As a personality of the nineteen

Despite the large number of alleged children of Joseph Smith listed in the chart below, only two seem verifiable: Josephine Lyon and a child to Olive Gray Frost.

The other purported children are all undocumented, except for tabloid level accusations.

ALLEGED CHILDREN OF JOSEPH SMITH
	*Name*	*Mother*	*Birth Date*	*Evidence*	*Discussion*
1.	Josephine Lyon	Sylvia Lyon	Feb 8 1844	Mother’s declaration	High probability
2.	“child”	Olive Gray Frost	Unknown – sealing occurred in summer of 1843	Joseph E. Robinson Autobiography, recounting October 26, 1902, (Ms 7866)[1]	Robinson wrote: “During the afternoon I called on Aunt Lizzie... she knew Joseph Smith had more than two wives. Said he married… Olive Frost [and] had a child by him and that both died."
Undocumented Claims
1.	Oliver Norman Buell	Presendia Huntington Buell	Jan 31 1840	Mary Ettie V. Smith’s statement	Genetic testing demonstrates Joseph Smith could not be the father.^{^[2]}
2.	John Hiram Buell	Presendia Huntington Buell	Jul 13 1843	Mary Ettie V. Smith’s statement	Presendia was living 20 miles away from Nauvoo when John Hiram was conceived. Stanley S. Ivins considered Mary Ettie V. Smith’s report as “inaccurate and of no value.”^{^[3]}
3.	Zebulon Jacobs	Zina Huntington Jacobs	Jan 2 1842	William Hall statement	Genetic testing demonstrates Joseph Smith could not be the father.^{^[4]}
4.	Hannah Ann Dibble	Hannah Ann Dubois Smith Dibble	Jan 7 1842	Benjamin Winchester	Winchester’s described chronology contradicts the possibility that Joseph Smith was the father. Hannah Ann Dibble was born eleven months after her mother wed Philo Dibble.
5.	Loren Walker Dibble	Hannah Ann Dubois Smith Dibble	May 29, 1844	None	Joseph Smith III recalled that a son of Hannah was “shown after father’s death as his.”[5]
6.	Orson Washington Hyde	Marinda Johnson Hyde	Nov 9 1843	None	No specific evidence available. Allegation is based on speculation.
7.	Frank Henry Hyde	Marinda Johnson Hyde	Jan 23 1846	None	Birth date as provided on his death certificate and in obituary would preclude Joseph Smith being the father.^{^[6]}
8.	George Algernon Lightner	Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner[7]	Mar 22 1842	None	Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Rollins were sealed in Feb 1842, after George Algernon’s conception. No evidence of a sexual connection between them before or after has been located.
9.	Florentine Mattheas Lightner	Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner[7]	Mar 23 1844	None	Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner was living far away from Nauvoo when Florentine was conceived.
10.	John Reed Hancock	Clarissa Reed Hancock	Apr 19 1841	“tradition”	No specific evidence available. Allegation is based on speculation.
11.	Mosiah Lyman Hancock	Clarissa Reed Hancock	Apr 9 1834	None	Genetic testing demonstrates Joseph Smith could not be the father.^{^[8]}
12.	Moroni Llewellyn Pratt	Mary Ann Frost Pratt	Dec 7 1844	None	Genetic testing demonstrates Joseph Smith could not be the father and verifies Parley P. Pratt as the biological father.^{^[9]}
13.	Orrison Smith	Fanny Alger (allegedly)	unknown	“tradition”	Genetic testing demonstrates Joseph Smith could not be the father.^{^[10]}
14.	Joseph Albert Smith	Esther Dutcher	Sep 21 1844	None	Evidence supports an “eternity only” sealing to the Prophet. Allegation is based on speculation. Legal husband’s name was Albert.[11]
15.	Josephine Henry or Hendry	Margaret Creighton	July 8 1844	Rumor	Chronology of events shows that Margaret became pregnant before the couple arrived in Nauvoo.
16.	Sarah Elizabeth Holmes	Marietta Carter	Jan 24 1838	None	Marietta Carter, the first wife of Jonathan Holmes died on August 20, 1840. No evidence links her with Joseph Smith.
17.	Carolyn Delight	Lulu Vermillion	?	Unknown	Assertion made to Ugo Perego.[12] I have been unable to identify this person or her mother.

[1] See also James Whitehead, interview conducted by Joseph Smith III, April 20, 1885. Orginal in possession of John Hajicek; D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994, 588.

[2] Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, “Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA,” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, vol. 28 (2008), 128-36.

[3] Stanley S. Ivins Collection, USHS, notebook 4, page 63.

[4] Ugo A. Perego, Natalie M. Myres, and Scott R. Woodward. “Reconstructing the Y-Chromosome of Joseph Smith: Genealogical Applications.” Journal of Mormon History 31 (Fall 2005): 59-60 [42-60].

[5] Joseph Smith III to Bro. E.C. Brand, Joseph Smith III [no date – likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book, P6, JSLB4, pages 65, Community of Christ Archives.

[6] Birth certificate available at http://wiki.hanksplace.net/index.php/Image:FrankHHyde.jpg (accessed August 27, 2009). Thanks to Gregory L. Smith for identifying this. See also “Frank H. Hyde Dies Suddenly,” The Ogden Standard, June 29, 1908, 5.

[7]. Greg L. Smith noted: “One bit of evidence often overlooked on potential children is Mary Elizabeth Rollins' remark that ‘I knew he had three children. They told me.’ (Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, "Remarks," given at BYU 14 April 1905, typescript BYU.) It would seem to me that this goes a long way to ruling out her children as Joseph's progeny--she obviously saw nothing wrong with Joseph having children, was before a sympathetic audience, and seemed keen to tell what she knew. If they had been Joseph's children, you'd think she'd have been proud of it and told them. This seems to be the best she can do--she's heard about some (by rumor) but knows nothing more detailed.” (Email to the author October 19, 2009.)

[8] Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, “Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA,” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, vol. 28 (2008), 128-36.

[9] Ugo A. Perego, Natalie M. Myres, and Scott R. Woodward. “Reconstructing the Y-Chromosome of Joseph Smith: Genealogical Applications.” Journal of Mormon History 31 (Fall 2005): 55 [42-60].

[10] Ugo A. Perego, Natalie M. Myres, and Scott R. Woodward. “Reconstructing the Y-Chromosome of Joseph Smith: Genealogical Applications.” Journal of Mormon History 31 (Fall 2005): 59 [42-60]. See also Thomas Milton Tinney, “Fanny Alger, the first plural wife of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr., a preliminary genealogical report,” CHL, microfilm, MS 9034, pp. 13, 18.

[11] Esther Dutcher Smith did not conceive any children while her legal husband, Albert Smith, was on his mission between September 12, 1842 and August 22, 1843. Joseph Albert Smith was conceived about four months after his return (on approximately December 29, 1843). See David L. Bigler, transcriber, “Journal of Albert Smith, 1804-1889,” handwritten manuscript, CHL, copy of transcription in possession of the author, pp. 2, 9, 17.

[12] Ugo A. Perego, Jayne E. Ekins, and Scott R. Woodward, “Resolving the Paternities of Oliver N. Buell and Mosiah L. Hancock through DNA,” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, vol. 28 [2008], 129 [128-36].

Undocumented Claims