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Difference between revisions of "Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Chapter 2"
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|claim={{AuthorQuote|"He then initiated the secret rituals that would further repel their conventional Christian neighbors-anointings, endowments, proxy baptisms, visions, healings, writhing ecstasies, and, especially, the concepts of 'eternal progression' and 'celestial marriage.'"}} | |claim={{AuthorQuote|"He then initiated the secret rituals that would further repel their conventional Christian neighbors-anointings, endowments, proxy baptisms, visions, healings, writhing ecstasies, and, especially, the concepts of 'eternal progression' and 'celestial marriage.'"}} | ||
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− | {{disinformation|Proxy baptisms were not introduced until Nauvoo, they were not known at Kirtland. Healings and visions were present from the Church's very beginnings. "Writhing ecstasies" were condemned by LDS scripture by 1831 (see {{s|| | + | {{disinformation|Proxy baptisms were not introduced until Nauvoo, they were not known at Kirtland. Healings and visions were present from the Church's very beginnings. "Writhing ecstasies" were condemned by LDS scripture by 1831 (see {{s||D&C|50|}}). The U.S. Constitution protects private religious practices that do not harm others, including those which might "repel" one's conventional Christian neighbors. |
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{{attn}} - ''Check source--there's nothing by H&L on that page about Danites at all.....'' | {{attn}} - ''Check source--there's nothing by H&L on that page about Danites at all.....'' |
Revision as of 17:37, 12 April 2024
- REDIRECTTemplate:Test3
Response to claims made in "Chapter 2: Kirtland/Far West, 1831"
Chapter 1 | A FAIR Analysis of: American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, a work by author: Sally Denton
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Chapter 3 |
Response to claims made in American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, "Chapter 2: Kirtland/Far West, 1831"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 12 - Joseph Smith was "infected with the virus" of land speculation
- Response to claim: 13 - It is claimed that Joseph stated that Independence Missouri was the site of the Garden of Eden and that the location of Far West was where Cain killed Abel
- Response to claim: 14 - Joseph became a "swaggering general in his Army of Israel" and that "drilling and pageantry were quite suddenly pervasive aspects of a once-pacific Kirtland existence"
- Response to claim: 14 - In Kirtland, Joseph "then initiated the secret rituals that would further repel their conventional Christian neighbors"
- Response to claim: 14 - The name of the Church was changed to the "Church of Latter-day Saints" in 1834
- Response to claim: 14 - Emma is claimed to have driven "the girl" Fanny Alger out of her house
- Response to claim: 15 - Joseph issued his prophecy regarding the Civil War after visiting New York and hearing about how
- President Jackson should deal with "a rebellious South Carolina"
- Response to claim: 15 - Failure of the bank in Kirtland caused Joseph to leave Kirtland in the middle of the night
- Response to claim: 16 - Joseph "organized a secret group of loyalists" called the Danites
- Response to claim: 16 - The Danites introduced "blood atonement" in order to "save" people by slitting their throats
- Response to claim: 20 - Joseph claimed to be a "second Mohammad" in a speech in Far West
- Response to claim: 12 - Joseph Smith was "infected with the virus" of land speculation
- Response to claim: 13 - It is claimed that Joseph stated that Independence Missouri was the site of the Garden of Eden and that the location of Far West was where Cain killed Abel
- Response to claim: 14 - Joseph became a "swaggering general in his Army of Israel" and that "drilling and pageantry were quite suddenly pervasive aspects of a once-pacific Kirtland existence"
- Response to claim: 14 - In Kirtland, Joseph "then initiated the secret rituals that would further repel their conventional Christian neighbors"
- Response to claim: 14 - The name of the Church was changed to the "Church of Latter-day Saints" in 1834
- Response to claim: 14 - Emma is claimed to have driven "the girl" Fanny Alger out of her house
- Response to claim: 15 - Joseph issued his prophecy regarding the Civil War after visiting New York and hearing about how President Jackson should deal with "a rebellious South Carolina"
- Response to claim: 15 - Failure of the bank in Kirtland caused Joseph to leave Kirtland in the middle of the night
- Response to claim: 16 - Joseph "organized a secret group of loyalists" called the Danites
- Response to claim: 16 - The Danites introduced "blood atonement" in order to "save" people by slitting their throats
- Response to claim: 20 - Joseph claimed to be a "second Mohammad" in a speech in Far West
Response to claim: 12 - Joseph Smith was "infected with the virus" of land speculation
The author(s) of American Massacre make(s) the following claim:
Joseph Smith was "infected with the virus" of land speculation.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
The author is simply repeating Brodie's claim without evidence.
Response to claim: 13 - It is claimed that Joseph stated that Independence Missouri was the site of the Garden of Eden and that the location of Far West was where Cain killed Abel
The author(s) of American Massacre make(s) the following claim:
It is claimed that Joseph stated that Independence Missouri was the site of the Garden of Eden and that the location of Far West was where Cain killed Abel.Author's sources:
- No source provided.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is based upon correct information - The author is providing knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject, or event
This is correct.
Question: Is it true that Mormons believe the original Garden of Eden was located in Missouri?
There is substantial circumstantial evidence that Joseph Smith taught this
Although we have no contemporaneous record of Joseph Smith teaching explicitly that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri, that reading is consistent with LDS scripture, and there is substantial later testimony from Joseph's associates that he did teach such an idea.
Most Latter-day Saints are aware of this, though it is a relatively minor point that plays little role in LDS theology. (By contrast, the idea that the New Jerusalem—Zion—will be built in the Americas looms much larger in LDS consciousness.)
This idea perhaps strikes most non-members as odd, but not simply because the Saints have an opinion about the Garden's location—as we have seen, religions of all stripes have had a wide variety of views on the subject. What likely strikes outside American observers as strange is the idea that the Garden is local—the LDS view does not place the Garden in a never-never land, buried in distant time and far-away space. Rather, the LDS Garden is local and somewhat immediate.
Upon reflection, though, the thoughtful observer will realize that this is simply one more manifestation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' uniqueness: rather than believing only in dead prophets, from long ago, in distant lands, in old records, the Church also embraces modern revelation, living prophets, and an on-going divine involvement with God's people. The gospel restored by Joseph Smith does not merely sacralize the past, but the present and future as well—and, it sacralizes both lofty matters and more earthly concerns like farms, hills, and geography.
It is this intrusion of the sacred into the mundane that surprises most observers—the issue of the Garden is merely one more example of a broader phenomenon.
A common mistake is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center
As the official Church website points out, "The doctrinal tenets of any religion are best understood within a broad context and thoughtful analysis is required to understand them. ... Some doctrines are more important than others and might be considered core doctrines. ... A common mistake is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center. For example, the precise location of the Garden of Eden is far less important than doctrine about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice."[1]
LDS concepts and perspectives
It is important to first distinguish the "Garden of Eden" (the paradisiacal location where Adam and Eve dwelt before the Fall) from Adam-ondi-Ahman. Adam-ondi-Ahman was a location in which Adam and Eve settled after their expulsion from the Garden.
Question: What is Adam-ondi-Ahman?
According to revelation, Adam held a meeting of his faithful posterity in a valley designated "Adam-ondhi-Ahman"
Prior to his death, the repentant Adam held a meeting of his faithful posterity in a valley designated "Adam-ondhi-Ahman:"
53 Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.
54 And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.
55 And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.
56 And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation. (D&C 107꞉53)
LDS scripture further notes:
Spring Hill is named by the Lord Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet.(D&C 116꞉1)[2]
Since Spring Hill was named by the Lord as the place where Adam will come to visit his people, it has generally been presumed to be the Adam-ondi-Ahman of Adam's mortal meeting with his posterity
It is perhaps significant the Lord named this site because of a future event—the pre-millennial assembly of Adam and his faithful descendants prior to the second coming of Christ. It has generally been presumed that "Spring Hill," Missouri is thus the Adam-ondi-Ahman of Adam's mortal meeting with his posterity (D&C 107, above) and the pre-millennial visit (D&C 116), which is certainly possible.
An alternate interpretation would be the Lord has given the Adam-ondi-Ahman name to a second site (i.e., at Spring Hill, Missouri) in memorial of the first great meeting of the whole righteous human race. That first meeting, at which Adam presided, would then be a foreshadowing of the greater meeting of all the righteous prior to Christ's triumphant return in glory. This reading might better explain why D&C 116 bothers to explain why the Lord is giving the name to the site. If the site was already called Adam-ondi-Ahman, perhaps there would be little need for the Lord to renew its name. One could see this as analogous to the site "Jerusalem." There is, in LDS doctrine, to be a "New Jerusalem" built on the American continent in the last days.[3] Yet, this does not mean the "New Jerusalem" site is the same as the Jerusalem of David and Jesus in the Old World, or that the old Jerusalem has ceased to exist.
On the other hand, Doctrine and Covenants 117 also seems to associate the Missouri Adam-ondi-Ahman with Adam's dwelling place in mortality:
7 Therefore, will I not make solitary places to bud and to blossom, and to bring forth in abundance? saith the Lord.
8 Is there not room enough on the mountains of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and on the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters?
9 Therefore, come up hither unto the land of my people, even Zion. (D&C 117꞉7-9)
The association of Adam-ondi-Ahman with the "land where Adam dwelt," and Adam's presence at Adam-Ondi-Ahman prior to his death have led most Latter-day Saints to conclude they are one and the same. (However, this verse raises more questions than it answers—there are no mountains of note in Missouri. So, was the geography more expansive than Joseph or the early saints presumed?)
Because Adam left the Garden of Eden, and (by this reading) dwelt somewhere in or near Missouri, many members have concluded the Garden of Eden must likewise be near by
As President John Taylor wrote:
Itt was stated by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in our hearing while standing on an elevated piece of ground or plateau near Adam-ondi-Ahman (Davis Co., Missouri,), where there were a number of rocks piled together, that the valley before us was the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman; or in other words, the valley where God talked with Adam, and where he gathered his righteous posterity, as recorded in the above revelation, and that this pile of stones was an altar built by him when he offered up sacrifices, as we understand, on that occasion.[4]
Response to claim: 14 - Joseph became a "swaggering general in his Army of Israel" and that "drilling and pageantry were quite suddenly pervasive aspects of a once-pacific Kirtland existence"
The author(s) of American Massacre make(s) the following claim:
The author, in describing the Kirtland period, states that Joseph became a "swaggering general in his Army of Israel" and that "drilling and pageantry were quite suddenly pervasive aspects of a once-pacific Kirtland existence."
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is false
The author seems to be very unfamiliar with Mormon history, because she is confusing Kirtland and Nauvoo. It was the Nauvoo Legion that performed "drilling and pageantry."
Response to claim: 14 - In Kirtland, Joseph "then initiated the secret rituals that would further repel their conventional Christian neighbors"
The author(s) of American Massacre make(s) the following claim:
Author's quote: "He then initiated the secret rituals that would further repel their conventional Christian neighbors-anointings, endowments, proxy baptisms, visions, healings, writhing ecstasies, and, especially, the concepts of 'eternal progression' and 'celestial marriage.'"
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is false
Proxy baptisms were not introduced until Nauvoo, they were not known at Kirtland. Healings and visions were present from the Church's very beginnings. "Writhing ecstasies" were condemned by LDS scripture by 1831 (see D&C 50). The U.S. Constitution protects private religious practices that do not harm others, including those which might "repel" one's conventional Christian neighbors.
Response to claim: 14 - The name of the Church was changed to the "Church of Latter-day Saints" in 1834
The author(s) of American Massacre make(s) the following claim:
The name of the Church was changed to the "Church of Latter-day Saints" in 1834.Author's sources:
- No source provided.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is based upon correct information - The author is providing knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject, or event
This is correct. The name of the Church was changed several times prior to the revelation which provided a permanent name.
Question: What is the history of name changes of the Church?
The original name of the Church when it was organized in 1830 was the "Church of Christ"
The original name of the Church when it was organized in 1830 was the "Church of Christ." Mormonism to some extent originated in the historical context of the restorationist movement. This movement consisted of Christians who believed that the original Christianity needed to be restored, and it was a common belief among Christian restorationists that the name of a Christian church should properly be the "Church of Christ." Many new members of the Church brought such ideas with them when they became "Mormons."
This caused practical problems, however, since there were lots of restorationist groups who named their local churches the "Church of Christ," so there was tremendous confusion. (Indeed, one of the groups that descends from Alexander Campbell's Disciples of Christ continues to use the name "Church of Christ" to this day.)
The use of the term "Mormonite" prompted changes in order to distinguish the Church from other Christian churches
This, coupled with the use of the common antagonistic epithet "Mormonite" (soon simplified to "Mormon"), led to a desire for a more distinctive name that would distinguish our church from so many others that were using the same name.
So in April 1834, under the influence of Sidney Rigdon (according to David Whitmer),[5] who had been a reformed Baptist preacher with close ties to Alexander Campbell prior to joining the church, the official name of the church was changed to the "Church of Latter Day Saints."
There was no attempt to distance the Church from the name of Christ
This was no attempt to distance the Church from the name of Christ or its claims to be Christ's church. In 1835, the official Church paper referred to the:
- "rise and progress of the church of Christ of Latter Day Saints" [6]
The final name of the Church came through revelation
The basis for the present name of the church came in D&C 115꞉3, received on April 26, 1838: the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." Note how this name combines elements of the original name and the Rigdon-inspired name.
In 1851 when the church formally incorporated, the name included a corporate initial article "The" and a British hyphenization of "Latter-day," thus becoming the formal name we use to this day, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Other groups that split off from the church, such as the Strangites and the Reorganization {RLDS, now Community of Christ}, kept the original unhyphenated "Latter Day" in their formal names.
The members of the Church have always seen themselves as Christians, and members of "the Church of Jesus Christ"
This chart demonstrates that the members of the Church have always seen themselves as Christians, and members of "the Church of Jesus Christ."
Journal or Series | Church of Christ | Church of Jesus Christ | Church of Jesus Christ of LDS | Latter-day Saints alone | Mormon Church |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evening and Morning Star (1832-1834) | 115 | 1 | xx | 0 | 0 |
Messenger and Advocate (1834-1837) | 33 | 0 | xx | 0 | 1 |
Elders Journal (1837-1838) | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Times and Seasons (1839-1846) | 118 | 13 | 24 | 47 | 4 |
Journal of Discourses 26 vols. (1839-1886)
1438 sermons |
167 | 59 | 308 | 3255 | 10 |
Collected Discourses 5 vols. (1886-1898)
432 sermons |
149 | 15 | 139 | 1121 | 7 |
General Conference Reports, (1880, 1897-1970) | 780 | 671 | 3180 | 6291 | 333 [7] |
Millennial Star (incomplete study) | - | 84 | - | - | - |
The Seer | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
xx = no use of name "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" because that name was not yet in use during the journal's publication dates.
Source: Ted Jones, FairMormon researcher, private communication (7 April 2007); updated 1 April 2010.
Response to claim: 14 - Emma is claimed to have driven "the girl" Fanny Alger out of her house
The author(s) of American Massacre make(s) the following claim:
Emma is claimed to have driven "the girl" Fanny Alger out of her house because she was "unable to conceal the consequences of her celestial relation with the Prophet."Author's sources:
- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 57.
- Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 459. ( Index of claims )
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
The claim wasn't made until over 50 years later, and appeared in an anti-Mormon book.
What do we know about Joseph Smith's first plural wife Fanny Alger?
There are no first-hand accounts of the relationship between Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger
One of the wives about whom we know relatively little is Fanny Alger, Joseph's first plural wife, whom he came to know in early 1833 when she stayed at the Smith home as a house-assistant of sorts to Emma (such work was common for young women at the time). There are no first-hand accounts of their relationship (from Joseph or Fanny), nor are there second-hand accounts (from Emma or Fanny's family). All that we do have is third hand (and mostly hostile) accounts, most of them recorded many years after the events.
Unfortunately, this lack of reliable and extensive historical detail leaves much room for critics to claim that Joseph Smith had an affair with Fanny and then later invented plural marriage as way to justify his actions which, again, rests on dubious historical grounds. The problem is we don't know the details of the relationship or exactly of what it consisted, and so are left to assume that Joseph acted honorably (as believers) or dishonorably (as critics).
There is some historical evidence that Joseph Smith knew as early as 1831 that plural marriage would be restored, so it is perfectly legitimate to argue that Joseph's relationship with Fanny Alger was such a case. Mosiah Hancock (a Mormon) reported a wedding ceremony; and apostate Mormons Ann Eliza Webb Young and her father Chauncery both referred to Fanny's relationship as a "sealing." Ann Eliza also reported that Fanny's family was very proud of Fanny's relationship with Joseph, which makes little sense if it was simply a tawdry affair. Those closest to them saw the marriage as exactly that—a marriage.
Did Joseph Smith marry Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833?
Joseph Smith met Fanny Alger in 1833 when she was a house-assistant to Emma
Joseph Smith came to know Fanny Alger in early 1833 when she stayed at the Smith home as a house-assistant to Emma. Neither Joseph nor Fanny ever left any first-hand accounts of their relationship. There are no second-hand accounts from Emma or Fanny's family. All that we do have is third hand accounts from people who did not directly observe the events associated with this first plural marriage, and most of them recorded many years after the events.
Joseph said that the "ancient order of plural marriage" was to again be practiced at the time that Fanny was living with his family
Benjamin F. Johnson stated that in 1835 he had "learned from my sister’s husband, Lyman R. Sherman, who was close to the Prophet, and received it from him, 'that the ancient order of Plural Marriage was again to be practiced by the Church.' This, at the time did not impress my mind deeply, although there lived then with his family (the Prophet’s) a neighbor’s daughter, Fannie Alger, a very nice and comely young woman about my own age, toward whom not only myself, but every one, seemed partial, for the amiability for her character; and it was whispered even then that Joseph loved her."[8]
Joseph asked the brother-in-law of Fanny's father to make the request of Fanny's father, after which a marriage ceremony was performed
Mosiah Hancock discusses the manner in which the proposal was extended to Fanny, and states that a marriage ceremony was performed. Joseph asked Levi Hancock, the brother-in-law of Samuel Alger, Fanny’s father, to request Fanny as his plural wife:
Samuel, the Prophet Joseph loves your daughter Fanny and wishes her for a wife. What say you?" Uncle Sam says, "Go and talk to the old woman [Fanny’s mother] about it. Twill be as she says." Father goes to his sister and said, "Clarissy, Brother Joseph the Prophet of the most high God loves Fanny and wishes her for a wife. What say you?" Said she, "Go and talk to Fanny. It will be all right with me." Father goes to Fanny and said, "Fanny, Brother Joseph the Prophet loves you and wishes you for a wife. Will you be his wife?" "I will Levi," said she. Father takes Fanny to Joseph and said, "Brother Joseph I have been successful in my mission." Father gave her to Joseph, repeating the ceremony as Joseph repeated to him.[9]
How could Joseph and Fanny have been married in 1831 if the sealing power had not yet been restored?
There is historical evidence that Joseph Smith knew as early as 1831 that plural marriage would be restored
There is historical evidence that Joseph Smith knew as early as 1831 that plural marriage would be restored. Mosiah Hancock (a Mormon) reported a wedding ceremony in Kirtland, Ohio in 1833.
Apostate Mormons Ann Eliza Webb Young and her father Chauncery both referred to Fanny's relationship as a "sealing." Ann Eliza also reported that Fanny's family was very proud of Fanny's relationship with Joseph, which makes little sense if it was simply a tawdry affair. Those closest to them saw the marriage as exactly that—a marriage.
Joseph and Fanny's marriage was a plural marriage, not an eternal marriage
Some have wondered how the first plural marriages (such as the Alger marriage) could have occurred before the 1836 restoration of the sealing keys in the Kirtland temple (see D&C 110). This confusion occurs because we tend to conflate several ideas. They were not all initially wrapped together in one doctrine:
- plural marriage - the idea that one could be married (in mortality) to more than one woman: being taught by 1831.
- eternal marriage - the idea that a man and spouse could be sealed and remain together beyond the grave: being taught by 1835.
- "celestial" marriage - the combination of the above two ideas, in which all marriages—plural and monogamous—could last beyond the grave via the sealing powers: implemented by 1840-41.
Thus, the marriage to Fanny would have occurred under the understanding #1 above. The concept of sealing beyond the grave came later. Therefore, the marriage of Joseph and Fanny would have been a plural marriage, but it would not have been a marriage for eternity.
Perhaps it is worth mentioning that priesthood power already gave the ability to ratify certain ordinances as binding on heaven and earth (D&C 1:8), that the sealing power was given mention in earlier revelations such as Helaman 10:7, and that the coming of Elijah and his turning of the hearts of children and fathers was prophesied in 3 Nephi 25:5-6. This supports the view that it is unlikely that Joseph was just making up the sealing power and priesthood power extemporaneously to justify getting married to Fanny and having sexual relations with her.
Did some of Joseph Smith's associates believe that he had an affair with Fanny Alger?
Oliver Cowdery perceived the relationship between Joseph and Fanny as a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair"
Some of Joseph's associates, most notably Oliver Cowdery, perceived Joseph's association with Fanny as an affair rather than a plural marriage. Oliver, in a letter to his brother Warren, asserted that "in every instance I did not fail to affirm that which I had said was strictly true. A dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger's was talked over in which I strictly declared that I had never deserted from the truth in the matter, and as I supposed was admitted by himself."[10]
Gary J. Bergera, an advocate of the "affair" theory, wrote:
I do not believe that Fanny Alger, whom [Todd] Compton counts as Smith’s first plural wife, satisfies the criteria to be considered a "wife." Briefly, the sources for such a "marriage" are all retrospective and presented from a point of view favoring plural marriage, rather than, say, an extramarital liaison…Smith’s doctrine of eternal marriage was not formulated until after 1839–40. [11]
There are several problems with this analysis. While it is true that sources on Fanny are all retrospective, the same is true of many early plural marriages. Fanny's marriage has more evidence than some. Bergera says that all the sources about Fanny's marriage come "from a point of view favoring plural marriage," but this claim is clearly false.
Even hostile accounts of the relationship between Joseph and Fanny report a marriage or sealing
For example, Fanny's marriage was mentioned by Ann Eliza Webb Young, a later wife of Brigham Young's who divorced him, published an anti-Mormon book, and spent much of her time giving anti-Mormon, anti-polygamy lectures. Fanny stayed with Ann Eliza's family after leaving Joseph and Emma's house, and both Ann Eliza and her father Chauncey Webb [12] refer to Joseph's relationship to Fanny as a "sealing." [13] Eliza also noted that the Alger family "considered it the highest honor to have their daughter adopted into the prophet's family, and her mother has always claimed that she [Fanny] was sealed to Joseph at that time." [14] This would be a strange attitude to take if their relationship was a mere affair. And, the hostile Webbs had no reason to invent a "sealing" idea if they could have made Fanny into a mere case of adultery.
It seems clear, then, that Joseph, Fanny's family, Levi Hancock, and even hostile witnesses saw their relationship as a marriage, albeit an unorthodox one. The witness of Chauncey Webb and Ann Eliza Webb Young make it untenable to claim that only a later Mormon whitewash turned an affair into a marriage.
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