Alleged Sexual Impropriety between Joseph Smith and

An Unidentified Woman at “Mrs. Granger’s” Home

Source:

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, 57.

Accusation:

A Mrs. Granger proved a very reliable and useful friend to the prophet. He was once at her house, in bed, and not alone. The bed had old-fashioned curtains. All at once Sister Emma, the prophet’s wife came in, and said excitedly to Mrs. Granger: “Is Brother Joseph here?” “No,” said Mrs. Granger, “he has just been in, but went out again,” getting Sister Emma out of the house as hurriedly as possible. Joseph used to tell his intimate friends how dreadfully he had felt in that bed, expecting every moment that his wife might look behind the curtains.[1]

Discussion:

Any quote from Wilhelm Wyl would benefit from a second trustworthy witness.

In this account, the identities of “Mrs. D.”, “Mrs. Granger,” and the woman allegedly hiding with Joseph Smith in the curtains are not provided. Two possible “Mrs. Grangers” can be identified. Lydia Dibble Granger, became a widow on August 27, 1841 when her husband, Oliver Granger, died in Kirtland, Ohio. At some point Lydia migrated to Nauvoo, where she married Hyrum Smith as a plural wife, probably in 1843. She also served as a Nauvoo Temple worker beginning January 2, 1846.[2] Lydia seems less likely because the event reportedly occurred in the “house” of “Mrs. Granger” rather than “widow Granger.” Also, I have been unable to verify that Lydia Dibble Granger was a “very reliable and useful friend to the prophet” or that she had her own home in Nauvoo.

A more probable “Mrs. Granger” is Sarah Stiles who married Carlos Granger on May 31, 1813. Carlos is the only “Granger” to own property in Nauvoo in 1842.[3] While Carlos was a non-member, Sarah was very active and the only person with the surname “Granger” to perform baptisms for the dead in Nauvoo.[4] In 1840, Carlos wrote: “I am not nor never have been a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints called Mormons.”[5] Sarah proved herself a “reliable and useful friend” to the Prophet who, for a time concealed himself at their home while hiding from lawmen attempting to arrest him on charges stemming from Missouri Governor Boggs near fatal shooting. Church Historian Andrew Jenson recorded that on August 18, 1842: “Rumors being afloat that the Prophet's hiding place was discovered, he changed his quarters from the house of Edward Sayer to that of Carlos Granger, who lived in the northeast part of Nauvoo.”[6] Perhaps his non-member status made his home a desirable hideout for the Prophet.

A primary problem with Sarah Granger as “Mrs. Granger” stems from Emma’s described actions. The Granger property was located over a mile out of town. That she would have traced Joseph’s footsteps beyond the outskirts of Nauvoo to the Granger house with a “bed [that] had old-fashioned curtains,” only to refrain from investigating whether Joseph was hidden within its draperies, seems implausible. Her primary motivator seems to have been to prevent the behavior that would normally have been occurring within the curtains.

The distance between the Smith residence in Nauvoo and the Granger home was great.

There is also a question regarding how readily Joseph Smith or his plural wife (or non-wife) might have engaged in sexual activity with only a curtain separating him from others in the room. If the companion of Joseph Smith reportedly sequestered with him in the “old-fashioned” bed was a plural wife, then this account would not represent an incident of sexual misconduct.

While some of the Latter-day Saints later apostatized, most of Joseph Smith’s “intimate friends” were polygamists and remained in the Church. It seems unlikely that they would have positioned themselves to be speaking of his personal dealings within earshot of the unidentified “Mrs. D.” But since she remains anonymous, it is impossible to verify.

Summary:

This account proposed by Wyl is problematic in several ways. It is true that Emma attempted to keep Joseph from meeting with his plural wives.[7] However, the described scene strains credibility, that Emma would follow her husband for several miles only to ignore the curtained bed, once she arrived at the Granger home. Other problems stem from the observations that it is late, third-hand and with the primary witness unidentified.

[1] 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, 57.

[2] Lisle Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings: a Comprehensive Register of Persons Receiving LDS Temple Ordinances, 1841-1846, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2006, 115.

[3] Nauvoo, Illinois Tax Index, 1842, available at Ancestry .com.

[4] See Susan Easton Black and Harvey Bischoff Black, Annotated Record of the Baptism for the Dead 1840-1845 Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, Provo, Utah: BYU Press, 2002, 7 vol. 3:1448-49..

[5] Clark V. Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992, p.452-453

[6] Andrew Jenson, Church Chronology. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1899, 21. See also Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 2:25, 1869, CA MS 3423 fd 5.

[7] See Emily Dow Partridge Young, “Incidents in the early life of Emily Dow partridge,” MS d 2845, fd 1, CHL; page 5; also in Marriott Library, Special Collections; see also Oliver Preston Robinson ed., History of Joseph Lee Robinson, History Comes Home, 2007, 54.