Over the course of 2015 I will be blogging about the various women believed to have covenanted with Joseph Smith. For each I will provide biographical background, along with what, if anything, is known of her life after Joseph’s death.
In evaluating allegations that women were “married” to Joseph Smith, it is important to establish what constitutes sufficient evidence that a woman should be listed as a “wife.” I have come up with the following “tells” that can give us a high-level view of the women whose names are associated with Mormon founder, Joseph Smith. The first four attributes speak to whether or not a marriage occurred. The second four attributes speak to what may have motivated the marriage and what the marriage meant to the woman after Joseph’s death.
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Did reliable contemporaries consider the woman a wife? |
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Are details of the alleged marriage known? |
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Was the marriage said to be sexually consummated? |
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Is it said Joseph Smith had a child with the wife? |
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Was the woman sealed to Joseph after his death? |
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Did the woman go to Utah after Joseph’s death? |
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Was the marriage a subject of prophecy? |
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Did the marriage “bind” Joseph to important people? |
In some cases, the woman died before she could have achieved the milestones of being sealed to Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo temple or traveling to Deseret with the Saints.
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The woman died before she could have achieved this milestone |
Because we now have DNA evidence, I will also include the status of DNA results for assertions that specific children born to a woman were fathered by Joseph Smith (which necessarily implies that she had sex with Joseph). It’s obviously impossible to prove that Joseph didn’t have sex with any particular individual, just as it’s impossible to prove that any one of us wasn’t having sex with any number of our acquaintances or colleagues. But these DNA results are still informative.
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Sex is asserted. Pregnancy is asserted but the alleged child died either prior to birth or the claim has not yet been evaluated using DNA analysis. | |
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The woman’s children are proven to be descended from Joseph Smith | |
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DNA cannot prove or disprove that this woman’s offspring were fathered by Joseph Smith | |
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Where testable, this woman’s offspring were fathered by someone other than Joseph Smith |
Similarly, the fact of a sealing ordinance between a woman and Joseph Smith comes in different levels of assuredness.
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The woman participated in the temple ceremony sealing her to Joseph Smith | |
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A temple ceremony was performed prior to 1900 on the woman’s behalf sealing her to Joseph Smith due to belief that a sealing had occurred | |
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It is asserted the woman participated in a ceremony sealing her to Joseph Smith after 1845, but no record exists |
Below is a table listing the women identified as wives of Joseph Smith for whom I feel there is reliable contemporary information. I will be filling in the icons for each woman as I cover her story.
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| Emma Hale, 39, January 18, 1827 |
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| Fanny Alger, 27, Apr 1836 |
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| Louisa Beaman, 29, Apr 5, 1841 |
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| Zina Huntington, 23, Oct 27, 1841 |
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| Presendia Huntington, 34, Dec 11, 1841 |
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| Agnes Coolbrith, 36, Jan 6, 1842 |
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| Mary Elizabeth Rollins, 25, Feb 1842 |
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| Sylvia Sessions, 25, Feb 1842 |
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| Patty Bartlett, 49, Mar 9, 1842 |
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| Eliza Roxcy Snow, 40, Jun 29, 1842 |
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| Sarah Ann Whitney, 19, Jul 27, 1842 |
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| Martha McBride, 39, Aug, 1842 |
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| Emily Dow Partridge, 20, Mar 4, 1843 |
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| Eliza Maria Partridge, 23, Mar 8, 1843 |
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| Flora Ann Woodworth, 1843 |
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| Almera Johnson, 31 Apr 1843 |
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| Lucy Walker, 18 May 1, 1843 |
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| Maria Lawrence, 20 May 1843 |
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| Sarah Lawrence, 18 May 1843 |
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| Helen Mar Kimball, 15 May 1843 |
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| Marinda Nancy Johnson, 29 May 1843 |
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| Elvira Cowles, 30 Jun 1, 1843 |
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| Rhoda Richards, 59 Jun 12, 1843 |
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| Desdemona Fullmer, 34 Jul 1843 |
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| Mary Ann Frost, 35 July 1843 |
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| Olive Grey Frost, 29 summer 1843 |
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| Melissa Lott, 20 Sep 20, 1843 |
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| Fanny Young, 57 Nov 2, 1843 |
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| Ruth Vose, 34 Feb 1844 |
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There are additional women who are alleged to have been married to Joseph Smith, for which there are no marriage details. I have indicated for each the year I suspect the women were sealed to Joseph.