Alleged Sexual Impropriety between Joseph Smith and

“A Certain Woman”

Source:

A third accusation against Joseph Smith appeared sixty years after its alleged occurrence when William Bond, a of Erie County, Pennsylvania, published what he called a “history” of Mormonism in 1890.

Accusation:

In about the year 1829-30, Joseph Smith visited Erie County, Pennsylvania, often as he was passing from Ohio into western New York, and held meetings to gain proselytes in the Mormon faith. . . . Some of the old and more substantial citizens, Henry Teller, Ranson Bromley, Henry Slator, and others, noticed an improper intimacy between Joseph Smith and a certain woman, which led to a further investigation of Smith’s character, and finally exposure of his improper conduct before one of these assemblies. Smith, however, having friends, still declared his innocence. The next evening a wooden horse was found before the inn where Smith was lodging, and on the horse was written: “Assistance will be given by twelve gentlemen to mount this horse (he being high), and if the seat is hard a quantity of feathers and tar shall not be withheld to make the journey pleasant, as he is a fast rider.” I need not inform you Smith was seen no more in that vicinity.[1]

Discussion:

This very late account is problematic in several respects. Most seriously, the chronology of Joseph Smith’s travels contradicts the allegations. Joseph’s first trip through Erie County was with Emma when they were westbound from Fayette, New York, in 1831. Erie, Pennsylvania, is located about eighty miles east of Kirtland, Ohio. It is true that Joseph traversed this area several times in ensuing years.

Since Bond identifies proselytizing as one of Joseph’s purposes for entering the county, the most likely visit for this wooden horse incident would have been in October 1833, accompanied by Sidney Rigdon and Freeman Nickerson, Joseph visited Springville, Erie County, for two days, writing: “A large and attentive congregation assembled at Brother Rudd’s in the evening, to whom we bore our testimony.”[2] The next day, he crossed the county, arriving at Elk Creek No extant records suggest that anything untoward occurred or that Joseph was harassed by locals who wished to retaliate for some current or previous indiscretion. In addition to this visit, Joseph also came into the county (1) in October 1832, accompanied by Newel K. Whitney to acquire goods for a store in Kirtland; (2) in February 1834 accompanied by Parley P. Pratt to assemble volunteers for Zion’s Camp, and (3) in August 1836, accompanied by Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery in an unsuccessful effort to raise funds to stabilize the Kirtland Safety Society.[3]

Furthermore, Cheryl Hamon Bean, who researched LDS baptisms in Erie County between 1831 and 1833, identifies at least 122 new members and found no evidence that Joseph Smith had earlier been accused of improprieties in the county.[4] As a second difficulty with Bond’s allegations, it seems unlikely that such an event, which occurred semi-publicly and involved at least twelve notable members of the community, had remained unmentioned for more than fifty years. Erie was geographically close to Kirtland. It seems improbable that the improprieties described would have gone unnoticed by Joseph’s enemies like Philastus Hurlburt, E. D. Howe, or Grandison Newell.

The account states that “substantial citizens, Henry Teller, Ranson, Bromley Slator, and others” were informed.[5] In addition, an “assembly” discussed Joseph’s improper conduct and determined a course of action, including the threat of “tar and feathers.” But again, except for Bond, no record of this community event exists, either in connection with Joseph Smith or, as far as I have been able to learn, with anyone else. In short, this allegation rests solely upon Bond’s unsupported memory.

Summary

This very late account from an anti-Mormon source contradicts contemporaneous evidences and observations. That such impropriety might have occurred without any additional reference during the 1829 to 1890 period of sixty-one years seems unlikely. Perhaps Bond was misattributing an incident with some other traveling preacher who passed through Erie County, Pennsylvania a few years before Joseph Smith and the Mormon missionaries traversed the area.

[1]William Bond, The Early History of Mormonism . . . (Portland, Oregon: Schwab Brothers, 1890), 18–19.

[2]Joseph Smith et al., History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints, edited by B. H. Roberts, 7 vols., 2d ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1948 printing), 1:416.

[3]J. Christopher Conkling, A Joseph Smith Chronology, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 1979,36, 53, 92.

[4]Cheryl Hamon Bean, “LDS Baptisms in Erie County, Pennsylvania 1831-1833, Nauvoo Journal 5, no. 2 (Fall 1993), 59–102, esp. 64–65.

[5]Research confirms that these men were indeed in the area during the time in question, but none left any negative record concerning Joseph Smith.