Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger

117 Primary Sources

Date
Summary
1830

Webster Dictionary's definition of "scrape" (1830).

1830

Webster's Dictionary's definition of "affair" (1830).

1830

1830 U.S. Census lists Samuel Alger in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Dec 3, 1832

Joseph records William McLellin's 1832 excommunication.

1834 - 1907

Mosiah L. Hancock provides his birthdate in his autobiography.

Aug 1835

1835 D&C declares that the Church believes in monogamy.

Nov 24, 1835

Joseph records officiating at the marriage of the Knights in November 1835.

Apr 3, 1836

Joseph and Oliver Cowdery have a vision in the Kirtland temple; Elijah bestows the sealing keys.

Apr 3, 1836

Joseph and Oliver Cowdery receive the sealing keys in April 1836.

Nov 14, 1836

Marriage record of Solomon Custer and Fanny Alger in November 1836.

Sep 1837

Warren A. Cowdery's Defense of Joseph and the Rigdon family against rumors in Milton and Palmyra areas.

Nov 6, 1837

Joseph informs the council that "a matter" involving Cowdery had not been "satisfactorily settled."

1838 - 1847

John Whitmer on Kirtland secret combinations and plurality of wives.

Jan 21, 1838

Oliver Cowdery calls Joseph's relation with Fanny Alger a "dirty, nasty, filthy scrape/affair."

Feb 15, 1838

Letter from Thomas Marsh with multiple testimonies regarding Joseph's and Fanny Alger's relationship.

Apr 12, 1838

Council minutes on the relationship between Joseph and Fanny Alger.

May 11, 1838

Joseph records William McLellin's 1838 trial and excommunication.

Jul 1838

Elders' Journal says Mormons do not "believe in having more wives than one."

1839 - 1841

Joseph reported that he was born on December 23, 1805.

Apr 3, 1840

Sidney Rigdon refers to "a real drunken scrape" involving Oliver Cowdery and Oliver Granger.

Oct 23, 1840

Record book shows Fanny Alger (Custer) attending a Church conference in 1840.

Sep 13, 1842

Fanny Brewer claims that Joseph had "unlawful intercourse" with "a young orphan girl."

Jul 12, 1843

Joseph records a revelation in D&C 132 that lays out the concept of plural marriage.

Nov 5, 1848

Pottawattamie High Council minutes mentions Oliver Cowdery's rebaptism.

Nov 11, 1848

Orson Hyde writes to Wilford Woodruff about Oliver Cowdery's rebaptism.

Nov 16, 1848

Reuben Miller mentions Oliver Cowdery's rebaptism by Hyde in November 1848 in a letter to Henry Sabey.

Aug 21, 1850

1850 U.S. Census lists "Francis Custer" as 31 years old.

1854

Orson Pratt officially introduces polygamy to the public.

Jun 18, 1856

The Republican Party Platform of 1856 lists polygamy as one of the "twin relics of barbarism."

1859

John L Butler writes that William McLellin robbed the Smith home while Joseph was in prison.

1860 - 1871

Joseph Holbrook recounts Mary Johnson dying in the Smith home in 1833.

Jun 12, 1860

1860 U.S. Census lists "Fanny Ouster" as 42 years old.

Aug 12, 1861

W.W. Phelps writes to Brigham about Joseph's 1831 revelation on polygamy.

Dec 17, 1864

Millennial Star reviews William McLellin's excommunication and hostilities toward the Saints.

1869

Joseph B. Noble provides affidavit stating that he sealed Joseph to Louisa Beaman.

Jan 22, 1869

F.D. Richards records that Joseph Noble "performed the first sealing ceremony in this Dispensation" between Joseph and Louisa Beaman.

Oct 7, 1869

Orson Pratt says that Joseph said polygamy was "a true principle" in 1831.

1870 - 1913

Mary Elizabeth Lightner claims Joseph was commanded to practice polygamy in July 1834.

Jul 1872

William McLellin describes the Smith/Fanny Alger relationship to Joseph Smith III.

1873

T.B.H. Stenhouse claims W.W. Phelps taught that Joseph learned polygamy from the Egyptian papyrus.

Feb 16, 1874

William Clayton recounts the writing of the revelation on plural marriage.

Oct 14, 1874

Deseret News prints Samuel Alger's obituary.

Oct 6, 1875

William McLellin is quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune about Joseph and Fanny Alger's sealing.

Apr 24, 1876

Eliza J. Webb recounts the Joseph/Fanny Alger sealing.

May 4, 1876

Eliza J. Webb refers to Joseph's and Fanny Alger's relationship as similar to a "sealing."

1876

Ann Eliza Young provides an overview of the Joseph/Fanny Alger relationship.

Dec 16, 1878

Orson Pratt quotes Lyman Johnson as saying that Smith knew about plural marriage in 1831.

Oct 1, 1879

Emma Hale Smith denies that Joseph practiced polygamy.

Jun 17, 1880

1880 U.S. Census lists "Fanny W Custer" as 63 years old.

Apr 1881

Anti-polygamy periodical recounts the Joseph/Fanny Alger relationship.

Aug 2, 1882

Unknown author from The Hagerstown Exponent claims that Solomon Custer and Fanny Alger are practicing spiritualism.

1883

Susa Young Gates quotes Joseph in 1835 claiming to have authority to marry others.

Apr 27, 1883

Lyman O. Littlefield states that Joseph "understood and believed" plural marriage in Kirtland.

1884

Helen Mar Kimball Whitney says that plural marriage was revealed to Joseph in 1831; was commanded by an angel to practice it.

1884

Eliza Snow recounts a conversation between Lorenzo Snow and Joseph about plural marriage and the angel with a sword.

Feb 12, 1884 - Mar 8, 1884

Clark Braden says that Joseph "practiced polygamy in Kirtland," "committed fornication," and seduced "an orphan girl."

Apr 1, 1884

Emily D. P. Young says that Emma Smith knew about plural marriage and was "bitter" and "unpleasant" about it.

Jan 1885

John Hawley recalls John Alger saying Alger was "seald" to Joseph.

1885

Eiza R. Snow says that she lived with the Smiths in the "Spring of 1836."

1885

Alfred Holbrook reports that Fanny Alger was a "spiritual wife" of Joseph's.

1886

Wilhelm Wyl claims that Emma Smith threw Eliza Partridge down the stairs; assaulted Eliza R. Snow with a broomstick.

1886

Chauncy Webb describes the Fanny Alger/Joseph relationship as a sealing and states that Fanny Alger was pregnant.

1886

Nancy Alexander claims that "plurality of wives" was practiced in Kirtland.

1887

Eliza R. Snow lists Fanny Alger and others as one of "Joseph Smith's Plural wives."

May 1887

Andrew Jenson article on Joseph's plural marriage; identifies 27 women as plural wives.

May 1887

Mary Ann Frost Pratt recalls the conversion of her sister Olive Frost to plural marriage and her marriage to Joseph.

May 1887

Joseph learned about plural marriage in 1831; Alger is listed as "one of the first plural wives sealed to" Joseph.

Aug 18, 1887

Newspaper interviews Eliza R. Snow about plural marriage; she mentions the angel with a sword commanding Joseph to practice polygamy.

1887

Eliza R. Snow identifies Fanny Alger as "one of the first wives Joseph married."

1888

Martin Harris quoted about Joseph's "improper proposals" to Fanny Alger.

1889

Reprinted obituary of Fanny Alger.

Sep 22, 1889

Benjamin Winchester talks about Joseph's "licentious conduct" during the Kirtland period.

Dec 5, 1889

Newspaper reporting Fanny Alger's (Custer) death in 1889.

1890

John Alger is excommunicated in 1890 after the Polygamy Manifesto.

1892

Lucy Walker recalls that Joseph saying he learned the "principle of plural marriage" in 1831.

1892

Emily D. P. Young testifies that Emma Hale Smith consented to plural marriage, but became bitter soon after.

1892

Wilford Woodruff discontinues plural marriage, naming revelation and opposition as the reason.

1892

Lucy Walker affirms she lived with Joseph as a wife.

1896

Levi Hancock recalls that Joseph told him to take Fanny Alger to Missouri.

1896

Levi Hancock marries Clarissa Reed.

Apr 4, 1899

Fanny Alger sealed by proxy to Joseph in 1899.

Feb 8, 1902

Mary Elizabeth Lightner recalls Joseph saying an angel with a sword commanded him to practice polygamy.

Apr 1903 - Oct 1911

Benjamin Johnson recalls being told that Joseph and Fanny Alger were "spied upon & found together"; calls Fanny Joseph's "first plural wife."

Apr 20, 1904

Mary E. Lightner says that Joseph was commanded by an angel in 1834 to practice plural marriage.

Mar 10, 1905

Mosiah Hancock recounts the marriage of Fanny Alger and Joseph.

Apr 14, 1905

Mary E. Lightner quotes Joseph saying that an angel commanded him between 1834 and 1842 to practice polygamy; if not, the angel would slay him.

Jun 1905 - Sep 1905

Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner says Joseph was commanded to begin plural marriage in 1834 [?] and was threatened by an angel.

1909

B.H. Roberts states that the revelation on plural marriage was received in 1831.

1982

Leroli C. Snow provides late account of Emma Hale Smith pushing Eliza R. Snow down the stairs.

1997

Todd Compton summarizes the Fanny Alger family background.

1997

Todd Compton speculates that Fanny Alger may have miscarried.

1997

Todd Compton reviews Fanny Alger's departure from Ohio.

2000

Scott H. Faulring provides an overview of Oliver Cowdery's rebaptism in November 1848.

2005

Ugo Perego et al., reports on how DNA study rules out 2 possible Smith descendants; casts strong doubt on third.

2005

Richard Lyman Bushman explains the possible background for the 1835 "Article of Marriage."

2008

DNA study confirms that Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah Hancock were not Joseph's sons.

Mar 7, 2008

Study finds that marriage age gaps rose between 1850 and 1880; gaps ranged from 4 to 7 years on average.

Sep 9, 2008

Mark Staker argues that Alger lived with the Smiths between 1834 and 1836.

2009

Brian C. Hales concludes that the story of Emma Smith pushing Eliza Snow down the stairs is likely "folklore."

2010

Don Bradley concludes that the Fanny Alger/Smith relationship was Smith's first polygamous marriage.

2010

Don Bradley dates the discovery of the Smith-Alger marriage between April-September 1836.

2010

The ages of Joseph's plural wives are compared to other regions of 19th-century America.

2013

Official Declaration 1 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2015

Brian and Laura Hales argue that the Fanny Alger/Smith marriage took place in 1835-36.

2016

Massachusetts statistics indicate 15-20% of women were married before age 20 in the 1840s.

2017

Alice Merrill Horne hears the story of Eliza R. Snow's sexual assault in Missouri.

2018

W. Smith explains the evolution of the meaning of "celestial marriage."

2019

Craig Foster provides data on regional marriage ages between 1850-1880.

2019

DNA study rules out Josephine Lyon as Joseph's daughter.

2019

Ugo Perego reports on how DNA results rule out Josephine Lyon as Joseph's daughter.

2021

FamilySearch lists Fanny Alger's birthdate as September 30, 1817.

2022

Find a Grave Website lists Fanny Alger's birthdate as September 30, 1816.

2022

Brian and Laura Hales list Fanny Alger's birth date as September 20, 1816.

2022

Joseph Smith Papers Website list 1818 as Fanny Alger's birthyear.

2022

Church's essay lists Fanny Alger's birthyear as 1816.

2022

The Joseph Smith Papers identifies May 28, 1843 as sealing date for Joseph and Emma Hale Smith.

2022

The Joseph Smith Papers identifies May 28, 1843 as sealing date for Joseph and Emma Hale Smith.