Tuesday, May 28, 2024

John S. Dinger on Joseph Smith's Denial of Polygamy, May 26, 1844

  

A closer look at Smith’s denial of May 26, 1844, reveals that it is a legal denial, nor a moral or religious denial. On May 23 and 24, 1844, Smith was indicted on five counts of “Adultery & Fornication,” stemming from his plural marriages. On May 25, the day before his denial, he learned that there “were 2 indictments found against me. One for false swearing . . . and one for polygamy or something else[.]” (John S. Dinger, “Nauvoo Polygamy and the Law: Statutory and Common Law Prohibitions,” in Secret Covenants: New Insights on Early Mormon Polygamy, ed. Charyl L. Bruno [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2024], 269)

 

Further Reading:


Brian C. Hales, "'Denying the Undeniable': Examining Early Mormon Polygamy Renunications," The Journal of Mormon History 44, no. 3 (July 2018): 23-44