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Home » Biographies of Joseph’s Plural Wives » Louisa Beaman » Louisa Beaman Evidences

Louisa Beaman Evidences

Sealed April 5, 1841

  • Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:3, 4:1.
  • George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.
  • Franklin D. Richards, Journal, January 22, 1869.
  • Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 6:452, February 22, 1869.1
  • William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874.
  • Almera Johnson, Affidavit, August 1, 1883.
  • Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Karl A. Larson and Katherine Miles Larson, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 2:515.
  • Joseph Bates Noble, Testimony at the Temple Lot Case, Part 3, pp. 432, 436, questions 793, 799, 861.
  • Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, quoted in B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 2:102.
  • Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Franklin D. Richards, Journal, January 22, 1869 (loose sheet, numbered 145).
  • Joseph Noble, Address, June 11, 1883, at Centerville, Utah, stake conference, in Journal History.
  • Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.
  • Erastus Snow, Affidavit, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 232.
  • Erastus Snow, St. George Utah Stake [Conference], General Minutes, Sunday, June 17, 1883, 2 p.m., LR 7836 11, Reel 1.
  • Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256: “Miss L***** B*****.”
  • Orson Pratt, quoted in “Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,” 788. Date of sealing given but Louisa=s name not provided.
  • Ann Eliza Webb Young, Wife No. 19, 72.
  • Benjamin Winchester, Testimony to Joseph Smith III, Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 27, 1900, Community of Christ Archives.
  • Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 239; biography of Joseph B. Noble.
  • Nauvoo Temple Proxy Marriage to Joseph Smith, January 14, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 281.
  • Joseph Smith III, Letter to E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, pp. 63–67.
  • Wilford Woodruff, “Historian’s Private Journal,” (one volume, 1858-1878), undated statement written between a July 1, 1866 entry and a November 18, 1874 entry. Date is 1840. See chart below.
  • Johnson, My Life’s Review, 96.
  • [Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued and untitled manuscript, Western Americana MSS, Beinecke Library, Yale University, folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.2

Comparison of dates for the Louisa Beaman-Joseph Smith sealing. Red=1840, Blue=1841

YearSourceMarriage datecomments
1842Bennett, The History of the Saints, 256: “Miss L***** B*****.”No date 
1843?[Oliver Olney?], uncatalogued and untitled manuscript, Western Americana MSS, Beinecke Library, Yale University, folder labeled “Nauvoo Female Society.” Some of the writing on the document is dated October 18, 1843.No date 
1866 to 1874Wilford Woodruff, “Historian’s Private Journal”“May 1840”Source unknown
1869Franklin D. Richards, Journal, January 22, 1869.“Br. Joseph B. Noble being the master of ceremonies was present and During the visit related he performed the first sealing ceremony in this Dispensation in which he united Sister Louisa Beman to the Prop[h]et Joseph in May—I think the 5th day in 1841”Earliest account directly quoting Noble
1869Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 6:452, February 22, 1869.“Joseph B. Nobles said that he performed the first Marriage Ceremony according to the Patriarchal order of Marriage ever performed in this dispensation By sealing Eliza Beman to Joseph Smith on the 6 day of May 1841.” 
1869Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:3.“fifth day of April A.D. 1841”Firsthand-eyewitness
1869Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 4:1.“fifth day of April A.D. 1841”Firsthand-eyewitness
1869Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 1:38“in the fall of the year A.D. 1840 Joseph Smith, taught him the principle of Celestial marriage or a ‘plurality of wives’”Firsthand
1869Joseph B. Noble, Affidavit, June 26, 1869, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavit Books, 4:38“in the fall of the year A.D. 1840 Joseph Smith, taught him the principle of Celestial marriage or a ‘plurality of wives’”Firsthand
1869George A. Smith, Letter to Joseph Smith III, October 9, 1869.“5th day of April, 1841” 
1874William Clayton, Affidavit, February 16, 1874.No date 
1876Ann Eliza Webb Young, Wife No. 19, 72.No date 
1878Orson Pratt, quoted in “Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith.” Millennial Star 40, no. 49 (December 9, 1878): 769–74; continued in 40, no. 50 (December 16, 1878): 785–89; page 788. Date of sealing given but Louisa=s name not provided.“April 5th, 1841”First published date
1880Joseph B. Noble, quoted in Karl A. Larson and Katherine Miles Larson, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 2:515.“sealed Louisa Beeman to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1840” 
1880sJoseph Smith III, Letter to E. C. Brand, n.d. [likely early 1880s] Letter Press Book #4, pp. 63–67.“sealed April 5, 1841” 
1883Almera Johnson, Affidavit, August 1, 1883.No date 
1883Joseph Noble, Address, June 11, 1883, at Centerville, Utah, stake conference, in Andrew Jenson “Plural Marriage,” Historical Record, 233.No date 
1883Erastus Snow, St. George Utah Stake [Conference], General Minutes, Sunday, June 17, 1883, 2 p.m., LR 7836 11, Reel 1.No date 
1883Erastus Snow, quoted in Karl A. Larson and Katherine Miles Larson, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 2:610.No date 
1887Eliza R. Snow, “First list of wives,” Document #1, Andrew Jenson Papers, MS 17956, Box 49, fd. 16.No date 
1887Erastus Snow, Affidavit, in Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 232.“April 5, 1841” 
1887Jenson, “Plural Marriage,” 239; biography of Joseph B. Noble.“April 5, 1841” 
1892Joseph Bates Noble, Testimony at the Temple Lot Case, Part 3, pp. 432, 436, questions 793, 799, 861; sentence order reversed.1841 to 1842 with emphasis on 1841 
1900Benjamin Winchester, Testimony to Joseph Smith III, Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 27, 1900, Community of Christ Archives.No date 
1900Nauvoo Temple Proxy Marriage to Joseph Smith, January 14, 1846. Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings, 281.No date 
1905Johnson, My Life=s Review, 96.No date 
  1. Noble seems to have struggled to remember the exact date. On Sunday, December 19, 1880, he “made a few remarks on the celestial order of marriage, He being the man who sealed Louisa Beeman to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1840 under his instructions.” Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 2:515.  (back)
  2. The document contains writing on two sides of one sheet in pencil and ink with different handwriting apparently written on different dates. The first part on one side is an application for Susan McGee Calbertson to join the “friendly famel society” dated “21 [indecipherable] 1843.” The remaining handwriting and style appears to be that of Oliver Olney, but how he would have come into possession of this paper is unknown. It lists eight of Joseph Smith’s plural wives: Louisa Beaman, Agnes Smith, Eliza R. Snow, Emily Partridge, Eliza Partridge, Mrs. Sylvia Lyons, Mrs. P. Sessions, and Mrs. Granger. A transcription of this document by Michael Quinn is found in D. Michael Quinn Papers-Addition-Uncat WA MS 244, accession:19990209-c), Box 1-Card file-Topic: Polygamy, Joseph Smith’s.  (back)