| Sidney Rigdon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the Church Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion | |
| April 6, 1845 (1845-04-06) – 1847 | |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Stephen Post William Bickerton (Reorganized church in 1862) |
| First Counselor in theFirst Presidency Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | |
| March 18, 1833 (1833-03-18) – Summer of 1844 | |
| Called by | Joseph Smith |
| Predecessor | Jesse Gause |
| End reason | Succession crisis after the death of Joseph Smith |
| Second Counselor in the First Presidency Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) | |
| March 8, 1832 (1832-03-08) – March 18, 1833 (1833-03-18) | |
| Called by | Joseph Smith |
| Successor | Frederick G. Williams |
| Reason | Initial organization of First Presidency |
| End reason | Called as First Counselor in First Presidency |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1793-02-19)February 19, 1793 St. Clair Township,Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | July 14, 1876(1876-07-14) (aged 83) Friendship,New York, United States |
| Resting place | Maple Grove Cemetery 42°13′03″N78°07′07″W / 42.2175°N 78.1186°W /42.2175; -78.1186 (Maple Grove Cemetery) |
| Spouse(s) | Phebe Brooks |
| Children | 11, includingNancy Rigdon |
Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of theLatter Day Saint movement.
Rigdon was born inSt. Clair Township,Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793.[1] He was the youngest of four children of William and Nancy Rigdon. Rigdon's father was a farmer and a native ofHarford County, Maryland. He died in 1810.
According to an account by his son John M. Rigdon, young Rigdonborrowed all the histories he could get and began to read them. … In this way he became a great historian, the best I ever saw. He seemed to have the history of the world on his tongue's end and he got to be a great biblical scholar as well. He was as familiar with the Bible as a child was with his spelling book. He was never known to play with the boys; reading books was the greatest pleasure he could get. He studied English Grammar alone and became a very fine grammarian. He was very precise in his language.
[2]
Rigdon remained on the farm until his mother sold it in 1818.
On May 31, 1817, Rigdon was baptized by Rev. Phillips, and he became a member of the Peter's Creek Baptist Church of Library, Pennsylvania.[3]
In 1818, Rigdon moved to North Sewickley to become an apprentice to Baptist minister Rev. Andrew Clark. Rigdon received his license to preach for theRegular Baptists in March 1819.
Rigdon moved in May toTrumbull County, Ohio, where he jointly preached with Adamson Bentley from July 1819. He married Bentley's wife's sister, Phoebe Brooks, in June 1820. Rigdon remained in Ohio until February 1822, when he returned to Pittsburgh to accept the pastorate of the First Baptist Church there under the recommendation ofAlexander Campbell.[4]
Rigdon and Bentley had journeyed to meet Campbell in the summer of 1821 to learn more about the Baptist who was encountering opposition to his idea that theNew Testament should hold priority over theOld Testament in the Christian church. They engaged in lengthy discussions, with both men joining theDisciples of Christ movement associated with Campbell.
On January 28, 1822, Rigdon arrived in Pittsburgh to become a minister at the First Baptist Church.[3] Rigdon's ministry met with opposition from member Rev. John Winter, and on July 11, 1823, a schism split the congregation, with each side disfellowshipping the other. On October 11, Rigdon was "excluded from theRedstone Association Baptist Denomination", of which the First Baptist Church was a member.[3]
From 1824 to 1826, Rigdon worked as ajourneymantanner in Pittsburgh, while preaching Campbell'sRestorationism on Sundays in the courthouse. He also worked as a journeyman printer for the Philadelphia publisher Paterson.[5] In 1826, Rigdon became the pastor of the more liberal Baptist church inMentor, Ohio, in theWestern Reserve.
Many prominent early Latter Day Saint leaders, includingParley P. Pratt,Isaac Morley, andEdward Partridge, were members of Rigdon's congregations prior to their conversion to theChurch of Christ founded byJoseph Smith.
In early September 1830, Rigdon's associate, Pratt, was baptized into the Church of Christ founded by Smith. In October, Pratt andZiba Peterson began a mission to preach to theAmerican Indians.
They visited Rigdon and his wife, Phoebe, in Ohio. Rigdon read theBook of Mormon in fourteen days, proclaimed its truthfulness, and was baptized into the church on November 14, 1830, inMentor, Ohio.[1] He proceeded to convert hundreds of members of his Ohio congregations. In December 1830, Rigdon traveled to New York, where he met Joseph Smith.[6] He was then ordained ahigh priest on June 3, 1831.[1]
Rigdon was a fiery orator, and he was immediately called by Smith to be the spokesman for the church. He also served as a scribe and helped withSmith's re-translation of theBible.
Rigdon reportedly received visions jointly with Smith. According to one account:Joseph would, at intervals, say: 'What do I see?' as one might say while looking out the window and beholding what all in the room could not see. Then he would relate what he had seen or what he was looking at. Then Sidney replied, 'I see the same.' Presently Sidney would say 'what do I see?' and would repeat what he had seen or was seeing, and Joseph would reply, 'I see the same.' This manner of conversation was repeated at short intervals to the end of the vision
.[7]
In December 1830, Smith said he received a revelation counseling members of the church in New York to gather toKirtland, Ohio. Many of the doctrines Rigdon's group had experimented with found place in the combined movement, such as living with all things in common.
In August 1831, Smith announced that he had received a revelation admonishing Rigdon for exalting himself:And now behold, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, am not pleased with my servant Sidney Rigdon; he exalted himself in his heart, and received not counsel, but grieved the Spirit; Wherefore his writing is not acceptable unto the Lord, and he shall make another; and if the Lord receive it not, behold he standeth no longer in the office to which I have appointed him. … Wherefore, let all men beware how they take my name in their lips—For behold, verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority. Wherefore, let the church repent of their sins, and I, the Lord, will own them otherwise they shall be cut off.
[8]
Smith relocated toHiram, Ohio, in September 1831. Smith and Rigdon were tarred and feathered at theJohn Johnson Farm on March 24, 1832. Smith recorded:The next morning I went to see elder Rigdon, and found him crazy, and his head highly inflamed, for they had dragged him by his heels, and those too, so high from the earth he could not raise his head from the rough frozen surface, which lascerated it exceedingly; and when he saw me he called to his wife to bring him his razor. She asked him what he wanted of it? and he replied to kill me. Sister Rigdon left the room, and he asked me to bring his razor. I asked him what he wanted of it, and he replied he wanted to kill his wife, and he continued delirious some days.
[9]
On July 5, 1832, Rigdon taught thatthe keys of the kingdom were taken from us. On hearing this, many of his hearers wept, and when some one undertook to dismiss the meeting by prayer he said praying would do them no good, and the meeting broke up in confusion.
[10]
In response,Hyrum Smith traveled to retrieve Joseph Smith, who returned to Kirtland on July 7. Joseph Smith rebuked Rigdon, and publicly prophesied that[n]o power can pluck those keys from me, except the power that gave them to me; But for what Sidney has done, the devil shall handle him as one man handles another.
[10]
Reportedly,About three weeks after this, Sidney was lying on his bed alone. An unseen power lifted him from his bed, threw him across the room, and tossed him from one side of the room to the other. The noise being heard in the adjoining room, his family went in to see what was the matter, and found him going from one side of the room to the other, from the effects of which Sidney was laid up for five or six weeks. Thus was Joseph's prediction in regard to him verified.
[10]
On July 28, Smith re-ordained Rigdon to the high priesthood after Rigdon hadrepented like Peter of old
.
On March 18, 1833,[1] Smith organized the church'sFirst Presidency and set apartJesse Gause and Rigdon as his first two counselors. Smith and Rigdon became close partners, and Rigdon tended to supplantOliver Cowdery, the original "Second Elder" of the church.
Rigdon became a strong advocate of the construction of theKirtland Temple.[citation needed] He gave a "powerful discourse" in March 1836 at the temple's dedication.[1] When the church founded theKirtland Safety Society, Rigdon became the bank's president and Smith served as its cashier. When the bank failed in 1837, Rigdon and Smith were both blamed by Mormon dissenters.[citation needed] Rigdon supervised the church in Kirtland in Smith's absence, and taught at the Kirtland School.[1]
Rigdon and Smith moved toFar West, Missouri, and established a new church headquarters there.
According to one report, while the Mormons were encamped atAdam-ondi-Ahman, Rigdon criticized Smith and others who were engaged in recreational wrestling on Sunday. Rigdon reportedlyrushed into the ring, sword in hand, and said that he would not suffer a lot of men to break the Sabbath day in that manner
. Smithdragged him from the ring, bareheaded, and tore Rigdon's fine pulpit coat from the collar to the waist
. Reportedly,after that Rigdon never countermanded the orders of the Prophet, to my knowledge—he knew who was boss
.[11]
As spokesman for the First Presidency, Rigdon preached several controversial sermons in Missouri, including theSalt Sermon and theJuly 4th Oration.[12] These speeches have sometimes been seen as contributing to the conflict known as the1838 Mormon War in Missouri.
As a result of the conflict, the Mormons wereexpelled from the state, and Rigdon and Smith were arrested and imprisoned inLiberty Jail.[1] Rigdon was released on a writ ofhabeas corpus and made his way toIllinois, where he joined the main body of Mormon refugees in 1839.[13]
Smith and his followers were allowed to escape from Liberty Jail in Missouri as ordered by Governor Boggs, and so they were released by a sheriff on their way to stand trial. Smith went on to found the city ofNauvoo, Illinois. Rigdon continued to act as church spokesman and gave a speech at the ground-breaking of theNauvoo Temple. On June 1, 1841, Sidney Rigdon was ordained as a "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator".[14]
However, Smith and Rigdon's relationship began to deteriorate in Nauvoo. Rigdon's participation in church administrative affairs became minimal. He did not reside in Nauvoo and served in a local church presidency inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was also in poor health.
In the summer of 1842,John C. Bennett, accused Smith of attempting to take Rigdon's daughterNancy Rigdon as a plural wife. According to Bennett, Nancy rejected the proposal. The accusation led to a confrontation between the Rigdon and Smith families wherein Smith denied having raised the issue with Nancy.[15]
In October 1843, a Special Conference was called to consider "the case and standing of Elder Sidney Rigdon".[16]
Joseph Smith "stated his dissatisfaction" with Rigdon. Charges were leveled that Rigdon had disloyal correspondences withJohn C. Bennett, former Governor Carlin, and "the Missourians". Rigdon was also accused to "leaguing with dishonest persons in endeavoring to defraud the innocent". In "indirect testimony" fromPorter Rockwell's mother, Rigdon was accused of having had been responsible for informing others about Smith's visit to Dixon and instructing them to arrest him while there.[16]
Smith told the conference that, in light of the charges, Smith requested Rigdon be replaced as First Counselor.[16]
TheTimes and Seasons and theHistory of the Church both record that Rigdon addressed the conference, denied the charges and made a "moving appeal"; they recordthe sympathies of the congregation were highly excited
. A vote was called, and the congregation held that Rigdon would be permitted to retain his position.[16]
According to theTimes and Seasons, Smith hadwholly removed suspicion from elder Sidney Rigdon
andexpressed entire willingness to have elder Sidney Rigdon retain his station
, despite alack of confidence in his integrity and steadfastness, judging from their past intercourse
. Alternately, theHistory of the Church records that Smith replied to the vote by saying,I have thrown him off my shoulders, and you have again put him on me. You may carry him, but I will not.
[17][18]
When Smith beganhis campaign for thepresidency of theUnited States in1844, Rigdon was selected as hisvice-presidential running mate. After Smith's death, Rigdon was the senior surviving member of the First Presidency. (The other members wereJohn Smith, who was an assistant counselor, andAmasa Lyman, who was a counselor.) During this time, Rigdon was strongly opposed topolygamy and other innovations within the church.[19]
Joseph Smithwas killed in 1844. Prior to Smith's death, the First Presidency had made nearly all the major decisions for the church. In 1841, Rigdon had been ordained by Smith as a "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator",[14] as had all other members of the First Presidency and of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church.
Rigdon returned to Nauvoo on August 3, and the next day he announced at a public meeting that he had received a revelation appointing him "Guardian of the Church".[20] The president of the centralstake,William Marks, supported Rigdon.
At an August 8 conference, Rigdon argued that he should be made the "Protector" of the church."[21]Brigham Young,president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, opposed this motion and asserted a claim for the primacy of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.[22] The Quorum of Twelve Apostles were scattered throughout the United States and Europe at the time of Smith's death. The members of the quorum available in Illinois, in addition to a gathered assembly, voted to deny Rigdon his claim for church leadership.[23] Rigdon felt this action was done without proper order.
One month later, on September 8, Rigdon was excommunicated from the church by aCommon Council of the Church, which had been convened byPresiding BishopNewel K. Whitney.[24] Rigdon refused to attend this trial,[25] after which he, in turn, likewise excommunicated the members of the Twelve. Rigdon fled Nauvoo, claiming that he felt threatened by Young's supporters.[19]
After the succession schism, Rigdon solidified and led an independent faction of Latter Day Saints, originally called the "Church of Christ", but at one point was called as theChurch of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion.[26][27] Thissect is often referred to as theRigdonites. The Latter Day Saints who followed Rigdon separated themselves and settled inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania. On April 6, 1845, Rigdon presided over a conference of the Church of Christ, which he claimed was the rightful continuation of the church founded by Smith.[28][29] He then reorganized the First Presidency and called his own Quorum of Twelve Apostles.
Although Rigdon's church briefly flourished through the publication of his periodical,The Messenger and Advocate, quarrels and bickering among the Rigdonites led most members of the church to desert the senior leader by 1847. A few loyalists, notablyWilliam Bickerton, eventually reorganized the church in 1862 under the nameThe Church of Jesus Christ.
Rigdon lived on for many years in Pennsylvania and New York. He maintained his testimony of theBook of Mormon[30][31] and clung to his claims that he was the rightful heir to Joseph Smith.[citation needed] He died inFriendship, New York, on July 14, 1876.[1]
Following the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, a succession crisis led to schisms within the movement. The Brigham Young branch traveled west to Utah, while Rigdon traveled eastward to Pittsburgh.
Rigdon's branch faced less success, modernly accounting for only a small fraction of practicing Latter Day Saints.[27][32][33]
As early as 1834, skeptics were promoting what has become known as theSpalding-Rigdon theory of Book of Mormon authorship, in which Rigdon plays a central role.
| Name | Organized by | Date | Split off / Continuation of | Current status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion[26][27] | Sidney Rigdon | 1844 | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | Dissolved by 1847 | Originally also used the name "Church of Christ". Also known asRigdonites. |
| The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)[27] | William Bickerton | 1862 | Organized by former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion (Rigdonites), by then defunct | 12,136 as of 2007;[33] headquartered inMonongahela, Pennsylvania | Adherents commonly referred to asBickertonites (church actively opposes use of this term). |
| Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) | Half of theBickertonite Quorum of Twelve Apostles | 1907 | Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) | Defunct | Dispute over nature of life in themillennium split Bickertonite Quorum of the Twelve in two; later merged with thePrimitive Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite). |
| Primitive Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) | James Caldwell | 1914 | Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) | Defunct | Rejected theFirst Presidency as a valid leadership organization of the church; later merged with theReorganized Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite). |
Rigdon has been named as a potential author for the Book of Mormon. According to this theory, Rigdon obtained from a Pittsburgh publisher a manuscript for a historical novel written bySolomon Spalding, and by reworking it and adding a theological component, created theBook of Mormon.
The theory that Sidney Rigdon was the true author of theBook of Mormon first appeared in print in an August 31, 1831, article byJames Gordon Bennett, who had visited thePalmyra/Manchester area and interviewed several residents.[34] The theory of Rigdon's use of a Spalding manuscript first appeared in print in the 1834 bookMormonism Unvailed. The theory also later appeared in 1867 inOrigin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism byPomeroy Tucker, in which he says Smith was visited by a "mysterious stranger" as early as 1827, who Tucker implies played a role in the creation of the Book of Mormon and later identifies the stranger as Rigdon.[35]
This theory and the testimony of Rigdon to his son John, just prior to Rigdon's death and long after he had ceased an affiliation with any of the sects of Mormonism, contradict each other:My father, after I had finished saying what I have repeated above, looked at me a moment, raised his hand above his head and slowly said, with tears glistening in his eyes: 'My son, I can swear before high heaven that what I have told you about the origin of [the Book of Mormon] is true. Your mother and sister, Mrs. Athalia Robinson, were present when that book was handed to me in Mentor, Ohio, and all I ever knew about the origin of [the Book of Mormon] was what Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith and the witnesses who claimed they saw the plates have told me, and in all of my intimacy with Joseph Smith he never told me but one story.'
However, Rigdon's grandson, Walter Sidney Rigdon, stated in an interview that the family knew that the "Golden Bible" was a hoax, contrived by Rigdon and Joseph Smith, to make money and that it was based on the Spalding manuscript.[36]
A 2008 computer analysis of the Book of Mormon text supports this theory, although the study does not include Joseph Smith in the author sample on the ground that few pure examples of Smith's writings are extant.[31] Several other significant problems are apparent in the methodology of this computer analysis, specifically the use of closed set methodology instead of open set methodology. For example, the original methodology, when replicated, also assigns Rigdon as the probable author ofThe Federalist Papers, which were written five years before his birth.[37]
Sidney Rigdon's Grandson Says Their Family Understood it to be a Fraud.
Corrected typescript (2 volumes, 1306 pages) of an unpublished work by Whitsitt.Digital reprint of excerpts by sidneyrigdon.com.
| Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas President of theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | President of the Church March 1856 – July 14, 1876 | Succeeded by |
| Church of Christ (Rigdonite) titles Reorganized in 1862 under the nameThe Church of Jesus Christ | ||
| Preceded byas President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | President of the Church April 6, 1845 – 1847 | Succeeded by |
| Church of Christ titles Later renamed: Church of the Latter Day Saints (1834) and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (1838) | ||
| Preceded by | First Counselor in theFirst Presidency March 18, 1833 (1833-03-18) – June 27, 1844 (1844-06-27) | Succeeded by |
| First | Second Counselor in theFirst Presidency March 8, 1832 (1832-03-08) – March 18, 1833 (1833-03-18) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
