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Hyrum Smith signed an affidavit claiming that Bennett “would give [women] medicine to produce abortions, providing they should become pregnant.” Sarah Pratt, the wife of apostle Orson Pratt and the most prominent of the alleged mistresses, was accused of alternatively being both Joseph’s and Bennett’s mistress. Though Pratt’s animosity towards the Prophet endured for generations, she acknowledged that Bennett was an abortion doctor: “There was a house in Nauvoo,” Pratt further told an anti-Mormon author, ‘right across the flat,’ about a mile and a-half from the town, a kind of hospital. They sent the women there, when they showed signs of celestial consequences. Abortion was practiced regularly in this house” (Wyl, Joseph Smith, The Prophet, 59).
The Rise and Fall of John C. Bennett – LostMormonism.com
"Wives, Children, and Abortions of Joseph Smith
Nearly a year ago I created my own version of the CES Letter for my wife, who refuses to read it. In an attempt to be as unbiased as possible, nearly all sources I used came from various pro-LDS authors. They generally include BYU, LDS.org, FairMormon, etc. This particular article uses a BYU source along with an article that could be considered anti-Mormon literature. I've included the former because I believe the BYU article gives it credence. I've decided to start editing this letter to be publicly readable and will release the full version at a later date.
Without further ado...
Although Joseph had 34 wives, he only had children with Emma Smith. There are plenty of accounts regarding Joseph visiting with his wives ( implying a sexual relationship), and Doctrine and Covenants 132 makes the reasoning for polygamy quite clear: to procreate. For comparison, Brigham Young had 56 children, and yet Joseph had none aside from Emma’s.
There’s a potential explanation for this strange situation, involving Doctor John C Bennett, Joseph’s counselor. Hyrum Smith, Joseph’s brother, learned that Bennett had been telling women that he could give them “medicine to produce abortions, providing they should become pregnant.”.
Orson Pratt’s wife, Sarah Marinda Bates, said this of Bennett:
“I observed that he held something in the left sleeve of his coat. Bennett smiled and said: 'Oh, a little job for Joseph; one of his women is in trouble.' Saying this. he took the thing out of his left sleeve. It was a pretty long instrument of a kind I had never seen before. It seemed to be of steel and was crooked at one end. I heard afterwards that the operation had been performed; that the woman was very sick, and that Joseph was very much afraid that she might die, but she recovered.”
Considering Joseph had no kids outside of his relationship with Emma, he hid the majority of his marriages from Emma, and his counselor was a doctor known to induce abortions -- I can only come to the conclusion that Joseph Smith had his potential children aborted. There’s a slight chance that he just didn’t have any kids with the other 33, but that would be far fetched considering the importance of procreation in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Hyrum Smith Source:
Joseph Smith, John C. Bennett, and the Extradition Attempt, 1842 | Religious Studies Center
Sarah Marinda Bates Source:
Smith History Vault: 1886 Wyl book (excerpts)
edit: Just so we're clear, I've inferred this is the truth through tons of research. There was never, at any time, a firsthand account explicitly stating that Joseph Smith had his wives' fetuses aborted."
Wives, Children, and Abortions of Joseph Smith : exmormon
Pratt's Claims in Mormon Portraits, 1886
By 1886 Sarah Pratt was willing to go on the record regarding the seduction allegations. In 1886 Wilhelm Ritter Von Wymetal (as Wilhelm Wyl) published the anti-Mormon volume Mormon Portraits. In her 1886 interview with W. Wyl, Sarah Pratt alleged that Joseph Smith engaged Bennett, a medical doctor, to perform abortions on Smith's plural wives who were otherwise unmarried.[22][23][24] Bennett biographer, Andrew Smith, agrees that it "was likely true" that Bennett performed abortions.[25] At the time of the 1842 controversy, Zeruiah Goddard had claimed Bennett told Sarah Pratt "that he could cause abortion with perfect safety to the mother at any stage of pregnancy, and that he had frequently destroyed and removed infants before their time to prevent exposure of the parties, and that he had instruments for that purpose."[16]
Despite allegations of abortions originating with Dr. Bennett and Sarah Pratt, contemporary testimony of seduced women in 1842 assert they were offered medicine to prevent pregnancy, not abortion to destroy evidence of pregnancy.[26][27]
Nevertheless, Sarah Pratt recounted an incident in which
[Bennett was en route to do] "a little job for Joseph [because] one of his women was in trouble." Saying this, he took [out] a pretty long instrument of a kind I had never seen before. It seemed to be of steel and was crooked at one end. I heard afterwards that the operation had been performed; that the woman was very sick, and that Joseph was very much afraid that she might die, but she recovered.[28]
Pratt also told Wymetal how she had refuted Smith's son Joseph Smith III belief that a lack of progeny proved his father had not been a polygamist, writing:[29]
I saw that he was not inclined to believe the truth about his father, so I said to him: 'You pretend to have revelations from the Lord. Why don't you ask the Lord to tell you what kind of a man your father really was?' He answered: 'If my father had so many connections with women, where is the progeny?' I said to him: 'Your father had mostly intercourse with married women, and as to single ones, Dr. Bennett was always on hand, when anything happened.'[30]
However, Smith III's published account of the conversation contradicts Pratt's recollection:
Did he ever at such times or at any other time or place make improper overtures to you, or proposals of an improper nature—begging your pardon for the apparent indelicacy of this question? To this Mrs. Pratt replied, quietly but firmly, "No, Joseph; your father never said an improper word to me in his life. He knew better." Sister Pratt, it has been frequently told that he behaved improperly in your presence, and I have been told that I dare not come to you and ask you about your relations with him, for fear you would tell me things which would be unwelcome to me. "You need have no such fear," she repeated. "Your father was never guilty of an action or proposal of an improper nature in my house, towards me, or in my presence, at any time or place. There is no truth in the reports that have been circulated about him in this regard. He was always the Christian gentleman, and a noble man.[31]
By 1886 Mrs. Goddard was dead and could not refute anything Pratt might say about her former landlords. Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were also dead and unable to refute Pratt. Pratt told Wymetal that when the testimonials were published, she went straight to the Goddard's home. She claimed Stephen ran out the back door, but that she confronted Zeruiah, who sobbed
It is not my fault; Hyrum Smith [Joseph's brother] came to our house, with the affidavits all written out, and forced us to sign them. Joseph and the Church must be saved, said he. We saw that resistance was useless, they would have ruined us; so we signed the papers.[32]
Pratt's 1886 accounts portray her as being a virtuous innocent, if knowledgeable about Bennett's alleged abortions on Smith's behalf. The elderly Pratt would claim: " know that the principle statements in John C. Bennett's book on Mormonism are true,"[33]
Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt - Wikipedia
More related documents:
John C. Bennett's and Alleged Abortions in Nauvoo
Mormon quotes about abortion.
Abortion and LDS Inconsistency – Mormonism Research Ministry
The Rise and Fall of John C. Bennett – LostMormonism.com
"Wives, Children, and Abortions of Joseph Smith
Nearly a year ago I created my own version of the CES Letter for my wife, who refuses to read it. In an attempt to be as unbiased as possible, nearly all sources I used came from various pro-LDS authors. They generally include BYU, LDS.org, FairMormon, etc. This particular article uses a BYU source along with an article that could be considered anti-Mormon literature. I've included the former because I believe the BYU article gives it credence. I've decided to start editing this letter to be publicly readable and will release the full version at a later date.
Without further ado...
Although Joseph had 34 wives, he only had children with Emma Smith. There are plenty of accounts regarding Joseph visiting with his wives ( implying a sexual relationship), and Doctrine and Covenants 132 makes the reasoning for polygamy quite clear: to procreate. For comparison, Brigham Young had 56 children, and yet Joseph had none aside from Emma’s.
There’s a potential explanation for this strange situation, involving Doctor John C Bennett, Joseph’s counselor. Hyrum Smith, Joseph’s brother, learned that Bennett had been telling women that he could give them “medicine to produce abortions, providing they should become pregnant.”.
Orson Pratt’s wife, Sarah Marinda Bates, said this of Bennett:
“I observed that he held something in the left sleeve of his coat. Bennett smiled and said: 'Oh, a little job for Joseph; one of his women is in trouble.' Saying this. he took the thing out of his left sleeve. It was a pretty long instrument of a kind I had never seen before. It seemed to be of steel and was crooked at one end. I heard afterwards that the operation had been performed; that the woman was very sick, and that Joseph was very much afraid that she might die, but she recovered.”
Considering Joseph had no kids outside of his relationship with Emma, he hid the majority of his marriages from Emma, and his counselor was a doctor known to induce abortions -- I can only come to the conclusion that Joseph Smith had his potential children aborted. There’s a slight chance that he just didn’t have any kids with the other 33, but that would be far fetched considering the importance of procreation in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Hyrum Smith Source:
Joseph Smith, John C. Bennett, and the Extradition Attempt, 1842 | Religious Studies Center
Sarah Marinda Bates Source:
Smith History Vault: 1886 Wyl book (excerpts)
edit: Just so we're clear, I've inferred this is the truth through tons of research. There was never, at any time, a firsthand account explicitly stating that Joseph Smith had his wives' fetuses aborted."
Wives, Children, and Abortions of Joseph Smith : exmormon
Pratt's Claims in Mormon Portraits, 1886
By 1886 Sarah Pratt was willing to go on the record regarding the seduction allegations. In 1886 Wilhelm Ritter Von Wymetal (as Wilhelm Wyl) published the anti-Mormon volume Mormon Portraits. In her 1886 interview with W. Wyl, Sarah Pratt alleged that Joseph Smith engaged Bennett, a medical doctor, to perform abortions on Smith's plural wives who were otherwise unmarried.[22][23][24] Bennett biographer, Andrew Smith, agrees that it "was likely true" that Bennett performed abortions.[25] At the time of the 1842 controversy, Zeruiah Goddard had claimed Bennett told Sarah Pratt "that he could cause abortion with perfect safety to the mother at any stage of pregnancy, and that he had frequently destroyed and removed infants before their time to prevent exposure of the parties, and that he had instruments for that purpose."[16]
Despite allegations of abortions originating with Dr. Bennett and Sarah Pratt, contemporary testimony of seduced women in 1842 assert they were offered medicine to prevent pregnancy, not abortion to destroy evidence of pregnancy.[26][27]
Nevertheless, Sarah Pratt recounted an incident in which
[Bennett was en route to do] "a little job for Joseph [because] one of his women was in trouble." Saying this, he took [out] a pretty long instrument of a kind I had never seen before. It seemed to be of steel and was crooked at one end. I heard afterwards that the operation had been performed; that the woman was very sick, and that Joseph was very much afraid that she might die, but she recovered.[28]
Pratt also told Wymetal how she had refuted Smith's son Joseph Smith III belief that a lack of progeny proved his father had not been a polygamist, writing:[29]
I saw that he was not inclined to believe the truth about his father, so I said to him: 'You pretend to have revelations from the Lord. Why don't you ask the Lord to tell you what kind of a man your father really was?' He answered: 'If my father had so many connections with women, where is the progeny?' I said to him: 'Your father had mostly intercourse with married women, and as to single ones, Dr. Bennett was always on hand, when anything happened.'[30]
However, Smith III's published account of the conversation contradicts Pratt's recollection:
Did he ever at such times or at any other time or place make improper overtures to you, or proposals of an improper nature—begging your pardon for the apparent indelicacy of this question? To this Mrs. Pratt replied, quietly but firmly, "No, Joseph; your father never said an improper word to me in his life. He knew better." Sister Pratt, it has been frequently told that he behaved improperly in your presence, and I have been told that I dare not come to you and ask you about your relations with him, for fear you would tell me things which would be unwelcome to me. "You need have no such fear," she repeated. "Your father was never guilty of an action or proposal of an improper nature in my house, towards me, or in my presence, at any time or place. There is no truth in the reports that have been circulated about him in this regard. He was always the Christian gentleman, and a noble man.[31]
By 1886 Mrs. Goddard was dead and could not refute anything Pratt might say about her former landlords. Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were also dead and unable to refute Pratt. Pratt told Wymetal that when the testimonials were published, she went straight to the Goddard's home. She claimed Stephen ran out the back door, but that she confronted Zeruiah, who sobbed
It is not my fault; Hyrum Smith [Joseph's brother] came to our house, with the affidavits all written out, and forced us to sign them. Joseph and the Church must be saved, said he. We saw that resistance was useless, they would have ruined us; so we signed the papers.[32]
Pratt's 1886 accounts portray her as being a virtuous innocent, if knowledgeable about Bennett's alleged abortions on Smith's behalf. The elderly Pratt would claim: " know that the principle statements in John C. Bennett's book on Mormonism are true,"[33]
Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt - Wikipedia
More related documents:
John C. Bennett's and Alleged Abortions in Nauvoo
Mormon quotes about abortion.
Abortion and LDS Inconsistency – Mormonism Research Ministry