Richard Van Wagoner as an Accuser

In his book Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess, Richard S. Van Wagoner writes: “Gossip in Ohio’s Western Reserve linked Smith to Athalia and Nancy Rigdon, Sidney’s sixteen-and fifteen-year-old daughters.”[1] Born in 1821, Athalia would have been sixteen in 1837. Van Wagoner doesn’t explain the specific nature of the described “link,” but sexuality seems to be implied.

To support the presence of a “link,” Van Wagoner refers to an 1884 testimony from a man named William S. Smith (no relation to the Prophet’s brother) that was recorded during the debate between Clark Braden and RLDS member E. L. Kelley.

That testimony does not imply or describe a "link" between Joseph Smith and the Rigdon daughters. No other evidence is presented. Van Wagoner's assertion regarding the "link" is undocumented while contradictory evidence is available.

Mormon Polygamy: A History (Signature Books, 1986)

In another of his publications, Mormon Polygamy: A History,[2] Richard Van Wagoner also presents "rumors" and "stories" to his readers as if they together constituted a documented history of Joseph Smith's polygamy for the 1832-1835 period.

On pages 4-6, Van Wagoner quotes several narratives in succession without providing his readers with context and credibility analysis of the accounts. First he misquotes the Levi Lewis allegation concerning Eliza Winters. Next comes a rendition of Clark Braden's late account (1884) concerning Marinda Nancy Johnson. This is followed by Benjamin Winchester's charges (from 1889). After this, readers encounter the Vienna Jacques story (reportedly from Nancy Maria Smith Alexander in 1886). Lastly, Van Wagoner rounds out his "history" by including several antagonistic accounts of the Fanny Alger relationship (1872 and later) concluding that it did not include a "distinctly polygamous marriage ceremony."

As the first author to write a chronology of Mormon polygamy, Richard Van Wagoner is commended for his 1986 research and willingness to tackle a difficult subject. Yet it appears he lined up dubious historical sources chronologically without checking credibility or providing context, That most of these accounts were not published until many decades later may undermine their ability to accurately describe the contemporaneous unfolding of plural marriage during the 1832-1835 period. To repeatedly quote "rumors" and "stories" without analyzing reliability might sensationalize common gossip, transforming it into documented history in the minds of his readers.

Summary

Richard Van Wagoner's audiences will easily conclude from his reconstructions that Joseph Smith was a womanizer and licentious. However, new documents and greater scrutiny of existing manuscripts indicate that his interpretations of the beginnings of plural marriage may be dated and problematic.

[1] Richard S. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994, 291; see also Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997, 634.

[2] Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, first edition 1986, second edition 1989.