Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy
Volume I
How Men Nearest
the Prophet Attached Polygamy to His Name
in Order to Justify Their Own Polygamous Crimes
By Richard and
Pamela Price |
"What a thing it is
for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven
wives,
when I can only find one"—Joseph Smith (LDS
History of the Church 6:411).
[ Joseph
Smith Fought Polygamy Index ]
Chapter 10
More Evidence Concerning Eliza Snow
Years after Joseph Smith's death, many of the women who were
married to prominent church leaders in Utah claimed to have been
married to Joseph while in Nauvoo. This was because Joseph's three
sons, Joseph III, Alexander, and David, went to Utah and challenged
the polygamous system there by claiming their father was not a
polygamist. Under this attack, the LDS leaders had to find women
who would swear that they had been Joseph's wives in order to
keep the empire from collapsing. Eliza R. Snow was Brigham Young's
most prominent wife, so of course she would have desired to uphold
the system. And the best way to do it was to issue public statements
that she had been Joseph's wife. One of Eliza Snow's declarations
that she was married to Joseph is found in Edward W. Tullidge's
The Women of Mormondom, 294–295.
The publication of Emma Smith's
last testimony by Joseph Smith III brought a strong contradictory
statement from Eliza Snow. Emma's testimony, given in February
1879 (two and a half months before her death) stated that her
husband, Joseph, had not given a revelation on polygamy nor practiced
that doctrine (see RLDS History of the Church
3:352–358). Eliza's rebuttal to Emma's testimony was published
in the Deseret News (weekly) of October
22, 1879. It was then republished by Assistant LDS Historian Andrew
Jenson in an article entitled "Plural Marriage" in the
Historical Record 6 [May 1887]: 224.
Eliza claimed to have married Joseph on June 29, 1842, which
is interesting in view of this being the approximate date that
Dr. Bennett departed from Nauvoo—the time when Joseph was
making a tremendous fight against polygamy.
Eliza Abstained from Writing about Polygamy in
Nauvoo
More than thirty-two years later, after being Brigham's wife
for over a quarter of a century, Eliza wrote in the book, The
Women of Mormondom:
Polygamy was undoubtedly introduced by Joseph himself, at Nauvoo,
between 1840 and 1844. Years afterwards, however, a monogamic
rival church [the RLDS Church], under the leadership of young
Joseph Smith, the first born of the prophet, arose, denying
that the founder of Mormondom was the author of polygamy, and
affirming that its origin was in Brigham Young, subsequent to
the martyrdom of the prophet and his brother Hyrum. This, with
the fact that nearly the whole historic weight of polygamy rests
with Utah, renders it expedient that we should barely touch
the subject at Nauvoo, and wait for its stupendous sensation
after its publication to the world by Brigham Young. (Edward
W. Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom,
293)
Why did Eliza find it "expedient that we should barely
touch the subject at Nauvoo," when that which happened there
determined the whole matter of the polygamy question? Why did
she say that "Polygamy was undoubtedly introduced by Joseph
himself" when she knew Joseph did not introduce it? Eliza
Snow knew exactly what happened in Nauvoo, for as an officer in
the Ladies' Relief Society she gave her support to Emma and Joseph,
and stood with them in Nauvoo as they fought a losing battle against
polygamy.
Eliza knew that Joseph was innocent in 1842, and she knew it
in 1876–1877 as she assisted Edward Tullidge in writing
The Women of Mormondom. Since she
was one of the central figures in the polygamy controversy at
Nauvoo and had become a co-conspirator with her husband, Brigham
Young, in placing the blame for the introduction of that doctrine
upon Joseph, any in-depth attempt by her in 1877 to write historically
of polygamy would have been risky. With only a minority of the
Saints in Utah practicing polygamy, and many of the former old
Nauvoo Saints still alive, Eliza no doubt touched lightly on the
subject of polygamy to keep her past from being unveiled.
Eliza Signed a Certificate Which Said
There Was No Polygamy in the Church at Nauvoo
One of the reasons Eliza wanted to barely touch on the subject
of polygamy at Nauvoo was because she had helped lead a thousand
women in signing a petition, stating that Joseph was not guilty
of polygamy as Bennett had charged (see Times
and Seasons 3 [August 1, 1842]: 869). After Dr. Bennett
left Nauvoo in late June 1842 and published many statements declaring
that Joseph was a polygamist, Joseph made a great effort to fight
against that false doctrine. Joseph himself published that he
"preached ... much against it" (Times
and Seasons 3 [July 1, 1842]: 840). Also, the Ladies' Relief
Society, with Emma as the president and Eliza Snow as the secretary,
made a strong public stand against polygamy. The Relief Society
prepared and published a certificate which declared:
We the undersigned members of the ladies' relief society, and
married females do certify and declare that we know of no system
of marriage being practised in the church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints save the one contained in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants....
Emma Smith, President...
Eliza R. Snow, Secretary.
(Times and Seasons 3 [October 1,
1842]: 940)
No wonder Eliza said that it was "expedient that we should
barely touch the subject at Nauvoo!" Her stories conflicted—she
had signed a statement printed on October 1, 1842, that no system
of polygamy existed in the Church. But years later (when she was
trying to support Brigham's polygamy) she claimed to have married
Joseph on June 29, 1842, which was only three
months prior to her signing the statement by the Relief
Society. Signing the certificate made her 1879 claim of marriage
to Joseph an obvious falsehood.
The statement in the certificate, signed by Eliza and other
leading women of the Church, stated that they knew of no system
of marriage but the one in the Doctrine and Covenants—the
official law of the Church entitled "On Marriage." It
was Section 101 in the 1835 Edition which Joseph used in Nauvoo,
and Section 109 in LDS editions from 1844 to 1876, but was removed
when the 1876 Edition was printed (see The
Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual [1981], 2). The polygamous
Section 132 was inserted in the LDS Doctrine and Covenants for
the first time in the 1876 Edition (ibid., 327). The article on
marriage is Section 111 in the editions published by the Reorganized
Church.
Joseph, who was the editor of the Times
and Seasons in 1842, published the Church's official law
"On Marriage" in conjunction with the Relief Society's
certificate to prove that polygamy was a crime and not a doctrine
of the Church. Joseph published that,
Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with
the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe,
that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband,
except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry
again.... We have given the above rule
of marriage as the only one practiced in this church.(Times
and Seasons 3 [October 1, 1842]: 939; italics added)
It should be emphasized that Joseph declared here that polygamy
was a crime.
Eliza and the Book Entitled The
Women of Mormondom
Eliza's keen intellect and superior writing and executive abilities,
along with being married to the master of Utah, made her the most
prominent woman in the LDS Church. She needed Brigham, and he
needed her. She needed him so she could be elevated to supreme
prominence, and he needed her to convince the women of Utah, and
the world, that polygamy was a divine doctrine and that Joseph
was its author.
After Joseph and Emma Smith's three sons went to Utah to convert
the Saints back to the true faith, Eliza responded by preparing
the book, as previously mentioned, to prove that Joseph was the
author of polygamy.
Leonard J. Arrington, former LDS historian, wrote that the idea
for the book to be written was Eliza's. Arrington stated:
In 1876–77 Eliza directed the preparation of a manuscript
which, with the assistance of Edward W. Tullidge, was published
under the title The Women of Mormondom
(New York, 1877). This book containing the personal histories
and important talks of twenty-six LDS women and shorter sketches
of fifty-six additional women was remarkable.... The idea of
the 552-page book was Eliza's; she induced the women to write
the personal histories that form the basis of the book, and
she raised the funds for its publication. (The
John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 10 [1990]:
11)
Eliza's self-glorification is seen in many places in the book,
which bears Tullidge's name as the author. Eliza's portrait appears
in the front of the book. On page 63 she refers to herself as
"Eliza R. Snow, the high priestess." On page 66 she
writes of the "interesting relationship between the prophet
[Joseph] and the inspired heroine [Eliza] who became his celestial
bride, and whose beautiful ideals have so much glorified celestial
marriage." She refers to herself as "the prophetess,
Eliza R. Snow," on page 69; and on page 194 she calls herself
"prophetess and high priestess." The book gives interesting
accounts of the lives of many of the LDS Church's leading women
(some were plural wives of leading men). Interwoven in the accounts
were their testimonies that Joseph Smith brought polygamy into
the Church.
Until Brigham's death, he and Eliza worked very closely together.
She always sat on his immediate right at dinner and during evening
family worship, and held a place in his life that no other wife,
not even his wives who bore him children, could challenge.
Brigham's daughter, Clarissa Young Spencer, wrote:
Aunt Eliza R. Snow ... held a most honored place in our household....
She always sat on Father's right at the dinner table and also
in the prayer room. He valued her opinion greatly and gave her
many important commissions. (Clarissa Young Spencer, Brigham
Young at Home, 82–83)
Another of Brigham's daughters wrote that Eliza was the last
one with whom Brigham counseled prior to his death. Susa Young
Gates stated:
After prayers that evening [August 19, 1877] he sat in council
with Aunt Eliza R. Snow in the prayer-room.... At 11 o'clock
that night he was seized with an attack of what was supposed
to be "cholera morbus".... On ... August 29, 1877,
he passed away. (Susa Young Gates, The
Life Story of Brigham Young, 360–361)
Together, Eliza and Brigham convinced millions that Joseph was
the author of polygamy. But the truth is finally coming forth—that
Eliza lied and that Joseph actually fought against polygamy.
"Joseph
forbids it [polygamy] and the practice thereof"
The LDS Church history quotes a statement which purports to
be an exact entry from Joseph's journal for October 5, 1843, to
prove that Joseph had commanded that polygamy be practiced. The
statement is monogamous in the original journal, but was changed
by Mormon historians to have a polygamous meaning. Joseph's October
5,1843, entry as it now appears incorrectly in the Mormon history
is:
"Gave instructions to try those persons who were preaching,
teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives;
for, according to the law, I hold the keys of this power in
the last days; for there is never but one on earth at a time
on whom the power and its keys are conferred; and
I have constantly said no man shall have but one wife at a time,
unless the Lord directs otherwise."(LDS History
of the Church 6:46)
Modern Mormon scholars, who have had access to records in the
Mormon Church's archives, have found that this statement has been
changed. Originally it condemned polygamy. The original quotation
is in "an untitled journal of 278 manuscript pages,"
which is thought to be in the handwriting of Willard Richards,
one of Joseph's scribes. Richards made the following entry:
Walked up and down St[reet] with Scribe and gave instructions
to try those who were preaching, teaching, or practicing
the doctrine of plurality of wives on this Law. Joseph forbids
it and the practice thereof. No man shall have but one wife.
[rest of page blank] {page 116}
(Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet's
Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, 417)
Richard S. Van Wagoner, author and historian, agreed that this
is true, saying,
The prophet's most pointed denial of plural marriage occurred
on 5 October 1843 in instructions pronounced publicly in the
streets of Nauvoo. Willard Richards wrote in Smith's diary that
Joseph "gave instructions to try those who were preaching,
teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives....
Joseph forbids it and the practice thereof. No man shall have
but one wife." (Van Wagoner, Sidney
Rigdon, 292)
Van Wagoner continued by explaining:
When incorporating Smith's journal into the History
of the Church, church leaders, under Brigham Young's
direction, deleted ten key words from this significant passage
and added forty-nine others. (ibid., 303, note 17)
What a tremendous difference between the way Joseph gave this
instruction against polygamy and the way the LDS polygamists published
it in their doctored history! They changed the history as part
of the conspiracy to legalize their own polygamous crimes by making
the dead Prophet the author of it. The original version of the
October 5 entry agreed with all of Joseph's writings which were
published during his lifetime—including those found in the
Three Scriptures and his sermon of May 26, 1844, against the dissenters.
Joseph Was Either a Monogamist or a Hypocrite
and Fraud
Presiding Patriarch Elbert A. Smith of the RLDS Church was the
son of David Hyrum Smith, who was the youngest son of Joseph the
Martyr and Emma Smith. Elbert spent a lifetime studying the polygamy
conspiracy. He commented on his grandfather's May 25, 1844, sermon
by stating:
On page 411 of the sixth volume of the church history published
by the Utah Mormon church appears a remarkable statement, purporting
to come from the lips of Joseph Smith the Martyr. It is found
in a synopsis of a sermon delivered by the prophet from the
stand in Nauvoo, Sunday, May 26, 1844 (only a month before his
death). He is replying to the charges made in the Nauvoo Expositor.
He says: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of
committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can find
only one." Our Gentile friend may twist the statement as
made here in a ridiculous way. But our Mormon friends claim
to present Joseph Smith as a prophet whose testimony may be
relied upon. Clearly his intention was to say plainly that at
that time he had but the one wife. We are indebted to our Utah
friends for having preserved and published this statement unwittingly.
In the same volume, on page 474, is a report of a sermon by
the prophet from the stand in Nauvoo, June 6 [16], 1844. In
one passage they report him as saying: "I have taught all
the strong doctrines publicly,
and always taught stronger doctrines
in public than in private." This was about ten days before
his death and effectually disposes of the Utah claim that he
taught the strong (and rank) doctrine of polygamy in private,
not daring to teach it in public. Salt Lake can hardly repudiate
its own version of these sermons....
There is no halfway ground. Either Joseph Smith was true and
clean, open and above board, as the Reorganized Church claims;
or else he was a hypocrite and a fraud through and through,
as his enemies claim. The Utah Mormons cannot long continue
seriously to contend that he was a real prophet of God, and
a good man, yet blowing hot in private and cold in public, a
monogamist in the pulpit and press and a polygamist in his home,
a pure milk of the word man by daylight and a strong meat man
after dark. (Saints' Herald 65
[February 27, 1918]: 204)
Joseph's grandson, Elbert, was correct when he said that Joseph
was either monogamous, or he was a hypocrite and a fraud. Joseph's
writings, and the fact that he had no polygamous children, are
proofs that he was not a polygamist. The LDS Church's position
is based upon the theory that Joseph was a hypocrite—that
he denounced polygamy in public and practiced it in private. This
is indeed a fragile foundation for the Mormon Church, considering
that Joseph was a bold man who never hesitated to proclaim all
the doctrines of the gospel, regardless of the opposition.
[ Joseph
Smith Fought Polygamy Index ]
|
Chapter
9 
