Wives of Joseph Smith

Over the course of 2015 I will be blogging about the various women believed to have covenanted with Joseph Smith. For each I will provide biographical background, along with what, if anything, is known of her life after Joseph’s death.

In evaluating allegations that women were “married” to Joseph Smith, it is important to establish what constitutes sufficient evidence that a woman should be listed as a “wife.” I have come up with the following “tells” that can give us a high-level view of the women whose names are associated with Mormon founder, Joseph Smith. The first four attributes speak to whether or not a marriage occurred. The second four attributes speak to what may have motivated the marriage and what the marriage meant to the woman after Joseph’s death.

	Did reliable contemporaries consider the woman a wife?
	Are details of the alleged marriage known?
	Was the marriage said to be sexually consummated?
	Is it said Joseph Smith had a child with the wife?
	Was the woman sealed to Joseph after his death?
	Did the woman go to Utah after Joseph’s death?
	Was the marriage a subject of prophecy?
	Did the marriage “bind” Joseph to important people?

In some cases, the woman died before she could have achieved the milestones of being sealed to Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo temple or traveling to Deseret with the Saints.

The woman died before she could have achieved this milestone

Because we now have DNA evidence, I will also include the status of DNA results for assertions that specific children born to a woman were fathered by Joseph Smith (which necessarily implies that she had sex with Joseph). It’s obviously impossible to prove that Joseph didn’t have sex with any particular individual, just as it’s impossible to prove that any one of us wasn’t having sex with any number of our acquaintances or colleagues. But these DNA results are still informative.

			Sex is asserted. Pregnancy is asserted but the alleged child died either prior to birth or the claim has not yet been evaluated using DNA analysis.
			The woman’s children are proven to be descended from Joseph Smith
			DNA cannot prove or disprove that this woman’s offspring were fathered by Joseph Smith
			Where testable, this woman’s offspring were fathered by someone other than Joseph Smith

Similarly, the fact of a sealing ordinance between a woman and Joseph Smith comes in different levels of assuredness.

		The woman participated in the temple ceremony sealing her to Joseph Smith
		A temple ceremony was performed prior to 1900 on the woman’s behalf sealing her to Joseph Smith due to belief that a sealing had occurred
		It is asserted the woman participated in a ceremony sealing her to Joseph Smith after 1845, but no record exists

Below is a table listing the women identified as wives of Joseph Smith for whom I feel there is reliable contemporary information. I will be filling in the icons for each woman as I cover her story.

Name, Age (1844), Date Married
Emma Hale, 39, January 18, 1827					–	–
Fanny Alger, 27, Apr 1836
Louisa Beaman, 29, Apr 5, 1841
Zina Huntington, 23, Oct 27, 1841
Presendia Huntington, 34, Dec 11, 1841
Agnes Coolbrith, 36, Jan 6, 1842
Mary Elizabeth Rollins, 25, Feb 1842
Sylvia Sessions, 25, Feb 1842
Patty Bartlett, 49, Mar 9, 1842
Eliza Roxcy Snow, 40, Jun 29, 1842
Sarah Ann Whitney, 19, Jul 27, 1842
Martha McBride, 39, Aug, 1842
Emily Dow Partridge, 20, Mar 4, 1843
Eliza Maria Partridge, 23, Mar 8, 1843
Flora Ann Woodworth, 1843
Almera Johnson, 31 Apr 1843
Lucy Walker, 18 May 1, 1843
Maria Lawrence, 20 May 1843
Sarah Lawrence, 18 May 1843
Helen Mar Kimball, 15 May 1843
Marinda Nancy Johnson, 29 May 1843
Elvira Cowles, 30 Jun 1, 1843
Rhoda Richards, 59 Jun 12, 1843
Desdemona Fullmer, 34 Jul 1843
Mary Ann Frost, 35 July 1843
Olive Grey Frost, 29 summer 1843
Melissa Lott, 20 Sep 20, 1843
Fanny Young, 57 Nov 2, 1843
Ruth Vose, 34 Feb 1844

There are additional women who are alleged to have been married to Joseph Smith, for which there are no marriage details. I have indicated for each the year I suspect the women were sealed to Joseph.

Hannah Ann Dubois before 1841
Mary Heron 1841
Delcena Johnson 1842
Elizabeth Davis 1842
Hannah Ells 1842
Lucinda Pendleton 1842
Nancy Maria Winchester 1842
Sarah Kingsley 1842
Phebe Palmer [Graves] 1842
Sarah Rapson [Poulterer] 1842
Lydia Kenyon [Carter] 1842
Sarah Scott [Mulholland] 1842
Mary Houston 1842
Esther Dutcher 1843
Phebe Watrous [Woodworth] 1843