FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?
FAIR Answers—back to home page
Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?
This claim is contradicted by the historical data
It is claimed that Joseph Smith sent men away on a missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were away.
Researcher Brian C. Hales noted that this claim is without foundation:
Another detail in [John C.] Bennett's Pittsburgh affidavit is that the Prophet had sent men on missions so he could marry their wives in Nauvoo. This statement is contradicted by historical data. Of the twelve "polyandrous" husbands identified by Todd Compton, ten were not on missions at the time Joseph was sealed to their legal wives. Of the two possible exceptions, only one, Orson Hyde, is documented as on a mission at the time of Marinda Johnson Hyde's sealing to Joseph Smith. The second possible case involves George Harris, who left on his fourteen-month mission in July 1840. His wife, Lucinda may have been...sealed to Joseph Smith at some point, but the date is unavailable.[1]
Notes
- ↑ Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy Vol. 1, 313–314.