Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde as a polyandrous wife of Joseph Smith

Summary: Marinda is a known wife of Joseph.

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 Orson Hyde on a mission to Israel to steal his wife?

Summary: There's no evidence this was a tactic of Joseph's, and in this case the timeline makes it doubly implausible.

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.'" ^[1]

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." ^[2] 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 ^[3] 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." ^[4] 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). ^[5] 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). ^[6][7]

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." ^[8]

However, John D. Lee remembered that Orson gave his permission: "Hyde’s wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state." ^[9][7]

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." ^[10]

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.^[7]

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[11]	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[12]	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. [13] Orson's return to the quorum was in June 1839, [14] putting Hall's account two years too early for marriage. [15]
Ann Eliza Young[16]	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. [17] 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[18]	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.

See Biography:

A biography of Marinda Nancy Johnson may be viewed on Brian and Laura Hales' website "josephsmithspolygamy.org".