Fanny Alger - The CES Letter: A Closer Look

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Fanny Alger - Joseph Smith's First Plural Wife

CES Letter Claim - Expand to Read Original

An illegal marriage to Fanny Alger, which was described by Oliver Cowdery as a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” – Rough Stone Rolling, p.323

William McLellin reported a conversation he had with Emma Smith in 1847, which account 38 is accepted by both LDS and non-LDS historians, describing how Emma discovered her husband’s affair with Fanny Alger:

One night she [Emma] missed Joseph and Fanny Alger. She went to the barn and saw him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through a crack and saw the transaction!!! She told me this story too was verily true.

LDS polygamy apologists further discuss Emma’s disturbing discovery and the aftermath here.

Joseph was practicing polygamy before the sealing authority was given. LDS historian, Richard Bushman, states: “There is evidence that Joseph was a polygamist by 1835” – Rough Stone Rolling, p.323. Plural marriages are rooted in the notion of “sealing” for both time and eternity. The “sealing” power was not restored until April 3, 1836 when Elijah appeared to Joseph in the Kirtland Temple and conferred the sealing keys upon him. So, Joseph’s “marriage” to Fanny Alger in 1833 was illegal under both the laws of the land and under any theory of divine authority; it was adultery.

Plural marriage is one principle of celestial or eternal marriage. However, when allowed by God, polygamy for time could be practiced. Joseph was married to three widows who were sealed to their deceased husbands. Similarly, his plural marriage to Fanny was not an eternal marriage.

Additional Resources:

The Joseph Smith–Fanny Alger Relationship: Plural Marriage or Adultery?

FairMormon: Fanny Alger

“Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith’s Pre-Nauvoo Reputation,” Journal of Mormon History, 35 (Fall 2009) 4: 112-90.

Fanny Alger Biography

Dating the Joseph Smith – Fanny Alger Relationship

“’Guilty of Such Folly?': Accusations of Adultery and Polygamy Against Oliver Cowdery,” Mormon Historical Studies vol. 9, no. 2, Fall 2008, 41-57.