This page examines the claim that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy using basic legal evidence standards, not theology, belief, or later church tradition.

The question addressed here is simple: What could be established using admissible evidence in a court of law?

Legal Standards Used in This Review

This analysis applies evidentiary principles familiar to 19th-century American courts and still relevant today:

• Primary vs. secondary evidence
• Firsthand testimony vs. hearsay
• Contemporaneous records vs. later recollections
• Sworn statements vs. unsworn claims
• Corroborated evidence vs. isolated assertions
• Physical evidence vs. narrative claims

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Evidence That Can Be Verified

1. Joseph Smith’s Own Statements

What we have

• Multiple public denials that he practiced polygamy
• Statements published during his lifetime
• Appeared in official church publications

Why this matters legally

• These are direct statements from the accused
• They are contemporaneous, not reconstructed later
• Courts give substantial weight to such evidence unless clearly disproven

Legal weight: High

Sources

• Times and Seasons 3, no. 15 (1842):https://archive.org/details/timesandseasons03nauv/page/868
• Elders’ Journal 1, no. 3 (1838):https://archive.org/details/eldersjournal01latt
• Joseph Smith public denials (compiled):https://www.josephsmithpapers.org

2. Civil and Criminal Records

What we have

• No arrest, indictment, trial, or conviction for polygamy, bigamy, or adultery
• Illinois law at the time criminalized bigamy

Why this matters legally

• Government records are considered best evidence
• Years of scrutiny produced no legal finding of polygamy

Legal weight: High (negative evidence)

Sources

• Illinois Revised Statutes (1833 & 1845), Bigamy laws:https://archive.org/details/revisedlawsofill00illi
• Hancock County & Nauvoo legal context:https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt13x1p0r
• Oaks & Hill, Carthage Conspiracy: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p019132

3. Sworn Affidavits from the Nauvoo Period (1842–1844)

What we have

• Signed affidavits from Emma Smith and other Nauvoo residents
• Collected while Joseph Smith was alive
• Explicitly deny polygamy

Why this matters legally

• These statements were sworn, with penalties for false testimony
• Possible bias does not automatically invalidate sworn evidence

Legal weight: Moderate to High

Sources

• Nauvoo affidavits published in Times and Seasons:https://archive.org/details/timesandseasons03nauv
• Emma Hale Smith affidavit (1842):https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/RelEd/id/5605
• Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes (1842) https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minutes/1

4. Marriage Documentation

What we have

• No verified marriage licenses showing Joseph Smith married to multiple wives
• No contemporaneous civil records supporting plural marriages

Why this matters legally

• Courts strongly prefer documentary proof
• If legal marriages occurred, documentation would normally exist

Legal weight: Moderate (absence favors the defense)

Sources

• Hancock County marriage records: https://www.hancockcountyil.gov
• Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/120837
• Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: https://signaturebooks.com/books/p/in-sacred-loneliness

5. DNA and Biological Evidence

What we have

• Joseph Smith had multiple confirmed biological children with Emma Smith

No verified DNA evidence links him to children with other women

• Multiple alleged descendant lines have tested negative

Why this matters legally

• DNA is high-quality physical evidence
• Sustained sexual relationships usually leave biological traces
• The absence of such evidence is legally significant

Legal weight: Moderate to High (negative physical evidence)

Sources

• Ugo A. Perego et al., Journal of Mormon History (2012): https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mormonhistory/vol38/iss3/
• Perego, “Joseph Smith and DNA Evidence”:https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr/vol15/iss2/1
• Nauvoo Smith family birth records: https://www.familysearch.org

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Evidence That Is Legally Weak or Hearsay

6. Late Reminiscences

What we have

• Statements recorded 20–50 years after Joseph Smith’s death
• Often collected after polygamy was established in Utah

Why this matters legally

• Memory degradation
• Retrospective theological influence

Legal weight: Low

Sources

• Andrew Jenson, Historical Record: https://archive.org/details/historicalrecord06jens
• Joseph F. Smith affidavit collections: https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org
• Evidence standards on memory (legal overview): https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/hearsay

7. Third-Party Claims (“Someone Said That…”)

What we have

• Repeated statements without firsthand observation

Why this matters legally

• Classic hearsay
• Not subject to cross-examination

Legal weight: Very Low

Sources

• Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law: https://archive.org/details/evidenceintrials05wigm
• Common-law hearsay doctrine overview: https://www.britannica.com/topic/hearsay

8. Utah-Era Affidavits

What we have

• Statements gathered decades later
• Produced under legal and institutional pressure

Why this matters legally

• Strong incentive to retroactively justify polygamy

Legal weight: Low to Moderate

Sources

• B. Carmon Hardy, Solemn Covenant: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p052875
• Federal anti-polygamy prosecutions context: https://www.loc.gov/collections/united-states-statutes-at-large

9. Claims of Secret Ceremonies Without Documentation

What we have

• Assertions without contemporaneous records

Why this matters legally

• Violates the best evidence principle

Legal weight: Low

Sources

• Best Evidence Rule (legal overview):https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/best_evidence_rule
• Wigmore, Evidence, Vol. 4: https://archive.org/details/evidenceintrials04wigm