View source for Question: What did Orson Hyde, the husband of Marinda Nancy Johnson, know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?

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==Question: 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.'" <ref>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.”</ref>

===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.” <ref>Fawn Brodie, ''No Man Knows My History'', 301, 345, 465</ref> 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,
<blockquote>
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 <ref>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."</ref>
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.” <ref>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.</ref>
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). <ref>See Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 345.</ref>
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). <ref>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."</ref><ref name="halespolygamy_marinda">Brian Hales, ''Joseph Smith's Polygamy'' {{link|url=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/marinda-nancy-johnson/}}</ref>
</blockquote>

[[File:Joseph smith and marinda hyde timeline.jpg|frame|center|600px|Timeline of the marital status of Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde. From the website Brian Hales, ''Joseph Smith's Polygamy'' {{link|url=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/marinda-nancy-johnson/}}]]

Hales continues,
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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:

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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.” <ref>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. </ref>
</blockquote>

However, John D. Lee remembered that Orson gave his permission: “Hyde’s wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state.” <ref>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.”</ref><ref name="halespolygamy_marinda">Brian Hales, ''Joseph Smith's Polygamy'' {{link|url=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/marinda-nancy-johnson/}}</ref>
</blockquote>

===Hyde requested that Joseph perform his own plural marriage just a few weeks after returning from his mission===

Hales concludes,
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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.” <ref>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.</ref>

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.<ref name="halespolygamy_marinda">Brian Hales, ''Joseph Smith's Polygamy'' {{link|url=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/marinda-nancy-johnson/}}</ref>
</blockquote>

===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.

{| valign="top" border="1" style="width:100%; font-size:100%"
!width=10%|Author
!width=10%|Date
!width=30%|Claim
!width=50%|Comments
|-
| Sidney Rigdon<ref>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.</ref> ||1845||
*Orson unaware of marriage
*Orson refused to live with wife when he found out
||
Contrary to claim, Orson continued to live with Miranda and father children by her.
|-
| William Hall<ref>{{CriticalWork:Hall:Abominations of Mormonism/Full title|pages=113}}</ref> ||1852||
* Joseph demanded Miranda and all Orson's money to let him back in the Church
* "Many jokes were cracked at his [Hyde's] expense."
||
Very unlikely—no record of others mocking Hyde; Hall is unreliable on other marriages as well. <ref>{{Book:Compton:ISL/Short|pages=239}}</ref>  Orson's return to the quorum was in June 1839, <ref> See {{Book:Smith:HC/Short|pages=345|vol=3}} {{Book:Roberts:CHC|pages=24–25n12|vol=2}} {{Book:Woodruff:Journal|vol=1|pages=340|date=25 June 1839}}</ref> putting Hall's account two years too early for marriage. <ref>See {{Book:Compton:ISL/Short|pages=238}}</ref>
|-
| Ann Eliza Young<ref>{{CriticalWork:Young:Wife No. 19/Full title|pages=324&ndash;326}}</ref> ||1876||
* Orson did not know of marriage
* Angry when he learned of it
* Swore would not live with his wife; did so anyway.
||

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. <ref>{{Book:Compton:ISL/Short|pages=243}}: "Marinda was sealed to Orson Hyde, not Smith, for time and eternity on January 11, 1846."</ref>  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<ref>{{CriticalWork:Lee:Mormonism Unvailed/Full title|pages=147}}</ref> ||1877||
* "Report said that Hyde's wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state, but I do not assert the fact."
||Lee's work was published posthumously and may have been altered by anti-Mormon editor.
|-
|}

{{HalesPluralWifeBiography|wife=Marinda Nancy Johnson|link=http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/marinda-nancy-johnson/}}
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{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
[[Category:MormonThink]]

[[es:Pregunta: ¿Qué dijo el esposo de Marinda Nancy Johnson sabe acerca de su sellado a José Smith para la eternidad?]]
[[pt:Pergunta: O que Orson Hyde, marido de Marinda Nancy Johnson, sabia sobre seu selamento para a eternidade com Joseph Smith?]]
[[Category:Questions]]