Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to steal their wives?

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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

Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to steal their wives?

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to "steal" their wives while they were gone?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith send William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs on missions so that he could steal their wives?
• Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?

Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to "steal" their wives while they were gone?

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith send men on missions in order to "steal" their wives while they were gone?
• This claim is contradicted by historical data: ten of the husbands of the twelve "polyandrous" wives were not on missions at the time and there is insufficient or contradictory information about the other two
• The only question regards Orson Hyde, who had been on his mission for one year to two years before the sealing
• Hyde's wife Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death

Question: Did Joseph Smith send William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs on missions so that he could steal their wives?

Jump to details:

• Question: Did Joseph Smith send William Law, Robert D. Foster, and Henry Jacobs on missions so that he could steal their wives?
• This claim was made in an anti-Mormon expose entitled Fifteen Years Among the Mormons
• The book claimed that Law, Foster and Jacobs were returned from missions to find their wives "blushing under the prospective honors of spiritual wifeism"
• Law and Foster never served missions, and Jacobs was not on a mission when Joseph proposed a sealing to his wife

Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Apostle Orson Hyde sent on a mission to dedicate Israel so that Joseph Smith could secretly marry his wife, Marinda Hyde, while he was away?
• Orson was involved briefly with apostasy at Far West in the fall of 1838, but had returned to the Church by March 1839
• If the earlier sealing date is correct, Orson had been on his mission for about a year before the sealing
• The Hydes divorced in 1870, but Marinda was sealed to Orson following Joseph's death
• Marinda's children Orson W. Hyde and Frank Henry Hyde

Joseph's polyandrous marriages

Summary: Nothing in plural marriage mystifies—or troubles—members of the Church more than Joseph's polyandrous sealings. Marriage to multiple wives may seem strange, but at least it intrudes on our historical awareness, while many remain unaware of polyandry's existence in LDS history. But, most critical accounts do not provide all the facts. When we understand what these marriages consisted of—and what they did not consist of—they are much less strange.

See also Brian Hales' discussion

Joseph Smith and Polyandry: Common questions

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Source(s) of the criticism:

Critical sources

Nelson Winch Green, Fifteen Years among the Mormons: Being the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Ettie V. Smith, Late of Great Salt Lake City; a Sister of One of the Mormon High Priests, She Having Been Personally Acquainted with Most of the Mormon Leaders, and Long in the Confidence of The "Prophet," Brigham Young (New York: H. Dayton, Publishers, 1860 [1858]), 34–35. John Dehlin,"Grant Palmer on Sexual Allegations Against Joseph Smith, William and Jane Law, and His Resignation," Mormon Stories Podcast (26 February 2012). http://mormonstories.org/grant-palmer-on-sexual-allegations-against-joseph-smith-william-and-jane-law-and-his-resignation/ John Dehlin, "Questions and Answers," Mormon Stories Podcast (25 June 2014).

Notes