father the first
Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ in December of 1833.^45 Joseph simply made up that
position in the Church so that his father would have some substantial prestige among the
people and be justly provided for from the coffers of the Church. With this action, Joseph
had finally silenced his mother. She became one of the most beloved and respected women
in the early Church, in which regard she was held until years later, at which time Brigham
Young tried to undermine her when she failed to respect his “authority.”
The year before (in April 1832), the voice of the people made Joseph “the
President of the High Priesthood.”^46 They did this soon after becoming aware of the
attack made on their prophet a few weeks before, when Joseph and Sidney had been
tarred and feathered in Hiram, Ohio.^47 After that assault, it was easier for the members
to thrust Joseph into their new priesthood with the honors of a hero. And with this trust
and power, Joseph wielded greater control over the minds and hearts of the people,
making it easier to give them what they wanted.
In spite of what the Book of Mormon said, the people wanted their “City of Zion,”^48
and Joseph could not back out of his proclamation that Jackson County, Missouri, was the
official place for this Zion. He had received a “revelation from God,”^49 which, of course, was
meant for the Native Americans, but then given by Joseph to the LDS/Mormon people to
believe it was for them, because they desired it.
Initially, because Sidney Rigdon was already established in Kirtland, Ohio, before he
was converted to Mormonism, Joseph decided to set up the headquarters for the Church
there. In February of 1831 (over a year before Joseph himself held any significant
“priesthood office”), the first office of “priesthood authority” had been created—that of the
“Bishop” of the Church. This came about at Joseph’s insistence that the Church concentrate
its efforts on providing for the poor and needy. For this office, Joseph knew that he needed a
man who had leadership blood and experience in him. He chose a man over a decade older
than he was, who belonged to the family of a renowned colonial American politician from
Massachusetts, Congressman Oliver Partridge.
Edward Partridge found Joseph and the Book of Mormon around the same time as
Sidney Rigdon. Both Sidney and Edward were the same age, similarly educated and respected
in their communities, and were both twelve years older than their “prophet, seer, and
revelator.” When Joseph met them in 1830, he was twenty-five years old, unable to grow facial
hair, and spoke with a strong, but higher-pitched voice. The older men’s egos kept them in
competition with each other for Joseph’s (and therefore, “God’s”) approval. Their rivalry
became something that Joseph had a hard time dealing with, being a younger man.
During this time period, many prominent early LDS Saints were converted by the
power of the Book of Mormon. Among these was the man who would one day claim the
Church for his own—Brigham Young. Many of the early converts who joined the Church
were anxious to “serve the Lord” in any capacity they could. Joseph became an early expert
at determining who he could keep near him and who he could not, based on their egos and
distinct personalities. It was not hard to keep the people around him that he needed and to
send those away he did not, when he was the one receiving the “revelations” from God.
It was Joseph (as “the Lord”) who sent men on missions to far off places to keep the
peace of the Church, whenever the opportunity presented itself. As it turned out, those he
needed were not the leaders, but the humble followers. Because of the poverty of the early
Church, it was more reasonable to keep those men who could work and earn money at
home—working and earning money. Honest history will show that the more humble part of