In 1869, LDS Church member John Benbow signed an affidavit affirming: “President Smith frequently visited his wife Hannah at his (John Benbow’s) house.”1 Whether those visits included conjugal relations is not clear, but it is possible.

  1. Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 1:74; Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 223; Hannah Ells, Letter to Sister [Phoebe] Woodruff, Nauvoo, May 4, 1845.  (back)