FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Array
Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/Circumstances of her plural marriage: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Articles FAIR copyright}} | {{Articles FAIR copyright}} | ||
<onlyinclude> | <onlyinclude> | ||
{{SummaryHeader | |||
|link= Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/Circumstances of her plural marriage | |||
|subject=Did Joseph Smith send Apostle Orson Hyde on a mission so that he could secretly marry his wife Marinda while he was gone? | |||
|summary= | |||
|sublink1=Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone? | |||
|sublink2=Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away? | |||
|sublink3=Question: What did Orson Hyde, the husband of Marinda Nancy Johnson, know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity? | |||
}} | |||
</onlyinclude> | |||
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?}} | {{:Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?}} | ||
{{:Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?}} | {{:Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?}} | ||
{{:Question: What did the husband of Marinda Nancy Johnson know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?}} | {{:Question: What did the husband of Marinda Nancy Johnson know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?}} | ||
{{CriticalSources}} | {{CriticalSources}} | ||
{{endnotes sources}} | {{endnotes sources}} | ||
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> | ||
[[en:Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/Circumstances of her plural marriage]] | [[en:Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/Circumstances of her plural marriage]] | ||
[[es:José Smith/Poligamia/Esposas plurales/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/Las circunstancias de su matrimonio plural]] | [[es:José Smith/Poligamia/Esposas plurales/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/Las circunstancias de su matrimonio plural]] | ||
[[pt:Joseph Smith/Poligamia/Esposas plurais/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/As circunstâncias de seu casamento plural]] | [[pt:Joseph Smith/Poligamia/Esposas plurais/Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde/As circunstâncias de seu casamento plural]] | ||
Revision as of 21:31, 21 May 2017
|
Did Joseph Smith send Apostle Orson Hyde on a mission so that he could secretly marry his wife Marinda while he was gone?
Jump to Subtopic:
- Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions so that he could secretly marry their wives while they were gone?
- Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?
- Question: What did Orson Hyde, the husband of Marinda Nancy Johnson, know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?
Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to "steal" their wives while they were gone?
This claim is contradicted by historical data: ten of the husbands of the twelve "polyandrous" wives were not on missions at the time and there is insufficient or contradictory information about the other two
One critic of the Church states, "Joseph Smith would frequently approach other men’s wives about being his own plural wives — often while the men were away." [1]
Researcher Brian C. Hales noted that this claim is without foundation:
Another detail in [John C.] Bennett's Pittsburgh affidavit is that the Prophet had sent men on missions so he could marry their wives in Nauvoo. This statement is contradicted by historical data. Of the twelve "polyandrous" husbands identified by Todd Compton, ten were not on missions at the time Joseph was sealed to their legal wives. Of the two possible exceptions, only one, Orson Hyde, is documented as on a mission at the time of Marinda Johnson Hyde's sealing to Joseph Smith. The second possible case involves George Harris, who left on his fourteen-month mission in July 1840. His wife, Lucinda may have been...sealed to Joseph Smith at some point, but the date is unavailable.[2]
The only question regards Orson Hyde, who had been on his mission for one year to two years before the sealing
It is of note that Orson had been on his mission for about a year before the sealing--he departed on 15 April 1840, and would return 7 December 1842. There are two dates available for her sealing to Joseph--either April/Spring 1842, or May 1843.[3] Thus, even with the earliest sealing date, Orson had been gone for nearly two years prior to Joseph's sealing to Nancy. If the second sealing date is correct, Orson was already home from his mission at the time.
This long delay does not fit well with the claim that a sexually-aggressive Joseph simply wanted his male rivals out of the way.
Hyde's wife Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death
Unique to the Hyde's marriage is the fact that Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death. All of the Prophet's other polyandrous wives were posthumously sealed to Joseph by proxy.[4]
Much of what we know about the Hyde sealing is also contaminated by hostile, mutually contradictory accounts that contain some known false information.
Did Joseph Smith send William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs on missions so that he could steal their wives?
This claim was made in an anti-Mormon expose entitled Fifteen Years Among the Mormons
This book was written by Nelson Winch Green, who reported what estranged member Marry Ettie V. Coray Smith reportedly told him.
Even other anti-Mormon authors who had lived in Utah regarded it as nearly worthless. Fanny Stenhouse wrote:
Much has already been written on this subject much that is in accordance with facts, and much that is exaggerated and false. Hitherto, with but one exception [Mrs. Ettie V. Smith is noted in the footnote as the work referred to] that of a lady who wrote very many years ago, and who in her writings, so mixed up fiction with what was true, that it was difficult to determine where the one ended and the other began no woman who really was a Mormon and lived in Polygamy ever wrote the history of her own personal experience. Books have been published, and narratives have appeared in the magazines and journals, purporting to be written by Mormon wives; it is, however, perhaps, unnecessary for me to state that, notwithstanding such narratives may be imposed upon the Gentile world as genuine, that they were written by persons outside the Mormon faith would in a moment be detected by any intelligent Saint who took the trouble to peruse them.[5]
So, we must remember that the source of this charge against Joseph is a work that is not regarded as generally reliable today, and it was not regarded as reliable even by some of the Church's well-informed enemies in the 19th century.
The book claimed that Law, Foster and Jacobs were returned from missions to find their wives "blushing under the prospective honors of spiritual wifeism"
The relevant passage reads:
The Prophet had sent some time before this, three men, Law, Foster and Jacobs, on missions, and they had just returned, and found their wives blushing under the prospective honors of spiritual wifeism; and another woman, Mrs. Buel [sic], had left her husband, a Gentile, to grace the Prophet's retinue, on horseback, when he reviewed the Nauvoo Legion. I heard the latter woman say afterwards in Utah, that she did not know whether Mr. Buel [sic] or the Prophet was the father of her son. These men [Law, Foster and Jacobs] established a press in Nauvoo, to expose his alleged vicious teachings and practices, which a revelation from Joseph destroyed.[6]
Law and Foster never served missions, and Jacobs was not on a mission when Joseph proposed a sealing to his wife
As might be expected, then, there are many claims in this passage that are in error. We know that the following are false:
- Ettie Smith claims that William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs were on missions and that Joseph had proposed plural marriage to them. Law and Foster, in fact, never served missions. Henry Jacobs did serve a mission, but he was not gone on a mission when Joseph discussed plural marriage.
- Foster and Law did participate in publishing the Nauvoo Expositor, but Henry Jacobs did not. He was and remained a faithful member of the Church.
- The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was undertaken by the Nauvoo city council. Some members of that council were not members of the Church--it seems implausible to think that they would bow to a "revelation" to Joseph requiring its destruction. The decision was made, instead, after 8 hours of discussion and after consulting legal references.
Thus, in the single paragraph we have several basic errors of fact. None of the men were on missions save Jacobs, and he was in Nauvoo when Joseph proposed a sealing to his wife.
Orson Hyde is the only person whose wife was sealed to Joseph while he was on a mission.
Summary: Marinda Nancy Johnson was married to Orson Hyde. There are contradictory accounts which make it impossible to know for certain whether or not Orson knew of and consented to Marinda's sealing for eternity to Joseph. However, according to Hales, "If the 1842 date for the sealing between Joseph and Marinda marriage is correct, then Joseph may have been sealed to Marinda in an "eternity only" sealing without Orson Hyde’s knowledge." Yet he also notes that "John D. Lee remembered that Orson gave his permission: 'Hyde’s wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state.'" At the very least, Orson was away for more than a year prior to the sealing, which suggests that Joseph was not simply waiting to get Orson out of the way.Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde's sealing to Joseph Smith
Summary: Was Joseph's sealing to Nancy Hyde driven by lustful motives?Joseph's polyandrous marriages
Summary: Nothing in plural marriage mystifies—or troubles—members of the Church more than Joseph's polyandrous sealings. Marriage to multiple wives may seem strange, but at least it intrudes on our historical awareness, while many remain unaware of polyandry's existence in LDS history. But, most critical accounts do not provide all the facts. When we understand what these marriages consisted of—and what they did not consist of—they are much less strange.Critical sources |
|
Notes
- ↑ John Dehlin, "Questions and Answers," Mormon Stories Podcast (25 June 2014).
- ↑ Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy Vol. 1, 313–314.
- ↑ Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy Vol. 1, 273–274.
- ↑ Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997), 240–242. ( Index of claims )
- ↑ Stenhouse, "Tell It All", 618.
- ↑ Nelson Winch Green, Fifteen Years among the Mormons: Being the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Ettie V. Smith, Late of Great Salt Lake City; a Sister of One of the Mormon High Priests, She Having Been Personally Acquainted with Most of the Mormon Leaders, and Long in the Confidence of The "Prophet," Brigham Young (New York: H. Dayton, Publishers, 1860 [1858]), 34–35.
Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to "steal" their wives while they were gone?
This claim is contradicted by historical data: ten of the husbands of the twelve "polyandrous" wives were not on missions at the time and there is insufficient or contradictory information about the other two
One critic of the Church states, "Joseph Smith would frequently approach other men’s wives about being his own plural wives — often while the men were away." [1]
Researcher Brian C. Hales noted that this claim is without foundation:
Another detail in [John C.] Bennett's Pittsburgh affidavit is that the Prophet had sent men on missions so he could marry their wives in Nauvoo. This statement is contradicted by historical data. Of the twelve "polyandrous" husbands identified by Todd Compton, ten were not on missions at the time Joseph was sealed to their legal wives. Of the two possible exceptions, only one, Orson Hyde, is documented as on a mission at the time of Marinda Johnson Hyde's sealing to Joseph Smith. The second possible case involves George Harris, who left on his fourteen-month mission in July 1840. His wife, Lucinda may have been...sealed to Joseph Smith at some point, but the date is unavailable.[2]
The only question regards Orson Hyde, who had been on his mission for one year to two years before the sealing
It is of note that Orson had been on his mission for about a year before the sealing--he departed on 15 April 1840, and would return 7 December 1842. There are two dates available for her sealing to Joseph--either April/Spring 1842, or May 1843.[3] Thus, even with the earliest sealing date, Orson had been gone for nearly two years prior to Joseph's sealing to Nancy. If the second sealing date is correct, Orson was already home from his mission at the time.
This long delay does not fit well with the claim that a sexually-aggressive Joseph simply wanted his male rivals out of the way.
Hyde's wife Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death
Unique to the Hyde's marriage is the fact that Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death. All of the Prophet's other polyandrous wives were posthumously sealed to Joseph by proxy.[4]
Much of what we know about the Hyde sealing is also contaminated by hostile, mutually contradictory accounts that contain some known false information.
Did Joseph Smith send William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs on missions so that he could steal their wives?
This claim was made in an anti-Mormon expose entitled Fifteen Years Among the Mormons
This book was written by Nelson Winch Green, who reported what estranged member Marry Ettie V. Coray Smith reportedly told him.
Even other anti-Mormon authors who had lived in Utah regarded it as nearly worthless. Fanny Stenhouse wrote:
Much has already been written on this subject much that is in accordance with facts, and much that is exaggerated and false. Hitherto, with but one exception [Mrs. Ettie V. Smith is noted in the footnote as the work referred to] that of a lady who wrote very many years ago, and who in her writings, so mixed up fiction with what was true, that it was difficult to determine where the one ended and the other began no woman who really was a Mormon and lived in Polygamy ever wrote the history of her own personal experience. Books have been published, and narratives have appeared in the magazines and journals, purporting to be written by Mormon wives; it is, however, perhaps, unnecessary for me to state that, notwithstanding such narratives may be imposed upon the Gentile world as genuine, that they were written by persons outside the Mormon faith would in a moment be detected by any intelligent Saint who took the trouble to peruse them.[5]
So, we must remember that the source of this charge against Joseph is a work that is not regarded as generally reliable today, and it was not regarded as reliable even by some of the Church's well-informed enemies in the 19th century.
The book claimed that Law, Foster and Jacobs were returned from missions to find their wives "blushing under the prospective honors of spiritual wifeism"
The relevant passage reads:
The Prophet had sent some time before this, three men, Law, Foster and Jacobs, on missions, and they had just returned, and found their wives blushing under the prospective honors of spiritual wifeism; and another woman, Mrs. Buel [sic], had left her husband, a Gentile, to grace the Prophet's retinue, on horseback, when he reviewed the Nauvoo Legion. I heard the latter woman say afterwards in Utah, that she did not know whether Mr. Buel [sic] or the Prophet was the father of her son. These men [Law, Foster and Jacobs] established a press in Nauvoo, to expose his alleged vicious teachings and practices, which a revelation from Joseph destroyed.[6]
Law and Foster never served missions, and Jacobs was not on a mission when Joseph proposed a sealing to his wife
As might be expected, then, there are many claims in this passage that are in error. We know that the following are false:
- Ettie Smith claims that William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs were on missions and that Joseph had proposed plural marriage to them. Law and Foster, in fact, never served missions. Henry Jacobs did serve a mission, but he was not gone on a mission when Joseph discussed plural marriage.
- Foster and Law did participate in publishing the Nauvoo Expositor, but Henry Jacobs did not. He was and remained a faithful member of the Church.
- The destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was undertaken by the Nauvoo city council. Some members of that council were not members of the Church--it seems implausible to think that they would bow to a "revelation" to Joseph requiring its destruction. The decision was made, instead, after 8 hours of discussion and after consulting legal references.
Thus, in the single paragraph we have several basic errors of fact. None of the men were on missions save Jacobs, and he was in Nauvoo when Joseph proposed a sealing to his wife.
Orson Hyde is the only person whose wife was sealed to Joseph while he was on a mission.
Summary: Marinda Nancy Johnson was married to Orson Hyde. There are contradictory accounts which make it impossible to know for certain whether or not Orson knew of and consented to Marinda's sealing for eternity to Joseph. However, according to Hales, "If the 1842 date for the sealing between Joseph and Marinda marriage is correct, then Joseph may have been sealed to Marinda in an "eternity only" sealing without Orson Hyde’s knowledge." Yet he also notes that "John D. Lee remembered that Orson gave his permission: 'Hyde’s wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state.'" At the very least, Orson was away for more than a year prior to the sealing, which suggests that Joseph was not simply waiting to get Orson out of the way.Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde's sealing to Joseph Smith
Summary: Was Joseph's sealing to Nancy Hyde driven by lustful motives?Joseph's polyandrous marriages
Summary: Nothing in plural marriage mystifies—or troubles—members of the Church more than Joseph's polyandrous sealings. Marriage to multiple wives may seem strange, but at least it intrudes on our historical awareness, while many remain unaware of polyandry's existence in LDS history. But, most critical accounts do not provide all the facts. When we understand what these marriages consisted of—and what they did not consist of—they are much less strange.Critical sources |
|
Notes
- ↑ John Dehlin, "Questions and Answers," Mormon Stories Podcast (25 June 2014).
- ↑ Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy Vol. 1, 313–314.
- ↑ Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy Vol. 1, 273–274.
- ↑ Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997), 240–242. ( Index of claims )
- ↑ Stenhouse, "Tell It All", 618.
- ↑ Nelson Winch Green, Fifteen Years among the Mormons: Being the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Ettie V. Smith, Late of Great Salt Lake City; a Sister of One of the Mormon High Priests, She Having Been Personally Acquainted with Most of the Mormon Leaders, and Long in the Confidence of The "Prophet," Brigham Young (New York: H. Dayton, Publishers, 1860 [1858]), 34–35.
Life and Character |
|
Youth |
|
Revelations and the Church |
|
Prophetic Statements |
|
Society |
|
Plural marriage (polygamy) |
|
Death |
Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde as a polyandrous wife of Joseph Smith
Summary: Marinda is a known wife of Joseph.
Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde and her sealing to Joseph
Summary: Was Joseph's marriage to Nancy driven by lustful motives?Very unlikely to have had child(ren) fathered by Joseph
Summary: One child's death certificate rules Joseph out as the father; the other has chronology problems which suggest that Joseph is not the father.Did Mrs. Hyde not know whether Orson or Joseph fathered her child?
Summary: Paternity uncertainty is unlikely in this case.Did Joseph send men on missions to marry their wives?
Summary: There is only a single case of Joseph being sealed to a woman while their husband was away.Did Joseph send men on missions so he could steal their wives?
Summary: There's no evidence this was a tactic of Joseph's, and in this case the timeline makes it doubly implausible.Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?
Orson was involved briefly with apostasy at Far West in the fall of 1838, but had returned to the Church by March 1839
Marinda Nancy Johnson married future apostle Orson Hyde on 4 September 1834. He was involved briefly with apostasy at Far West in the fall of 1838, but had returned to the Church by March 1839 following a dramatic vision in which he saw the consequence of continued rebellion. [1]
Marinda was sealed to Joseph either in April 1842, while Orson was on a mission, or in May 1843, after Orson had returned. Since there are two conflicting sources, there are two alternatives for the sealing date. The later date comes from Miranda's own affidavit and the earlier date comes from one of Joseph's scribes, Thomas Bullock[2]. Only antagonistic accounts of this sealing exist. [3] Of the four reports, two claim that Orson was aware of the sealing, and two claim that he was not.
If the earlier sealing date is correct, Orson had been on his mission for about a year before the sealing
It is of note that Orson had been on his mission for about a year before the sealing if the earlier sealing date is correct--he departed on 15 April 1840, and would return 7 December 1842. Thus, even with the earliest sealing date, Orson had been gone for nearly two years prior to Joseph's sealing to Nancy.
This long delay does not fit well with the claim that a sexually-aggressive Joseph simply wanted his male rivals out of the way.
The Hydes divorced in 1870, but Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death
The Hydes were to divorce in 1870: "The precise reasons for the divorce are not known, but it appears that Orson was giving most of his attention to his younger wives at this time." [4]
Unique to the Hyde's marriage is the fact that Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death. All of the Prophet's other polyandrous wives were posthumously sealed to Joseph by proxy. [5]
Marinda's children Orson W. Hyde and Frank Henry Hyde
Two of Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde's children have been suggested as possible children. The first, Orson, died in infancy, making DNA testing impossible. Compton notes, however, that "Marinda had no children while Orson was on his mission to Jerusalem, then became pregnant soon after Orson returned home. (He arrived in Nauvoo on December 7, 1842, and Marinda bore Orson Washington Hyde on November 9, 1843),"[6] putting the conception date around 16 February 1843.
Frank Hyde's birth date is unclear; he was born on 23 January in either 1845 or 1846.[7] This would place his conception around 2 May, of either 1844 or 1845. In the former case, Frank was conceived less than two months prior to Joseph's martyrdom. Orson Hyde left for Washington, D.C., around 4 April 1844,[8] and did not return until 6 August 1844, making Joseph's paternity more likely than Orson's if the earlier birth date is correct.[9] The key source for this claim is Fawn Brodie, who includes no footnote or reference. Given Brodie's tendency to misread evidence on potential children, this claim should be approached with caution.
Frank's death certificate lists Orson Hyde as the father, however, and places his birth in 1846, which would require conception nearly a year after Joseph's death.[10] A child by Joseph would have brought prestige to the family and Church, and Orson and Nancy had divorced long before Frank Henry's death.[11] It seems unlikely, therefore, that Orson would be credited with paternity over Joseph if any doubt existed. Without further data, Brodie's dating should probably be regarded as an error, ruling out Joseph as a possible father.
What did Orson Hyde, the husband of Marinda Nancy Johnson, know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?
There are contradictory accounts which make it impossible to know for certain whether or not Orson knew of and consented to Marinda's sealing for eternity to Joseph
Marinda Nancy Johnson was married to Orson Hyde. There are contradictory accounts which make it impossible to know for certain whether or not Orson knew of and consented to Marinda's sealing for eternity to Joseph. However, according to Hales, "If the 1842 date for the sealing between Joseph and Marinda marriage is correct, then Joseph may have been sealed to Marinda in an "eternity only" sealing without Orson Hyde’s knowledge." Yet he also notes that "John D. Lee remembered that Orson gave his permission: 'Hyde’s wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state.'" [12]
There are two sealing dates for Joseph to Marinda - one during a period of one to two years after Hyde left on his mission, and one after he had already returned
The popular story among critics is that Joseph sent Orson away on his mission so that he could quickly marry his wife Marinda. However, the first sealing date shows that Joseph was sealed to Marinda for eternity one to two years after Hyde had left on his mission, so there was nothing "quick" about it. Furthermore, the evidence indicates that this was an "eternity only" sealing typical of Joseph's other "polyandrous" marriages involving other men's wives. No children are known to have conceived during this time. However, upon Hyde's return, not only did he father children by Marinda, but he also quickly asked Joseph to seal him in a new polygamous marriage of his own.
Todd Compton: "It is striking that Marinda had no children while Orson was on his mission to Jerusalem, then became pregnant soon after Orson returned home"
Fawn Brodie speculated that Mrs. Orson Hyde’s sons Orson and Frank "could have been Joseph’s sons." [13] Orson Washington Hyde, born November 9, 1843, died as an infant and therefore had no descendants. DNA testing cannot help determine paternity.
Brian Hales notes the following regarding the timeline,
The timeline shows that Apostle Orson Hyde, Marinda’s legal husband, served a mission to Palestine from the spring of 1840 to December 7, 1842. Weeks after his return, Marinda became pregnant with Orson Washington Hyde (conception approximately February 16, 1843) who was born on November 9, 1843. Several authors alleged Joseph Smith practiced sexual polyandry with some of his plural wives including Marinda, despite a mountain of contradictory evidences [14] However, no evidence has been found to connect Joseph Smith with this child. Todd Compton observes: "It is striking that Marinda had no children while Orson was on his mission to Jerusalem, then became pregnant soon after Orson returned home." [15] They also allege that a second son, Frank Henry Hyde, was father by Joseph Smith under the assumption that he was born January 23, 1845 (conception approximately May 2, 1844). [16] However, his birth certificate and an obituary in the The Ogden Standard, June 29, 1908, "Frank H. Hyde Dies Suddenly," both corroborate a January 23, 1846, birthdate (May 2, 1845, approximate conception). [17][18]
Hales continues,
If the 1842 date for the sealing between Joseph and Marinda marriage is correct, then Joseph may have been sealed to Marinda in an "eternity only" sealing without Orson Hyde’s knowledge. While such a sealing would not have affected her civil union with Orson, a late second-hand report from exposé author Ann Eliza Webb Young states:
When Joseph Smith first taught polygamy, and gave the wives as well as the husbands opportunity to make new choice of life-partners, Mrs. Hyde, at that time a young and quite prepossessing woman, became one of the Prophet’s numerous fancies. . . . Hyde was away on a mission at the time, and when he returned, he, in turn, imbibed the teachings of polygamy also, and prepared to extend his kingdom indefinitely. In the mean time it was hinted to him that Smith had had his first wife sealed to himself in his absence, as a wife for eternity. Inconsistent as it may seem, Hyde was in a furious passion." [19]
However, John D. Lee remembered that Orson gave his permission: "Hyde’s wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state." [20][18]
Hyde requested that Joseph perform his own plural marriage just a few weeks after returning from his mission
Hales concludes,
Whatever the sequence, Orson appealed to Joseph to perform his own plural marriage weeks after returning from his mission stating in 1869: "In the month of February or March, 1843, I was married to Miss Martha R. Browitt, by Joseph Smith, the martyred prophet, and by him she was sealed to me for time and all eternity in Nauvoo, Illinois." [21]
The details of the relationship between Marinda and the Prophet will probably never be known. If Marinda had chosen Joseph as her eternal husband, she apparently changed her mind because she chose to be sealed to her legal husband Orson Hyde in the Nauvoo temple on January 11, 1846.
However, Marinda Nancy Johnson relocated to Salt Lake City in 1852 and later divorced Orson Hyde. She died in 1886, having kept the faith in the Church established by her eternal husband.[18]
The accounts of the sealing of Marinda to Joseph
Much of what we know about the Hyde sealing is also contaminated by hostile, mutually contradictory accounts that contain some known false information.
| Author | Date | Claim | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney Rigdon[22] | 1845 |
|
Contrary to claim, Orson continued to live with Miranda and father children by her. |
| William Hall[23] | 1852 |
|
Very unlikely—no record of others mocking Hyde; Hall is unreliable on other marriages as well. [24] Orson's return to the quorum was in June 1839, [25] putting Hall's account two years too early for marriage. [26] |
| Ann Eliza Young[27] | 1876 |
|
Too young to have any first-hand knowledge of Nauvoo, her book's intent was clearly to titillate with stories of polygamous intrigue. Claims that Brigham told Orson that she was only to be his wife for time, and Joseph's for eternity—but this is frankly false, since sealed to Orson in early 1846. [28] She also confuses the temporality, since she describes Hyde "in a furious passion," because "he thought it no harm for him to win the affection of another man's wife… but he did not propose having his rights interfered with even by the holy Prophet whose teachings he so implicitly followed" (326). Yet, Orson did not begin practicing plural marriage until after he knew of Miranda's sealing to Joseph. |
| John D. Lee[29] | 1877 |
|
Lee's work was published posthumously and may have been altered by anti-Mormon editor. |
See Biography:
- A biography of Marinda Nancy Johnson may be viewed on Brian and Laura Hales' website "josephsmithspolygamy.org".
Critical sources |
|
Joseph Smith's Polygamy: "Joseph Smith’s Pre-Nauvoo Reputation--Nancy Marinda Johnson", by Brian C. Hales
Joseph Smith's Polygamy: "Marinda Nancy Johnson", by Brian C. Hales
Joseph Smith's Polygamy: "Were There Other Polygamous Marriages Prior to Nauvoo?—Marinda Nancy Johnson", by Brian C. Hales
Joseph Smith's Polygamy: "After Louisa Beaman, Joseph Smith Seeks Almost Exclusively "Eternity Only" Sealings", by Brian C. Hales
Notes
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 234.
- ↑ Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy Vol. 1.
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 238–239.
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 230–243.
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 240–242.
- ↑ Compton, "Fawn Brodie on Joseph Smith's Plural Wives," 165.
- ↑ Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 345, 464. gives his birth as 1845, though there is no footnote indicating her source. Frank's death certificate lists his birth in 1846}} Compton follows the date of 1846, citing Howard H. Barron, Orson Hyde: Missionary-Apostle-Colonizer (Salt Lake City: Horizon, 1977), 134 and Ancestral File.
- ↑ Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 volumes, edited by Brigham H. Roberts, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957), 6:286. Volume 6 link Times and Seasons 5 (15 September 1844): 651}}
- ↑ Andrew Jenson, LDS Church Chronology: 1805–1914 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 1914), entry for 6 August 1844. GospeLink.
- ↑ Frank H. Hyde, State of Utah--Death Certificate, State Board of Health File No. 967300}} Online at <http://wiki.hanksplace.net/index.php/Image:FrankHHyde.jpg>
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 249.
- ↑ John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, or, The Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee and W. W. Bishop, eds. (St. Louis: Byron, Brand, 1877), 147. Lee added "but I do not assert the fact."
- ↑ Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 301, 345, 465
- ↑ Brian Hales: "See also discussion regarding John Bowes Quoting William Arrowsmith Regarding Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde in Brian C. Hales, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: History and Theology, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2013), 1:314–16."
- ↑ Todd Compton, "Fawn Brodie on Joseph Smith’s Plural Wives and Polygamy: A Critical View," in Reconsidering No Man Knows My History: Fawn M. Brodie and Joseph Smith in Retrospect, ed. Newell G. Bringhurst (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996), 165.
- ↑ See Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 345.
- ↑ Brian Hales: "Birth certificate available at http://wiki.hanksplace.net/index.php/Image:FrankHHyde.jpg (accessed August 27, 2009). Thanks to Gregory L. Smith for identifying this. See also "Frank H. Hyde Dies Suddenly," The Ogden Standard (June 29, 1908), 5."
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Brian Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy off-site
- ↑ Ann Eliza Webb Young, Wife Number 19, or, The Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete Exposé of Mormonism, and Revealing Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of Women in Polygamy (Hartford: Dustin, Gilman, and Co., 1876), 325–26.
- ↑ John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, or, The Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee and W. W. Bishop, eds. (St. Louis: Byron, Brand, 1877), 147. Lee added "but I do not assert the fact."
- ↑ Affidavit of Orson Hyde, September 15, 1869, MS 3423, CHL; affidavit was copied into Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 2:45; published in Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1905), 74.
- ↑ J. GI SON DIVINE [Sidney Rigdon], "To the Sisters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," Latter Day Saint's Messenger and Advocate (Pittsburgh) 1/10 (15 March 1845): 154–158.
- ↑ William Hall, Abominations of Mormonism Exposed; Containing Many Facts and Doctrines Concerning That Singular People, During Seven Year's Membership with Them; from 1840 to 1847 (Cincinnati: I. Hart, 1852), 113.
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 239.
- ↑ See History of the Church, 3:345. Volume 3 link Brigham H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 2:24–25n12. GospeLink Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 9 vols., ed., Scott G. Kenny (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1985), 1:340 (journal entry dated 25 June 1839). ISBN 0941214133.
- ↑ See Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 238.
- ↑ Ann Eliza Young, Wife No. 19, or the Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete Exposé of Mormonism, and Revealing the Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of Women in Polygamy (Hartford, Conn.: Custin, Gilman & Company, 1876), 324–326.
- ↑ Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 243.: "Marinda was sealed to Orson Hyde, not Smith, for time and eternity on January 11, 1846."
- ↑ John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled; or, the Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee; (Written by Himself) Embracing the History of Mormonism ... With an Exposition of the Secret History, Signs, Symbols and Crimes of the Mormon Church. Also the True History of the Horrible Butchery Known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre (St. Louis: Bryan, Brand, 1877), 147.
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here
Notes