Emma Smith's reaction to Joseph Smith's plural marriages

Revision as of 10:57, 23 December 2014 by RogerNicholson (talk | contribs)

  1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3

Emma Smith and polygamy

Important introductory material on plural marriage available here

Answers portal
Plural marriage
Plural marriage1.jpg
Resources.icon.tiny.1.png    RESOURCES

Joseph Smith era:


Post-Joseph Smith:


Post-Manifesto–present

Perspectives.icon.tiny.1.png    PERSPECTIVES
Media.icon.tiny.1.png    MEDIA
Resources.icon.tiny.1.png    OTHER PORTALS

  1. REDIRECTEmma Smith's reaction to Joseph Smith's plural marriages#How did Emma Hale Smith react to Joseph's practice of plural marriage?

For further information related to this topic

See also Brian Hales' discussion
Sometime in 1840 Joseph Smith first broached the topic of plural marriage privately to trusted friends. Most of the apostles were in England and thus were unavailable for an introduction to the practice.

Joseph's first foray into plural marriage was deeply painful for Emma, his first wife.

It is impossible to definitively determine when Emma learned of Joseph’s plural marriages. However, many historical clues help to create a possible timeline.

The earliest documentable date for Emma’s awareness of time-and-eternity plural marriage is May of 1843, when she participated in four of her husband’s polygamous sealings.

Emma’s resistance to plural marriage prompted Hyrum to encourage Joseph to dictate a written revelation on the subject.

Rather than generating Emma’s active support, the revelation [D&C 132] appears to have brought a smoldering crisis to flame. She and Joseph took serious counsel together with some sort of agreement being negotiated.


To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]

Notes