In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith [Hardcover]

Todd M. Compton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997

Best Book Awards: Mormon History Association, John Whitmer Historical Association

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Formerly at UCLA and now the editor of Mormonism and Early Christianity, Compton has compiled a meticulously researched and masterly study of Mormon Joseph Smith's 33 wives. The women are presented individually, with many of their own documents cited. Compton contends that "Mormon polygamy was characterized by a tragic ambiguity": infinite dominion in the next life vs. a social system that did not work, thus resulting in acute neglect of the wives. These "key women have been comparatively forgotten," surprisingly so considering the reverence Mormons hold for their founding prophet and how important polygamy was to Smith. The "sacred loneliness" refers to Smith's promise of salvation combined with the solitude of the forsaken multiple wives. A plenary reference and bibliography and a collection of the wives' photographs fill out this tome, making it a fascinating work. Valuable for both lay readers and scholars, this is recommended for public and academic libraries with good collections in history and women's studies.?Kay Meredith Dusheck, Anamosa, IA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 788 pages
• Publisher: Signature Books (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156085085X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560850854
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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269 of 288 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, March 5, 1999

By 

Duwayne Anderson (Saint Helens, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Hardcover)

It is hard to find a book about early Mormonism that does not focus almost exclusively on Joseph Smith. As founder of the Mormon religion, this may not seem surprising, but it's refreshing just the same to read Todd Compton's book with its almost exclusive focus on Joseph's wives, and comparatively little focus on the Mormon prophet.

Compton's book consists of 30 chapters; each written as a biography of the various women Joseph Smith married, with the conspicuous absence of Emma Smith. This highlights and emphasizes the fact that, though Joseph had many wives, they were all rejected by Emma who vigorously opposed polygamy and the intrusions it brought into her home.

Studying Mormon history has become a mixed blessing. On one hand, historical scholarship of the subject has advanced greatly since Bodie's landmark "No man knows my History." On the other hand, excommunication of prominent historians (such as Quinn and Brodie) by the Mormon Church has resulted in much fear and distrust. For most Mormons, Todd Compton's book probably falls outside the designation of "faith promoting," and may be uncomfortable for many active members of the church.

Growing up in the Mormon Church, I learned several myths about early Mormon polygamy such as: 1. A man's wife had to approve the marriage to plural wives. 2. Most plural wives were older women whose husbands had died, and for whom polygamy represented safe heaven from a brutal world. 3. Most of Joseph's plural wives were sealed to him, but had no sexual relationship with him. 4. Joseph's plural wives never became pregnant from him. 5. There was never any admission or even mention of polyandry.

Through the biographies he has constructed, Compton exposes each of these myths. Chapter 1 discusses Fanny Alger, who married Joseph when she was only sixteen and he was twenty-seven. Emma didn't know about the marriage, and when she learned of it (by seeing Fanny and Joseph together, by one account, and noticing Fanny's pregnancy by another account - see pages 34-35) drove Fanny from their house. Oliver Cowdery (one of the Book-of-Mormon witnesses) described Joseph's relationship with Fanny as a sexual affair, and accused Joseph of adultery - resulting in Oliver's excommunication in 1838 (see pages 38-39).

Compton spends considerable effort reconciling Cowdery's description of Fanny Alger as an affair, and others who clearly describe a marriage relationship (though without the approval or knowledge of Emma). As I read the book I kept expecting Compton to draw the obvious conclusion, that Joseph had an affair with Fanny and then invented polygamy (which he may have been contemplating anyway) to save his presidency and justify his actions. Compton, however, never draws this conclusion, and ends still contemplating the two possible scenarios as mutually exclusive.

I found particular interest in this book because one of Joseph Smith's plural wives, Melissa Lott, was my great, great, great grandmother (see chapter 28). Like many of his other plural wives, Melissa was young (only 19) when she married Joseph Smith. Growing up Mormon, my parents taught me that Melissa had been a "spiritual" wife of Joseph Smith, having been sealed to Joseph only after his death (a common occurrence). During an interview with Joseph Smith's son, and President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, however, Melissa stated that she had been a wife indeed, with full benefit of a sexual relationship with the prophet. Melissa married Joseph less than a year before he was murdered and later married my great, great, great grandfather. Both lived hard lives, and her second husband died (along with their young son) when the wagon he was driving turned over with its load of firewood and drowned them in a creek. It was a touching chapter for me, the more so because Melissa is my ancestor, and illustrates the central theme of all Joseph's plural wives: sacred loneliness and lives of hard work and toil.

Passionately written through the eyes of those who knew him, loved him, followed him, and counted on him for salvation, Compton's book is a must for anyone interested in Mormon history and the personal lives that launched this twentieth-century American religion. Meticulously researched and well written, I highly recommend it.

Duwayne Anderson

104 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unmentioned truths., August 4, 2004

By 

Active Latter-Day Texan (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Hardcover)

I am an active Latter Day Saint, and I ordered this book because despite being LDS, I had no understanding of polygamy, especially as it related to Joseph Smith. I was never taught that Joseph had other wives, and I cannot recall it ever being mentioned in church despite my life-long activity in the church. We are not encouraged to look into this issue, and in many ways we are dissuaded from looking. I purchased the book because of reviews saying it was an unbiased factual analysis of Joseph Smith's plural wives, and their lives. It was definately worth the money, and I got more than I paid for. It is objective and factual. The author goes to lengths to scruitinize sources, and uses multiple sources for information. The book is not for the weak of faith because it explains the problems that the women had because of polygamy (Emma's hostility to the doctrine, Joseph's denial that it was being practiced after a number of early marriages, and the alienation of women who shared a husband with a number of wives), but truth is truth and should be pursued. The information in the book is detailed, documented, from contemorary journals, and most sources are friendly to the church. The focus of the book is on the women themselves. It not only documents what information there is about their marriage to Joseph Smith, but also documents the rest of their lives including subsequent spouses. Much of the information comes from the women themselves as given in their journals or autobiographies. It is clear the book is meant as a survey of the lives of these women and not an effort to disparage Joseph Smith, although it will be seen as somewhat troubling to some because polygamy often offends our modern notions of morality. Many would rather push such historical facts out of their mind rather than study it and have a new perspective on church history, and an explanation of why polygamy was so important to Brigham Young and other prophets. I actually found it to be very uplifting. There was so much for these women to overcome. Joseph died, and they were left without a husband facing the prospect of crossing the plains. Many remarried into other polygamous and monogomous relationships. Many lost children crossing the plains. Their lives are both tragic and encouraging because of the great trials they faced and overcame. Three of his wives became presidents of the church Relief Society program: Emma Smith, Eliza Snow, and Zina Huntington.
The only problem I have with the book is the difficult endnote system. With something this grand, footnotes on the same page would have been better. That being said, the book is wonderful if you want a biography of the wives of Joseph Smith, including the courtship, relationship, what they did after Joseph Smith died, and the wives views on the marriage years later. I highly recommend the book.

111 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Myth Buster, July 3, 2000

By 

Missing in Action (Idaho Falls, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Hardcover)

On the first level, this book is about the women who married Joseph Smith. Beyond that, though, this is a book about the early psychology of the Mormon Church, and the power of the prophetic and apostolic paradigm that the Mormon people lived under during those early, charismatic years.

At first blush, the reader is amazed at the number of women Joseph Smith married. Traditional Mormon mythology teaches that J.S., Brigham Young, Heber Kimball, et al, mostly married elderly women and widows who needed to be taken care of in "the kingdom," or that most were sealed to them posthumously. Many Mormans will be surprised to find out that Joseph was polygamous at all, since Emma is the only wife we ever hear about in "authorized" church history. But to learn of the nature of those relationships, including the fact that most were wives in consumated relationships with the prophet while many had "first husbands" is truly a myth buster.

These women, however, were not just starry-eyed groupies of the charismatic prophet. These were remarkable women of great charisma, leadership and personal power that they possessed of their own, not merely borrowed from their husbands. Their lives are tributes to the spirit of early Mormon faith and endurance.

The second layer of this book is a psycho-social study of the early mormon community, particularly from the perspective of the female leadership. These were women who participated in priesthood administrations, healings, speaking in tongues, visions and the administration of temple ordinances. These were women who found a way to create a sisterhood of wives when their husbands were so largely removed from the day-to-day affairs of their enormous families. These were often self-sustaining frontierswomen who played a courageous and unsung role in settling the Great Basin region of the intermountain west.

Lastly, I believe this book provides the necessary insight to understand why polygamy failed: it was too psychologically and physically taxing on its participants. Todd Compton does not make any judgement along these lines...the reader is free to come to this conclusion on their own. But to read of the sadness, the loneliness, and the heartache, such a conclusion is inevitable.

Compton does the world of history a great favor by bringing together this collection of stories and insights about the leading ladies of early Mormondom. It is an essential counter-balance to the traditional patriarchal authorized history, and is often the history that later Church leaders must have deemed "unwelcome" or at least "unimportant," because you won't find this history in "church approved" manuscripts. It will, however, assist the seeker in determining for themselves the spirit, and culture, out of which sprung the church we know today.