1827
January 18, 1827
Marriage to Emma Hale
Joseph Smith marries Emma Hale in South Bainbridge, New York. This remains his only legal, civil marriage for his entire life. All subsequent "marriages" are secret religious ceremonies with no civil standing.
1829
~1829
BOOK OF MORMON
Jacob 2:24–27 Published
The Book of Mormon, which Smith claims to translate, contains an unambiguous condemnation of polygamy: "David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord… there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife."
1831
March 7, 1831
D&C 49:16
Revelation Affirms Monogamy
Smith dictates a revelation: "Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh." This revelation uses the language of Genesis and Christ. It will directly contradict D&C 132 twelve years later.
~1831
Smith Later Claims Polygamy Revelation Began
Associates later state that Smith received an early revelation on plural marriage while working on his Bible translation around 1831. No written record exists. The claim is made only retroactively, after polygamy was already being practiced.
1833–1836
~Late 1833 – Early 1836
TEENAGER
Fanny Alger (~16–18 yrs old)
Smith's first plural relationship. Fanny is a teenage household servant in the Smith home. Oliver Cowdery (Smith's scribe and co-founder) calls it a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair." Emma discovers the relationship and is devastated. Exact date is disputed; some historians place it as early as 1833, others as late as 1835–36.
Secret wives: 1
~1835–1836
DISCOVERY
Emma Discovers Fanny Alger
According to multiple accounts, Emma discovers Joseph's relationship with Fanny. One account states she saw them together through a crack in the barn. Emma is furious. Fanny is sent away from the Smith household. The relationship ends, but the pattern is established.
August 17, 1835
PUBLIC DENIAL
1835 D&C Section 101: Official Monogamy Statement
The LDS Church publishes a statement on marriage in the Doctrine and Covenants (then Section 101): "Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy: we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife; and one woman but one husband." This statement remains in the D&C until 1876, when it is quietly removed and replaced with Section 132.
1838
April 12, 1838
EXCOMMUNICATION
Oliver Cowdery Excommunicated
Oliver Cowdery, who had called Smith's relationship with Fanny Alger a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair," is excommunicated. Among the charges: accusing Smith of adultery. The man who bore witness to Smith's sexual misconduct is removed.
1841
April 5, 1841
Louisa Beaman (age 26)
First documented Nauvoo plural marriage. Sealed by Joseph B. Noble. Emma is not informed. This begins the most intense period of Smith's secret polygamy.
Secret wives: 2
October 27, 1841
POLYANDRY
Zina Huntington Jacobs (age 20)
Zina is already married to Henry Jacobs, a faithful LDS member, and is approximately six months pregnant with Jacobs' child. She was married to Jacobs only seven months earlier. Smith claims an angel with a drawn sword compelled him.
Secret wives: 3 · Polyandrous: 1
December 11, 1841
POLYANDRY
Presendia Huntington Buell (age 31)
Already married to Norman Buell, a non-Mormon. She is Zina's older sister — Smith married both sisters, both while married to other men.
Secret wives: 4 · Polyandrous: 2
1842
January 6, 1842
POLYANDRY
Agnes Coolbrith (age 33)
Widow of Don Carlos Smith (Joseph's own brother). Some accounts suggest she may have been married to another man at this time.
Secret wives: 5
~Early 1842
POLYANDRY
Sylvia Sessions Lyon (age 23)
Already married to Windsor Lyon, an active LDS member. She later told her daughter Josephine on her deathbed that Josephine was Joseph Smith's biological daughter (though DNA testing has not confirmed this).
Secret wives: 6 · Polyandrous: 3
February 8, 1842
POLYANDRY
Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner (age 23)
Already married to Adam Lightner, a non-Mormon. She testified that Smith told her an angel with a drawn sword had threatened him. She was first approached by Smith when she was 12 years old.
Secret wives: 7 · Polyandrous: 4
~March 9, 1842
POLYANDRY
Patsy Bartlett Sessions (age 47)
Already married to David Sessions, a faithful LDS member.
Secret wives: 8 · Polyandrous: 5
April 1842
POLYANDRY
Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde (age 27)
Already married to Apostle Orson Hyde, who was away on a mission to Palestine — a mission Smith himself had assigned him. Smith married Hyde's wife while Hyde was serving Smith's own church abroad.
Secret wives: 9 · Polyandrous: 6
~April–May 1842
Elizabeth Davis Durfee (age 50)
Durfee served as a go-between for Smith, helping recruit other women into plural marriage.
Secret wives: 10
~April–May 1842
POLYANDRY
Sarah Kingsley Cleveland (age 53)
Already married to John Cleveland. She would later sign the 1842 public statement denying polygamy — while being secretly married to Smith.
Secret wives: 11 · Polyandrous: 7
June 1, 1842
Eliza R. Snow (age 38)
Prominent poetess and future leader in Utah. She would later sign the 1842 public statement denying polygamy — while being secretly married to Smith herself.
Secret wives: 12
June 29, 1842
Sarah Ann Whitney (age 17)
Smith wrote a secret letter to Sarah and her parents asking them to visit him while he was in hiding — and warning them to avoid detection by Emma. The Whitneys even created a sham civil marriage to Joseph Kingsbury to disguise Sarah's relationship with Smith.
Secret wives: 13
~July 1842
POLYANDRY
Ruth Vose Sayers (age 33)
Already married to Edward Sayers, a non-Mormon.
Secret wives: 14 · Polyandrous: 8
October 1, 1842
PUBLIC DENIAL
Affidavits Denying Polygamy Published
The LDS newspaper Times and Seasons publishes affidavits signed by prominent Nauvoo residents, including Eliza R. Snow and Sarah Cleveland — both of whom are secretly married to Smith at this point — denying that polygamy is practiced. The statement declares the church teaches that "one man should have one wife."
~Late 1842
POLYANDRY
Elvira Annie Cowles Holmes (age 29)
Already married to Jonathan Holmes, a faithful LDS member.
Secret wives: 15 · Polyandrous: 9
1843
February 1843
Emily Dow Partridge (age 19)
One of the Partridge sisters who worked in the Smith household. Married to Smith without Emma's knowledge. Later re-married to Smith in May with Emma present (Emma unaware the earlier ceremony occurred).
Secret wives: 16
March 4, 1843
Eliza Maria Partridge (age 22)
Emily's older sister, also working in the Smith household. Like Emily, married secretly and then again in May with Emma's temporary consent.
Secret wives: 17
~March 1843
POLYANDRY
Lucinda Pendleton Morgan Harris (age 41)
Already married to George W. Harris, an active church member. Some historians date this marriage earlier, to 1838.
Secret wives: 18 · Polyandrous: 10
April 1843
Almera Woodard Johnson (age 30)
Smith claimed the angel with the drawn sword appeared to compel this marriage as well.
Secret wives: 19
~Spring 1843
Lucy Walker (age 17)
An orphan living in the Smith household. Smith told her she had until the next day to decide, promising her "eternal life and happiness" if she accepted and that "the gate will be closed forever" if she refused.
Secret wives: 20
May 1843
PARTIAL DISCLOSURE
Emma Temporarily Approves Four Wives
Emma is finally told about plural marriage and temporarily accepts it, on the condition that she choose the women. She selects Emily and Eliza Partridge and Sarah and Maria Lawrence. She does not know they are already married to Joseph. Emma's acceptance lasts only days before she reverses herself.
May 1, 1843
Emma's "Chosen" Wives Re-Sealed
The Partridge sisters are sealed to Smith again with Emma witnessing — a ceremony Smith knows is a charade, since they are already secretly married to him. Emily Partridge later testified to the deception.
May 1843
Sarah Lawrence (age 17) & Maria Lawrence (age 19)
The Lawrence sisters, orphaned teenagers whose estate Smith managed as legal guardian. Smith married his own wards. He was later charged (though not convicted) with mismanaging their estate.
Secret wives: 22
May 1843
TEENAGER
Helen Mar Kimball (age 14)
Daughter of Apostle Heber C. Kimball. Smith promised that the marriage would ensure "your eternal salvation and exaltation and that of your father's household." Helen later wrote she felt deceived about the nature of the arrangement. Her father Heber was so troubled he "touched neither food nor water for three days and three nights."
Secret wives: 23
~June 1843
DISCOVERY
Emma Discovers Additional Wives
Emma discovers that the Partridge sisters were already married to Joseph before she "chose" them. She demands they be expelled from the household. She also discovers other marriages. William Clayton records Emma threatening to take plural husbands herself.
June 1843
Flora Ann Woodworth (age 16)
Another teenage wife.
Secret wives: 24
~June–July 1843
Additional Wives: Desdemona Fullmer (32), Olive Frost (27), Hannah Ells (30), Rhoda Richards (58), Melissa Lott (19), Fanny Young (56)
Smith marries at least six more women in rapid succession during the summer of 1843. Ages range from 19 to 58. Several of these are the last documented marriages before D&C 132 is written down.
Secret wives: ~30+
July 12, 1843
D&C 132 DICTATED
The Polygamy Revelation Is Finally Written Down
After already secretly marrying 30+ women over several years, Smith dictates the "revelation" justifying polygamy. The revelation requires wives to be virgins (v. 61), requires Emma's consent (v. 61), threatens Emma with destruction if she refuses (v. 54), claims David "sinned not" in having many wives (v. 38–39) — contradicting Jacob 2:24 in the Book of Mormon. The revelation is written to convince Emma, not as a general announcement.
July 12, 1843
THREAT
Emma Shown D&C 132 — Rejects It
Hyrum Smith reads the revelation to Emma, believing he can convince her. She rejects it. According to William Clayton, Emma later tells Joseph the revelation "was from the devil" and reportedly destroys the copy. The revelation threatens her with destruction: "If she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord."
~Late 1843
PUBLIC DENIAL
Continued Public Denials
Despite now having a written revelation and 30+ secret wives, Smith continues to publicly deny polygamy. He preaches monogamy from the pulpit and allows the 1835 monogamy statement to remain in the published Doctrine and Covenants.
1844
~Early 1844
Additional Sealings Continue
Smith continues authorizing plural marriages for himself and others into 1844. By the time of his death, approximately 29 other Nauvoo men have also taken a total of 50 plural wives under his authority.
Secret wives: 33–40 (depending on historian)
May 26, 1844
PUBLIC DENIAL
Smith's Final Public Denial
Smith declares publicly: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one." At this point he has over thirty secret wives. This is a brazen, documented lie by a man who claims to be a prophet of God.
June 7, 1844
The Nauvoo Expositor Published
William and Jane Law, former close associates of Smith, publish the Nauvoo Expositor — a newspaper that exposes Smith's secret polygamy. The Laws include affidavits describing D&C 132 and the practice of plural marriage. The paper publishes only one issue.
June 10, 1844
SUPPRESSION
Smith Orders the Nauvoo Expositor Destroyed
Acting as mayor, Smith orders the Nauvoo city council to declare the Expositor a public nuisance. The printing press is destroyed and type scattered. This act of suppressing the truth about his polygamy triggers the chain of events leading to his arrest and death.
June 27, 1844
Joseph Smith Killed at Carthage Jail
Smith is killed by a mob at Carthage Jail. He dies without ever publicly acknowledging his polygamy, without repenting of it, and without reconciling his actions with the teachings of Christ. Emma is left widowed with four children, having spent the last years of her marriage in anguish over her husband's secret lives.