Note: This is a book review of The Reluctant Polygamist, by Meg Stout. This book will be released within the next few weeks. Meg has posted an offer for a limited autographed edition at a discount.
As a historian, I frequently find intriguing stories told by others with interesting interpretations of the data. When there is much quality data available, most scholars will tend to agree on the interpretation of that data.
Sadly for us, the issue of polygamy in the early Church (Kirtland and Nauvoo) was often shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Most discussions regarding it were not written down until decades later, often in second, third or even fourth hand accounts. Even then, many of the accounts were filled with suppositions or only half-told hints, leaving modern historians to attempt to fill in the blank spaces.
For this reason, we have authors who: insisted Joseph was near perfect (Joseph Fielding Smith), a human called of God to create a new religion line upon line, while learning through his trials and mistakes (Richard Bushman), a “pious fraud” (Dan Vogel), or perhaps someone who received “visions” as a result of seizures (Fawn Brodie).
As noted, early polygamy was secretive and left few good historical discussions for us. For this reason, we now have books and articles that suppose Joseph turned to plural marriage to satisfy his lecherous cravings.
When Meg Stout began her Millennial Star journey of discussing Joseph Smith and polygamy in 2014, she didn’t foresee this would lead to her current book. I’m glad it did. As with many other books on Joseph Smith and polygamy, Meg provides her own theories for us to consider and deal with. She begins with a history of the early Church, and also of the technology, beliefs, and medical skills of the day – all affecting the story of polygamy and Joseph Smith. For example, she shows that Joseph’s polygamy was not the only game in town, as the Shakers practiced celibacy, while others experimented with free love.
The Reluctant Polygamist discusses each of Joseph’s wives, and those of other early members in Nauvoo. Meg divides the women into a few distinct groups, explaining the concept behind most of the marriages, such as levirate marriages (Biblical concept of raising up seed to a first husband who has died), women Joseph was specifically commanded to marry, or dynastic wives – tying families together into the family of the Prophet.
Unlike other historical accounts of early Mormon polygamy, Meg presents a complex and twisted account. She shares an account of a Joseph Smith, who was reluctant to embrace polygamy, even when threatened by an angel with a sword. At the same time, she shows how Satan presented his counterfeit form: spiritual wifery.
Meg uses a variety of points to demonstrate that Doctor John Bennett and his colleagues were seducing many of the women of Nauvoo, claiming Joseph had taught and encouraged spiritual wifery. Instead, Joseph only taught a celestial form of plural marriage and led a quiet effort to find out who was involved in Bennett’s conspiracy. This leads to a few more plural marriage groups, which besides Meg, I don’t think I’ve ever seen suggested by other authors. These include the victims of Bennett’s spiritual wifery, women who were seduced and perhaps would not be considered worthy to ever be married by a righteous Mormon man; and investigators – plural wives, who were given the assignment to search out other victims, and the men who assaulted them.
As I noted, often the evidence is slim, but Meg often combines testimonies, remembrances, and occasionally hearsay, to create a web of Nauvoo intrigue; as Joseph sought to root out the wicked, while keeping his commanded plural marriage as quiet as possible. Such would be the story of apostle Orson Pratt’s wife, Sarah, one who was victimized by Bennett and his group. Bennett would claim that it was Joseph who bedded her, causing Orson (who recently returned from a mission in Europe) to pause on just who did what.
At the same time that she opens new roads for us to explore in regards to Mormon polygamy, sometimes it feels like she reaches too far to make some points. For example, Meg suggests that Eliza R. Snow was one of the victims of Bennett. Her evidence primarily comes from some poetry Eliza wrote that may or may not deal with spiritual wifery, and an inaccurate third hand account of Emma Smith pushing a supposedly pregnant Eliza down the stairs of the Smith home (neither Smith home in Nauvoo had stairs). This contrasts with recent evidence provided by BYU-Idaho historian and professor Andrea Radke-Moss that Eliza was gang raped by eight Missourians during the great trials the Mormons endured in that state. Professor Radke-Moss stated, “The rape was brutal, and so it made Eliza unable to have children,” and that Joseph Smith “offered her marriage as a way of promising her that she would still have eternal offspring and that she would be a mother in Zion.” While Emma may have pushed Eliza down some stairs, it is highly unlikely she was pregnant at the time (with Joseph or Bennett’s child).
In other words, Eliza was a victim, but possibly not one of Bennett’s victims. However, it may be possible that Joseph saw her as a potential Bennett victim, and had her sealed to him prior to her falling as others did, such as Sarah Pratt. This episode definitely shows the tenderness that Joseph had towards the downtrodden, taking Eliza from the dregs of society (as many raped women were viewed by 19th century America), to an uplifted status, being approved and blessed by the Prophet Joseph.
Still, besides a couple moments of over-reaching like this one, Meg does an admirable job of presenting a series of theories that enhance our understanding of what may have happened in Nauvoo. She then is able to extend the battle of Joseph’s plural marriage vs Bennett’s spiritual wifery to the eventual secret group of the offended and their plot that eventually ended Joseph’s life at Carthage.
For an unexpected look at the secrets lurking around Nauvoo in the days of Joseph Smith, I highly recommend the Reluctant Polygamist as a very good place to start. Meg Stout has provided us the opportunity to see Joseph and polygamy in a new light, with Joseph as an imperfect hero, trying to obey the Lord while fighting the ever growing evils and dangers around him.