Mormon Polygamy Documents
Original Document Links
Documentation of Joseph Smith's Plural Wives
Oliver Cowdery Letter to Warren Cowdery | January 21, 1838 | Oliver Cowdery Letterbook | Joseph Smith Papers |
- __
William Clayton's Personal Writings and Nauvoo Diaries | Compiled by Robert C. Fillerup | 1840-1846 | 304 Pages
Oliver H. Olney Papers | 1842-1843 | Typed copy | Yale University
- folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
William Law | The Nauvoo Expositor | 1844 | __ Pages
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- P. 219 -
Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings | Brown |
- P. 282 - Lucy Walker
- P. 284 - Elvira Cowles
- P. 285 - Helen Mar Kimball to Joseph Smith
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40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, Book number 1, 1869 (Joseph F. Smith)
- Church History Library Description: "Volume contains plural marriage affidavits copied by Joseph F. Smith, except for those on pages 82 and 84 copied by L. John Nuttall. All are signed by affiants and certified, except for that of Cylvia [Sylvia] Lyon (incomplete). Includes an index at end of volume. Front and back fly leaves of volume are embossed with name of Joseph F. Smith."
- P. 3-4 - Joseph Bates Noble Affidavit
- P. 5-6 - Zina Huntington Young Affidavit
- P. 7-8 - Presendia Lathrop Huntington Kimball affidavit
- P. 9-10 Ruth Vose Sayers affidavit
- P. 11-12 Emily Dow Partridge Young affidavit
- P. 13-14 Emily Dow Partridge Young affidavit
- P. 15-16 Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde affidavit
- P. 17-18 Rhoda Richards affidavit
- P. 19-20 Dimick B. Huntington affidavit
- P. 21-22 Fanny Maria Huntington
- P. 23-24 Melissa Lott Willes affidavit
- P. 25-26 Eliza Roxcy Snow affidavit
- P. 27-28 David Fullmer Affidavit
- P. 29-31 Lovina Walker certificate
- P. 32-33 Desdemona Fullmer Smith affidavit
- P. 34-35 Mercy R. Thompson affidavit (married hyrum)
- P. 36-37 Sarah Ann Kimball affidavit
- P. 38-41 Joseph Bates Noble affidavit
- P. 42-43 Thomas Grover affidavit
- P. 44-45 Thomas Grover affidavit
- P. 46-47 Mary Ann Young affidavit
- P. 48-49 Lucy Ann Decker Young affidavit
- P. 50-51 Augusta Adams Young affidavit
- P. 52-53 Augusta Adams Young affidavit
- P. 54-55 Charles C. Rich affidavit
- P. 56-57 John Pack affidavit
- P. 58-59 Cylvia [Sylvia] Lyon affidavit (Unsigned)
- P. 60-61 Elizabeth B. Pratt affidavit
- P. 62 John Pack affidavit
- P. 63-65 Mary Ellen Able Kimball affidavit
- P. 66-69 Lucy Walker Kimball affidavit
- P. ?? William Clayton journal extract
- P. ?? William Clayton journal extract
- P. 70-71 Amos Fielding affidavit
- P. 72-73 Elizabeth Ann Whitney affidavit
- P. 74-75 John Benbow affidavit
- P. 76-77 Nathan Tanner affidavit
- P. 78-79 Elvira A. C. Holmes affidavit
- P. 80-81 Sarah Perry Peake Kimball affidavit
- P. 82-83 James Allred affidavit
- P. 84-85 Aaron Johnson affidavit
- P. 86-87 Roxsena Rachel Adams affidavit
- P. 88-
40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, Book number 1 (second series) (Joseph F. Smith)
Church History Library Description: "Affidavits are similar copies to those registered in Book 1 in folder 44, but pagination sometimes varies. A crossed out affidavit for Vienna Jaques, in Joseph F. Smith's handwriting, is located on page 56. Name index is at end of volume."
Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, Book number 2, 1870, 1903 (Joseph F. Smith)
Church History Library Description: "Volume contains plural marriage affidavits as copied by Joseph F. Smith. Those through page 18 and that on page 50 are signed by affiants and certified. Bathsheba W. Smith's 1903 affidavit is copied by Joseph Fielding Smith. Front and back fly leaves are embossed with name of Joseph F. Smith."
- P. 3-11 Benjamin F. Johnson affidavit
- P. 12-13 Harriet Cook Young affidavit
- P. 14-15 Harriet Cook Young affidavit
- P. 16-17 Clara Decker Young affidavit
- P. 18 Joseph C. Kingsbury affidavit
- P. 19-20 Testimony of Lorenzo Snow
- P. 21-22 Statement and affidavit of Christopher Merkley
- P. 25-30 Copy of Joseph Smith letter to Newel and Elizabeth Ann Whitney
- P. 31-32 Eliza Maria Partridge Lyman affidavit
- P. 33-35 Eliza Maria Partridge Lyman affidavit
- P. 36-37 Martha McBride [Knight] Kimball affidavit
- P. 38-39 Mary Ann Pratt affidavit
- P. 40-41 Mary Ann Pratt affidavit
- P. 42-43 Adeline Brooks Andrus Benson affidavit
- P. 44 Pamelia Andrus Benson affidavit
- P. 45-46 Testimony of Orson Hyde
- P. 47-49 David Fullmer, Thomas Grover, and Aaron Johnson affidavit
- P. 50 Jacob Peart affidavit
- P. 51-52 Bathsheba W. Smith affidavit
- 190 blank pages
- Book cover
Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, Book number 2 (second series), 1870 (Joseph F. Smith)
Church History Library Description: "Affidavits are similar to copies registered in Book 2 in folder 45; volume does not contain a copy of Bathsheba W. Smith's 1903 affidavit."
Andrew Jenson Collection | MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.| Names and notes about women who have been identified as probable wives of Joseph Smith | 40 Pages
- Blank pages: 2, 6, 8, 16, 18, 20, 24, 26, 28, 30, 34, 38, 40
- P. 1 Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,”
- P. 3 Lucinda Harris Morgan, scribbled out sheet
- P. 4 Eldredge died 1871? scribbled out sheet
- P. 5 Mary Rollins lightner and a few names
- P. 7 Fanny Young biographical sheet
- P. 9 Ruth Vose Sayers
- P. 10 blankish
- P. 11 Ruth Vose Sayers?
- P. 12 unclear something about March 1886
- P. 13 Ruth Vose Sayers
- P. 14 blankish
- P. 15 Marietta Welling letter to Andrew Jenson
- P. 17 Elvira Cowles
- P. 19 Sarah M. Cleveland (name)
- P. 21-22 List of women sealed to Joseph Smith
- P. 23 Fanny Alger
- P. 25 Hannah Ells biographical sheet
- P. 27 Sylvia sessions biographical sheet
- P. 29 Flora Ann Woodworth biographical sheet
- P. 31 Malissa Ann Willis signed affidavit June 27, 1887?
- P. 32 Flora woodworth (name)
- P. 33 Rhoda Richards biographical sheet
- P. 35 Ruth Vose Sayers biographical sheet
- P. 36 Abraham Hoagland? scribbled out page
- P. 37 Sarah Ann Whitney biographical sheet
- P. 39 Eliza Snow biographical sheet
Further research on Jensen can be found at: Perkins, Keith W., “A Study of the Contributions of Andrew Jenson to the Writing and Preservation of LDS Church History.” M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1971.
William McLellin, Letter to Joseph Smith III | January 10, 1861 | Community of Christ Archives | Mormonpolyamydocuments.org
William McLellin, Letter to Joseph Smith III | July 1872 | Community of Christ Archives
William W. Blair Diary | June 17, 1874 | Community of Christ Archives | Mormonpolygamydocuments.org
"Whitehead says Joseph did teach polygamy and practice too. That Emma knows it and that she put the hand of wives in Joseph's hand."
William McLellin to Orson Pratt | Joseph F. Smith Diary | Sept. 6, 1878 (not verified if this is when JFS wrote this) |
William McLellln in conversation with Emma Smith on August 28, 1847, later wrote:
“Mrs. Joseph Smith, the widow of the Prophet, told me in 1847 that she knew her husband – the Prophet practiced both adultery and polygamy.”
- William E. McLellin Notebook, ca. 1880, John L. Traughber Collection, Ms 666, Manuscripts Division, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt lake City
On September 6, 1878, McLellin was visited by Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt. Joseph F. recorded in his diary:
“He [McLellin] said Emma Smith told him that Joseph was both a polygamist and an adulterer.” Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Life of Joseph F. Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938), 239
Joseph Smith III Letter to Bro. E.C. Brand | Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives | 1880s (estimated) | Plural Marriage | __ pages
- p. 79 - See this page
Helen Mar Kimball Autobiography | March 30, 1881 | CHL MS 744 | Original
- Online transcribed at BYU. Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, “Autobiography, March 30, 1881.”
Mormon Portraits | Wyl [pseud. of Wilhelm Ritter Von Wymetal] | 1886 |
- p. 54-55 quoted Sarah Pratt
- p. 57 Chauncey Webb
Temple Lot Case | 1893 | Archive.org
Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock, Reminiscence of Mosiah Hancock | June 6, 1896 | CHL MS 570 |
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- See P. 63-64
- Editorial Note From Fanny Alger Church topics essay “Hancock, who was only two years old when Fanny left Kirtland in 1836, and Johnson relied on secondhand information for their accounts.”
Utah Newspapers Archives | University of Utah Library | Scans of all of Utah's newspapers
- Joseph F. Smith 1869 Affidavit Books
- Almera W. Johnson, Affidavit, August 1, 1883, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library
- Desdemona Fullmer, Affidavit, June 17, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:32, 4:32.
- Eliza Partridge, Affidavits, July 1, 1869, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library; copied into Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:32, 33; 3:33;
- Eliza R. Snow, Affidavit, June 7, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:25, 4:25.
- Emily D. Partridge, Affidavits, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books 1:11, 13; 4:11, 13. Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223.
- Eliza Partridge, Affidavits, July 1, 1869, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library; also in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:34, 3:34.
- Elvira A. C. Holmes, Affidavit, August 28, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:78, 4:80
- Hannah Ells - John Benbow, Affidavit, August 28, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:74, 4:76
- Louisa Beaman - Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:3, 4:1.
- Lucy Walker, Affidavit, August 9, 1869, Joseph Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:66, 4:68.
- Malissa Lott, Affidavit, May 20, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:23, 4:23.
- Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:15, 4:15
- Martha McBride, Affidavit, July 8, 1869, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library; copied in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:36; 3:36
- Presendia L. Huntington, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:7, 4:7.
- Rhoda Richards, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:17, 4:17
- Ruth Vose, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:9, 4:9
- Sarah A. Kimball, Affidavit, July 27, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:36; 4:36.
- Sylvia Sessions -
- Unsigned, undated, and unnotarized documents in Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books 1:60, 4:62.
- Josephine Rosetta Fisher (Sylvia's daughter) statement, Joseph F. Smith 1869 Affidavit Book
- Zina D. Huntington Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:5, 4:5
- Andrew Jenson 1876 List
- William Clayton journal excerpts
- Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256, lists a “Mrs. A**** S****.” Agnes was Don Carlos Smith’s widow.
- William Clayton 1874 discusses js on marriage
- D&c 132
- Nauvoo expositor
- 1847 William McClellan on Fanny Alger
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Affidavit, March 4, 1870, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:3–9, 3:3–9; published in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Mary Ann West, Deposition, Temple Lot Transcript, Respondent’s Testimony, Part 3, pp. 521–22, questions 679, 687.
- Temple Lot case fair lds summary and links
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Agnes M Coolbrith
- Brigham Young, Journal, January 6, 1842.
- Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256, lists a “Mrs. A**** S****.” Agnes was Don Carlos Smith’s widow.
- Mary Ann West, Deposition, Temple Lot Transcript, Respondent’s Testimony, Part 3, pp. 521–22, questions 679, 687.
- Argus [Charles Wesley Wandell], “History of Mormonism . . . Open Letter to Brigham Young,” Daily Corrine Reporter, August 2, 1871, 2.
- Lucy Walker Kimball to Joseph F. Smith (“My very dear Nephew”), Santa Rosa, February 24, 1884.
- See also Nauvoo Female Relief Society Minutes, September 28, 1842, 89, in Richard E. Turley Jr., Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 1, DVD #19.
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued manuscript, Western Americana, Beinecke Library, Yale University, folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.”
Almera Johnson
- Almera W. Johnson, Affidavit, August 1, 1883, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library, published in Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 70–71.
- Benjamin F. Johnson, Letter to George F. Gibbs, 1903, 41, printed in Dean R. Zimmerman, ed., I Knew the Prophets, 38–39.
- Johnson, Letter to Anthon H. Lund, May 12, 1903.
- Johnson, My Life’s Review, 94–97.
- Benjamin F. Johnson, “More Testimony,” 4.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Johnson, Affidavit, March 4, 1870, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:3–9, 3:3–9; published in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library, in Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
Delcena Johnson
- Benjamin F. Johnson, Letter to George F. Gibbs, 1903, 45; see also 40, 43; Zimmerman, I Knew the Prophets (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon, 1976), 38–39.
- Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review, 95–97.
- Benjamin F. Johnson to Anthon H. Lund, May 12, 1903.
Desdemona Fullmer
- Desdemona Fullmer, Affidavit, June 17, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:32, 4:32.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Malissa Lott, “First list of wives,” Document #1, dictated to Jenson, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234–35.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 26, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 283.
Eliza Maria Partridge
- Eliza Partridge, Affidavits, July 1, 1869, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library; copied into Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:32, 33; 3:33; published Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869
- Emily D. P. Young, “Autobiography,” Woman’s Exponent 14, no. 5 (August 1, 1885): 38.Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 240.
- Malissa Lott, “First list of wives,” Document #1, dictated to Jenson, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, MS 3412, LDS Church History Library, in Jenson, Plural Marriage,@ 224.
- Benjamin F. Johnson to Anthon H. Lund, May 12, 1903.
- Benjamin F. Johnson, AMore Testimony,@ Letter to the editor, March 9, 1904, Deseret Evening News, April 12, 1904, 4.
- Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234, 236–37.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 13, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 281.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued manuscript, Western Americana, Beinecke Library, Yale University, Folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
Eliza R. Snow
- Eliza R. Snow, Affidavit, June 7, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:25, 4:25.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Malissa Lott and Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Eliza R. Snow, “Sketch of My Life,” holograph, Bancroft Library, Berkeley, California, In Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2000), 16–17.
- Eliza R. Snow, qtd. in J. J. J., “Two Prophets’ Widows: A Visit to the Relicts of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 18, 1887, 6.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, MS 3412. In Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 3, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 284.
- Jenson, “Eliza R. Snow Smith biographical information sheet,” Document #18, in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 233.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued manuscript, Western Americana, Beinecke Library, Yale University, Folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
Elizabeth Davis
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1,, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16. (TODD NEED TO LOCATE WHERE IN THE DOC)
- Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256, lists a “Mrs. D*****.” Elizabeth married Jabez Durfee.
- Sarah Pratt, quoted in Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 54–55.
- Jackson, A Narrative of the Adventures and Experiences of Joseph H. Jackson, 13.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 22, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 282.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Accompanied Eliza R. Snow, Sarah Ann Whitney, and Elvira A. Cowles to visit Malissa Lot on June 29, 1843. Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 78.
Elvira Cowles
- Elvira A. C. Holmes, Affidavit, August 28, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:78, 4:80.
- Malissa Lott, “First list of wives,” Document #1, dictated to Jenson, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Marietta Welling, “Letter of Marietta Welling to Jenson regarding Elvira Cowles Holmes, June 30, 1887,” Document #6, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Elvira Cowles biographical information sheet,” Document #7, in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 3, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 284.
- Accompanied Eliza R. Snow, Sarah Ann Whitney, and Elizabeth Davis to visit Malissa Lot on June 29, 1843, in Beecher, The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow, 78.
Emily Dow Partridge
- Emily D. Partridge, Affidavits, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books 1:11, 13; 4:11, 13. Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223.
- Eliza Partridge, Affidavits, July 1, 1869, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library; also in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:34, 3:34.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Emily D. Partridge, Temple Lot Transcript, Part 3, pp. 371, 384, questions 480–84, 747, 751–62.
- Emily D. P. Young, “Autobiography,” Woman’s Exponent 14, no. 5 (August 1, 1885): 38.
- Malissa Lott, dictation in “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, MS 3412, LDS Church History Library; in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 221.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 14, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 281.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued manuscript, Western Americana, Beinecke Library, Yale University, folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
Esther Dutcher
- Daniel H. Wells to Joseph F. Smith, June 25, 1888.
Fanny Alger
- https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Fanny-Alger-Appendix-D.pdf
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Mosiah Hancock, Reminiscence, 1896, in Levi Hancock, “Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock, circa 1896” (part three, June 6, 1896), 63–64 (MS 570) Editorial Note From Fanny Alger Church topics essay “Hancock, who was only two years old when Fanny left Kirtland in 1836, and Johnson relied on secondhand information for their accounts.”
- Oliver Cowdery, Letter to Warren Cowdery, January 21, 1838, Oliver Cowdery Letterbook.
- Far West High Council members, in Donald Q. Cannon and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., Far West Record: Minutes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1844, 167–68, April 12, 1838.
- April 4, 1899 proxy sealing to Joseph Smith under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library; Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
- Benjamin F. Johnson letter to George F. Gibbs, April–October 1903, 26–27, (MS 1289).
- Editorial Note From Fanny Alger Church topics essay “Hancock, who was only two years old when Fanny left Kirtland in 1836, and Johnson relied on secondhand information for their accounts.”
- Further Study can be found at: Benjamin F. Johnson, Letter to George F. Gibbs, 1903, 38–39. Dean R. Zimmerman, ed., I Knew the Prophets: An Analysis of the Letter of Benjamin F. Johnson to George F. Gibbs, Reporting Doctrinal Views of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, 38–39.
- William McLellin, Letter to Joseph Smith III, July 1872, Community of Christ Archives.
- William McLellin, quoted in J. H. Beadle, “Jackson County,” Salt Lake Tribune, October 6, 1875, 4.
- “Historicus” [pseud.], “Sketches from the History of Polygamy: Joseph Smith=s Especial Revelations,” 1.
- Eliza Jane Churchhill Webb, Letters to Mary Bond, April 24, and May 4, 1876.
- Ann Eliza Webb Young, Wife No. 19, 1875, 66–67.
- Chauncey Webb, quoted in Wyl [pseud. of Wilhelm Ritter Von Wymetal], Mormon Portraits or Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and His Friends: A Study Based on Facts and Documents (1886), 57.
- John Hawley, Autobiography, January 1885.
- Jenson, “Fanny Alger biographical sheet,” Document #10, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Alger, Fanny, Joseph Smith’s wife. One of the first wives Joseph married. Emma made such a fuss about. Sister E. R. Snow was well acquainted with her as she lived with the Prophet at the time. She afterwards married in Indiana where she became the mother of a large family. A brother Alger lives in St. George.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 233; Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 75.
Fanny Young
- Brigham Young, August 31, 1873, Journal of Discourses 16:166–67.
- Jenson, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Fanny Murray biographical information sheet,” Document #4, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Augusta Adams Young, Affidavit, July 12, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:52, 4:52.
- Harriet Cook Young, Affidavit, March 4, 1870, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:14, 3:14.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Eliza Jane Churchill Webb, Letter to Mary Bond, April 24, 1876.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library, in Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
Flora Ann Woodworth
- Malissa Lott via Jenson in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16, “First list of wives,” Document #1.
- Jenson, “Flora Ann Woodworth biographical information sheet,” Document #13, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Malissa Lott, “Letter of Malissa Willis to Jenson, June 27, 1887, regarding Flora Ann Woodworth,” Document #14, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, MS 3412. Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Helen Mar Whitney, “Travels beyond the Mississippi,” Woman’s Exponent 13 (November 1, 1884): 87.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library. Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
Hannah Ells
- Malissa Lott, “First list of wives,” Document #1, dictated to Jenson, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Hannah Ells biographical information sheet,” Document #11, in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- John Benbow, Affidavit, August 28, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:74, 4:76; Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 222–23, 234.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library, in Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
- Eliza R. Snow, Letter to President John Taylor, December 27, 1886; also in the First Presidency Office Journal, December 28, 1886, Minutes of the Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835–1893, 368.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
Helen Mar Kimball
I was baptized by Uncle Brigham Young in a branch of the Chagrin river, my father cutting the ice for that purpose. He & Brigham Young then belonged to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Years passed away and we were living in the City of Nauvoo. Just previous to my father’s starting upon his last mission but one, to the Eastern States, he taught me the principle [p. 1] of Celestial marriage, & having a great desire to be connected with the Prophet, Joseph, he offered me to him; this I afterwards learned from the Prophet’s own mouth. My father had but one Ewe Lamb, but willingly laid her upon the alter: how cruel this seamed to the mother whose heartstrings were already stretched untill they were ready to snap asunder, for he had taken Sarah Noon to wife & she thought she had made sufficient sacrafise, but the Lord required more. I will pass over the temptations which I had during the twenty four hours after my father introduced to me this principle & asked me if I would be sealed to Joseph, who came next morning & with my parents I heard him teach & explain the principle of [p. 1] Celestial marrage-after which he said to me, “If you will take this step, it will ensure your eternal salvation and exaltation & that of your father’s household & all of your kindred.
This promise was so great that I will-ingly gave myself to purchase so glorious a reward. None but God & his angels could see my mother’s bleeding heart—when Joseph asked her if she was willing, she replied “If Helen is willing I have nothing more to say.” She had witnessed the sufferings of others, who were older & who better understood the step they were taking, & to see her child, who had scarcely seen her fifteenth summer, following in the same thorny path, in her mind she saw the misery which was as sure to come as the sun was to rise and set; but it was all hidden from me.
I thought through this life my time will be my own
The step I now am taking’s for eternity alone,
No one need be the wiser, through time I shall be free,
And as the past hath been the future still will be.
To my guileless heart all free from worldly care
And full of blissful hopes—and youthful visions rare
The world seamed bright the thret’ning clouds were kept
From sight, and all looked fair but pitying angels wept.
They saw my youthful friends grow shy and cold.
And poisonous darts from sland’rous tongues were hurled,
Untutor’d heart in thy gen’rous sacrafise,
Thou dids’t not weigh the cost nor know the bitter price;
Thy happy dreems all o’er thou’rt doom’d alas to be
Bar’d out from social scenes by this thy destiny,
And o’er thy sad’nd mem’ries of sweet departed joys
Thy sicken’d heart will brood and imagine future woes,
And like a fetter’d bird with wild and longing heart,
Thou’lt dayly pine for freedom and murmor at thy lot;
But could’st thou see the future & view that glorious crown,
Awaiting you in Heaven you would not weep nor mourn, [p. 2]
Pure and exalted was thy father’s aim, he saw
A glory in obeying this high celestial law,
For to thousands who’ve died without the light
I will bring eternal joy & make thy crown more bright.
I’d been taught to receive the Prophet of God
And receive every word as the word of the Lord.
But had this not come through my dear father’s mouth,
I should ne’r have received it as God’s sacred truth.
Two years after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum I loved and married your father, Horace Kimball Whitney, eldest son of Bishop Newel K. and Elizabeth Ann Whitney. He stood proxy for Joseph & I stood for Elizabeth Sikes. We were sealed in the Nauvoo Temple over the alter on the 3d of Feb. 1846.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 4, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 285.
Louisa Beaman
- (under evidence a lot of comparison 1841 vs 1840
- Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:3, 4:1.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Franklin D. Richards, Journal, January 22, 1869.
- Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 6:452, February 22, 1869.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874.
- Almera Johnson, Affidavit, August 1, 1883.
- Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Karl A. Larson and Katherine Miles Larson, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 2:515.
- Joseph Bates Noble, Testimony at the Temple Lot Case, Part 3, pp. 432, 436, questions 793, 799, 861.
- Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, quoted in B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 2:102.
- Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Franklin D. Richards, Journal, January 22, 1869 (loose sheet, numbered 145).
- Joseph Noble, Address, June 11, 1883, at Centerville, Utah, stake conference, in Journal History.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Erastus Snow, Affidavit, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 232.
- Erastus Snow, St. George Utah Stake [Conference], General Minutes, Sunday, June 17, 1883, 2 p.m., LR 7836 11, Reel 1.
- Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256: “Miss L***** B*****.”
- Orson Pratt, quoted in “Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,” 788. Date of sealing given but Louisa=s name not provided.
- Ann Eliza Webb Young, Wife No. 19, 72
- .
- Benjamin Winchester, Testimony to Joseph Smith III, Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 27, 1900, Community of Christ Archives.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 239; biography of Joseph B. Noble.
- Nauvoo Temple Proxy Marriage to Joseph Smith, January 14, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 281.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, pp. 63–67. (see p. 79 of link)
- Wilford Woodruff, “Historian’s Private Journal,” (one volume, 1858-1878), undated statement written between a July 1, 1866 entry and a November 18, 1874 entry. Date is 1840. See chart below.
- Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued and untitled manuscript, Western Americana MSS, Beinecke Library, Yale University, folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
Lucinda Pendleton
- Harriet Cook Young, “Lucinda Harris biographical information sheet,” Document #2, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 233.
- Sarah Pratt, in Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 60.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 22, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 282.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library. Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
- Willard Richards recorded January 17, 1842: “dined at Sister Agness. with Joseph & Sister Harris.” Willard Richards, Journal, 1847.
Lucy Walker
- Lucy Walker, Affidavit, August 9, 1869, Joseph Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:66, 4:68.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Lucy Walker, Affidavit, December 17, 1902; Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 68–69. This affidavit contains the exact same wording as a second affidavit dated October 24, 1902: AOath of Lucy Walker Smith: Wife of Joseph Smith, Jr.,@ photocopy in my possession.
- Lucy Walker in Lyman Omer Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints, 46–48.
- Lucy Walker, Deposition, Temple Lot Transcript, Part 3, p. 451, question 30.
- Her deposition is p. 371 - 379 found here. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Reorganized_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_o/qi5OAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA371&printsec=frontcover
- Lucy Walker, “Talks of Polygamy,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 24, 1899, 4.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 229–30, 234, 236.
- William Clayton, Journal, May 1, 1843, in George D. Smith, ed. An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton, 100.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Eliza Partridge, Affidavit, July 1, 1869, MS 3423, copied in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:30, 3:30.
- Malissa Lott, dictation, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Theodocia Frances Walker Davis (niece of Lucy Walker), Joseph Smith III, Journal, November 12 [or November 18?], 1876.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 15, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 282.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 418.
Malissa Lott
- Malissa Lott, Affidavit, May 20, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:23, 4:23. Affidavit specifies September 20, 1843, and erroneously lists the sealing year as 1842. Affidavit printed in Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 72, 55.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Malissa Lott Willes, Statement, August 4, 1893, to Joseph Smith III, quoted in Raymond T. Bailey, “Emma Hale: Wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” 99.
- Malissa Lott, Temple Lot Transcript, Part 3, pp. 97, 105–6, questions 87–93, 224–60; specifies September 27, 1843.
- Likely this page: https://archive.org/details/TempleLotCase/page/n317/mode/2up?q=malissa+lott
- Lott Family Bible, MS 3373, specifies September 20, 1843.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234; “Miscellaneous,” 5 (December 1886): 119.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 8, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 285.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book); Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
Maria Lawrence
- Malissa Lott, “First list of wives,” Document #1, dictated to Jenson in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223, 234.
- Lucy Walker Smith Kimball, Deposition, Temple Lot Transcript, Part 3, p. 461, question 282.
- Helen [Mar] Kimball [Smith] Whitney, “Scenes and Incidents at Winter Quarters,” Woman’s Exponent 14, no. 14 (February 15, 1886,): 138.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 24, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 283.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Johnson, “More Testimony,” 4.
- Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
Marinda Nancy Johnson
- Joseph Smith, Journal, a list of marriages in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock, entered after July 14, 1843: “Apr 42 Marinda Johnson to Joseph Smith.” Turley, Selected Collections, Vol. 1, DVD #20, MS155_1_6_320.jpg.; it is written in the hand of a different scribe from previous entries on an undated page after the final entry in that journal dated July 14, 1843. Transcribed in Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet’s Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, 396.
- Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:15, 4:15.
- Emmeline Wells, Letter to Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, March 12, 1887.
- Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 147.
Martha McBride
- Martha McBride, Affidavit, July 8, 1869, MS 3423, LDS Church History Library; copied in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 2:36; 3:36. See also Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 72; p. 86 in 1905 ed.
- Jenson, “Second, revised list of wives,” Document #9, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 26, 1846; Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 283.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945), 419.
Mary Elizabeth Rollins
- Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Affidavit, March 23, 1877.
- Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, “Autobiography,” 18–20.
- Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Letter to Emmeline B. Wells, Summer 1905.
- Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Address given at BYU, April 14, 1905, 2.
- Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Statement, February 8, 1902.
- Emmeline B. Wells, Letters to Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, February 10, March 12, June 22, 1887.
- Mary Lightner, James H. Rollins, and John D. T. McAllister, Letter to John Taylor, May 22, 1882.
- Mary Lightner, Letter to President Woodruff, October 7, 1887; Mary Lightner, Letter to Wilford Woodruff, October 9, 1887.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 17, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 282.
- Andrew Jenson, “Mary Lightner biographical sheet,” Document #3, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- L. John Nuttall, Diary, April 18, 1884; Jedediah S. Rogers, ed., In the President=s Office: The Diaries of L. John Nuttall, 1879–1892, 123.
Mary Heron
- Joseph Ellis Johnson alleged in 1850 that he was aware of sexual relations between Joseph Smith and Mary Heron, his mother-in-law. Misc Minutes, B.Y. Collection, September 2, 1850, D. Michael Quinn PapersCAdditionCUncat WA MS 244 (Accession:19990209-c) Box 1. This document is available on Richard E. Turley Jr., Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Provo, Utah: BYU Press, 2002), Vol. 1, DVD #18, but that entry is blacked out, restricted because it deals with Church disciplinary proceedings.
- Nancy Maria Winchester
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 419.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 3, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 284.
Olive G. Frost
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 235, 234.
- Joseph E. Robinson, Diary, October 26, 1902.
- James Whitehead, Interviewed by Joseph Smith III, April 20, 1885.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library, in Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63.
Patty Bartlett
- Patty Bartlett, Journal, page after June 16, 1860. In Donna Toland Smart, ed., Mormon Midwife: The 1846–1888 Diaries of Patty Bartlett Sessions, 276–77.
- Patty Bartlett Sessions, Affidavit, n.d., received June 1867.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16. (TODD I don’t see her name but maybe I’m missing it)
- Joseph H. Jackson, A Narrative of the Adventures and Experiences of Joseph H. Jackson in Nauvoo, Exposing the Depths of Mormon Villainy, 13.
- Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256, lists a “Mrs. S*******.” Patty married David Sessions.
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued manuscript, n.d., folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
Presendia Huntington
- (has 1840 vs 1841 charts)
- Presendia L. Huntington, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:7, 4:7.
- Presendia L. Huntington, Letter to her eldest granddaughter living in 1880, April 1, 1881.
- Malissa Lott dictation to Jenson, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.(TODD - I don’t see he on this list but maybe I’m missing her)
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 233.
- Zina Huntington Young, Journal, December 11, 1848.
- Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256, lists as one of Joseph’s wives “Mrs. B****,” Presendia married Norman Buell.
- Oliver Huntington, Journal, February 18, 1883.
- Wilford Woodruff, “Historian’s Private Journal,” (one volume, 1858-1878), undated statement written between a July 1, 1866 entry and a November 18, 1874 entry. Date is for 1840. See chart below.
- Wells, “A Venerable Woman: Presendia Lathrop Kimball,” 163.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 4, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings,, 285.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 418–19.
Rhoda Richards
- Rhoda Richards, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:17, 4:17, published in Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 75.
- Joseph Smith, Journal, June 12, 1843, in Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet’s Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, 387.
- George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
- Jenson, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Rhoda Richards biographical information sheet,” Document #15, in Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 31, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 284.
- Wilford Woodruff, “Historian’s Private Journal,” (one volume, 1858-1878), undated statement written between a July 1, 1866 entry and a November 18, 1874 entry.
Ruth Vose
- Ruth Vose, Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:9, 4:9.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, Documents #5 and #16, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library. Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith” 41, 63. (a 1973 book)
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Todd’s Jensen list. Page 20. https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=d1f5646d-7cfb-4cfc-b8de-4a38c63a8f5f&crate=0&index=20
Sarah Ann Whitney
- Sarah A. Kimball, Affidavit, July 27, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:36; 4:36. Printed in Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 73.
- Revelation to Joseph Smith, July 27, 1842, holograph in LDS Church History Library, published in H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1999), 315–16; see also Revelations in Addition to Those Found in the LDS Edition of the D&C, New Mormon Studies: A Comprehensive Resource Library, CD-ROM (Salt Lake City: Smith Research Associates, 1998).
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Elizabeth Ann Whitney, Affidavit, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:72; 4:74, printed in Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage, 74.
- William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874, MS 3412, LDS Church History Library, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 225.
- Joseph Kingsbury, Affidavit, May 22, 1886, MS 3412, LDS Church History Library, printed in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 226.
- Elizabeth Ann Whitney, in Edward Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom (New York City: N.pub., 1877), 368–69. See also Elizabeth Ann Whitney, “A Leaf from an Autobiography,” Woman=s Exponent 7, no. 14 (December 15, 1878): 105; see also Carol Cornwall Madsen, ed., In Their Own Words: Women and the Story of Nauvoo (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 202.
- Orson F. Whitney, “Life of Heber C. Kimball,” [headline?], The Contributor 6, no. 4 (January 1885,): 131.
- Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, “Scenes in Nauvoo after the Martyrdom of the Prophet and Patriarch,” Woman’s Exponent 11, no. 19 (March 1, 1883): 146.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 12, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 281.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945), 418.
- Jenson, “Sarah Ann Whitney biographical information sheet,” Document #17, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 233.
- Sarah Kingsley
- (Cleveland)
- Malissa Lott, dictated in “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- p.19
- 22
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223, 234.
- Lucy Walker Smith Kimball, Deposition, Temple Lot Transcript, Part 3, p. 461, question 282.
- Helen Kimball Whitney, “Scenes and Incidents at Winter Quarters,” Woman’s Exponent 14 (February 15 1886): 138.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 26, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 283.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945), 419.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Johnson, “More Testimony,” 4.
- Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
Sarah Lawrence
- Malissa Lott, dictated in “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223, 234.
- Lucy Walker Smith Kimball, Deposition, Temple Lot Transcript, Part 3, p. 461, question 282.
- Helen Kimball Whitney, “Scenes and Incidents at Winter Quarters,” Woman’s Exponent 14 (February 15 1886): 138.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 26, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 283.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945), 419.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Johnson, “More Testimony,” 4.
- Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
Sylvia Sessions
- Josephine Rosetta Lyon Fisher Affidavit, February 24, 1915, LDS Church History Library; MS 3423_1_48.
- Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Unsigned, undated, and unnotarized documents in Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books 1:60, 4:62.
- Angus Munn Cannon, “Statement of an Interview with Joseph Smith, III, 1905, Regarding Conversation on October 12, 1905,” MS 3166.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, January 26, 1846; Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 283.
- Proxy sealing to Joseph Smith, April 4, 1899, under the direction of President Lorenzo Snow, Salt Lake Temple Sealing Records, Book D, 243, GS film, 184,590, LDS Family History Library; Tinney, “The Royal Family of the Prophet Joseph Smith Junior: First President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” 41, 63.
- Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945), 419.
- Jenson, “Sylvia Sessions biographical information sheet,” Document #12, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 234.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
- [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued manuscript, Western Americana, Beinecke Library, Yale University, Folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.
Zina Huntington
- Zina D. Huntington Affidavit, May 1, 1869, Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:5, 4:5,
- Malissa Lott, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
- Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 233.
- Oliver Huntington, Journal, February 18, 1883, October 27, 1887.
- John Wight, interviewer, “Evidence from Zina D. Huntington Young, October 1, 1898,” Saints Herald 52 (January 11, 1905): 28–30.
- Emmeline B. Wells, “A Distinguished Woman: Zina D. H. Young,” 99.
- William Hall, The Abominations of Mormonism Exposed, 43–44.
- John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, edited by W. W. Bishop, 132.
- Nauvoo Temple proxy marriage to Joseph Smith, February 2, 1846, in Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings,, 284.
- Joseph Smith III, Letter to Bro. E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, 63–67, P6, Community of Christ Archives. (see p. 79 of this book)
- Jane Wilkie Hooper Blood, Autobiography and Abridged Diary, edited by Ivey Hooper Blood Hill, 241, July 22, 1892.
- Wilford Woodruff, “Historian’s Private Journal,” (one volume, 1858-1878), undated statement written between a July 1, 1866 entry and a November 18, 1874 entry. Date is for 1840. See chart below.
Mormon Polygamy Documents
JS0001 Smith, Joseph F. Affidavit Books, 4 vols. VOLUMES 1, transcript. MS 3423. LDS Church History Library.
[Note: This record book, which may be a duplicate of the similarly titled record book found in folder 5, is found in "Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, 1869-1870," MS 3423, Fd. 5, LDS Church Archives.]
[Pasted down faded label on front of book]
40 Affidavits
on Celestial Marriage
[Inside front end sheet, recto]
Du. Book No 1
Joseph F. Smith
Salt Lake City
Utah
[Page 1 is blank.]
[Page 2 is blank.]
[Page 3]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twenty-sixth day of June A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a notary-Public in and for said county, Joseph Bates Noble, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon his oath saith, that, on the fifth day of April A.D. 1841, At the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, he married or sealed Louisa Beaman, to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, according to the order of Celestial Marriage revealed to the Said Joseph Smith.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Joseph Bates Noble the day Joseph. B. Noble
and year first above written
[seal] James Jack
Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 1.]
[Page 4 is blank.]
[Page 5]
Territory of Utah
S.S.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. eighteen sixty nine before me Elias Smith Probate Judge for Said County personally appeared, Zina Diantha Huntington ^Young^ who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith, that on the twenty-Seventh day of October A.D. 1841, at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Dimick B. Huntington, a High Priest in Said Church, according to the laws of the same; regulating marriage; In the presence of Fanny Maria Huntington.
Zina D. H. Young
Subscribed and Sworn to by
the Said Zina D. H. Young, the
day and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 5.]
[Page 6 is blank.]
[Page 7]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me Elias Smith Probate Judge for Said County Presenda Lathrop Huntington ^Kimball^ who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath saith, that on the eleventh day of December A.D. 1841, at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Dimick B. Huntington, a High-Priest in Said Church, according to the laws of the Same regulating Marriage; in the presence of Fanny Maria Huntington.
Presenda L. H. Kimball
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Presenda L. H. Kimball the day
and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 7.]
[Page 8 is blank.]
[Page 9]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May, A.D. 1869, personally appeared before me, Elias Smith, Probate Judge for Said County, Ruth Vose Sayers who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath Saith that on [blank] day of February A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was marriad or Sealed to Joseph Smith President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Hyrum Smith, Presiding Patriarch of Said Church, according to the laws of the Same, regulating Marriage; in the presence [blank].
Ruth V. Sayers
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Ruth V. Sayers, the day
and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 9.]
[Page 10 is blank.]
[Page 11]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. 1869, personally appeared before me, Elias Smith Probate Judge for Said County, Emily Dow Partridge Young, who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath Saith, that on the fourth day of March A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Heber C. Kimball, one of the Twelve Apostles of Said Church, according to the laws of the Same regulating marriage, in the presence of [blank].
Emily D. P. Young
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Emily D. P. Young, the day
and year first above written,
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 11.]
[Page 12 is blank.]
[Page 13]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this First day of May A.D. 1869, personally Appeared before me, Elias Smith, Probate Judge for Said County, Emily Dow Partridge Young, who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath saith that on the eleventh day of May A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by James Adams, a High-Priest in Said Church; according to the laws of the Same regulating Marriage, in presence of Emma (Hale) Smith, and Eliza Maria Partridge (Lyman).
Emily D. P. Young
Subscribed and Sworn to by
the Said Emily D. P. Young, the day
and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 13.]
[Page 14 is blank.]
[Page 15]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. 1869, personally appeared before me, Elias Smith, Probate Judge for Said County, Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith that on the [blank] day of May A.D. 1843, at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of Said Church, according to the laws of the same, regulating Marriage; in the presence of Eliza Maria Partridge Lyman, and Emily Dow Partridge Young.
- N. J. Hyde
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said M. N. J. Hyde, the day
and year first above written
- Smith Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 15.]
[Page 16 is blank.]
[Page 17]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me Elias Smith Probate Judge for Said County, Rhoda Richards ^Smith^ who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath saith, that on the twelfth day of June A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Willard Richards, one of the Twelve Apostles of Said Church, according to the laws of the same, regulating marriage in the presence of [blank].
Rhoda Richards Smith
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Rhoda Richards ^Smith^ the day
and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 17.]
[Page 18 is blank.]
[Page 19]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me Elias Smith Probate Judge for Said County, Dimick B. Huntington, who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon his oath Saith, that on the 27th day of October A.D. 1841, at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, he married or Sealed Zina D. Huntington to Joseph Smith President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and also on the eleventh day of December A.D. 1841 at the same place he married or Sealed, Presendia L. Huntington to the Said Joseph Smith, according to the laws of said Church, regulating marriage; in presence of Fanny M. Huntington.
- B. Huntington
Subscribed and Sworn to by the Said
- B. Huntington, the day and year first above written.
- Smith Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 19.]
[Page 20 is blank.]
[Page 21]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this first day of May A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me, Elias Smith Probate Judge for Said County, Fanny Maria Huntington, who was by me Sworn and on her oath Saith that she was present when Zina D. and Presendia L. Huntington were married or Sealed to Joseph Smith President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, in the fall of 1841.
Fanny Maria Huntington
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Fanny Maria Huntington, the
day and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 21.]
[Page 22 is blank.]
[Page 23]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twentieth day of May A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack a notary public of Said county Malissa (Lott) Willes, who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath Saith that, on the Twentieth day of Septr. A.D. 18423 at the City of Nauvoo County of Hancock, State of Illinois She was married or sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Hyrum Smith the Presiding Patriarch of the Said church according to the laws of the same, regulating Marriage; in the presence of Cornelius P. Lott, and Permelia Lott.
Malissa Lott Willes
Subscribed and sworn to by the Said
Malissa (Lott) Willes the day and
year first above written.
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 23.]
[Page 24 is blank.]
[Page 25]
Territory of Utah
S.S.
County of Salt Lake
Be it rem^em^bered that on this Seventh day of June A.D. 1869, personally appeared before me, James Jack, a notary public in and for Said county Eliza Roxcy Snow ^Smith^ who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath Saith, that on the twenty-ninth day of June A.D. 1842, at the City of Nauvoo, county of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of Said Church, according to the laws of the Same regulating marriage, in the presence of Sarah M. Cleaveland.
Eliza R. Snow. Smith.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Eliza Roxcy Snow ^Smith^ the day
and year first above written.
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 25.]
[Page 26 is blank.]
[Page 27]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this fifteenth day of June A.D. 1869 personally appeared beforme me, James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County, David Fullmer, who was by me Sworn in due form and upon his oath Saith; that on or about the twelfth fourth day of August A.D. 1843 while in meeting with the High Council, (he being a member thereof) in Hyrum Smith's brick office in the City of Nauvoo, county of Hancock, State of Illinois; Dunbar Wilson made enquiry in relation to the Subject of a plurality of wives as there were rumors afloat respecting it, and he was "Satisfied there was something in those rumors, and he wanted to know what it was." Upon which the said Hyrum Smith Stepped across the road to his residence and Soon returned, bringing with him a copy of the revelation on Celestial Marriage given to Joseph Smith July twelfth A.D. 1843 and read the Same to the High Council and bore testimony to its truth. The said David Fullmer
[Page 28]
further Saith that to the best of his memory and belief, the following named persons were present William Marks, Austin A. Cowles, [erasure] Samuel Bent, A. Cutler [in pencil] George W. Harris, Dunbar Wilson, William Huntington, Levi Jackman, Aaron Johnson, Thomas Grover, David Fullmer, [erasure] James Allred, and Leonard Soby. And the said David Fullmer further Saith, that Wm. Marks, Austin A. Cowles, and Leonard Soby were the only persons present who did not receive the Revelation and testimony of Hyrum Smith and that all the others did receive it from the teaching and testimony of the Said Hyrum Smith. And further that the copy of Said Revelation on Celestial Marriage published in the Deseret News Extra of September fourteenth A.D. 1852 is a true copy of the Same.
Subscribed and Sworn to
by the Said David Fullmer the day & David Fullmer
year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," pp. 27-28.]
[Page 29 is blank.]
[Page 30]
Certificate
I, Lovina Walker hereby certify, that while I was living with Aunt Emma Smith, in Fulton City Fulton Co. Illinois, in the year 1846, that she told me, that She, Emma Smith was present and witnessed the marrying or Sealing of Eliza Partridge, Emily Partridge, Mariah Lawrence, and Sarah Lawrence to her husband, Joseph Smith, and that She gave her concent there to.
Lovina Walker
We hereby witness that Lovina Walker made and Signed the above Statement, on this sixteenth day of June A.D. 1869 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co. Utah Territory of her own freewill and accord.
Hyrum S. Walker
Sarah E. Smith
Joseph F. Smith
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 30.]
[Page 31 is blank.]
[Page 32]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this Seventeenth day of June A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County Desdemona Fullmer Smith who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith, that on the [blank] day of July A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of said Church according to the laws of the Same, regulating marriage, in the presence of Heber C. Kimball.
Desdemon Fullmer Smith
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Desdemona Fullmer Smith the
day and year first above written
James Jack
Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 32.]
[Page 33 is blank.]
[Page 34]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on the nineteenth day of June A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me Elias Smith, Probate Judge for said County, Mercy R. Thompson, who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith, that on the eleventh day of August A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed for time to Hyrum Smith, Presiding Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, by Joseph Smith, President of the Same, according to the laws of said Church regulating marriage. In the presence of her sister Mary Smith.
Mercy R. Thompson
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Mercy R. Thompson the
day and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 34.]
[Page 35 is blank.]
[Page 36]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this nineteenth day of June A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me Elias Smith Probate Judge for said County, Sarah Ann Kimball, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith, that on the twenty-seventh day of July A.D. 1842 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, by Newel K. Whitney, Presiding Bishop of Said Church, according to the laws of the Same regulating marriage; in the presence of Elizabeth Ann Whitney, her mother.
Sarah A. Kimball
Subscribed and sworn to by the
Said Sarah Ann Kimball the day
and year first above written
- Smith
Probate Judge
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 36.]
[Page 37 is blank.]
[Page 38]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twenty-six day of June A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack a Notary Public in and for said County, Joseph Bates Noble, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon his oath saith that, in the fall of the year A.D. 1840 Joseph Smith, taught him the principle of Celestial marriage or a "plurality of wives", and that the said Joseph Smith declaired that he had received a Revelation from God on the subject, and that the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, (Joseph Smith) to move forward in the said order of marriage, and further, that the said Joseph Smith, requested him, (Jos. Bates Noble) to step forward and assist him in carrying out the Said principle, saying "in revealing this to you I have placed my life in your hands, therefore do not in an evil hour betray me to my enemies."
[Page 39]
Subscribed and Sworn to
by the said Joseph Bates Noble Joseph B. Noble
the day and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," pp. 38-39.]
[Page 40 is blank.]
[Page 41 is blank.]
[Page 42]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this Sixth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said county Thos. Grover who was by me sworn in due form of law and upon his oath saith that the affidavit of David Fullmer, before me James Jack, on the fifteenth day of June A.D. 1869 is true and correct. And the said Thomas Grover further saith that Hyrum Smith reasoned upon said Revelation for about an hour, clearly explaining the same, and then enjoined it upon said Council, to receive and acknowledge the same, or they would be damned, and further, that from the day that William Marks, A. A. Cowles and L. Soby refused to receive said Revelation as from God they continued to dwindle until they appostatized.
Thomas Grover
Subscribed and sworn to by the
Said Thomas Grover the day & year above written
[seal] James Jack
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 42.]
[Page 43 is blank.]
[Page 44]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this sixth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for Said County Thomas Grover of Davis County, Utah Territory, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon his oath saith, that on the [blank] day of August A.D. 1843 Hyrum Smith, Patriarch, Sealed or married to him, by order of President Joseph Smith, two wives, viz. Caroline Whiting and Caroline E. Hubbard, according to the principle and commandment contained in the Revelation on Celestial marriage given ^written^ July 12 A.D. 1843.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
said Thomas Grover the day Thomas Grover
and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 44.]
[Page 45 is blank.]
[Page 46]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this tenth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County, Mary Ann Young who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon her oath Saith, that on the [blank] day of [blank] A.D. 184[blank] in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was Sealed or married for time and all eternity, to President Brigham Young, by the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, in the presence of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Mary Ann Young
Subscribed and sworn to by the
Said Mary Ann Young the day
and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 46.]
[Page 47 is blank.]
[Page 48]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this tenth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack a Notary Public in and for Said County, Lucy Ann D. Young, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith, that on the fourteenth day of June A.D. 1842, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed for time and all eternity to President Brigham Young, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the presence of Elder Willard Richards one of the Twelve.
Lucy Ann D. Young
Subscribed and sworn to by the
Said Lucy Ann D. Young the day
and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p.48.]
[Page 49 is blank.]
[Page 50]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twelfth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County, Augusta (Adams) Young who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath saith that on the Second day of November A.D. 1843, She was married or sealed, for time and all eternity to Prest. Brigham Young, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, in the presence of Mary Ann Young, Fanny Murray, and Harriet Cook.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
said Augusta (Adams) Young Augusta A. Young
the day & year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 50.]
[Page 51 is blank.]
[Page 52]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twelfth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me, James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County, Augusta (Adams) Young, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and uppon her oath Saith that on the Second day of November A.D. 1843, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She witnessed the marrying or Sealing of Fanny Murray to President Joseph Smith, by President Brigham Young; Mary Ann Young and Harriet Cook, being present.
Subscribed and sworn to by the
said Augusta (Adams) Young the day Augusta A. Young
and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 52.]
[Page 53 is blank.]
[Page 54]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twelfth day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for Said county, Charles C. Rich who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon his oath saith that on the [blank] day of May A.D. 1844 as he was about Starting on a mission to the State of Michigan, Hyrum Smith, Patriarch, taught him the principle of polygamy or celestial marriage, and told him that when he should return from the Said Mission it would be his privelidge to take other wives.
Subscribed and sworn to by the
said Charles C. Rich the day and Charles C. Rich
year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 54.]
[Page 55 is blank.]
[Page 56]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this, twenty-second day of July A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County John Pack who was by me Sworn in due form of law and upon his oath Saith that on the [blank] day of August A. D. 1843 Hyrum Smith, Patriarch, Sent for him his wife and mother to come to the Said Hyrum Smith's house in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, when the said Hyrum Smith taught him his wife Julia, and his mother Philotte Pack the doctrine of Celestial Marriage, -- that all former covenants and contracts in marriage would be null and void after death, and that it was his privilege to have his wife sealed to him for time and for all eternity, and further that he had a right to act for his father, George Pack who was dead, that his father and mother might be sealed or married for time and
[Page 57]
all eternity, also. And further that he received the doctrine as a Revelation from God thro' the Prophet Joseph Smith, and further that the Said Hyrum Smith then and there Sealed to him his wife Julia (Ives) for time and for all eternity, and also Sealed or married his mother Phylotte (Green) to his father George Pack, he (John Pack) acting for and in behalf of his father who was dead.
Subscribed and sworn to
by the said John Pack the John Pack
day and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," pp. 58-59.]
[Page 58 is blank.]
[Page 59 is blank.]
[Page 60]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this [blank] day of [blank] A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack a Notary Public in and for Said County Cylvia Lyon, who was by me sworn in due form of law and upon her oath Saith that on the eighth day of February A.D. 1842, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois She was married or Sealed to President Joseph Smith by [blank] in the presence of [blank]
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 62.]
[Page 61 is blank.]
[Page 62]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this second day of August A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me, James Jack a Notary Public in and for Said County Elizabeth B. Pratt, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith that, on the twenty fourth day of July A.D. 1843, in the City of Nauvoo County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or sealed to Parley P. Pratt for time and all eternity, by Patriarch Hyrum Smith, in the presence of Mary Ann Young, and Mary Ann Pratt, Mary Ann Pratt being Sealed at the same time.
Subscribed and Sworn to
by the Said Elizabeth B. Pratt Elizabeth B. Pratt
the day and year first written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 64.]
[Page 63 is blank.]
[Page 64]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this sixth day of August A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me, James Jack, a Notary Public in and for Said County, Mary Ellen (Abel) Kimball, who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith that, on the [blank] day of [blank] A.D. 1844, at the City of Nauvoo county of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was present, and a witness to the marriage or Sealing of Catherine Clawson to Howard Egan, (who already had one wife) by Hyrum Smith, Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Subscribed and sworn to by the
said Mary Ellen (Abel) Kimball Mary Ellen Kimball
the day and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 66.]
[Page 65 is blank.]
[Page 66]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this ninth day of August A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for Said County, Lucy W. Kimball who was by me sworn in due form of law, and on her oath saith, that on the first day of May A.D. 1843, in the City of Nauvoo County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed for time and all eternity to the Prophet Joseph Smith, by William Clayton, a High Priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; in the presence of Eliza Maria Partridge.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Lucy W. Kimball the day Lucy W. Kimball
and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 68.]
[Page 67]
The following extract is taken from William Clayton's Journal as pr. date.
"May 1st (1843) A.M. at the Temple, at 10. married Joseph to Lucy Walker. P.M. at Prest. Joseph's, he is gone out with Woodworth, he borrowed L20 of William Allen, I took Supper with him. Prest. Paid L20 to Woodworth for Nauvoo House"
The above is a true copy of entry (as pr. date), in William Clayton's Journal kept at the time. As witness^eth^ our hands.
Joseph F. Smith
Aug. 9. 1869 John Henry Smith
Salt Lake City S. H. B. Smith
John L. Smith
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 69.]
[Page 68]
The following is an extract from Elder William Clayton's Journal as pr. date
"Wednesday Aug. 16th. 1843. This a.m. Joseph told me that since Emma came back from St. Louis, she had resisted the principle [of plural marriage] in toto, and he had to tell her he would relinquish all for her sake. She said she would give him Eliza and Emily Partridge, but he knew if he took them she should pitch on him, and obtain a divorce and leave him. He however told me he should not relinquish anything.
O! God deliver thy Servant from (this) iniquitous Bondage."
The foregoing is a true and correct copy of entry in William Clayton's Journal, kept at the time as pr. date, as witnesseth our hands.
Salt Lake City Joseph F. Smith
Aug. 17- 1869- John Henry Smith
Robt. L. Campell
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 70.]
[Page 69 is blank.]
[Page 70]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twenty-fourth day of August A.D. 1849 personally appeared before me, James Jack, a Notary Public in and for said County Amos Fielding who was by me sworn in due form of law and upon his oath Saith that in December A.D. 1843, on his arrival at Nauvoo, from a mission to England, he was informed that Joseph Smith had obtained a Revelation on Celestial Marriage, and on or about the 9th of Mar. A.D. 1844, while in conversation with the Prophet, at the Mansion, a young lady passed through the room where they were sitting, when President Smith remarked, "that is one of my wives." And further, on the 24th day of Feb. A.D. 1844, in obedience to the requirement of the Prophet Joseph Smith, he did volunteer to go west on the exploring expedition to Oregon & California.
Subscribed & sworn to by the Amos Fielding
said Amos Fielding the day and
year first above written James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 72.]
[Page 71 is blank.]
[Page 72]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this thirtieth day of August A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public, in and for Said County, Elizabeth Ann Whitney, who was by me sworn in due form of law and upon her oath saith that on the twenty-seventh day of July A.D. 1842, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was present, and witnessed the marrying or Sealing of her daughter Sarah Ann Whitney, to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for time and all eternity, by her husband Newel K. Whitney, then presiding Bishop of the Church.
Subscribed and sworn to by
the said Elizth. Ann Whitney the E. A. Whitney
day and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 74.]
[Page 73 is blank.]
[Page 74]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twenty-eighth day of August A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public, in and for said county, John Benbow, who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon his oath Saith that in the Spring or forepart of the Summer of 1843 at his house, four miles from Nauvoo, County, of Hancock, State of Illinois, President Joseph Smith taught him and his wife, Jane Benbow, the doctrine of Celestial Marriage, or plurality of wives, Hyrum Smith being present.
And further, that Hannah Ells Smith a wife of the Prophet, boarded at his house two months during the Summer of the same year. And the Said Hannah Ells Smith also lived at his house Several months in 1844 after the Prophet's death.
And further, that President Smith frequently visited his wife Hannah at his house.
Subscribed and Sworn to John Benbow
by the Said John Benbow
the day & year first written James Jack,
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 76.]
[Page 75 is blank.]
[Page 76]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twenty-eighth day of August A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me, James Jack, a Notary Public in and for Said county, Nathan Tanner who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon his oath Saith, that, in the Spring of 1844 at Montroes, Lee County, Iowa, he heard President Joseph Smith, while in conversation with himself, Harrison Sagers, [blank] Daniels and others, teach the doctrine of Celestial Marriage or plurality of wives, and subsequently he heard the Prophet teach the doctrine publicly from the Stand in Nauvoo, in a manner that he perfectly understood, not only that the Prophet believed it, but that it was in force at that time.
Subscribed and sworn to
by the Said Nathan Tanner Nathan Tanner
the day & year first written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 78.]
[Page 77 is blank.]
[Page 78]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this twenty-eighth day of August, A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a Notary Public in and for Said county Elvira A. C. Holmes who was by me sworn in due form of law and upon her oath saith that on the first day of June A.D. 1843 at Heber C. Kimball's house, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, She was married or Sealed for time and all eternity to President Joseph Smith, by Elder Heber C. Kimball, in the presence of Vilate Kimball and Eliza Mariah (Partridge) Smith.
Subscribed and sworn to
by the said Elvira A. C. Holmes Elvira A. C. Holmes
the day & year first written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 80.]
[Page 79 is blank.]
[Page 80]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this Seventh day of September A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack a Notary Public in and for Said county, Sarah Perry Peak Kimball, who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath saith that President Joseph Smith personally taught her the doctrine of a plurality of wives, and that on the [blank] day of [blank] A.D. 1842 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois She was married or Sealed for time and all eternity to Heber C. Kimball by President Joseph Smith in the presence of President Brigham Young.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Sarah Perry Peak Kimball Sarah P. P. Kimball
the day and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 82.]
[Page 81 is blank.]
[page 82]
Territory of Utah
SS
County of Utah
Be it remembered that on this Second day of October A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me L. John Nuttal County Clerk of said County James Allred, who was by me duly sworn, and upon his oath Saith that, he was present at the High Council, on or about the twelfth day of August A.D. 1843, held in Hyrum Smith's Brick office, in Nauvoo, Hancock Co. Illinois, when Hyrum Smith read the Revelation on Celestial Marriage to said High Council, and enjoined it upon them to manifest their willingness to receive or reject the same, at the same time bearing his testimony of its truth, William Marks, A. A. Cowles and Leonard Soby were the only members of the Council present, who voted against the Revelation and the Testimony of Hyrum.
Subscribed and sworn to by His
the said James Allred the James X Allred
the day and year first above Mark
written L. John Nuttal Co. Clk
Attest Jas. P. Brown
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 84.]
[Page 83 is blank.]
[Page 84]
Territory of Utah
SS
County of Utah
Be it remembered that on this Second day of October A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me L. John Nuttal County Clerk of Said County, Aaron Johnson who was by me sworn in due form of law and upon his Oath saith that he was present at the High Council, (being a member thereof) held on or about the twelfth day of August A.D. 1843 in Hyrum Smith's Brick Office, in the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock State of Illinois, when Hyrum Smith presented and read the Revelation on Celestial Marriage given or dated July twelfth 1843, and the affidavits of David Fullmer, sworn and Subscribed to on the fifteenth day of June 1869 before James Jack, and of Thomas Grover, dated July Sixth 1869, and also that of James Allred dated October 2nd 1869 which he has heard read, in my presence are true and correct.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the Aaron Johnson
Said Aaron Johnson the day and
year first above written
- John Nuttal. Co. Clk.
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 86.]
[Page 85 is blank.]
[Page 86]
Territory of Utah
SS.
County of Salt Lake
Be it remembered that on this thirteenth day of October A.D. 1869 personally appeared before me James Jack a notary public in and for Said County, Roxsena Rachel Adams who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith that on the eleventh day of July A.D. 1843 at the City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, She was married to James Adams for time and all eternity, (James Adams already having one wife ^living^) by President Joseph Smith.
Subscribed and Sworn to by the
Said Roxsena Rachel Adams the Roxsena R. Adams
day and year first above written
James Jack
[seal] Notary Public
[Note: Also found in second record book entitled "40 Affidavits on Celestial Marriage," p. 88.]
[Page 87 is blank.]
[Pages 88-90 contain an "Index to names making Affidavits"]
[Page 91 is blank.]
[Page 92 contains a partial, but cross-out "Index to names making Affidavits"]
Joseph F. Smith Affidavits
Just in case you forgot...
Joseph Smith Affidavits—from the LDS Church Archives—Ms 3423—Folder 2
Transcriber’s notes:
- The documents in this folder are unbound loose sheets.
- Within the limits of what a careful transcriber can ensure, errors of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and usage are those of the original author or scribe.
- This transcription has been compared against available published versions of these documents and is more accurate, the published versions having frequently been misread and standardized.
- Some of the affidavits in these folders are handwritten copies of the originals; others are the originals. In either case, they are the versions that appear to be the earliest and most reliable. I have noted only significant variations in other copies.
- Italicizing and underlining in the transcription indicate underlining in the originals.
Key to Transcription Symbols:
Folder #x Folder number indicates the folder of the collection Ms 3423 in which the document was found.
Image #x The image numbers are numbers that were assigned to each document page when it was put into digital form. They do not reflect page numbers on the documents themselves, which are generally unpaginated.
________ Lines like this above and below text mark off separate documents.
example/ Words set off like this were added above the line.
[e/i] Letters within brackets, where a “/” divides them indicate that the first letter was written over the second.
[text here] Bracketed text in any form other than [x/y] was added to clarify meaning, indicate omissions, and supply document titles and dates.
[Affidavit of X] Document titles written in brackets were added by me.
Affidavit of X Document titles written without brackets are internal to the document, generally having been written on the back of the original. These titles were usually added by the Church Historian.
Book 2, page #X Notations like “copied to Book 2, page #X” indicate where the document was copied into the bound Joseph Smith Affidavits.
Folder 2, images 3-4
- H. Gurley’s letter to Lyman O. Littlefield [April 15, 1886]
[Typescript copy of letter published in the newspaper—Utah State Journal (Logan), June 5, 1886. The letter discusses the circumstances surrounding Gurley’s securing an affidavit from Leonard Soby to the effect that Joseph Smith did practice polygamy. Rather than transcribe this letter, I’m including a PDF copy of the Utah State Journal article in which this letter, and a letter to Gurley from Littlefield, were printed. While the exchange is not highly relevant to Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy, it sheds light on the context and accuracy of Soby’s statement.]
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 5-6
[Zina Huntington—Historian’s brief note about her first marriage being mentioned in the Times and Seasons and of her affidavit, which was not quoted—not transcribed.]
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 7-8
Affidavit of Orson Hyde to the sealing of wives to him by Prest. J. Smith
Copied in Book 2, p. 45
Springtown, Sept. 15, 1869.
I, Orson Hyde, do hereby certify and declare according to my best recollection that on the 4th day of Septr. I was married to Miss Marinda N. Johnson, in Kirtland, Ohio, in the year of our Lord 1834, and in the month of Feby. or March [1843], I was married to Miss Martha R. Browitt, by Joseph Smith, the martyred Prophet and by him she was sealed to me for time, and for all eternity. In Nauvoo, Ills./ And in the month of April of the same year 1843, I was married by the same person to Mrs. Mary Ann Price, and by him she was sealed to me for time and for all eternity in Nauvoo, Ills./, while the woman to whom I was first married was yet living and gave her cordial consent to both transactions, and was personaly present to witness the ceremony’s.
Orson Hyde
Sworn to and subscribed to before me this the 15th day of Septr. 1869, at Springtown, Sanpete Co. U.T.
George Brough Justice of Peace.
I hereby certify that the above named George Brough is a Justice of the Peace for the Precinct of Springtown in the county of Sanpete, U. T., and that he is duly qualified in accordance with law; in testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of the County Court of Sanpete County, U. T. at my office [in Manti] this Sep 16, A.D. 1869.
[SEAL] Wm. T. Reid County Clerk.
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 9-10
[Handwritten duplicate of the above; no significant variation—not transcribed.]
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 11-16a
Statement of Joseph A. Kelting, taken in California by B. H. Roberts
For some time previous to the death of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, I lived at Nauvoo, Handcock County, Illinois. I acted for some years as agent for Bishop George/ Miller, and was also a deputy sheriff in Handcock County. Wh I heard rumors of to the effect that Joseph Smith was practicing polygamy; the matter frequently being repeated, especially by the Wm and Wilson Law and the Higbees. Calling at the house of the prophet one day, early in the spring of 1844, on some business or other not now remembered, the prophet invited me into a room up stairs in his house, called the Mansion. After we/ entered the room he locked it the door,/ and then asked me if I had heard the rumors connecting him with polygamy. I told him I had. He then began a defense of the doctrine by referring to the Old Testament. I told him I did not want to hear that as I could read it for my self. He claimed to be a prophet—I believed him to be prophet—and I wanted to know what he had to say about it. He expressed some doubts as to how I might receive it, and wanted to know what stand I would take if I should not believe what he had to say about it. I then pledged him my word that whether I believed his revelation or not I would not betray him. He then informed me that he had received a revelation a revelation from God which taught the correctness of the doctrine of a plurality of wives, and commanding him to obey it. He then acknowledged to having married several wives. I told him that was all right. He then said he would like a further pledge from me that I would not betray him. I asked him if he wanted me to ex accept the principle by marrying a plural wife. He answered yes. A short time after this I married two wives in that order of marriage.
On the occasion of Alexander H Smith, son of the prophet, visiting me in this country some few years ago I related to him the above circumstances.
I also know that previous to the death of the prophet Joseph Smith there was a movement on foot looking to the removal of the church from Illinois to the west. Joseph Smith was the one who took the lead in that matter and called up certain brethren to go on an exploring expedition to seek a suitable location for the church; and I was among the number selected to go.
Joseph A. Kelting
State of California }
County of San Bernardino}s.s.
Subscribed and sworn to before me
A Notary Public this First day of March
A.D. 1894
- Johnston
Notary Public in and for San Bernardino County,
State of California
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 17-20
[Statement of Joseph A. Kelting, 1903]
[Note: The term “moot” in this document means “discuss” or “introduce for discussion.”]
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA}
State of California } s.s.
County of San Bernardino.}
Joseph A. Kelting, being first duly sworn, says, I was born October 13th, 1811, at Philadelphia—P.A., and my present residence is Colton, San Bernardino County, California.
I first knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet, in Ohio. I once called upon him afterwards at his residence in Nauvoo, Illinois, and told him I wanted a private interview. We walked up stairs together. His wife, Emma, was down stairs, and he did not wish her to hear what we were going to talk about.
We went into the front room, and he locked the door. I told him it was mooted about that he was teaching plural marriage, and asked him the question, “Are you mooting plural marriage?”
His answer was, “[I] cannot answer you, as you are both a lawyer and sheriff of Hancock County, and it might militate against you as an officer as well as against us.”
I said, “Joseph, whatever you tell me as your friend is safe; I came here to find this out, and I assure you upon the square (and we were both Masons) it shall never injure you in any shape.”
“I did moot plural marriage,” said the Prophet.
“Did you have a revelation to teach this?” I asked.
“I did,” he answered.
“Have you more than one wife sealed to you by this authority,” I asked.
“I have,” said he.
After giving me this information, he referred me to Brigham Young if I wanted any more on this subject, Brigham seeming to be the man he trusted most with this matter, and was putting him to the front.
The Prophet assured me that the revelation was as authoritative and binding as any revelation given through him up to that time; and, in fact, that it was paramount to all the rest.
William Law was once his right hand man, but he apostatized because of this principle. He told me on one occasion that he left the Church because, said he, “I had only wife and could obtain no more, but yet to gain eternal life one must have half a score?” Joseph on the other hand, said he, “could cast his snares around and gather in Snow-birds, Partridges and N[i/o]gthingales,” meaning by this, girls whom he had married whose names were indicated by the names of these birds.
Joseph stuck to plural marriage to his death. Emma Smith, to my own personal knowledge, promised to stand by Joseph on this question of polygamy, but she failed to keep faith with her promise.
Joseph Smith was a mighty man and borrowed from no one; he was original and inspiring in his talk.
I was his attorney at Carthage, and while I went to Nauvoo to get a little evidence he was killed in cold blood.
The mob was afraid of Joseph and they killed him, as they did Hyrum, because they were afraid of their influence.
- A. Kelting
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of September, 1903.
- B. Hanna.
Notary public.
Notary Public
in and for the County of San Bernardino, State of California
________________________________________________________________________
Folder2, images 21-22
[Affidavit of Lucy Walker Smith Kimball, 1902]
United States of America, }
State of Utah. }
County of Salt Lake. }
LUCY WALKER SMITH KIMBALL, being first duly sworn, says:
I was a plural wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith and was married for time and eternity in Nauvoo, State of Illinois, on the first day of May, 1843, by Elder William Clayton. The Prophet was then living with his first wife, Emma Smith, and I know that she gave her consent to the marriage of at least four women to her husband as plural wives, and that she was well aware that he associated and cohabited with them as wives. The names of these women are E1iza and Emily Partridge, and Maria and Sarah Lawrence, all of whom knew that I too was his wife.
When the Prophet Joseph Smith first mentioned the principle of plural marriage to me I felt indignant and so expressed myself to him, because my feelings and education were averse to anything of that nature. But he assured me that this doctrine had been revealed to him of the Lord, and that I was entitled to receive a testimony of its divine origin for myself. He counselled me to pray to the Lord, which I did, and thereupon received from him a powerful and irresistible testimony of the truthfulness and divinity of plural marriage, which testimony has abided with me ever since.
On the 8th day of February, 1845, I was married for time to President Heber C. Kimball, and bore to him nine children. And in this connection allow me to say to his everlasting credit that during the whole of my married life with him he never failed to regard me as the wife for eternity of his devoted friend, the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Lucy Walker Smith Kimball.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 17th day of December, 1902.
[SEAL] James Jack
Notary Public.
My Commission Expires, Aug. 6th 1905.
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, 23-24
[Lucy Kimball statement duplicate—no significant variation—not transcribed]
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, 25-26
Affidavit of Martha McBride Kimball
Sealed to Joseph Smith
Copied in Book 2, page 36
[Note: Martha’s married surname is consistently spelled “Kimble” in this document.]
Territory of Utah, }
County of Millard } ss.
Be it remembered that on this eighth day of July, A. D. 1869 personaly appeared before me Edward Partridge Probate Judge in and for said county, Martha McBride Kimble who was by me sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath saith, that sometime in the summer of the year 1842, at the city of Nauvoo, County of Hancock, State of Illinois, she was married or sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Heber C. Kimble one of Twelve Apostles in said Church according to the 1aws of the same regulating marriage.
Martha McBride Kimble
Subscribed and sworn to by the said Martha McBride Kimble the day and year first above written
[SEAL] Edward Partridge
Probate Judge
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 27-28
[Martha McBride Kimball duplicate—no significant variation—not transcribed]
________________________________________________________________________
Folder 2, images 29-32
Affidavit [on] Celestial Marriage, Joseph C. Kingsbury [1886]
In reference to the Affidavit of Elder William Clayton, on the subject of the Celestial Order of Patriarchal Marriage, published in the Deseret Evening News of May 20th 1886; and particularly to the statement made therein concerning myself, as having copied the original revelation written by Brother Clayton at the dictation of the Prophet Joseph, I will say that Bishop Newel K. Whitney handed me the revelation above referred to on either the day it was written or the day following, and stating that it was asked me to take a copy of it. I did so, and then read my copy of it to Bishop Whitney, who compared it with the original which he held in his hand while I read to him. When I had finished reading, Bishop Whitney pronounced the copy correct, and Hyrum Smith coming into the room at the time to fetch the original, Bishop Whitney handed it to him. I will also state that this copy, as also the original, are identically the same as that published in the present edition of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
I will add that I also knew that the Prophet Joseph Smith had married other women besides his first wife—Emma; I was well aware of the fact of his having married Sarah Ann Whitney, the eldest daughter of Bishop Newel K. Whitney and Elizabeth Ann Whitney, his wife. And the Prophet Joseph told me personally that he had married other women, in accordance with the revealed will of God, and spoke concerning the principle as being a command of God for holy purposes.
Joseph C. Kingsbury
Territory of Utah}
County of Salt Lake}ss
I hereby certify that the foregoing statement of Joseph C. Kingsbury concerning the Revelation on the/ Celestial Order of Patriarchal Marriage and the making of a copy thereof by him, was by said affiant read in my presence on this 22nd day of May A.D. 1886, previous to his signing the same, that after reading it as aforesaid and on the date aforesaid, he did thereupon subscribe his name thereto, and was then and there/ at his request duly sworn to the same by me, as to its correctness in every particular, and did so swear that the same is true.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Notarial Seal, this 22nd day of May A.D. 1886, at my office in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, U. T.
Chas. W. Stayner
Notary Public
Salt Lake Co. U. T.
________________________________________________________________________
END OF FOLDER 2 ________________________________________________________________________
Oops I did it again...
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The Man, the Myth, the Watchmaker
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It strikes me the second I see him, this man is the real deal. Well groomed fingers with nails trimmed to perfection. These hands are his tools and they are taken care of in the same manner an auto repairman takes care of his tools.
Pierre-Yves greets us with a conservative smile, there is no room for small talk in this interview. But small talk is not necessary, we want to know everything about the man and his company, Tick Tock, Tick Tock...
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