According to Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith (by Linda King Newell & Valeen Tippets Avery), Joseph Smith did marry and consummate his marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball. He reputedly married another 14 year old, Nancy Winchester. The first plural wife of Joseph Smith was Fanny Alger, who was 16 and an informally adopted daughter to Joseph Smith and his first wife Emma. Indication are that he had a sexual relationship with her. He married her in secret and she continued to live with the Smiths. When Emma found out, she was furious and reportedly drove the girl from the house. This scenario was repeated several times. Another good book on the subject is: In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton. The average age of marriage in mid 19th century America was young, but it was 17, not 14. Puberty occurred later in that age than it occurs today (due to general health and nutrition). A 14 year old was not a mature woman. Joseph Smith's first wife, Emma, was 22 when they married.

Just to add to my brother's response, we are neither confirming or denying that Joseph Smith took one or more 14 year old girls as wives. I don't think either of us have done the research to make an informed comment on that specifically. We are commenting on the way the one other answer and the question itself is presented. In that vain, I would like to point out that most scholars think that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was about 14 when she wed Joseph. Some even suggest that Joseph was significantly older than Mary. They justify this conclusion by saying that Mary remained a virgin for her entire life and that the siblings of Jesus that are mentioned in the Bible were from an earlier marriage. Whether this is true or not, I am sure that, when they became betrothed, Joseph had a completely traditional marital relationship in mind. So, you have to be careful when you judge people of an earlier era by the standards of the present. While looking for information on another subject I happened across some additional information on this one. Go to http://www.mormonhaven.com/jenny2.htm David, I am not saying that I agree with their interpretation. I am just saying what some Biblical scholars have said. They made these pronouncements based on Jewish customs at that time and their own personal beliefs. I don't have a problem with them having lived in a traditional marital relationship. It is also quite possible, based on what is in the Bible, that Joseph was about the same age as Mary. The point I was trying to make is that people are trying to condemn Joseph Smith for doing something that we now consider to be immoral behavior, but that was not considered unusual for much of human history.

yes as a matter of fact he did, one of the 14 year old little girls was named Helen Mar Kimbal, however the church keeps this a secret becouse it isnt faith promoting.

The question should be "Did Joseph Smith engage in sexual relationships with 14 year-old girls?"

If we're talking Helen Mar Kimball, I would say no. One of my hobbies has been studying the topic of Joseph Smith vs. polygamy. I'm of the position that Joseph actually is innocent of the claims leveled against him as introducing polygamy and practicing it. He repeatedly denied such claims, continually preached against polygamy and excommunicated people for doing it during his lifetime. some references: 1835 'Book of Doctrine and Covenants' original section 101 on Marriage, Joseph's journal entry Oct. 5, 1843, 'Times and Seasons' Feb. 1, 1844, Times and Seasons' Mar. 15, 1844, 'Nauvoo Neighbor' June 19, 1844. (against the claims of the 'Nauvoo Expositor') LDS/Mormons are in a difficult situation in that they must accept Joseph Smith as cowardly and a liar if they believe he introduced it and practiced it. Brigham Young and several others are admitted liars as they either signed statements falsely against polygamy and denying Joseph's involvement (published during Joseph's lifetime in 'Times and Seasons') OR lied after Joseph's death to support their own inquity. Joseph and Emma never waivered in their testimonies against polygamy.

Please refer to this link: http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org Joseph Smith didn't have sexual relationships with just one 14-year old girl - he had sex with two: Helen Mar Kimball and Nancy Winchester. And their stories are as follows: (both are fully cited if you click the "link to source" and then click on "References") -------------------------------------------- HELEN MAR KIMBALL -------------------------------------------- In 1843 Apostle Heber C. Kimball had an important talk with his only daughter, fourteen-year-old Helen Mar. She wrote: “Without any preliminaries [my Father] asked me if I would believe him if he told me that it was right for married men to take other wives...The first impulse was anger...my sensibilities were painfully touched. I felt such a sense of personal injury and displeasure; for to mention such a thing to me I thought altogether unworthy of my father, and as quick as he spoke, I replied to him, short and emphatically, ‘No I wouldn’t!’...This was the first time that I ever openly manifested anger towards him...Then he commenced talking seriously and reasoned and explained the principle, and why it was again to be established upon the earth. [This] had a similar effect to a sudden shock of a small earthquake.” Then father “asked me if I would be sealed to Joseph...[and] left me to reflect upon it for the next twenty-four hours...I was sceptical-one minute believed, then doubted. I thought of the love and tenderness that he felt for his only daughter, and I knew that he would not cast her off, and this was the only convincing proof that I had of its being right. I knew that he loved me too well to teach me anything that was not strictly pure, virtuous and exalting in its tendencies; and no one else could have influenced me at that time or brought me to accept of a doctrine so utterly repugnant and so contrary to all of our former ideas and traditions.” Unknown to Helen Mar, Heber and Joseph had already discussed the prospect of Helen Mar becoming one of Joseph’s wives. Heber now sought her agreement. Helen recalls, “Having a great desire to be connected with the Prophet Joseph, he offered me to him; this I afterwards learned from the Prophet’s own mouth. My father had but one Ewe Lamb, but willingly laid her upon the alter” The next morning Joseph visited the Kimball home. "[He explained] the principle of Celestial marrage...After which he said to me, ‘If you will take this step, it will ensure your eternal salvation & exaltation and that of your father’s household & all of your kindred.[‘] This promise was so great that I willingly gave myself to purchase so glorious a reward. None but God & his angels could see my mother’s bleeding heart-when Joseph asked her if she was willing...She had witnessed the sufferings of others, who were older & who better understood the step they were taking, & to see her child, who had scarcely seen her fifteenth summer, following in the same thorny path, in her mind she saw the misery which was as sure to come...; but it was all hidden from me.” Helen’s mother reluctantly agreed and in May of 1843, Helen married Joseph Smith. During the winter of 1843-44, there were weekly parties at Joseph Smith’s Mansion House. Many of Helen’s friends attended, as well as her sixteen-year-old brother William. Disappointed, Helen wrote, “my father had been warned by the Prophet to keep his daughter away...I felt quite sore over it, and thought it a very unkind act in father to allow [William] to go and enjoy the dance unrestrained with others of my companions, and fettered me down, for no girl loved dancing better than I did...and like a wild bird I longed for the freedom that was denied me; and thought myself an abused child, and that it was pardonable if I did murmur.” In June 1844, Heber was away from home on a mission and wrote to Helen: “MY DEAR DAUGHTER-...be obedient to the counsel you have given to you...If you should be tempted, or having feelings in your heart, tell them to no one but your father and mother; if you do, you will be betrayed and exposed...You are blessed, but you know it not. You have done that which will be for your everlasting good for this world and that which is to come. I will admit there is not much pleasure in this world...Be true to the covenants that you have made...Be a good girl;...your affectionate father.” A few weeks later Joseph Smith was killed in Carthage. After one year of marriage, Helen was a widow. Helen’s father would eventually marry thirty-nine wives. She wrote, “I had, in hours of temptation when seeing the trials of my mother, felt to rebel. I hated polygamy in my heart.” Helen later fell victim to a prolonged illness: “For three months I lay a portion of the time like one dead...I tasted of the punishment which is prepared for those who reject any of the principles of this Gospel.” Eventually she was converted to polygamy and recovered from her illness, “I fasted for one week, and every day I gained until I had won the victory...I learned that plural marriage is a celestial principle, and saw... the necessity of obedience to those who hold the priesthood, and the danger of rebelling against or speaking lightly of the Lord’s annointed”. Helen later summarized her experience with plural marriage in a poem: I thought through this life my time will be my own The step I now am taking’s for eternity alone, No one need be the wiser, through time I shall be free, And as the past hath been the future still will be. To my guileless heart all free from worldly care And full of blissful hopes and youthful visions rare The world seamed bright the thret’ning clouds were kept From sight and all looked fair... ...but pitying angels wept. They saw my youthful friends grow shy and cold. And poisonous darts from sland’rous tongues were hurled, Untutor’d heart in thy gen’rous sacrafise, Thou dids’t not weigh the cost nor know the bitter price; Thy happy dreams all o’er thou’st doom’d also to be Bar’d out from social scenes by this thy destiny, And o’er thy sad’nd mem’ries of sweet departed joys Thy sicken’d heart will brood and imagine future woes, And like a fetter’d bird with wild and longing heart, Thou’lt dayly pine for freedom and murmor at thy lot; But could’st thou see the future & view that glorious crown, Awaiting you in Heaven you would not weep nor mourn. Pure and exalted was thy father’s aim, he saw A glory in obeying this high celestial law, For to thousands who’ve died without the light I will bring eternal joy & make thy crown more bright. I’d been taught to reveire the Prophet of God And receive every word as the word of the Lord, But had this not come through my dear father’s mouth, I should ne’r have received it as God’s sacred truth. Link to source = http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/26-HelenMarKimball.htm -------------------------------------------- NANCY WINCHESTER -------------------------------------------- Nancy was born August 10, 1828 in Erie County Pennsylvania. She was the only daughter of Stephen and Nancy Winchester. When the younger Nancy was four-years-old the Winchesters were visited in Erie by two Mormon missionaries, John F. Boynton and Evan M. Greene. Nancy’s parents and older brother, Benjamin, were soon baptized. The following year, the Winchesters moved to Kirtland, Ohio to be near others who shared their faith. Following Mormon practice, Nancy was probably baptized when she turned eight- years of age. By 1842 the Winchesters had spent time in Missouri and were now settled in Nauvoo, living in the “third ward”. In May of that year, Nancy joined the Female Relief Society where she served on committees with the charter “to search out the poor and suffering-To call on the rich for aid and thus as far as possible relieve the wants of all.” Nancy’s marriage to Joseph is undocumented, although according to Mormon Church Historian Andrew Jenson, Nancy married Joseph sometime before his death in June of 1844. Nancy would have been fourteen or fifteen years old. A few months after Joseph Smith’s death, Nancy and another six of Joseph’s wives married Heber C. Kimball. Since the temple had not been completed when Nancy married Joseph, she was re-sealed to him in 1846 in the near complete, but dedicated, Nauvoo temple. Her husband “for time”, Heber C. Kimball stood proxy for Joseph Smith in this sealing. Nancy immigrated to Utah in 1849. Several years later she received a patriarchal blessing from John Smith. She was blessed, “to heal the sick, cast out devils, and raise the dead, if necessary.” Nancy died on March 17, 1876 in Salt Lake City. Link to source = http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/33-NancyWinchester.htm And anyone who wants to dispute that JS didn't have sex with these girls please refer to this link: http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=76811&catid=522 And anyone who want to argue that marrying 14-year old girls was "normal" in the 19th Century can refer to the attached graph. The full listing of Joseph Smith's verified wives is as follows. You can also refer to this OFFICIAL LDS CHURCH link for validation: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/AF/individual_record.asp?recid=7762167&lds=0%AEion=-1%AEionfriendly=&frompage=99 Wife/Date/Age/Husband ======================= Emma Hale Jan 1827 22 Fanny Alger 1833 16 Lucinda Morgan Harris 1838 37 George W. Harris Louisa Beaman Apr 1841 26 Zina Huntington Jacobs Oct 1841 20 Henry Jacobs Presendia Huntington Buell Dec 1841 31 Norman Buell Agnes Coolbrith Jan 1842 33 Sylvia Sessions Lyon Feb 1842 23 Windsor Lyon Mary Rollins Lightner Feb 1842 23 Adam Lightner Patty Bartlett Sessions Mar 1842 47 David Sessions Marinda Johnson Hyde Apr 1842 27 Orson Hyde Elizabeth Davis Durfee Jun 1842 50 Jabez Durfee Sarah Kingsley Cleveland Jun 1842 53 John Cleveland Delcena Johnson Jul 1842 37 Eliza R. Snow Jun 1842 38 Sarah Ann Whitney Jul 1842 17 Martha McBride Aug 1842 37 Ruth Vose Sayers Feb 1843 33 Edward Sayers Flora Ann Woodworth 1843 16 Emily Dow Partridge Mar 1843 19 Eliza Maria Partridge Mar 1843 22 Almera Johnson Apr 1843 30 Lucy Walker May 1843 17 Sarah Lawrence May 1843 17 Maria Lawrence May 1843 19 Helen Mar Kimball May 1843 14 Hanna Ells 1843 29 Elvira Cowles Holmes Jun 1843 29 Jonathan Holmes Rhoda Richards Jun 1843 58 Desdemona Fullmer Jul 1843 32 Olive Frost 1843 27 Melissa Lott Sep 1843 19 Nancy M. Winchester 1843 14 Fanny Young Nov 1843 56 Folks this isn't idle speculation any longer it is documented historical fact that has been validated by official LDS Church sources as well as a multitude of faithful, practicing LDS Historians. The historical reality simply can NOT be denied - the evidence won't allow it. Finally, consider that the FLDS sects consider 14-years as the earliest age that a girl can marry. Ever wonder why? Answer: Because of the precedent set by Joseph Smith.

http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/teen_polygamy.htm Yes he did, and this info was what started his own death.

Dude...I could swear that this question has already been answered by many people, and that I have even commented on the answers, and given one of my own answers. So I find it odd that I see the message "No one has answered this question yet." Did someone have the information covered up?

SHORT ANSWER: Yes. AND he also had sexual relationships with ALL his polygamous wives or he was disobedient to the "revelations" of polygamy that he allegedly received from God. So take your pick: a) Joseph Smith had sexual relations with his polygamous wives and was obedient to the "revelation" he received from God; or, b) Joseph Smith didn't have sexual relations with his polygamous wive and, thus was disobedient to God's revealed, recorded commandments. REALLY, REALLY LONG ANSWER: Occasionally on this board you will hear that "Joseph Smith was sealed to women other than Emma but he didn't have sex with them". Unfortunately this apologetic has long been discredited via exegesis of LDS Scripture as well as validated historical evidence. Please note that I have compiled this list from several sources but I am standing on the giant shoulders of ExMormon and accomplished Mormon Researcher and Scholar "Deconstructor" and his always impressive work for the majority of what follows. Also, please note that for the sake of emphasis and emotional impact I have deliberately decided to keep the non-scholarly tone that I used for this article when it was posted on the "Mormonism" board here on Concerned Christians. The intention, again, is to emphasize and persuade NOT offend, however, I realize that the vernacular tone may in fact offend some. Never-the-less I think that you'll understand why I kept the board tone of the post once you're into the body of what follows. Evidence from LDS Scripture If Joseph Smith DIDN'T have sex with his wives then he was disobedient to the revelations that HE received and spoke: QUOTE: Jacob 2: 24-30 24 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none... For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things. The Lord is saying here that the only reason for more than one wife is to "raise up seed" unto Him. QUOTE: D&C 132 Verse 37: Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness... How Joseph Smith could have children without sex would certainly have been a neat trick back in the 19th Century! QUOTE: D&C 132 Verse 41: And as ye have asked concerning adultery... Why is adultery an issue? Simply being married or "sealed" to more than one woman in an otherwise chaste arrangement might be bigamy or polygamy, but it's not adultery. Adultery is a sexual act. If polygamy didn't involve a sexual act then the Mormon god made a mistake by including this verse in this "revelation". Pretty irrational, illogical, and inconsistent god in my opinion! QUOTE: Verses 62-63: And if he [Joseph Smith] have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.... for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified. There it is AGAIN - the whole point of polygamy is procreation according the Mormon god. Again, how could one procreate in the 19th Century without intercourse? In fact, Joseph Smith's original 1831 polygamy revelation, given to a group of married men while they were visiting a Native-American tribe, also explains procreation as the purpose of polygamy: QUOTE: "For it is my will, that in time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity may become white, delightsome and Just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the gentiles." - Prophet Joseph Smith, The Joseph Smith Revelations Text and Commentary, p. 374-376, http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/indianpolygamyrevelation.htm And Brigham Young validates that the whole point of D&C 132 is procreation when he taught that: QUOTE: "This is the reason why the doctrine of plurality of wives was revealed, that the noble spirits which are waiting for tabernacles might be brought forth." (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 197.) Then there's the historical evidence . . . Todd Compton, author of "In Sacred Loneliness" wrote: QUOTE: "Because of claims by Reorganized Latter-day Saints that Joseph was not really married polygamously in the full (i.e., sexual) sense of the term, Utah Mormons (including Joseph's wives) affirmed repeatedly that Joseph had physical sexual relations with his plural wives-despite the Victorian conventions in nineteenth-century American religion which otherwise would have prevented mention of sexual relations in marriage." Compton goes on to to include the following to support these claims: QUOTE: - Faithful Mormon Melissa Lott (Smith Willes) testified that she had been Joseph's wife "in very deed." (Affidavit of Melissa Willes, 3 Aug. 1893, Temple Lot case, 98, 105; Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 156.) - In a court affidavit, faithful Mormon Joseph Noble wrote that Joseph told him he had spent the night with Louisa Beaman. (Temple Lot Case, 427) - Emily D. Partridge (Smith Young) said she "roomed" with Joseph the night following her marriage to him and said that she had "carnal intercourse" with him. (Temple Lot case (complete transcript), 364, 367, 384; see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 15.) In addition a total of 13 faithful latter-day saint women who were married to Joseph Smith swore court affidavits that they had sexual relations with him. QUOTE: - Joseph Smith's personal secretary records that on May 22nd, 1843, Smith's first wife Emma found Joseph and Eliza Partridge secluded in an upstairs bedroom at the Smith home. Emma was devastated. (William Clayton's journal entry for 23 May (see Smith, 105-106)) - Smith's secretary William Clayton also recorded a visit to young Almera Johnson on May 16, 1843: "Prest. Joseph and I went to B[enjamin] F. Johnsons to sleep." Johnson himself later noted that on this visit Smith stayed with Almera "as man and wife" and "occupied the same room and bed with my sister, that the previous month he had occupied with the daughter of the late Bishop Partridge as his wife." Almera Johnson also confirmed her secret marriage to Joseph Smith: [color=red]"I lived with the prophet Joseph as his wife and he visited me at the home of my brother Benjamin F." (Zimmerman, I Knew the Prophets, 44. See also "The Origin of Plural Marriage, Joseph F. Smith, Jr., Deseret News Press, page 70-71.) - Faithful Mormon and Stake President Angus Cannon told Joseph Smith's son: "Brother Heber C. Kimball, I am informed, asked [Eliza R. Snow] the question if she was not a virgin although married to Joseph Smith and afterwards to Brigham Young, when she replied in a private gathering, "I thought you knew Joseph Smith better than that."" (Stake President Angus M. Cannon, statement of interview with Joseph III, 23, LDS archives.) So to claim that Joseph Smith didn't have intercourse with his polygamous wives in the face of the evidence is rather silly. It's very clear that he did. NOTES: You will find much of this content and more on Deconstructor's invaluable "Rethinking Mormonism" website. Click here.. http://www.i4m.com/ Click here for the publisher's link for "In Sacred Loneliness".. http://www.signaturebooks.com/insacred.htm A full list of Joseph Smith's wives as well as biographical information on them can be found by clicking here. http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/ The official LDS Church list of Joseph Smith's wives can be found by clicking here. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/AF/individual_record.asp?recid=7762167&lds=0%AEion=-1%AEionfriendly=&frompage=99

SHORT ANSWER: Yes. And marrying and having sexual relations with 14-year old girls was NOT the norm when Smith was doing so - contrary to LDS Apologist spin doctoring. LONG ANSWER: "It is a pure myth that 19th-century American girls married at age 12-14. For example, Laura Ingalls Wilder, from Little House on the Prairie fame, was born in 1867, which puts her later than Joseph Smith but still in the 1800s. She tells of hearing of the marriage of a 13-year-old girl, and being shocked. She also notes that the girl's mother 'takes in laundry,' and is sloppy and unkempt--implying that "nice" people don't marry off their teenaged daughters. Laura, herself, became engaged at 17--but her parents asked her to wait until she was 18 to marry. You merely need to go to your local courthouse and ask to see the old 19th century marriage books. Take a look at and pay attention to the age at marriage. Sure a very few did, but it was far from the norm. The vast majority of women married after the age of twenty. In fact, look up the marriage ages in the Smith family before polygamy. You'll find that one of the Smith girls was 19. The rest of them, and their sisters-in-law, were in their early 20s when they married. The Smith boys' first wives were in their 20s. The same pattern was true for the various branches of my family and the rest of American society at the time. On the extremely rare occasions women younger than 17 married, it was to men close to their same age, not 15 to 20 years older. The case is even true in pioneer Utah among first marriages. Mormon men in their twenties started out marrying someone their own age. Then later these older men married girls under twenty to be their plural wives. But the first wives were the age of the husband and married over the age of twenty. This is still the case is the rural Utah polygamist communities." http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/teen_polygamy.htm OK, hopefully this will be the LAST time I have to post an answer to this particular question. However, it's a complex issue so it's not surprising that it took several posts to address properly.

Who knows and who cares? You obviously have doubts or you wouldn't have asked the question. Neither side of the argument has solid evidence as to the credibility as to whether he did or not, nor does it matter. What are we, a bunch of sick, backstabbing gossips? I don't discuss my sex life between my spouse and me with others. That is a personal matter and I don't need others discussing it. . Do we feel we are just as righteous as Jesus or that we are talking in the name of God that we have the right to pass judgement on whether or not Joseph Smith did it? Or if he did, are we a big enough authority of God that we can say whether it was right or wrong? . What is the point of asking the question? What do you wish to prove by saying that Joseph Smith has a sexual relation with a 14 year old girl, who he married in a polygamous marriage? . Are you trying to prove polygamy is wrong? Are you trying to prove Joseph Smith wasn't a Prophet? Are you trying to prove the LDS Church is not a true Church and teaches false doctrine? If so, by what authority do you make such claims? Has God talked to you, or have you received authority from God to preach doctrine?