SARAH AND MARIA LAWRENCE

Joseph Smith's Affair

Source: http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/2425-SarahandMariaLawrence.htm

When Joseph Smith visited Canada in August of 1837 he converted to the church, Edward and Margaret Lawrence and their daughters Sarah and Maria. The Lawrence family subsequently journeyed to Illinois, arriving in 1840. Sarah and Maria’s father, Edward, passed away soon after their arrival. In 1842, Sarah and Maria, sixteen and eighteen years-old, began living in Joseph Smith’s home, perhaps as hired help like Emily and Eliza Partridge who were also living at the Smith residence.

In the summer of 1842 rumors circulated in Nauvoo regarding Joseph Smith’s polygamy. Joseph published a statement in his own defense: “We are charged with advocating a plurality of wives...now this is as false as the many other ridiculous charges which are brought against us. No sect has a great reverence for the laws of matrimony...we practice what we preach.” Several of Joseph’s close associates also published a proclamation that Joseph “is a good, moral, virtuous...man [and bore] testimony of the iniquity of those who had [made false statements about] Pres. J Smith’s character”. One of those defending Joseph was William Law, Joseph’s counselor in the First Presidency. William had been a family friend of the Lawrence’s in Canada. He was unaware of Joseph’s polygamy, or that Joseph had just married his sixteenth wife, Sarah Ann Whitney.

In the spring of 1843, Joseph married Sarah and Maria. A friend of Maria’s in Nauvoo recalls, “...[Maria] suffered her doubts, her fears, her uncertainty as to whether she was acting right or wrong, for she had a conscience and wanted to be right”, and also remembers Maria saying: “...if there was any truth in Mormonism she would be saved for...My yoke has not been easy nor my burden light.”

By October 1843, William Law became aware that Joseph was indeed practicing polygamy. He didn’t agree with the doctrine, or its secret practice, and tried to get Joseph to abandon it. William, “with his arms around the neck of the Prophet...[and] tears streaming down his face...pleaded with him to withdraw the doctrine of plural marriage.” Joseph said he couldn’t, and released William from the First Presidency. Finally in late spring 1844, William resolved to take Joseph’s polygamy public. As polygamy was against the law, William filed a lawsuit against Joseph for living “in an open state of adultery” with Maria Lawrence. The following Sunday Joseph commented on William’s suit in his sermon, “Another indictment has been got up against me...What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one.” By this time, Joseph had married at least thirty-four women.

William also announced Joseph’s polygamy in the “Nauvoo Expositor”. Within days, Joseph declared the newspaper a “public nuisance” and ordered the city marshal to “destroy the printing press...and burn all the Expositors.” Joseph was subsequently arrested and jailed in nearby Carthage, where he was killed on June 27, 1844. After little more than a year of marriage, Sarah and Maria were widows.

REFERENCES
FS: www.familysearch.org
MP: Mormon Polygamy: A History
ME: Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
ISL: In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
DC: Doctrine and Covenants

LIST OF WIVES: FS, ancestral file number 9KGL-W2; ISL, pgs 4 – 8.

EMMA HALE: MEETING, ME pgs 1, 18; MARRIAGE, ME pgs 1, 20; PLATES, ME pgs 20 – 21, 25; TWINS, ME pgs 39, 43; NEW YORK, ME pgs 45 – 46, 68; MISSOURI, ME pg 76; MISSISSIPPI RIVER, ME pg 79; REVELATION, DC section 132; SURRENDER, ME pg 158; EXPOSITOR, ME pgs 181, 191; MOURNING, ME pg 197.

FANNY ALGER: MARRIAGE, MP pg 5, ISL pgs 25 – 26, 34, ME pg 66; EMMA, ISL pgs 34 – 35; RUMORS, MP pgs 6, 10, 85, ME pg 66, ISL pgs 28, 36; INDIANA, ISL pgs 37, 39, 41.

LUCINDA MORGAN HARRIS: CONVERSION, ISL pg 48; MISSOURI, ISL pg 49, ME pg 70; MARRIAGE, ISL pg 49; ILLINOIS, ISL pg 50; EXPOSITOR, ISL pg 51, MOURNING, ME pg 197, ISL pg 43; CIVIL WAR, ISL pg 54.

LOUISA BEAMAN: MEETING, ISL pgs 57 – 58; KIRTLAND/NAUVOO, ISL pgs 58 – 59; THE PRINCIPLE, ISL pg 59, ME pg 95; CEREMONY, MP pgs 6, 23, ME pg 95, ISL pgs 59 – 60; DEATH, ISL pg 69; PAROWAN, ISL pg 55, MP pg 27.

ZINA HUNTINGTON JACOBS: FIRST PROPOSAL, ISL pgs 77 – 79, MP pg 44; SECOND PROPOSAL, ISL pgs 80 – 81; MARRIAGE, ISL pgs 81 – 82; HENRY, ISL pgs 81 – 82; BRIGHAM, ISL pgs 84, 88, 90 – 91, MP pgs 44 – 45.

PRESENDIA HUNTINGTON BUELL: CONVERSION, ISL pgs 117 – 118; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 122 – 124, MP pg 44; HEBER, ISL pgs 124 – 126; NORMON, ISL pg 129;; COMMEMORATION, ISL pgs 136 – 137.

AGNES COOLBRITH SMITH: KIRTLAND/NAUVOO, ISL pgs 146 – 153; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 153 – 154; RUMORS, ISL pgs 154 – 155, MP pgs 20 – 21; PICKETT, ISL pgs 157 – 159; JOSEPH F. SMITH, ISL pgs 166 – 167.

SYLVIA SESSIONS LYON: WINDSOR, ISL pg 177; NAUVOO, ISL pg 178; JOSEPH, ISL pg 179, MP pgs 45, 47; VISITS, ISL pgs 181, 183; JOSEPHINE, ISL pg 183, MP pg 44.

MARY ROLLINS LIGHTNER: PREPARED, ISL pg 207, ME pg 65; ZIONS CAMP/ADAM, ISL pgs 210, 211, ME pgs 100 – 101; PROPOSAL, ISL pgs 211 – 212, MP pg 43, ME pgs 100 – 101; MARRIAGE, ISL pgs 212 – 213, ME pgs 100 – 101; ARRANGMENT, ISL pg 213, MP pg 43, REMINISCE, ISL pg 226.

PATTY BARTLETT SESSIONS: FATHER, ISL pg 172; DAVID, ISL pg 173; MIDWIFE, ISL pg 171; CONVERSION, ISL pg 175 – 176; JOSEPH, ISL pg 179; LONESOME, ISL pg 180; DUTIES, ISL pg 179.

MARINDA JOHNSON HYDE: JOHNSON HOME, ISL pg 230; ORSON, ISL pg 232; JERUSALEM, ISL pg 235; NEW HOME, ISL pgs 235-236; JOSEPH, MP pg 44, ISL pgs 238, 240 – 241; MID-LIFE, ISL pgs 244, 249; GRANDMOTHER, ISL pg 251.

ELIZABETH DAVIS DURFEE: JABEZ, ISL pg 259; BLESSING, ME pg 110, ISL pg 261; MOTHER IN ISRAEL, ME pgs 109, 137 – 138, MP pg 52, ISL pgs 260 - 262, 406 – 407; CORNELIUS, ISL pgs 264 – 265.

SARAH KINGSLEY CLEVELAND: JOHN, ISL pgs 275 – 276; MISSOURI, ME pg 80, ISL pg 276; NAUVOO, ME pgs 107 – 110, 115, 119, ISL pgs 277, 279; LEAVING/RETURNING, ME pg 237, ISL pgs 282 – 283.

DELCENA JOHNSON SHERMAN: CONVERSION, ISL pgs 292 – 294; MISSOURI, ISL pgs 294 – 295; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 293 – 296; ALMON, ISL pgs 298 – 300; UTAH, ISL pg 300.

ELIZA R. SNOW: YOUTH, ISL pgs 308 – 309; KIRTLAND, ISL pg 309; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 310 – 313, ME pgs 119 – 120, MP pg 31; SMITH HOME, ISL pgs 313 – 314, ME pgs 122, 133; POEM, ME pg 120; REMOVED, ISL pgs 314 – 316, ME pgs 134 – 137, MP pg 52; GRIEF, ISL pgs 306, 316.

SARAH ANN WHITNEY: REVELATION, ISL pgs 347 – 348; CEREMONY, ISL pg 348; HORACE, ISL pg 349; HIDING, ME pg 125, ISL pgs 349 – 350; KINGSBURY, ISL pg 351, MP pg 48; HEBER, ISL pg 352.

MARTHA MCBRIDE KNIGHT: VINSON, ISL pgs 365 – 366; NAUVOO, pgs 369 – 370; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 371, 377; UTAH, ISL pgs 364, 371, 380.

RUTH VOSE SAYERS: BOSTON, ISL pg 381; CONVERSION, ISL pg 382; EDWARD, ISL pgs 382 – 383; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 383 – 384; OBITUARY, ISL pg 386.

FLORA ANN WOODWORTH: MARRIAGE, ISL pgs 389 – 391; EMMA, ME pg 159, ISL pg 388; ORANGE, ISL pg 390; CARLOS, ISL pgs 391 – 392, 394; KANESVILLE, ISL pg 394.

EMILY DOW PARTRIDGE/ELIZA MARIA PARTRIDGE: SMITH HOME, ISL pgs 405 – 406, ME pg 89; INTRODUCTION, ISL pg 406, ME pgs 137 – 138, MP pg 52; DURFEE, ISL pg 407, ME pg 138; INTERVIEW, ISL pgs 407 – 408, ME pgs 138 – 139, MP pg 52; MARRIAGE, ME pgs 138, 144, ISL pg 298; ELIZA, ME pg 139, MP pg 36, ISL pgs 408 – 409, 732; REPEAT CEREMONY, ME pgs 140, 143, ISL pg 409, MP pg 52; ALL ENDED, ISL pgs 409 – 411, ME pgs 143, 169, MP pgs 53 – 54; EMMA, ME pg 145.

ALMERA JOHNSON: GATHERING, ISL pg 295; BENNIE, ISL pgs 295 – 296, ME pgs 145 – 146; PARABLE, ISL pg 296; STOOD BEFORE HER, ISL pgs 296 – 297; HYRUM, ISL pg 297; CEREMONY, ISL pgs 297 – 298; MACEDONIA, ISL pg 298, ME pg 146; REUBEN, ISL pgs 300 – 304.

LUCY WALKER: PROPHETS HOME, ME pg 89, ISL pg 461 – 462; PROPOSAL, ISL pg 463; BITTER CUP, ISL pg 464; COMMAND, ISL pg 464; MARRIAGE, ME pg 139, MP pg 59, ISL pg 465; HEBER, ISL 466 – 467; CONSENT, Journal of Discourses vol 7 pg 289, ISL pg 457.

SARAH LAWRENCE/MARIA LAWRENCE: JOSEPH’S HOME, ISL pgs 474 – 475; JOSEPH’S CHARACTER, MP pg 33, 36, ISL pg 476; MARRIAGE, ISL pg 475, 479, ME pg 144; WILLIAM LAW, MP pg 66, ISL pg 476; EXPOSITOR, ISL pg 477, MP pgs 68 – 69.

HELEN MAR KIMBALL: FATHER/DAUGHTER TALK, ISL pgs 497 – 498; LAID UPON THE ALTER, ISL pgs 498 – 499; ME pg 146; JOSEPH, ISL pg 499, ME pg 146, MP pg 53; FETTERED DOWN, ISL pg 502, ME pg 166; BE OBEDIENT, ISL pg 503; PUNISHMENT/VICTORY, ISL pg 510; POEM, ISL pgs 499 – 501.

HANNA ELLS: INTRO, ISL pg 535; MILLINERY, ISL pg 535; MARRIAGE, ISL pgs 537 – 538; TEMPLE, ISL pgs 538 – 539; DEATH, ISL pg 542.

ELVIRA COWLES HOLMES: INTRO, ISL pg 545; JOSEPH’S HOME, ISL pg 546 – 547; POEM, ISL pg 547; JONATHAN, ISL pgs 548, 556; AUSTIN, ISL pgs 549 – 551, MP pgs 64, 68;

RHODA RICHARDS: RARE BEAUTY, ISL pgs 559 – 560; EBENEZER, ISL pgs 561 – 562; MORMONISM ISL pg 566; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 568 – 569; HAPPY NEW YEAR, ISL pg 575.

DESDEMONA FULLMER: STOPT, ISL pg 577; MIRTH, ISL pg 579; PERSECUTIONS, ISL pg 580; JOSEPH HOME, ISL pg 580; DREAM, ME pg 165, ISL pgs 581 – 582; BIOGRAPHY, ISL pgs 584 – 585.

OLIVE FROST: CONVERSION, ISL pg 588; MISSIONARY, ISL pg 589; JOSEPH, ISL pgs 589 – 590; TENDER HEART, ISL pg 591; GRIEF, ISL pg 591; DEATH, ISL pg 592.

MELISSA LOTT: JOSEPH’S HOME, ISL pg 597; PREPARED, ISL pg 597; MARRIAGE, ISL pgs 348, 597 – 598; PARENTS, ISL pg 598; RELATIONSHIP, ISL pg 598.

NANCY WINCHESTER: PENNSYLVANIA, ISL pg 605; KIRTLAND, ISL pg 605; NAUVOO, ISL pg 606; MARRIAGE, ISL pg 606; HEBER, ISL pgs 604, 606; UTAH, ISL pg 607 – 608.

FANNY YOUNG: FAMILY, ISL pgs 609, 611; TRUE SAINT, ISL pg 613; ROSWELL, ISL pgs 613 – 615; JOSEPH, Journal of Discourses vol 16 pgs 166 – 167, ISL pgs 615 – 617.