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Fanny Alger is allegedly the first plural wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. Although undocumented, the wedding of Fanny and Joseph is suspected to have taken place in Kirtland, Ohio sometime in 1833 when she was sixteen years old and Joseph was 38. At that time, Fanny was living in the Smith home, perhaps helping Emma with house work and the children.

Joseph did his best to keep his marriage to Fanny a secret from everyone. Years later, Chauncey and Ann Eliza Webb recalled that there had been rumors whispered about the two. Finally, Emma and Fanny had a falling out, and Emma dismissed Fanny from the household. It is unknown if this was related to the alleged plural marriage or some other event.

After her falling out with the Smiths, Fanny lived with relatives in Mayfield, Ohio, until Smith left Ohio for Missouri in 1837. The family she was staying with moved to Indiana where she married Solomon Custer, with whom she had nine children.

A year later, in a letter dated January 21, 1838, Oliver Cowdery wrote to his brother Warren stating that Joseph had inappropriately spend time alone with Fanny, referring to it as a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair." [1] Since Oliver Cowdery and Hyrum Smith are alleged to have been present during the marriage ceremony [citation needed], historians have taken particular interest in this statement speculating as to whether or not Cowdery disagreed with the practice, disliked keeping it secret, or regretted his own involvement in the ceremony.

Fanny did not join the Saints in Utah, but it was said that "she did not turn from the Church nor from her friendship for the Prophet while she lived" (sic). [2] When asked about her relationship with Joseph, she is reported to have said: "That is all a matter of my own, and I have nothing to communicate." [3]

In 1903, Benjamin F. Johnson, a patriarch of the Church in Utah, wrote a letter to George S. Gibbs. It is that letter which gives the most detailed account of the relationship between Joseph and Fanny. [4]

See also: Joseph Smith, Jr. and Polygamy

[edit] References

  • Fanny Alger. Remembering the wives of Joseph Smith. Retrieved on [[August 2, 2006]].
  • Fanny Alger. The Wives of Joseph Smith. Retrieved on [[August 2, 2006]].
  • Compton, Todd (1997). In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Signature Books. ISBN 156085085X. 
  • Newell,, Linda King; Valeen Tippetts Avery (1994). Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252062914. 
  • Van Wagoner, Richard S. (1992). Mormon Polygamy: A History. Signature Books. ISBN 0941214796.