Executive Brief: Did Joseph Smith Practice Polygamy?

Core question: Did Joseph Smith
begin the practice of plural marriage, or did Brigham Young introduce it after
Joseph’s death?

⏳
Timeline Overview

1830–1835: Public monogamy;
possible sealing to Fanny Alger.
1841–1844: Joseph secretly seals
to 30+ women in Nauvoo. D&C 132 dictated in 1843.
June 1844: Nauvoo Expositor
exposes polygamy. Joseph and Hyrum killed.
1852: Brigham Young announces
polygamy and publishes D&C 132.
1860: RLDS founded under Joseph
Smith III, denying Joseph practiced polygamy.

D&C 132: Dictated July 12, 1843 by Joseph Smith; scribed by William Clayton. Validated
by Clayton, Hyrum Smith, and Kingsbury.
Plural Wives: Sealed to 29–33
women including Eliza R. Snow, Emily Partridge, Helen Mar Kimball. (Compton, Hales)
Sexual Relations: Emily Partridge
and Melissa Lott testified under oath to conjugal relations with Joseph.
Church Acknowledgment: The LDS
Church confirmed Joseph practiced polygamy in the 2014 Gospel Topics essay.
Scholarly Consensus: Confirmed by
Bushman, Compton, Hales, and even modern RLDS historians.

Public Denials: Joseph publicly
said he had only one wife, even weeks before his death.
Emma Smith: Denied Joseph ever
practiced or taught polygamy.
RLDS Tradition: Joseph Smith III
gathered affidavits supporting his father’s innocence.
D&C 132 Skepticism: Not
published until 1852. Survives only in copies. Edits by Willard Richards raise
timeline questions.
Scriptural Conflicts: Book of
Mormon (Jacob 2:24) and Joseph’s JST edits condemn David & Solomon’s plural
marriages.

Category	Joseph Started It	Brigham Invented It
Historical Evidence	Dozens of journals, affidavits, and sealing records	No contemporary documents from Joseph; D&C 132 published posthumously
Witness Testimony	Emily Partridge, Malissa Lott, Eliza Snow, William Clayton	Emma Smith, Joseph Smith III, William Marks, RLDS statements
Church Position	LDS acknowledges Joseph introduced it	RLDS originally denied it, now acknowledges it historically
Conspiracy Burden	No whistleblowers from 70+ alleged participants	Requires massive, silent conspiracy by Brigham and all Utah leaders
Scriptural Support	D&C 132, patriarchal precedents	Jacob 2, JST changes, 1835 D&C monogamy clause

We know:

Joseph
Smith secretly practiced polygamy in Nauvoo.
Brigham
Young openly continued and expanded it in Utah.
The LDS
Church affirms Joseph’s involvement; RLDS once denied it but later conceded to
the evidence.

Uncertain:

“Joseph Smith did
practice plural marriage—even if he kept it secret. Brigham Young didn’t invent
it; he exposed it. That’s what the evidence shows.”