Sarah Pratt as an Accuser

Four of the fifty-three allegations are reportedly from Sarah Pratt as quoted by Whilelm Wyl.

Historical evidence supports that in 1841, John C. Bennett and Sarah Pratt had an illicit sexual relationship. An August 31, 1842 special edition of The Wasp, contained the statements of J.B. Backenstos and Stephen and Zeruiah Goddarda supporting the charge.[1] D. Michael Quinn connects Sarah to Bennett as a wife (or sexual partner) by referring to her as “Sarah M. Bates (Pratt, Bennett, Pratt).”[2]

Sarah denied any relationship with Bennett and accused Joseph Smith of trying to seduce her. On January 20, 1843, Joseph Smith told Orson Pratt, Sarah’s husband: “She lied about me. I never made the offer which she said I did. I will not advise you to break up your family, unless it were asked of me. I would council you to get a bill from your wife and marry a virtuous woman and raise a new family.”[3] One year earlier, Joseph Smith told Orson Pratt that “if he did believe his wife and follow her suggestions he would go to hell.”[4]

In 1845, Sidney Rigdon interviewed Orson Pratt: “When Pratt was interrogated about this [disagreement with Joseph Smith concerning his wife Sarah in 1842], he said that he had got a bad spirit when he said so, and that he had repented of it. This literally telling the people that all Smith said about his wife was true.”[5]

In 1875 Sarah Pratt reported: “I was formerly a member of the Mormon church and don’t know that I have been cut off. I have not been a believer in the Mormon doctrines for thirty years and am now considered an apostate, I believe.”[6] Counting back thirty years brings her to 1845, when residing in Nauvoo. Her feelings towards Mormonism help provide context for her comments.

One extreme allegation recorded by Wyl, however, shows Sarah’s ability to assert facts that are not supported by the historical record. When asked about the statement, “Joseph had eighty wives at the time of his death.” Sarah replied: “He had many more, my dear sir; at least he had seduced many more, and those with whom he had lived without their being sealed to him, were sealed to him after his death.”[7] I have encountered no reliable evidence that he seduced any woman at any time or that “he had lived” with other ladies without being married to them.

On March 31, 1886, Sarah Pratt signed a statement affirming: “This certifys that I was well acquainted with the Mormon Leaders and Church in general, and know that the principle [sic] statements in John Bennetts Book on Mormonism are true,” which would either validate the truthfulness of The History of the Saints or diminish Sarah’s credibility as a reliable witness.[8]

While Sarah Pratt was positioned to know about plural marriage in Nauvoo, and may have discussed the topic with the Prophet, a plausible explanation of her later recollections and apostasy posits a guilty conscience and a need to cover up her illicit sexual connection with John C. Bennett. Validating her claims with a secondary source who is not John C. Bennett, would be useful before assuming truthfulness and accuracy.

[1] The affidavits have been dismissed as inaccurate by authors like Richard Van Wagoner and Gary Bergera. However, close examination demonstrates they are reliable and attempts by antaognists to discredit them are based upon faulty reasoning.

[2] D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994, 503. Or in other words, Sarah was married to Orson Pratt, then John C. Bennett, then Orson Pratt again, although nothing exists to suggest that a liaison between Sarah and Bennett would have included a marriage ceremony.

[3] Minutes Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, January 20, 1843. On New Mormon Studies: A Comprehensive Resource Library. CD-ROM. Salt Lake City: Smith Research Associates, 1998.

[4] Elden Jay Watson, ed., Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968, August 8, 1842, page 120-21. An anti-Mormon newspaper, the Sangamo Journal, quoted Joseph Smith as saying Sarah was a “[whore] from her mother’s breast.” (July 29, 1842.)

[5] Sydney Rigdon, “Tour East,” Messenger and Advocate of the Church of Christ, vol. 2, no. 2, December, 1845, (Pittsburgh), page 1.

[6] Excerpt from an undated column of the Salt Lake Herald, copied into the “Journal History” for January 22, 1875, Richard E. Turley, Jr. Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Provo, Utah: BYU Press, vol. 2, DVD #6.

[7] Wyl, W., pseud. [Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal]. Mormon Portraits, or the Truth About Mormon Leaders From 1830 to 1886. Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886, 54.

[8] Sarah Pratt, Handwritten statement, March 31, 1886, Mormon Collection, Chicago Historical Society; copy in D. Michael Quinn Papers, Yale University, Special Collections, Uncat WA MS. 98, 881028, bx3, fd 3.