Mormon Polygamy—The Truth Revealed! Appendix 2to include sexual intercourse. Hyrum had no children from his “plural wives,” neither did
Joseph—nor did they have intercourse with any of them.
In Brigham’s Defense
To gain some compassion for Brigham Young’s seemingly consistent disregard for the
feelings of women, one must understand some background about his early life. Young married
his first wife, Miriam Angeline Works, on October 8, 1824, when he was 23 and she was 18.
They had two daughters, Elizabeth (September 26, 1825) and Vilate (June 1, 1830). He adored his
wife and two daughters. Without warning, Miriam died on September 8, 1832 and left Brigham
as a single father with a five-year-old and a two-year-old.^41 He remained a single father for a
year and a half. He desperately needed a mother for his daughters and found and married Mary
Angell without falling in love with her, because his true love was and always would be Miriam.
He was looking for a mother, not a wife.^42
Brigham lived with a broken heart his entire life, which was never filled by
anyone, as it had been by his Miriam. Brigham was present when Joseph taught about
the promises people made to each other before this world was—known as the Holy
Spirit of Promise. As far as Brigham was concerned, Miriam was his eternal mate. All
the other women in his life simply became victims of a lonely and very homely man,
who took advantage of his power and control over the lives of his followers in order to
succor his lonely and broken heart.
Joseph’s Relationships and “Spiritual Wives”
In spite of what his critics and enemies might think, Joseph Smith did more for the
equal rights of women in his day than any other man alive.^43 He could not stop the natural
lusts of men, but he could present “revelations from God” to protect the women, and teach
them that they had the eternal right to choose with whom they desired to mate. Even so, his
enemies have compiled and published countless rumors about Joseph having illicit affairs
with women, even some who were married. All of these rumors are just that, unverified
reports and idle speculations. None of them are true.
Emma and Joseph worked together in choosing which women would be sealed
to him as “spiritual wives.” Their decision was based on the feelings of the other
woman, usually choosing those who wanted the continual courting and lust of other
men to stop. Unfortunately for his critics and enemies, the dates of his sealings to his
other “wives” prove that Joseph had nothing to do with the practice of plural
marriage, until the other men became out of control. If Joseph believed plural marriage
was to be an important part of what he was mandated to reveal to the people with the
organization of the Church in 1830, why was no mention of his personal involvement
in the practice given before 1838? The answer is simple: Joseph Smith did not believe
that plural marriage had any part of the “holy order of God” mentioned throughout
the Book of Mormon.
The Rumor of Fanny Alger
The first woman (or rather, girl) associated with Joseph through these rumors was
Fanny Alger. She was 16 years old when her family lived near Joseph and Emma in