Brigham Young's confirmation of the keys of the kingdom after the martyrdom
Published October 4, 2026 at 9:11 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Following the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in June 1844, Brigham Young and Orson Pratt were staying at the home of Brother Bement in Peterboro', New Hampshire. During this visit, they received word of the tragedy via a letter written by Joseph Powers to a Mr. Livingston, which reported the details of the assassination in Nauvoo. Upon hearing the news, Brigham Young recorded that he and Orson Pratt were leaning back in their chairs. In that moment of profound trial, a specific question struck Brigham Young's mind: whether Joseph Smith had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth. He suddenly felt a clear, spiritual assurance that the authority remained. With a decisive motion, he brought his hand down on his knee and declared to Orson Pratt, "the keys of the kingdom are right here with the Church."
In Their Own Words
“The first thing which I thought of was, whether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth; brother Orson Pratt sat on my left; we were both leaning back on our chairs. Bringing my hand down on my knee, I said the keys of the kingdom are right here with the Church. — Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (1968)”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 7 May 1877 (Vol. 39, No. 19). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1877-05-07_39_19 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 4 June 1864 (Vol. 26, No. 23). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1864-06-04_26_23 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968). https://josephsmithfoundation.org/brigham-young-1801-1877/
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