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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith/Chapter 24
FAIR Answers—back to home page
Response to claims made in "Chapter 24: The Wives of the Prophet"
| Claims made in "Chapter 23: Into Hiding" | A FAIR Analysis of: No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, a work by author: Fawn Brodie
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Claims made in "Chapter 25: Candidate for President" |
| Claim Evaluation |
| No Man Knows My History |
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Response to claims made in No Man Knows My History, "Chapter 24: The Wives of the Prophet"
Jump to details:
- Response to claim: 334 - The number of women sealed to Joseph Smith may have exceeded fifty
- Response to claim: 336 - At least twelve of the women sealed to Joseph were already married with living husbands
- Response to claim: 338 - "Most" of Joseph wives were married to him for "time and eternity"
- Response to claim: 339 - Emma selected the Partridge sisters and the Lawrence sisters as plural wives for Joseph
- Response to claim: 342 - Emma burned the revelation on plural marriage
- Response to claim: 343 - Joseph said that he would have Emma as his wife in the hereafter even if he had to "go to hell" for her
- Response to claim: 345 - There is "some evidence that Fannie Alger bore Joseph a child in Kirtland"
- Response to claim: 345 - The author claims that Prescindia Huntington Buell's son Oliver may have been Joseph's son
- Response to claim: 345 - "Legend" says that John Reed Hancock may have been Joseph's son
- Response to claim: 345 - The son of Mary Rollins Lightner "may as easily have been the prophet's son as that of Adam Lightner"
- Response to claim: 345 - Mrs. Orson Hyde's sons Orson and Frank "could have been Joseph's sons"
- Response to claim: 345 - Mrs. Parley P. Pratt's son Moroni "might also be added to this list"
- Response to claim: 345-346 - "According to tradition," Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage
- Response to claim: 346 - "It is astonishing that evidence of other children than these has never come to light"
- Response to claim: 346 - Jedediah Grant "excused" Joseph's marriages to married women by stating that it was a way to "try the people of God to see what was in them"
- Response to claim: 346 - Perhaps Joseph "learned some primitive method of birth control" or took advantage of items such as "Portuguese Female Pills" to produce miscarriage
Response to claim: 334 - The number of women sealed to Joseph Smith may have exceeded fifty
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
The number of women sealed to Joseph Smith may have exceeded fifty.Author's sources:
- William Hepworth Dixon: New America (1867), p. 225.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
Brodie's evidentiary standards are far too low.
Response to claim: 336 - At least twelve of the women sealed to Joseph were already married with living husbands
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
At least twelve of the women sealed to Joseph were already married with living husbands.Author's sources:
- No source provided.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: The author has stated erroneous information or misinterpreted their sources
The number was lower; Brodie's evidentiary standards are weak. She notes that the evidence for one of these women (Mrs. Levi Hancock) is "only word-of-mouth tradition in the Hancock family."
Question: Was Joseph Smith married or sealed to women who were already married to other living men?
Joseph Smith was sealed to 11 women who were married to men who were still living. Some of these men were even active members of the Church
Among Joseph's plural marriages and/or sealings, between eight to eleven of them were to women who were already married. Of the eight well-documented cases, five of the husbands were Latter-day Saints, and the other three were either not active in or not associated with the Church. In all cases, these women continued to live with their husbands, most of them doing so until their husbands died. These eternal marriages appear to have had little effect upon the lives of the women involved, with the exception that they would be sealed to Joseph in the afterlife rather than to their earthly husbands. One of the most well-known of these "polyandrous" marriages was to Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs.[1]
Of all the aspects of Joseph Smith's marital theology, this is the most difficult area to understand, because very little primary evidence exists. As one scholar noted:
Perhaps nothing is less understood than Joseph Smith's sealings to women already married, because the evidence supports conflicting interpretations.[2]
These "polyandrous" marriages have given rise to a number of criticisms:
- Why would Joseph be sealed to other men's wives?
- What was the nature of these marriages? Were they consummated?
- Why did these 11 women continue to live with and have children with their husbands even after being sealed to Joseph Smith?
- One critic of the church notes, "Joseph Smith would frequently approach other men’s wives about being his own plural wives..." [3]
At the time that celestial marriage was introduced, it was possible to be married for time to one person and sealed for eternity to another. These marriages appear to have been performed for the purpose of forming dynastic bonds in the afterlife, as there is no evidence that Joseph ever cohabited or had intimate relations with any of these women. No children from these marriages have ever been identified. These were sealings which would only affect Joseph's association with these women in the afterlife.
Question: What was the nature of Joseph Smith's "polyandrous" marriages?
Evidence indicates that Joseph was sealed for eternity to eight to eleven women who were married to other men
The fact that these women continue to live with their earthly husbands and even have children by them indicates that the sealings to Joseph Smith were not marriages in the normal sense.
Joseph's sealing to their wives doesn't appear to have changed anything in their daily lives or their relationship to their current husbands
The relationship between these women and their husbands appear to have not changed even after they were sealed to Joseph Smith. Of the eight well-documented cases, five of the husbands were Latter-day Saints, and the other three were either not active in or not associated with the Church. In all cases, these women continued to live with their husbands, most of them doing so until their husbands died. These eternal marriages appear to have had little effect upon the lives of the women involved, with the exception that they would be sealed to Joseph in the afterlife rather than to their earthly husbands.
Question: Did Joseph Smith consummate any of these marriages with married women?
There is no evidence to indicate that Joseph consumated any polyandrous marriages, with one possible exception for a woman who considered herself divorced
The available evidence also does not support the claim that Joseph had intimate relations with these married women. Fawn Brodie, who repeatedly stated her belief that Joseph had intimate relations with many of his plural wives, identified several individuals that she thought “might” be children of Joseph Smith, Jr. Yet, even Brodie noted that “it is astonishing that evidence of other children than these has never come to light.” Brodie postulated, in spite of a complete lack of evidence, that Joseph must have been able to successfully practice some sort of primitive birth control, or that abortions must have been routinely employed.To date, DNA analysis has ruled out Joseph Smith as the father of any of the children of the women to whom he was sealed who were married to other men.
In 1915, Sylvia Sessions Lyon's daughter, Josephine, signed a statement that in 1882 Sylvia "told me that I was the daughter of the Prophet Joseph Smith"
In 1915, Sylvia Sessions Lyon's daughter, Josephine, signed a statement that in 1882 Sylvia "told me that I was the daughter of the Prophet Joseph Smith, she having been sealed to the Prophet at the time that her husband Mr. Lyon was out of fellowship with the Church." It is not known whether Sylvia was referring to her daughter as being a literal descendant of Joseph Smith, or if she was referring to the fact that she had been sealed to the prophet. In any case, in 2016 the daughter was shown by DNA testing to be definitively not the biological daughter of Joseph Smith.[4]
In an article published in Mormon Historical Studies, Brian C. Hales demonstrates that Sylvia considered herself divorced prior to marrying Joseph polygamously. [5]
Question: Did Joseph Smith have any children through any of his polyandrous marriages?
DNA research has, so far, ruled out most who were suspected of being Joseph's children through polyandrous marriages
| Mother | Brodie’s claim [6] | Modern evidence |
|---|---|---|
Buell |
Brodie claims that “the physiognomy revealed in a rare photograph of Oliver Buell seems to weight the balance overwhelmingly on the side of Joseph’s paternity.” | Oliver Buell is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr.
DNA research in 2007 confirmed Presendia Huntington Buell’s son Oliver, born sometime in 1838-1839, was the son of Norman Buell.[7] "Only 9 of the 23 genetic markers match when comparing the inferred Oliver Buell haplotype to that of Joseph Smith. Such a low degree of correlation between the two haplotypes provides strong evidence that they belong to two unrelated paternal lineages, thus excluding with high likelihood Joseph Smith Jr. as the biological father of Oliver N. Buell. Further weight is given to this observation by the close match of the inferred haplotype of Owen F. Buell to the independent Buell record in the SMGF data base, which genetic relationship dates back prior to Joseph Smith's era. Additionally, the two genetic profiles were run through a haplogroup predictor algorithm that assigned the Smith haplotypes to a cluster known as R1b and the cluster for the Buell's haplotypes to I1b2a, two deeply divergent clades that separated anciently, thus providing further evidence that the Oliver Buell and Joseph Smith lineages are not closely related" [8] |
Alger |
Brodie states that “[t]here is some evidence that Fannie Alger bore Joseph a child in Kirtland.” | DNA research in 2005 confirmed Fanny Alger’s son Orrison Smith is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr.[9] |
Hancock |
”Legend among the descendants of Levi W. Hancock points to another son of the prophet. If the legend is true, the child was probably John Reed Hancock, born April 19, 1841.” | Nothing is yet known regarding the patrilineage John Reed Hancock.
John Reed's brother Mosiah is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr. DNA research in 2007 confirmed Clarissa Hancock's son Mosiah, born 9 April 1834, was the son of Levi Hancock.[10] "A 12-marker haplotype was already available for a paternal descendant of Mosiah Hancock, generated by an independent commercial laboratory. A comparison of the 12 markers to the shortened Joseph Smith haplotype showed only 5 matches, indicating a low likelihood of a biological relationship between Mosiah and Joseph. Additionally, we queried the SMGF database with the 12 Ycs Hancock markers. Six independent records returned matching all 12 markers, all having the surname Hancock with documented connections to Mosiah's grandfather Thomas Hancock III." [11] |
Lightner |
The son of Mary Rollins Lightner “may as easily have been the prophet’s son as that of Adam Lightner.” | George Algernon Lightner, born March 22, 1842, died as an infant and therefore had no descendants. DNA testing cannot help determine paternity. |
Hyde |
Mrs. Orson Hyde’s sons Orson and Frank “could have been Joseph’s sons.” | Orson Washington Hyde, born November 9, 1843, died as an infant and therefore had no descendants. DNA testing cannot help determine paternity. |
Pratt |
Mrs. Parley P. Pratt’s son Moroni “might also be added to this list.” | Moroni Llewellyn Pratt is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr.
DNA research in 2005 confirmed Mary Ann Frost Pratt's son Moroni, born 7 December 1844, was the son of Parley P. Pratt.[12] |
Snow |
”According to tradition,” Emma beat Eliza Snow and caused her to abort Joseph’s child. | Both LDS and non-LDS reviewers have found several flaws in the story about Eliza.[13] Emma's biographers note that "Eliza continued to teach school for a month after her abrupt departure from the Smith household. Her own class attendance record shows that she did not miss a day during the months she taught the Smith children, which would be unlikely had she suffered a miscarriage."[14] |
Jacobs |
Zina was “about seven months pregnant with Jacobs' child at the time of her marriage to the prophet.” [15] John D. Lee and William Hall stated that Zina had been “pregnant by Smith.” | Zebulon Jacobs is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr.
DNA research in 2005 confirmed Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs's son Zebulon was the son of Henry Bailey Jacobs.[16] |
Response to claim: 338 - "Most" of Joseph wives were married to him for "time and eternity"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
"Most" of Joseph wives were married to him for "time [that is, life] and eternity."Author's sources:
- No source provided.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is based upon correct information - The author is providing knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject, or event
This is true.
Response to claim: 339 - Emma selected the Partridge sisters and the Lawrence sisters as plural wives for Joseph
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Emma selected the Partridge sisters and the Lawrence sisters as plural wives for Joseph.Author's sources:
- No source provided.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is based upon correct information - The author is providing knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject, or event
This is true.
Question: How did Emma Hale Smith react to Joseph's practice of plural marriage?
Jump to details:
- Question: How did Emma Hale Smith react to Joseph's practice of plural marriage?
- Emma was aware of Joseph's plural marriage and sometimes gave permission, but did much to try and thwart it
- Emma did teach her children that Joseph had never taught the doctrine of plural marriage, and blamed its introduction on Brigham Young
Response to claim: 342 - Emma burned the revelation on plural marriage
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Emma burned the revelation on plural marriage.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is based upon correct information - The author is providing knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject, or event
This is likely true.Brigham Young said that Emma burned the revelation,
Said she—"Joseph, you promised me that revelation, and if you are a man of your word you will give it to me." Joseph took it from his pocket and said—"Take it." She went to the fire-place and put it in, and put the candle under it and burnt it, and she thought that was the end of it, and she will be damned as sure as she is a living woman. Joseph used to say that he would have her hereafter, if he had to go to hell for her, and he will have to go to hell for her as sure as he ever gets her.[17]
Response to claim: 343 - Joseph said that he would have Emma as his wife in the hereafter even if he had to "go to hell" for her
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Joseph said that he would have Emma as his wife in the hereafter even if he had to "go to hell" for her.Author's sources:
- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 17:159.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim is based upon correct information - The author is providing knowledge concerning some particular fact, subject, or event
This is likely true.Brigham Young said,
Said she—"Joseph, you promised me that revelation, and if you are a man of your word you will give it to me." Joseph took it from his pocket and said—"Take it." She went to the fire-place and put it in, and put the candle under it and burnt it, and she thought that was the end of it, and she will be damned as sure as she is a living woman. Joseph used to say that he would have her hereafter, if he had to go to hell for her, and he will have to go to hell for her as sure as he ever gets her.[18]
Response to claim: 345 - There is "some evidence that Fannie Alger bore Joseph a child in Kirtland"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
There is "some evidence that Fannie Alger bore Joseph a child in Kirtland."Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
The evidence is not persuasive.
Question: Did Fanny Alger have a child by Joseph Smith?
Jump to details:
- Question: Did Fanny Alger have a child by Joseph Smith?
- A suggestion that Fanny was pregnant by Joseph surfaced in an 1886 anti-Mormon book with a claim that Emma "drove" Fanny out of the house
- Fawn Brodie claimed that Fanny's son Orrison was the son of Joseph Smith, but this was disproven by DNA research
Response to claim: 345 - The author claims that Prescindia Huntington Buell's son Oliver may have been Joseph's son
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
The author claims that Prescindia Huntington Buell's son Oliver may have been Joseph's son.Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: The author has stated erroneous information or misinterpreted their sources
DNA has definitively ruled this out.
Question: Did Joseph Smith father children by polyandrous plural wife Prescindia Buell?
Jump to details:
- Question: Did Joseph Smith father children by polyandrous plural wife Prescindia Buell?
- All those who have been definitively DNA tested so far—Oliver Buell, Mosiah Hancock, Zebulon Jacobs, Moroni Pratt, and Orrison Smith—have been excluded as children of Joseph Smith
- The geography
- The DNA
- Maybe another Buell child?
Response to claim: 345 - "Legend" says that John Reed Hancock may have been Joseph's son
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
"Legend" says that John Reed Hancock may have been Joseph's son.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
-"Legend" is not a source. No other author has followed Brodie on this; there is very little evidence that this is true.Nothing is yet known regarding the patrilineage John Reed Hancock. John Reed's brother Mosiah is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr.
DNA research in 2007 confirmed Clarissa Hancock's son Mosiah, born 9 April 1834, was the son of Levi Hancock.[19] "A 12-marker haplotype was already available for a paternal descendant of Mosiah Hancock, generated by an independent commercial laboratory. A comparison of the 12 markers to the shortened Joseph Smith haplotype showed only 5 matches, indicating a low likelihood of a biological relationship between Mosiah and Joseph. Additionally, we queried the SMGF database with the 12 Ycs Hancock markers. Six independent records returned matching all 12 markers, all having the surname Hancock with documented connections to Mosiah's grandfather Thomas Hancock III."[20]
Response to claim: 345 - The son of Mary Rollins Lightner "may as easily have been the prophet's son as that of Adam Lightner"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
The son of Mary Rollins Lightner "may as easily have been the prophet's son as that of Adam Lightner."
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
George Algernon Lightner, born March 22, 1842, died as an infant and therefore had no descendants. DNA testing cannot help determine paternity.
Response to claim: 345 - Mrs. Orson Hyde's sons Orson and Frank "could have been Joseph's sons"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Mrs. Orson Hyde's sons Orson and Frank "could have been Joseph's sons."
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: The author has stated erroneous information or misinterpreted their sources
Brodie mistakes the date on Frank's birth certificate—it is impossible for him to have been Joseph's son. Orson Washington Hyde, born November 9, 1843, died as an infant and therefore had no descendants. DNA testing cannot help determine paternity. The birth dates match times when Orson Sr. was available to sire him. Most historians have disagreed with Brodie here.
Response to claim: 345 - Mrs. Parley P. Pratt's son Moroni "might also be added to this list"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Mrs. Parley P. Pratt's son Moroni "might also be added to this list."
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: The author has stated erroneous information or misinterpreted their sources
Moroni Llewellyn Pratt is not the son of Joseph Smith, Jr. DNA research in 2005 confirmed Mary Ann Frost Pratt's son Moroni, born 7 December 1844, was the son of Parley P. Pratt.[21]
Response to claim: 345-346 - "According to tradition," Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
"According to tradition," Emma beat Eliza Snow with a broomstick and caused her to fall down the stairs, resulting in a miscarriage.Author's sources:
- None specified.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: The author has stated erroneous information or misinterpreted their sources
The stairs story has not stood up to investigation. See Emma, Eliza and the stairs
Question: Was a pregnant Eliza R. Snow pushed down the stairs by a furious Emma, resulting in a miscarriage?
Jump to details:
- Question: Was a pregnant Eliza R. Snow pushed down the stairs by a furious Emma, resulting in a miscarriage?
- The historical and logistical problems with this story make it unlikely to be true
- The statement that Eliza carried Joseph’s unborn child and lost it due to an attack by Emma is brought into question by Eliza’s own journal
- RLDS perspective
- Question: If the story of Emma pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs is true, why did Eliza not make use of it?
Question: Was a pregnant Eliza R. Snow pushed down the stairs by a furious Emma, resulting in a miscarriage?
Jump to details:
- Question: Was a pregnant Eliza R. Snow pushed down the stairs by a furious Emma, resulting in a miscarriage?
- The historical and logistical problems with this story make it unlikely to be true
- The statement that Eliza carried Joseph’s unborn child and lost it due to an attack by Emma is brought into question by Eliza’s own journal
- RLDS perspective
- Question: If the story of Emma pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs is true, why did Eliza not make use of it?
Response to claim: 346 - "It is astonishing that evidence of other children than these has never come to light"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
"It is astonishing that evidence of other children than these has never come to light."Author's sources:
FAIR's Response
}}
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
It is astonishing that the author guessed wrong so often, and missed the one viable candidate: Josephine Fisher.
Response to claim: 346 - Jedediah Grant "excused" Joseph's marriages to married women by stating that it was a way to "try the people of God to see what was in them"
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Jedediah Grant "excused" Joseph's marriages to married women by stating that it was a way to "try the people of God to see what was in them."Author's sources:
- Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses 2:14.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: The author has stated erroneous information or misinterpreted their sources
Grant says nothing about Joseph's polyandrous marriages; he is speaking of cases (e.g., such as Heber and Vilate Kimball) in which Joseph proposed plural marriage but then relented.See Quote mining—Journal of Discourses 2:14 to see how this quote was mined.
Response to claim: 346 - Perhaps Joseph "learned some primitive method of birth control" or took advantage of items such as "Portuguese Female Pills" to produce miscarriage
The author(s) of No Man Knows My History make(s) the following claim:
Perhaps Joseph "learned some primitive method of birth control" or took advantage of items such as "Portuguese Female Pills" to produce miscarriage.
FAIR's Response
Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader
Author's conjecture—Brodie can't adequately explain why a large number of children were not produced from Joseph's other "marriages."
Notes
- ↑ Samuel Katich, "A Tale of Two Marriage Systems: Perspectives on Polyandry and Joseph Smith," Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, 2003.
- ↑ Kathryn M. Daynes, More Wives than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840–1910 (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 29. ISBN 0252026810.
- ↑ John Dehlin, "Questions and Answers," Mormon Stories Podcast (25 June 2014)
- ↑ http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865656112/Joseph-Smith-apparently-was-not-Josephine-Lyons-father-Mormon-History-Association-speaker-says.html?pg=all "Joseph Smith apparently was not Josephine Lyon's father, Mormon History Association speaker says,"] Deseret News (13 June 2016)
- ↑ See: Hales, Brian C. "The Joseph Smith-Sylvia Sessions Plural Sealing: Polyandry or Polygyny?" Mormon Historical Studies 9/1 (Spring 2008): 41–57.] DNA research is ongoing but it is rendered more difficult since the Y chromosome evidence of paternal lineage is not present in females.
- ↑ No Man Knows My History, p. 301, 345, 465.
- ↑ DNA Tests rule out 2 as Smith descendants, Deseret News Nov. 10, 2007.
- ↑ Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, "Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA," Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, "Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA," John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, 2008, Vol. 28, p. 133. off-site
- ↑ Ugo A. Perego, Natalie M. Myers, and Scott R. Woodward, “Reconstructing the Y-Chromosome of Joseph Smith Jr.: Genealogical Applications, Journal of Mormon History Vol. 32, No. 2 (Summer 2005) 70-88.
- ↑ Deseret News, 2007.
- ↑ Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, "Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA," John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, 2008, Vol. 28, p134-135. off-site
- ↑ Perego, Myers and Woodward, 2005.
- ↑ This bit of folklore is explored in Maureen Ursenbach Beecher et al., "Emma and Eliza and the Stairs," Brigham Young University Studies 22 no. 1 (Fall 1982), 86–96.. RLDS author Richard Price also argues that the physical layout of the Mansion House makes the story as reported by Charles C. Rich unlikely, see "Eliza Snow Was Not Pushed Down the Mansion House Stairs," in Richard Price. "Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy: How Men Nearest the Prophet Attached Polygamy to His Name in Order to Justify Their Own Polygamous Crimes." (n.p.: Price Publishing Company, 2001), chapter 9. Price's dogmatic insistence that Joseph never taught plural marriage, however, cannot be sustained by the evidence.
- ↑ Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, 2nd ed. (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 136. See also discussion in Danel Bachman, "Plural Marriage Before the Death of Joseph Smith (Master's Thesis, Purdue University, 1975), 140n173.
- ↑ Brodie, p. 465.
- ↑ Perego, Myers and Woodward, 2005.
- ↑ Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 17:159.
- ↑ Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 17:159.
- ↑ Deseret News, 2007.
- ↑ Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, "Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA," JJHWA, 134-135.
- ↑ Perego, Myers and Woodward, 2005.