Sidney Rigdon (1793–1876) was called to serve as a counselor to Joseph Smith in the First Presidency. He was a gifted orator and a spokesman for the Prophet on many occasions. Several of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants deal with Sidney Rigdon.
Sidney avoided meeting with the four Apostles who were already in Nauvoo, choosing instead to speak to the assembled Saints at the grove on Sunday, 4 August. He asserted that he had received a vision:
“He related a vision which he said the Lord had shown him concerning the situation of the church, and said there must be a guardian appointed to build the church up to Joseph, as he had begun it.
“He said he was the identical man that the ancient prophets had sung about, wrote and rejoiced over, and that he was sent to do the identical work that had been the theme of all the prophets in every preceding generation.” 13 Elder Parley P. Pratt later remarked that Sidney Rigdon was “the identical man the prophets never sang nor wrote a word about.” 14
14. In History of the Church, 7:225.
Sidney Rigdon was invited to make a statement about his vision and revelations. He said, “The object of my mission is to visit the saints and offer myself to them as a guardian. I had a vision at Pittsburgh, June 27th [the day of the Martyrdom]. This was presented to my mind not as an open vision, but rather a continuation of the vision mentioned in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants [referring to the vision he and Joseph Smith had experienced that is recorded in D&C 76 ].” 18 He went on to say that no one could take the place of Joseph as the head of the Church and that he, as the designated spokesman for the Prophet, should assume the role of guardian of the Church. Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal that Sidney’s statement was a “long story. It was a kind of second class vision.” 19
19. Wilford Woodruff Journals, 7 Aug. 1844; punctuation and capitalization standardized
The Fairest Gem 