Historians have different views regarding the possibility that Oliver Cowdery was ever involved in unauthorized plural marriage during the period of his close association with Joseph Smith (1829–38). Danel Bachman wrote, “Before the close of the Kirtland period, Smith and Cowdery both began polygamous households.” Glen M. Leonard, author of Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise, penned: “In Kirtland, Oliver Cowdery knew of the revelation on marriage but was denied permission to take a plural wife. He proceeded anyway and engaged in an illicit relationship.” A close look demonstrates that assessments such as these are not based on any contemporary evidence.