Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
(1805–1844), founder of the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
, taught and practiced
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
during his ministry, and married multiple women during his lifetime. Smith and some of the leading
quorums of
the church he founded publicly denied he taught or practiced it.
['']Millennial Star
''The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star'' (usually shortened to ''Millennial Star'') was the longest continuously published periodical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was printed in England from 1840 unti ...
'' 4 anuary 1844 144.
In 1852, leaders of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) acknowledged that Smith had practiced plural marriage and produced a written
revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
of Smith's that authorizes its practice. Smith's lawful widow
Emma Smith
Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the official wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as a ...
, his son
Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Chu ...
, and most members of the
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The churc ...
(RLDS Church) attempted for years to refute the evidence of plural marriages. They pointed to the historical record that Joseph Smith publicly opposed the practice of polygamy;
the suggestion of the RLDS Church was that the practice of polygamy began in Utah under the leadership of
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
.
The first publication of a list of women alleged to be Smith's plural wives was in 1887, by
Andrew Jenson
Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, (December 11, 1850 – November 18, 1941) was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for much of the ea ...
, an assistant LDS Church historian. It included 27 women besides Emma Smith. There are currently 49 women on this list. However, historians disagree as to the number and identity of the plural wives Smith had. Various scholars and historians, including
Fawn M. Brodie,
George D. Smith, and
Todd Compton
Todd Merlin Compton (born 1952) is an American historian in the fields of Mormon history and classics. Compton is a respected authority on the plural wives of the LDS Church founder, Joseph Smith.
Biographical background
Compton is a member of ...
, have attempted to identify the women who married Smith. The discrepancy is created by the lack of documents to support some of the alleged marriages. As Compton has stated, for many of these marriages, "absolutely nothing is known of
hemarriage after the ceremony."
Maxwell Institute
, Brigham Young University. Apart from his marriage to Emma, Smith's marriages were not solemnized under any civil authority and were therefore solely religious unions.
List of wives
Allegations of children born to polygamous wives
Research by Ugo A. Perego, a geneticist and member of the LDS Church, has shown that a number of children of Smith's alleged polygamous relationships were not his genetic offspring. The following table lists some of the children born to Smith's alleged polygamous wives as well as those ruled out by genetic testing:
See also
* Children of Joseph Smith
__FORCETOC__
The children of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his wife Emma Smith, are historically significant because of their roles in establishing and leading the Latter Day Saint Movement, which includes t ...
* List of Latter Day Saint practitioners of plural marriage
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* List of Brigham Young's wives
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
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* . (1st ed. 1945)
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*
Online reprint
from the Book Of Abraham Project (BYU) at boap.org
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* . See also: Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
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Further information
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External links
*
{{Authority control
Wives
A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...
Smith, wives
Mormonism and polygamy
Joseph Smith's Wives
*Wives of Joseph Smith
Smith, Joseph
19th-century Mormonism
Lists of 19th-century people
*
*List
Smith, Joseph wives
Lists of American women
Lists of wives