I don’t know that this chapter has changed much since the 2017 version posted on this site. I do recall being informed that William Law’s actual residence was elsewhere in Nauvoo, so this large brick building he owned near the river was apparently intended for commerce rather than living. So imagine a crowd gathering in a warehouse rather than in a living room. A warehouse with a basement.
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A speculation I have is that it was only Dennison who actually refused to swear the oath and that Robert Scott was the one who cried out objecting to Dennison’s murder, knowing that Joseph and Emer would not accept Dennison’s death as an unfortunate accident. Unlike others in the Scott family, Robert Scott ended up remaining in the orbit of William Law after Nauvoo residents departed following Joseph’s death and impending violence from Illinois residents. As I write this now, it occurs to me Robert Scott as a double agent would suggest William Law was able to get intelligence about what Joseph knew about things. Dennison was telling the tale decades after the event, so I don’t know if Dennison and Robert obscured what happened when speaking to Joseph, if I am right about Robert.
Dennison remained true to the elected successor of Joseph Smith, this being before succession was determined by seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The modern mechanisms for succession in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wouldn’t be solidified until late in Brigham’s presidency, when he determined that seniority would not be according to first date of ordination but rather according to most recent date of re-admission to the quorum.
This is ironic, since I feel that Orson Pratt was excommunicated by the apostles in 1842 without consulting Joseph Smith, who was in hiding. If I am right, Joseph went to extreme lengths to demonstrate to key apostles why their action in excommunicating Orson Pratt was heartless.
Had Orson Pratt not be bumped down the order of succession by the 1842 excommunication episode, it would have been Orson, rather than John Taylor, who acceeded to the presidency when Brigham Young died in the 1880s. While I consider the Church to be true to God’s purposes, I don’t think every aspect of past history is necessarily on a straight path to God’s intent. It is therefore fascinating to contemplate what would have occurred had Orson briefly become President of the Church. Taylor would still have become President (assuming their death dates were not affected in the switch).
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