Alleged Sexual Impropriety between Joseph Smith and

Widow Miller

Source:

John C. Bennett, The History of the Saints: Or an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland & Whiting, 1842, 255-56.

Accusation:

Widow Miller: Mrs. Miller is one of Joe’s most notorious Cyprian Saints. She became so by means of the Inquisition, before whom she confessed that she had been seduced by the Prophet, under an assurance that the proceeding was all correct, and in accordance with the will and express permission of the Lord. She is a voluptuous woman, of ordinary capacity, black hair and eyes, round features, and free and lively disposition.[1]

Discussion:

Perhaps the biggest weakness of this allegation is that is comes from John C. Bennett , a known prevaricator and opportunist. Several authors consider him a "polygamy-insider" at Nauvoo, but recent research demonstrates that he was not.

According to Bennett, “Mrs. Miller’s” was a “Cyprian Saint” and her confession occurred before the “Inquisition.” Bennett described a three-tiered polygamous order in Nauvoo. Women were admitted into one of the orders through an inquisition.

John C. Bennett's Description of Plural Marriage in Nauvoo


*Name of order*	*Veil color*	*Characteristics*
Cyprian Saints	White	“The members of the Female Relief Society, who are ever upon the watch for victims, have the power, when they know, or even suspect, that any Mormon female has, however, slightly, lapsed from the straight path of virtue… She is immediately, by the council, pronounced a Cyprian, and is excluded from any further connection with the Relief Society… her name and failing are stealthily promulgated among the trustworthy members of the Church at whose command she is, for licentious purposes, forever after.”
Chambered Sisters of Charity	Green	“This order comprises that class of females who indulge their sensual propensities, without restraint, whether married or single, by the express permission of the Prophet… [They] are much more numerous than the Cyprian Saints. This results naturally from the greater respectability of their order.”
Consecratees of the Cloister or Cloistered Saints	Black	“This degree is composed of females whether married or unmarried, who, by an express grant and gift of God, through his Prophet the Holy Joe, are set apart and consecrated to the use and benefit of particular individuals as secret, spiritual wives… When an Apostle, High Priest, Elder, or Scribe, conceives an affection for a female, and he has satisfactorily ascertained that she experiences a mutual flame, he communicates confidentially to the Prophet his affaire du Coeur and requests him to inquire of the Lord…”

It appears that Bennett’s descriptions are unsubstantiated by any other source, anti-Mormon or apologetic. Neither does it appear that Bennett himself ever followed his described order-plan while engaging in extra-marital sexual relations in Nauvoo. In other words, the description of “Cyprian Saints” etc. appears to have arisen as a rhetorical assertion in his book and was otherwise unknown before and after the book’s publication in late 1842. Such references were not found in his letters to the Sangamo Journal earlier that year in July and August. Accordingly, there is no evidence that any women was ever a “Cyprian Saint” or that inquisitions were employed, except for disciplinary councils held by the Nauvoo High Council to stamp out adultery and fornication.

The identity of “Widow Miller” is not provided, which makes verification more difficult. However, she is likely Sarah Miller who was well known to Bennett and was seduced by Chauncey Higbee in Nauvoo. On May 24th, 1842, Sarah signed a affidavit against Higbee that stated:

Some two or three weeks since, in consequence of brother Joseph Smith’s teachings to the signer, I began to be alarmed concerning myself, and certain teachings which I had received from Chauncey L. Higbee, and questioned him (Higbee) about his teaching, for I was pretty well persuaded, from Joseph’s public teachings, that Chauncey had been telling falsehoods; but Chauncey said that Joseph now taught as he did through necessity on account of the prejudices of the people, and his own family particularly, as they had not become believers in the doctrine.

I then became satisfied that all of Chauncey’s teachings had been false, and that he had never been authorized by any one in authority to make any such communication to me. Chauncey L. Higbee’s teachings and conduct were as follows: -- When he first came to my house, soon after the Special Conference this spring,

Chauncey commenced joking me about my getting married, and wanted to know how long it had been since my husband died, and soon removed his seat near me, and began his seducing insinuations by saying it was no harm to have sexual intercourse with women if they would keep it to themselves, and continued to urge me to yield to his desires, and urged me vehemently, and said he and Joseph were good friends, and he teaches me this doctrine and allows me such privileges, and there is no harm in it, and Joseph Smith says so.

I told him I did not believe it, and had heard no such teaching from Joseph, nor from the stand, but that it was wicked to commit adultery, etc."[2]

Summary:

Weaknesses this John C. Bennett accusation include the lack of documentation to support the there different “orders” of polygamy described in his book, History of the Saints, such as the “Cyprian Saints.” Multiple evidences are available showing no such orders ever existed in Nauvoo. If “Cyprian Saints” were fictional, how much of the remaining allegation is believable? Also, testimony from the purported victim, Sarah Miller, directly contradicted Bennett’s charges. She declared that she “had heard no such teaching from Joseph… but that it was wicked to commit adultery, etc.”[3] John C. Bennett, as the sole witness of the described behavior, is also problematic.

[1] John C. Bennett, The History of the Saints: Or an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland & Whiting, 1842, 255-56.

[2] Sarah Miller testimony before the Nauvoo High Council, May 24, 1842; copy of holograph in Valeen Tippitts Avery Collection USU, MSS 316, bx 24, fd 14. Also quoted in “History of Joseph Smith,” Millennial Star 23 (October 12, 1861) 657-59, October 12, 1861. See also minutes of the Nauvoo High Council, August 24, 1842, copy of holograph in Valeen Tippitts Avery Collection, USU, MSS 316, bx 24, fd 14.

[3] Cited in “History of Joseph Smith,” Millennial Star 23 (October 12, 1861) 657-59.