It is true there ha[ve] been times when I have had the promise of my life to accomplish such-and-such things, but, having accomplish[ed] those things, I have not at present any lease [on] my life. I am as liable to die as other men." This funerary sermon is considered one of the most introspective and emotionally depressed discourses by Smith, and pointed to by Mormons as foreknowledge and a prophecy of his own death which occurred not long thereafter. In the weeks before Joseph Smith's death, Marks claimed that Joseph came to him and told him that plural marriage had proved a curse rather than a blessing to the church. Smith wanted to take decisive steps to end the practice, but, according to Marks, time ran out. Other purported pieces of evidence, such as Joseph's burning of the polygamy revelation and destroying his temple garments, seem to support Marks's story. Not all members of the church hierarchy believed Marks's testimony, though Quinn believes that Brigham Young gave credence to it, as he later said that if Joseph "had followed the Spirit of revelation in him he never would have gone to Carthage". In addition, Young would also state that Smith had wearied of polygamous marriage by the time of his death. Ironically, Joseph Smith III later would not believe Marks, either, since Marks implicated Joseph Smith III's father in polygamy. Issues with apostolic succession At the time of the death of Joseph Smith, much of the leadership of the church had been campaigning for Smith’s candidacy for President of the United States. Marks, as landlord of the Nauvoo Mansion, oversaw some of the funerary preparations for the burial of Joseph and his brother Hyrum. According to William Clayton's diary, Emma Smith supported Marks as the successor to her husband. According to Smith, Marks had a right to church succession as the High Council President, which she asserted was equal in authority to the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency. Furthermore, she felt that while apostles had authority in unorganized parts of the church, they did not have authority in the stake of Zion, Nauvoo. This reasoning was one of many interpretations put forward by various factions in the months after Smith's death. Historian D. Michael Quinn claims that, despite the foregoing, church succession in Nauvoo revolved around one central issue: plural marriage. Quinn maintains that Marks's known opposition