John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo

FAIR Answers—back to home page

V

Articles about Plural marriage

Doctrinal foundation of plural marriage	Purpose of plural marriage Plural marriage as a requirement for exaltation Plural marriage in early Christianity Plural marriage in the Book of Mormon Plural marriage and the Bible
Introduction of plural marriage	Initiation of the practice of plural marriage 1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy Fanny Alger was Joseph Smith's first plural wife Joseph Smith hid polygamy from the general Church membership Divine manifestations to plural wives and families Plural marriage and the law
Questions about Joseph Smith and plural marriage	Initiation of the practice of plural marriage Fanny Alger was Joseph Smith's first plural wife Joseph Smith hid polygamy from the general Church membership Joseph Smith's marriages to young women Did Joseph Smith coerce women to marry him? Mormon women refusing offers of plural marriage Polyandry Joseph Smith and children through plural marriage Marrying other men's wives? Joseph Smith hiding plural marriages from his first wife, Emma Emma Smith's reaction to Joseph Smith's plural marriages Emma Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 132 Did Joseph have lustful motives for practicing polygamy? Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to steal their wives? Did Joseph Smith practice polygamy for the purpose of monetary gain?
John C. Bennett and Nauvoo polygamy	Bennett before Nauvoo Bennett and Prostitution Brothel at Nauvoo Rise and Fall of Bennett Sarah Pratt Nancy Rigdon Sidney Rigdon
Notable plural wives of Joseph Smith	Emma Smith Fanny Alger Prescindia Lathrop Huntington Buell Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Helen Mar Kimball
Plural marriage in Utah	Difficulties with plural marriage Brigham Young's statements regarding plural marriage John Taylor's statements regarding polygamy Latter-day Saints and divorce in the nineteenth century Prevalence of plural marriage in Utah
End of plural marriage	The First Manifesto Official Declaration Number 1 Plural marriage practiced after the First Manifesto The Church of Jesus Christ and plural marriage today

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo

Jump to Subtopic:

• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Bennett's conduct prior to Nauvoo
• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Bennett and Prostitution
• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Brothel at Nauvoo near the temple?
• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Rise and Fall
• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Sarah Pratt
• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Nancy Rigdon
• John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Sidney Rigdon and Bennett's charges

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Bennett's conduct prior to Nauvoo

Summary: Bennett's early behavior can teach us much about how to interpret his behavior and claims from the Nauvoo period.

Jump to details:

• John C. Bennett Prior to Nauvoo
• Bennett's Character
• Anti-social personality and psychopathy
• DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder
• Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised
• W.W. Phelps case
• Bennett's Pre-Nauvoo Career
• A medical diploma mill
• Frequent moves
• Bennett On The Couch

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Bennett and Prostitution

Summary: Bennett was charged with procuring women for purposes of prostitution, and teaching others in Nauvoo how to religiously manipulate women into sexual intercourse. These events eventually led to Bennett's excommunication. Individuals drawn into Bennett's schemes would later play a role in the events that led to Joseph's incarceration and murder in Carthage.

Jump to details:

• John C. Bennett and prostitution in Nauvoo
• Bennett and Prostitution
• "Too Indelicate for the Public"

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Brothel at Nauvoo near the temple?

Summary: Bennett had a brothel, and some have claimed that the Mormons' tolerance of it illustrates their moral depravity. In fact, the Saints destroyed the brothel and ultimately excommunicated Bennett for this and related acts.

Jump to details:

• Question: Was there a brothel in Nauvoo near the temple?

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Rise and Fall

Jump to details:

• John C. Bennett in Nauvoo
• Bennett's Motives
• The Nauvoo Charter
• Source and degree of Bennett's prominence
• Bennett: an outside "insider"
• Storm Clouds
• Fall of Bennett

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Sarah Pratt

Summary: John C. Bennett and Joseph Smith exchanged charges, each claiming that the other had attempted the seduction of Sarah Pratt, wife of apostle Orson Pratt. Learn about this complex period of LDS history here.

Jump to details:

• Sarah Pratt
• An attempted seduction?
• Orson's Initial Reaction
• Alleged Adultery of John C. Bennett and Sarah Pratt
• Goddard evidence
• Another non-Mormon witness
• Sarah's belated defense
• Orson Pratt's change of heart
• Conclusion

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Nancy Rigdon

Summary: Even more complex than the Sarah Pratt episode, Sidney Rigdon's daughter Nancy was approached by Joseph Smith regarding plural marriage.

Jump to details:

• Nancy Rigdon
• Bennett's Version
• Calm Before the Storm
• The Character of Nancy Rigdon
• The Rigdon Family Version of Joseph's Proposal

John C. Bennett and plural marriage at Nauvoo: Sidney Rigdon and Bennett's charges

Jump to details:

• Private Visit With Sidney Rigdon
• Bennett's Fall From Grace
• George W. Robinson and John C. Bennett
• Joseph Meets with the Rigdon Family
• Francis Higbee: Post-Bennett
• Stephen Markham's Affidavit
• Divine Intervention

See also Brian Hales' discussion

Joseph Smith’s resumes practicing plural marriage--1841	Joseph's first plural marriage after Fanny Alger.
Changes in polygamy implementation after the angelic visit of February 1842	Joseph Smith made his second proposal to a previously unmarried woman in Nauvoo and the first proposal since his marriage to Louisa Beaman.
John C. Bennett Impacts the Secret Expansion of Plural Marriage	John C. Bennett arrived in Nauvoo in September of 1840 and stayed less than two years. In spite of his relatively brief time living among the Saints, his impact upon the secret expansion of plural marriage was immense.
Joseph Smith’s proposal to Nancy Rigdon	One unmarried woman Joseph approached was Nancy Rigdon, the nineteen-year-old daughter of his First Counselor in the First Presidency, Sidney Rigdon. The proposal turned out badly.
William and Jane Law and the Prophet
Plural Marriage and the Martyrdom
Did Joseph Smith Intend to Abandon Plural Marriage?	William Marks related that Joseph’s conversation denouncing plural marriage occurred “three weeks before his death” or around June 6. Perhaps Joseph had such a change of heart during the first week of June, but this seems unlikely and other parts of Marks’ recollection are implausible.

⍗

Source(s) of the criticism:

Critical sources

Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997), 190. ( Index of claims ) George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: "...but we called it celestial marriage" (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2008), 1, 5, 65, 69-73, 114, 119, 122-125, 230, 243, 274, 309, 429. ( Index of claims , (Detailed book review)) Watchman Fellowship, The Watchman Expositor (Page 3)