Footnotes
Minutes, 17 Aug. 1835; see also Declaration on Government and Law, ca. Aug. 1835 [D&C 134].
Geauga Co., OH, Court of Common Pleas, Court Records, 1807–1904, vol. M, pp. 380–381, Mar. 1835, microfilm 20,277, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
An Act Regulating Marriages [6 Jan. 1824], Statutes of Ohio, vol. 2, p. 1407, sec. 2.
The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory, Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive: Together with the Ordinance of 1787; the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States, and Various Public Instruments and Acts of Congress: Illustrated by a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio; Numerous References and Notes, and Copious Indexes. 3 vols. Edited by Salmon P. Chase. Cincinnati: Corey and Fairbank, 1833–1835.
The earliest recorded marriage performed by JS occurred in November 1835 when he was invited to “solemnize the matrimonial ceremony” of Newel Knight and Lydia Goldthwaite. (JS, Journal, 24 Nov. 1835; for more information on Ohio marriage laws at this time, see Bradshaw, “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio,” 23–69.)
Bradshaw, M. Scott. “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio.” BYU Studies 39, no. 4 (2000): 23–69.
It is possible that William W. Phelps was involved in drafting the document since he and Cowdery were both involved in printing the Doctrine and Covenants. In preceding months, Phelps had expressed considerable excitement and interest in what he called “a new idea” of eternal marriage. (See Van Orden, “W. W. Phelps,” 45–62; and William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, 26 May 1835, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.)
Van Orden, Bruce A. “W. W. Phelps: His Ohio Contributions, 1835–36.” In Regional Studies in Latter-Day Saint Church History: Ohio, edited by Milton V. Backman Jr., 45–62. Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1990.
Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.
Brigham Young, Discourse, 8 Sept. 1867, in George D. Watt, Discourse Shorthand Notes, 8 Sept. 1867, Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, CHL.
Watt, George D. Papers, ca. 1846–1865. CHL.
Joseph F. Smith recorded Young’s words in his diary, explaining that “Prest. Young spoke 12 minutes in relation to Sec. 109 B. of Doctrine and Covenants.” Smith later stated that Cowdery knew of the doctrine of plural marriage but took “liberties without license” in publishing the statement in the Doctrine and Covenants “without authority.” (Joseph F. Smith, Diary, 9 Oct. 1869; Joseph F. Smith, in Journal of Discourses, 7 July 1878, 20:29; see also Provo, UT, Central Stake, General Minutes, 4 Mar. 1883, vol. 12, pp. 271–275.)
Smith, Joseph F. Diary, Sept. 1869–Apr. 1870. Joseph F. Smith, Papers, 1854–1918. CHL. MS 1325, box 2, fd. 5.
Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.
Provo, UT, Central Stake. General Minutes, 1852–1977. CHL. LR 9629 11.
Preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, 17 Feb. 1835, italics in original.
JS was in Michigan Territory with Frederick G. Williams at the time. He did not return until 23 August 1835. (JS History, vol. B-1, 606.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
“Other authority” likely refers to clergy or public officials outside the church.
In the first recorded marriage performed by JS, he did not follow this text verbatim but conveyed similar ideas. His journal indicates that the text of the ceremony was his own. He stated, “You covenant to be each others companions through life, and discharge the duties of husband & wife in every respect.” (JS, Journal, 24 Nov. 1835.)
It is unclear who made such charges or in what venue they were made. Some evidence suggests that the doctrine of plural marriage was known to JS in 1831, prompted by his reading and questioning of the practice by Old Testament prophets during his detailed work in Genesis as part of his Bible revision. He may have begun sharing the concept with a select number of individuals in 1832.a Later accounts indicate that JS married Fanny Alger as a plural wife before or shortly after this 1835 statement was published. Following that marriage, JS likely did not marry other plural wives until 1841. The documentary record of the relationship between JS and Alger is fragmentary and contradictory.b Other reminiscences insist that Cowdery also practiced plural marriage at this time. These records claim that when Cowdery heard of the doctrine, he engaged in the practice without authorization from JS.c The statement’s explicit disavowal of polygamy led to its removal from the Doctrine and Covenants in 1876 when it was replaced by a July 1843 revelation explaining the concept of plural marriage.d
(a“Celestial Marriage,” Deseret News, 2 June 1886, 310; Bachman, “Ohio Origins of the Revelation on Eternal Marriage,” 24–28. bOliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery, 21 Jan. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 80–83; JS, Journal, 12 Apr. 1838; Minute Book 2, 12 Apr. 1838; William E. McLellin, Independence, MO, to Joseph Smith III, [Plano, IL], July 1872, typescript, Letters and Documents Copied from Originals in the Office of the Church Historian, Reorganized Church, CHL; Hancock, “Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock,” 50, 61–65. cWoodruff, Journal, 26 Aug. 1857; Brigham Young, Discourse, 8 Sept. 1867, in George D. Watt, Discourse Shorthand Notes, 8 Sept. 1867, Pitman Shorthand Transcriptions, CHL; Walker, Journal, 26 July 1872; “History of the Church,” 122; see also Hales, “Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith’s Pre-Nauvoo Reputation,” 112–190; and Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 25–42; for a refutation of Cowdery’s involvement in polygamy, see Hales, “Accusations of Adultery or Polygamy Against Oliver Cowdery,” 279–293. dRevelation, 12 July 1843, in Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 132].)Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Bachman, Danel W. “New Light on an Old Hypothesis: The Ohio Origins of the Revelation on Eternal Marriage.” Journal of Mormon History 5 (1978): 19–32.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
McLellin, William E. Letter, Independence, MO, to Joseph Smith III, [Plano, IL], July 1872. Letters and Documents Copied from Originals in the Office of the Church Historian, Reorganized Church, no date. Typescript. CHL. MS 9090. Original at CCLA.
Hancock, Mosiah Lyman. "Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock," ca. 1896. CHL. MS 570.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Watt, George D. Papers, ca. 1846–1865. CHL.
Walker, Charles L. Journal, May 1866–Jan. 1873. Charles L. Walker, Papers, 1854–1899. CHL.
“History of the Church.” Juvenile Instructor 6, no. 16 (5 Aug. 1871): 122–123.
Hales, Brian C. “Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith’s Pre-Nauvoo Reputation.” Journal of Mormon History 35, no. 4 (Fall 2009): 112–190.
Compton, Todd. In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001.
Hales, Brian C. “‘Guilty of Such Folly?’: Accusations of Adultery or Polygamy against Oliver Cowdery.” In Days Never to Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, edited by Alexander L. Baugh, 279–293. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009.
Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.
No extant documents show specific accusations against JS, the church, or its missionaries concerning baptizing women against their husbands’ wishes or influencing baptized wives to leave their husbands to join the Saints, but in the months following August 1835, the topic was raised again in two separate letters to the elders of the church. A hint at the types of circumstances to which JS responded in these letters can be found in the 1832–1833 missionary diary of Samuel Smith. He recorded the contentious exchanges caused when a woman joined the church and planned to flee her abusive husband and migrate to Zion. The husband confronted Smith, declaring that he and his companion Orson Hyde “had been persuadeing his woman to leave him” and that they were preaching that “people must Repent & go to Zion to be delivered from those Judgments that was coming upon the wicked.” (Samuel Smith, Diary, 22 July 1832; see also JS, “To the elders of the church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Sept. 1835, 1:179–182; and JS, “To the elders of the church of Latter Day Saints,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1835, 2:209–212.)
Smith, Samuel. Diary, Feb. 1832–May 1833. CHL. MS 4213.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.