Joseph Smith, Jr. and polygamy

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This article is part of the series Joseph Smith, Jr. 1805 to 1827 - 1827 to 1830 1831 to 1834 - 1835 to 1838 1838 to 1842 - 1842 to 1844 Death - Polygamy - Teachings Prophecies - Bibliography

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Most historians say that Joseph Smith Jr. taught and practiced a principle that he called "plural marriage". This position is supported by "sealing" records, (in many cases notarized) public marriage licenses, affidavits, journals and diaries. The first published claim that Smith taught the doctrine as a fallen prophet was in 1860.^[1] However, his son, Joseph Smith III, and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now called the Community of Christ) disagreed with the evidence presented and taught that Joseph Smith did not teach or practice polygamy.^[2]

Contents 1 Background 2 Controversy over polygamy accusations 2.1 Joseph Smith III 2.2 Historical RLDS 2.3 Modern fundamentalist RLDS 2.4 Community of Christ 3 Sealing vs Marriage 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Background

In the latter part of his life, Joseph Smith taught that all humans must be united or sealed to each other. He taught that a marriage that extends after death is also called "sealing" and that the power to perform such ceremonies was initially held only by him; members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that Smith later passed the authority on to others.

Smith received a revelation in July 12, 1843, that outlined the requirements to live in the highest glory of the celestial heaven. He said that plural wives "are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfill the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men."^[3] Smith later said:

"The same God that has thus far dictated me and directed me and strengthened me in this work, gave me this revelation and commandment on celestial and plural marriage, and the same God commanded me to obey it. He said to me that unless I accepted it, and introduced it, and practiced it, I, together with my people would be damned and cut off from this time henceforth. We have got to observe it. It is an eternal principle and was given by way of commandment and not by way of instruction."^[4]

The doctrine was hidden during Smith's life, and Smith publicly preached and wrote against it.^[5]; however, records indicate that dozens of plural marriages were performed by Smith before 1840. Additionally, Smith was sealed to women and men, during his life and after his death (by proxy). Latter Day Saint movement denominations disagree as to the impact and meaning of these records.

[edit] Controversy over polygamy accusations

A minority believe that Joseph Smith did not personally advocate or practice plural marriage. Most support for this view comes from people associated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

[edit] Joseph Smith III

The first leader of the RLDS church after Joseph Smith, Jr., was his oldest son Joseph Smith III. His ideas on his father and polygamy evolved throughout his life.^[6] However, at one point in his life, he stated,

"If it be true that Joseph Smith did teach and practice polygamy contrary to the law of the Church, he was most certainly a transgressor. Nor would his sanction of the doctrine make it a legitimate ordinance in the Church of Christ. In proof that Joseph Smith did teach and practice such a doctrine I should want more reliable testimony than can be had from the polygamous wives of Brigham Young.

Joseph Smith III was an ardent opponent of the practice of plural marriage throughout his life. For most of his career, Smith denied that his father had been involved in the practice and insisted that it had originated with Brigham Young. He served many missions to the West, however, where he met with and interviewed associates (and alleged wives) of his father who attempted to present him with evidence to the contrary. In the end, in the face of overwhelming evidence, Smith concluded that he was "not positive nor sure that [his father] was innocent" and that if, indeed, the elder Smith had been involved, it was still a false practice.

[edit] Historical RLDS

Many late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century members of the RLDS church were not convinced that Joseph Smith, Jr., engaged in plural marriage. Well into the 1950s, official RLDS publications maintained Smith's complete innocence in the practice.

Although Joseph Smith III and most nineteenth-century RLDS church leaders denied that the elder Joseph Smith Jr., practiced polygamy, some leaders believed that he did. One of the founders of the Reorganization, Jason W. Briggs stated during the Temple-Lot lawsuit that he "heard something about a revelation on polygamy, or plural marriage, when I was in Nauvoo, in 1842." The editor of the earliest official RLDS periodical, Isaac Sheen, was more direct. He wrote that Joseph Smith, Jr., gave a revelation, committed polygamy, but repented of this "sin" before his death.^[7] Sheen's statement was affirmed by William Marks, the stake president of Nauvoo during Joseph Smith, Jr.'s lifetime and a close counselor to Joseph Smith III. Marks claimed to have seen Hyrum Smith read the polygamy revelation to the High Council in 1843.^[8] Early in his life, Joseph Smith III could not affirm Marks's statement despite its eye-witness nature.

[edit] Modern fundamentalist RLDS

Modern fundamentalist RLDS and many late nineteenth-century RLDS contended that the exact polygamy revelation was not published in the lifetime of Joseph Smith, Jr.; they believe that the revelation endorsing polygamy and attributed to Joseph Smith, Jr., was presented by Brigham Young to his followers several years after Joseph Smith, Jr., died. However, others state that the Nauvoo Expositor of June 1844, quoted several items that bear striking similarity to the revelation Young presented. The Nauvoo Expositor was published by dissident saints who were outraged by what they alleged was Joseph Smith, Jr.’s practice of polygamy and his theocratic rule.

Currently, fundamentalist members of the former Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (many of whom have organized and/or meet in separate organizations like the Restoration Branches) do not recognize the polygamy revelation as an authentic document given by Smith.

[edit] Community of Christ

From the 1930s until the present, many RLDS (now Community of Christ) church leaders have affirmed that Joseph Smith, Jr. was involved in polygamy or some type of plural marriage sealings. The topic remains controversial among some Community of Christ members. Many now recognize Smith's involvement; a minority vehemently deny Smith's complicity. Still others no longer see the issue as important. For people concerned about this topic and related to the RLDS tradition, the issue remains as much about current liberal/conservative church politics as it does an issue of history.^[9]

[edit] Sealing vs Marriage

There is a subtle difference between 'sealing' (which is a priesthood ordinance that binds individuals together in the eternities), and 'marriage' (a social tradition in which the man and woman agree to be husband and wife in this life). In those early days of this religion, common practices and doctrines were not yet well-defined. It is speculated that many, if not all, of the arrangements between Smith and these women were more in alignment with the concept of sealings, not marriages, in the sense that Smith did not join with any of these women, except for Emma, in a family unit.

Even among those who accept the views of conventional historians, there is disagreement as to the precise number of wives Smith had: the LDS Church's genealogical website lists 24 marriages for Smith, four of which are indicated to have taken place after his death.^[10] Fawn M. Brodie lists 48,^{[citation needed]} D. Michael Quinn 46,^{[citation needed]} and George D. Smith 43.^{[citation needed]} The discrepancy is created by the lack of documents to support the alleged marriages to some of the named wives.

A number of Smith's "marriages" occurred after his death, with the wife being sealed to Joseph via a proxy that stood in for him.^[11] One historian, Todd M. Compton, documented at least thirty-three plural marriages or sealings during Smith's lifetime. Many people think it is without question that Joseph had multiple wives; but, as Compton states multiple times in his work, "Absolutely nothing is known of this marriage after the ceremony"—that is, it is unclear how many of the women Smith had sexual relations with. There are allegations that Smith had at least one child born to a plural wife, but this remains unproven.^[12]

Compton lists the following as possible wives:

Plural wife	Marriage Date	Recognized by				Marital status[13]	Notes
		CJC[14]	GS[15]	MQ[16]	FB[17]
Emma Hale	1827-01-17	yes	yes	yes	yes	Single	Later became a leader for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ)
Fanny Alger	none/unknown
Lucinda Pendleton
Louisa Beaman
Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs							Sister of Presendia, later married Brigham Young
Presendia Lathrop Huntington							Sister of Zina
Agnes Moulton Coolbrith							Widow of Smith's brother Don Carlos
Sylvia Porter Sessions							Daughter of Patty
Mary Elizabeth Rollins
Patty Bartlett Sessions							Mother of Sylvia
Marinda Nancy Johnson
Elizabeth David
Sarah Maryetta Kingsley
Delcena Johnson
Eliza Roxcy Snow							Sister of Lorenzo Snow
Sarah Ann Whitney
Martha McBride
Ruth Vose
Flora Ann Woodworth
Emily Dow Partridge							Daughter of Edward Partridge and sister of Eliza
Eliza Maria Partridge							Daughter of Edward Partridge and sister of Emily
Almera Woodward Johnson
Lucy Walker	1843-05-01					single
Sarah Lawrence							Sister of Maria
Maria Lawrence							Sister of Sarah
Helen Mar Kimball	May 1843					single	Daughter of Heber C. Kimball
Hannah Ells
Elvira Annie Cowles
Rhoda Richards							1st cousin of Brigham Young whom she married after Smith's death
Desdemona Fullmer
Olive Grey Frost
Melissa Lott
Nancy Maria Winchester
Fanny Young							Sister of Brigham Young

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that marriages or sealings are not valid unless recorded.^[18]

[edit] See also

• Mormon plural marriage
• Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought --on-line archive of journal includes prominent scholarly articles examining polygamy.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Compton, Todd (1996). "A Trajectory of Plurality: An Overview of Joseph Smith's Thirty-three Plural Wives". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 29 (Summer): 1-38. 
• Compton, Todd (1996). In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. 
• Doctrine & Covenants 132.
• Foster, Lawrence (1981). Religion and Sexuality: The Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida Community. New York: Oxford University Press. 
• Howlett, David J. (2004). "Remembering Polygamy: the RLDS Church and the Late Twentieth-Century American Spiritual Transformations". The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 24: 149-172. . Discusses the twentieth-century RLDS struggle to remember polygamy in the context of general American religious controversies in the same era.
• Fry, Evan. Joseph Smith, Jr., Did Not Teach nor Practice Polygamy. HopeOfZion.com. Retrieved on September 13, 2006.
• Launius, Roger D. (1990). Father Figure: Joseph Smith III and the Creation of the Reorganized Church. Herald Pub House 1990. ISBN 0-8309-0576-6. 
• Launius, Roger D. (1988). Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet. University of Illinois Press.  Provides an excellent discussion of Joseph Smith III's attempts to understand polygamy's origins and his father's role or lack thereof.
• Price, Richard. Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy. Price Publishing Company. Retrieved on August 1, 2006. 
• Price, Richard. Joseph Smith: Innocent of Polygamy. Restoration Bookstore. Price Publishing Company. Retrieved on August 1, 2006.
• Smith, Elbert A.. Differences That Persist between the RLDS and LDS Churches, Chapter 3 (PDF). CenterPlace.org. Retrieved on November 8, 2006.
• Was it normal to marry 14 year-old girls in Joseph Smith's time?. Rethinking Mormonism. Retrieved on August 1, 2006. Cited as "Rethinking".
• Wives of Joseph Smith. Retrieved on August 1, 2006. Cited as "Wives".