The marriage ceremony spoken to seal Joseph Smith and Sarah Ann Whitney implied that mortal offspring could occur:
I give you S. A. Whitney my Daughter to Joseph Smith to be his wife to observe all the rights between you both that belong to that condition I do it in my own name and in the name of my wife your mother and in the name of my Holy Progenitors by the right of birth which is of Priest Hood vested in me by revelation and commandment and promise of the living God obtained by the Holy Melchizedek, [Jethro], and other of the Holy Fathers commanding in the name of the Lord all those powers to concentrate in you and through to your posterity forever.1
Additional evidence is lacking although Wilhelm Wyl, an anti-Mormon writer, asserted in 1886: “He [Joseph Smith] seduced her [Elizabeth Whitney’s] daughter [Sarah Ann Whitney].”2
- Sealing ceremony between Joseph Smith and Sarah Ann Whitney, quoted in H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary, 315-16; see also Revelations in Addition to Those Found in the LDS Edition of the D&C, in New Mormon Studies: A Comprehensive Resource Library, CDROM, Signature Books. (back)
- Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 90. (back)