Joseph Smith knocked up Fanny in an illicit affair while Joe was married to Emma. Fanny separated from Joe and relocated to another part of the country where she gave birth to their love child.
Below is how it all happened, what happened to Fanny, what happened to the product of their roll in the hay and what certain folks thought about it all.
First, however, for chuckles let's see what the website "Joseph Smith's Polygamy"--run by Mormon Church apologist/"historian," Brian C. Hales--offers up in the form of a predictable response to the question about the suspected birth and fate of Fanny Alger's newborn child:
"Chauncy Webb suggested that Emma learned about Joseph’s marriage to Fanny Alger when the girl became pregnant. According to Wilhelm Wyl, who interviewed 'Mr. W,': 'In Kirtland, [Joseph] was sealed there secretly to Fanny Alger. Emma was furious and drove the girl, who was unable to conceal the consequences of her celestial relation with the prophet, out of her house.'
"There is no record that Fanny, in fact, had a child, but Emma’s angry reaction would be consistent with her later behavior under similar circumstances. She obviously did not consider it a genuine marriage. . . .
"There are certainly a number of scenarios (including miscarriage and stillbirth) by which Fanny could have been pregnant but had no child who made it into contemporary records. In 1878, William McLellin told Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt: 'Emma Smith told him that Joseph was both a polygamist and an adulterer.' (Joseph Fielding Smith, 'Life of Joseph F. Smith, Sixth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' [Salt Lake City, Utah, Deseret, 1938], p. 239]. If Emma made such a statement and if McLellin reported it correctly (he would have been 72 in 1878), then it may mean that Emma accepted Nauvoo plural marriage as 'polygamy,' but rejected Joseph’s Kirtland relationship with Alger, calling it 'adultery.'"
("Joseph Smith's Polygamy: The Joseph Smith-Fanny Alger Relationship--A Brief History," at:
http://www.josephsmithspolygamy.com/FannyAlger/MASTERFannyAlger.html)
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Now, for a more honest take:
Mormon historian Todd Compton, in his book, "In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith" (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1997, p. 35), concludes that Smith likely had sex with Alger, got her pregnant and that:
--Fanny miscarried,
--the baby was born but died prematurely, or
--the baby was raised under a different identity:
"[Chauncy] Webb acknowledges that this was a fully sexual union. Since there is no record of Fanny having a child, either Webb was mistaken (though that seems unlikely, if Fanny lived in his home after leaving the Smith home), the child was miscarried or died young, or it was raised under another name. Without futher documentation, there is no way of knowing."
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Don Bradley, an LDS history specialist, presented a paper at the August 2010 Sunstone Symposium entitled, "Dating Fanny Alger: The Nature, Timing and Consequences of an Early Polygamous Relationship."
His conclusion: Fanny got pregnant by Joseph Smith and was sent out of state to have the baby.
Bradley summed up his paper's thesis as follows:
"Fanny Alger left Joseph and Emma Smith's home pregnant, under Emma's wrath, and in the middle of the night. The incident set Kirtland on fire with rumors of the prophet's adultery, or was it polygamy? Some scholars have argued that the relationship was an 1835 affair, too early for polygamy, others that it was an 1833 marriage. Which of these theories is right? Or are they all they wrong together? I will piece together what happened the night Fanny was evicted, what consequences followed, and when all this occurred, illuminating Joseph and Fanny's relationship and other longstanding enigmas."
(Don Bradley, abstract of paper, "Dating Fanny Alger: The Nature, Timing, and Consequences of an Early Polygamous Relationship," delivered at "Sunstone 2010 Symposium and Workshops, Salt Lake City, Utah, 7 August 2010, at:
https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/SLC10-final-7-29-small-for-web1.pdf)
Bradley's presentation was later summarized thusly:
"Bradley tried to pin down when the 'affair' happened. Apparently, Emma discovered Joseph and Fanny late at night in the barn. According to Bradley, Alger appeared pregnant. Emma threw a fit, and threw Alger out of the house. (Apparently Alger had been working as a sort of nanny).
"The discovery of the relationship by Emma probably dates to the summer or fall of 1835. Bradley recounted several people who have tried to pin down the date, and noted problems with each date. Some authors have discussed an “embarrassing” incident of polygamy in August 1835. Joseph left for Pontiac, Michigan, possibly to avoid embarrassment for his role. On October 14, 1835, Joseph describes 'dealing with household issues,' possibly a reference to evict Fanny. However, Mark Ashurst-Mcgee suggests this incident refers not to Fanny, but a problem with employees at the printing office.
"Fanny left Kirtland in August or September 1836, so the incident must have occurred prior to that. Bradley notes that dissenters condemned Joseph on July 24, and Joseph left for Salem, Massachusetts, for a treasure trip the next day on July 25.
"Bradley believes Joseph sent Fanny to Missouri at the same time. William McLellin gave his famous quote about having 'no confidence' in Church leadership around this time as well. Fanny soon married non-member Solomon Custer after just a six-week courtship. Bradley believes it may have been a cover of legitimacy if Fanny was indeed pregnant."
("Sunstone 2010--A Feminist Recap," by "Mormon Heretic," 17 August 2010, at:
http://mormonmatters.org/2010/08/17/sunstone-2010-a-feminist-recap/)
For more information, see Bradley's research on polygamy entitled, "Mormon Polygamy Before Nauvoo?: The Relationship of Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger," in "The Persistence of Polygamy: Joseph Smith and the Origins of Mormon Polygamy," Newell G. Bringhurst and Craig L. Foster, ed. (Independence, Missouri: JohnWhitmerBooks, 2010), at:
http://www.amazon.com/Persistence-Polygamy-Joseph-Origins-ebook/dp/B004GNEDIM#reader_B004GNEDIM)
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Emma's reaction to Joe's cheating was one of shock, anger and action. For starters, Emma was quite aware of the adulterous affair that her faithless hubby had with one of his "adopted daughters"--namely, Fanny:
"Benjamin Johnson, a close friend of Joseph Smith, described Fanny as, 'very nice and comely, [to whom] everyone seemed partial for the amiability of her character.”
"She is generally considered the first plural wife of Joseph Smith. Although undocumented, the marriage of Fanny and Joseph most likely took place in Kirtland, Ohio, sometime in 1833. She would have been sixteen years old.
"At the time, Fanny was living in the Smith home, perhaps helping Emma with house work and the children.
"Ann Eliza Webb recalls:
"'Mrs. Smith had an adopted daughter, a very pretty, pleasing young girl, about seventeen years old. She was extremely fond of her; no mother could be more devoted, and their affection for each other was a constant object of remark, so absorbing and genuine did it seem.'
"Joseph kept his marriage to Fanny out of the view of the public, and his wife Emma.
"Chauncey Webb recounts Emma’s later discovery of the relationship:
“'Emma was furious, and drove the girl, who was unable to conceal the consequences of her celestial relation with the prophet, out of her house.'
"Ann Eliza again recalls:
“' . . . [I]t was felt that [Emma] certainly must have had some very good reason for her action. By degrees it became whispered about that Joseph’s love for his adopted daughter was by no means a paternal affection, and his wife, discovering the fact, at once took measures to place the girl beyond his reach . . . . Since Emma refused decidedly to allow her to remain in her house . . . my mother offered to take her until she could be sent to her relatives . . . .'"
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Then there was Oliver Cowdery's sickened response, followed by efforts at damage control by the Mormon Cult designed to tidy up its Joe-caused mess:
"Book of Mormon witness, Oliver Cowdery, felt the relationship was something other than a marriage. He referred to it as '[a] dirty, nasty, filthy affair . . . .'
"To calm rumors regarding Fanny’s relationship with Joseph, the Church quickly adopted a 'Chapter of Rules for Marriage among the Saints,' which declared, 'Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with . . . polygamy; we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife . . . .” This 'Article on Marriage' was canonized and published in the 'Doctrine & Covenants.' In 1852, the doctrine of polygamy was publicly announced, thus ending eighteen years of secret practice. 'The Article on Marriage' became obsolete and was later removed."
("The Wives of Joseph Smith: Fanny Alger," at:
http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/02-FannyAlger.htm)
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Here is more background on the Joe/Fanny out-of-wedlock frolic, as provided by Mormon historians Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery:
"Emma [Smith] took 19-year-old Fanny Alger into her home early in 1835. Fanny's parents and brother were members of the church. Benjamin F. Johnson said . . . 'that Joseph LOVED HER.'
"But Joseph loved her indiscreetly, for Warren Parrish told Benjamin Johnson '[t]hat he himself & Oliver Cowdery did know that Joseph had Fanny Alger as a wife, for they were SPIED UPON & found together.'
"William McLellin told his account of Joseph and Fanny Alger to a newspaper reporter in 1875: '[McLellin] . . . informed me of the spot where the first well-authenticated case of polygamy took place, in which Joseph Smith was "sealed" to the hired girl. The "sealing" took place in a barn on the hay mow, and was witnessed by Mrs. Smith through a crack in the door! . . . Long afterward when he visited Mrs. Emma Smith . . . she then and there declared on her honor that it was a fact--"saw it with my own eyes."'
"In an 1872 letter, McClellin gave other details of the story. He said that Emma missed both Fanny and Joseph one night and went to look for them. She 'saw him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through the crack and saw the transaction!! She told me this story too was verily true.'
"Joseph's theology may have allowed him to marry Fanny, but Emma was not ready to share her marriage with another woman. When Fanny's pregnancy became obvious, Emma forced her to leave. . . .
"The incident drove a serious wedge between Oliver Cowdery and Joseph. Oliver wrote to his brother Warren from Missouri on January 21, 1838: '. . . [W]e had some conversation in which . . . [a] dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger's was talked over in which I strictly declared that I had never deviated from the truth in the matter . . . . [J]ust before leaving, he wanted to drop every past thing, in which had been a difficulty or difference . . . .'"
(Linda King Newell and Valleen Tippetts Avery, "Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith--Prophet's Wife, 'Elect Lady,' Polygamy's Foe" (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1984), p. 66, original emphasis)
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Historian Fawn Brodie offers her own historical take. Brodie places the age of the orphaned Fanny at 17 when Joe "seduced" her after she came to live with him and Emma. She describes the affair as a "breath of scandal hot upon his neck," regardless of "[w]hether or not [she] bore Joseph a child." (Brodie reports, nonetheless, that "[t]here is some evidence that Fannie Alger bore Joseph a child in Kirtland"). Adding intrigue to the tryst, Brodie writes that "[w]hen in later years, polygamy had become an accepted pattern in Mormon life, Joseph's leading elders looked back to the Kirtland days and concluded that Fannie Alger had been the prophet's first wife. But when they questioned her about her relation with Joseph, she replied: 'That is all a matter of my own, and I have nothing to communicate."
Brodie reports that Joseph's affair with Fanny was something that Emma could not easily forget. Indeed, Brodie observes that this "unfortunate infatuation" on Joseph's part for a "winsome servant girl" whom Emma had "taken into the family," absolutely incensed her:
"The scandal was insufferable to Emma, who was passionately fond and jealous of her husband. She had, moreover, a keen sense of the propriety and dignity of his office and must have been humiliated for the Church itself, which was beginning to attain stature and some degree of stability."
Brodie suggests that the affair ended up having a corrosive effect on Joseph's personal relationship with Emma, as hinted at "in November 1835 [when] he made a public statement [published in the 'Latter-Day Saint Messenger and Advocate'], part of which by its strange emphasis would seem to indicate that his domestic life was far from tranquil: 'Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the Church. . . . Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.'"
(Fawn Brodie, ""No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet," 2nd ed., revised and enlarged (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983], pp. 181-83, 345)
*****
Sounds like Emma had a lot to be mad at about--and also a lot to hide. And that could have included knowing that her dear husband Joseph was (truth be told) a lying, conniving, untrustworthy snake. But, hey, that just means, as Emma said, that he "was but a man except when the spirit of God was upon him" (but not when he was upon Fanny). Fanny didn't seem too happy about how things played out, either. She never married Joe, instead pursuing a life in another state, where she found a husband she could live with--and who perhaps played the role of the child's supposed father when it was really Joe's kid.
So, this is how a "Prophet of God" takes personal responsibility and leads by example.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2014 04:10AM by steve benson.