Almera Woodard Johnson Smith
September 1, 2007
In April 1843, Joseph Smith married Almera Woodard Johnson, the 30 year-old sister of Joseph’s friend, Benjamin Franklin Johnson, in Nauvoo. Joseph married many women (while still married to his first wife, Emma), but his marriage to Almera Johnson is particularly well-documented, with a sworn affidavit from Almera, letters and an autobiography written by Benjamin, and statements by Joseph’s brother Hyrum Smith, who performed the ceremony, together confirming details of the events surrounding the marriage.
Almera testified that at the time the marriage took place, Hyrum Smith approached her and assured her that marrying Joseph was God’s will, and that she need not be afraid. Hyrum himself confirmed telling Almera that “Joseph was comanded to take more wives and he waited Untill an Angel with drawn Sword Stood before him and declared that if [he] longer delayed fulfilling that command he would Slay him,” and that Almera would “be blest” for marrying Joseph. Benjamin’s writings also confirm that Hyrum tried to comfort Almera in the moments before the marriage, and that Hyrum told him that “[t]he Lord revealed [the principle of Celestial Marriage] to Brother Joseph long ago, and he put it off until the Angel of the Lord came to him with a drawn sword and told him that he would be slain if he did not go forth and fulfill the law.”
Was the Prophet’s marriage to Almera a sexual relationship?
Almera testified that after being sealed to Joseph, she “lived with the Prophet Joseph as his wife.” Benjamin reports that after the marriage ceremony, and at Joseph’s request, he brought Almera to room number 10 in Joseph’s Mansion Home, which she occupied for several days until leaving to stay at Benjamin’s house in Macedonia. Benjamin states that several weeks after the marriage, on May 15, 1843, Joseph spent the night at Benjamin’s house and “occupied the same room and bed” with Almera. Joseph Smith’s journal confirms that he stayed at Benjamin’s house that night, and Almera’s sworn affidavit states that “[Joseph] visited me at the home of my brother Benjamin F. at Macedonia.”
September 25th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I’m very glad to see you’ve put up this picture. I remember us talking about this a while back. You are a talented artist, but I still retain my other opinion about the “shock value” of drawing Joseph’s other, much younger, wives…of waking all of us Mormons up to the reality of our religion.
September 26th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Thanks for stopping by, Latterday Skeptic. I was trying the other day to remember who I spoke with about this picture. It was you!
I know a 14 year-old Helen Mar Kimball or Nancy Winchester sitting on that bed would be much more shocking than the 30 year-old Almera Johnson, but the basic theme of this website is factual accuracy, which unfortunately does not always produce the most provocative images. I have to work with that limit for pictures I want on this site. Almera Johnson’s marriage is more factually grounded, and therefore more appropriate for this place, imo.
I could be wrong about that, however, so give me some documented facts that make one of the Prophet’s younger wives a better subject for this drawing, and I will make the change, no problem.
-JV
February 15th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
JV on BeliefNet:
One of his illustrations, “Almera Woodward Johnson Smith,” depicts Smith seated on a bed beside one of his (much younger) wives. It’s clear that she has little interest in Smith’s romantic advances. When the artist showed the image to friends, they were “totally creeped out …
regardless of their personal investment or belief in Mormonism.” So he opened Almera’s eyes and lent her “a slightly amused” expression.
“If she isn’t totally excited to be there, then she is making the best of it,” he said. “I think that is a fair interpretation.”
CK questions:
Where do you get the idea that she did not want to be in bed with Joseph? This seems to suggest a kind of rape, not just the reality of plural marriage. Is this from the documented history or just your our interpretation? Thanks.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
CK:
Thanks for the question. It is a fair one.
I inferred Almera’s attitude from the fact that she described her experience with the marriage in this way:
“[Hyrum] came to me and said I need not be afraid. I had been fearing and doubting about the principle [of polygamy] and so had he, but he now knew it was true. After this time I lived with the Prophet Joseph as his wife.”
That statement indicates fear and doubt, but not any romantic notions or a personal interest in marrying Joseph. In addition, her brother acknowledged that even after he convinced her of the doctrine of polygamy, “her heart was not yet won by the Prophet.”
Also, my inference is supported by the fact that in the moments before Hyrum Smith performed the ceremony, he felt it necessary to tell her to have no fears and that Joseph was in danger of being executed by an angel if she didn’t comply.
I have seen no evidence that physical force was used to compel Almera to cooperate, but I have seen evidence that she wasn’t excited about it and had to be convinced (by invoking religious authority and the wrath of God) to follow through. It is hard for me to say whether that is a kind of rape or not. In any case, the evidence I have seen leads me to think it is fair to depict Almera as not very excited to be in bed with the Prophet. I think separating one’s personal preferences from one’s duty to God is a reality of practicing polygamy, and Almera did that.
Other reasons to depict her with that body language are honeymoon nerves, or perhaps Victorian modesty in the face of doing something that she had probably been raised to believe was adultery. It seems that even if she was thrilled to be there, she was trying to walk a fine line between being a Godly woman and a concubine.
-JV
May 13th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I got a link to this site from mormonthink.com, you’re doing a really great job with your artistry. For the longest time I’ve felt somewhat jaded that there was no art to accurately portrait the more controversial things about Joseph Smiths life. Thanks to you and your efforts we finally get some truth about LDS history and not just the glorified version from the LDS church. Great Job, Keep it up! and God bless you.
October 20th, 2009 at 2:43 am
[…] Unfortunately, mainstream members of LDS Church not only feel pressure to believe that Joseph Smith is the greatest-man-ever-next-to-Jesus (and the gatekeeper of heaven), but also, for those who attempt to learn more about Joseph Smith through studying history, to reconcile that belief with growing evidence that Joseph Smith was a man of very questionable personal morals and ethics, willing to use the beliefs of others (particularly regarding eventual rewards in the afterlife), as well as his own position of ecclesiastical power, to further his personal interests. […]
October 28th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
you can publish any picture to make any man lust after his wife.. what does this prove? nothing.
July 6th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
This picture is nicely drawn. However I wonder what is portrayed? There is no credible evidence that Joseph Smith ever touched a woman prior to being sealed to her in a plural marriage ceremony. Hence, it either depicts historical fiction or is a view of a man and his wife in the bedroom - somewhat voyeuristic.
See my website for an analysis of sexuality in Joseph Smith’s plural marriages
JosephSmithsPolygamy.com
July 6th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Brian,
I think the image depicts one of the following situations (from the description above):
“Almera testified that after being sealed to Joseph, she ‘lived with the Prophet Joseph as his wife.’ Benjamin reports that after the marriage ceremony, and at Joseph’s request, he brought Almera to room number 10 in Joseph’s Mansion Home, which she occupied for several days until leaving to stay at Benjamin’s house in Macedonia. Benjamin states that several weeks after the marriage, on May 15, 1843, Joseph spent the night at Benjamin’s house and ‘occupied the same room and bed’ with Almera.”
Why would you think it was depicting a premarital sexual encounter? Is it just so you can use bold language like “there is no credible evidence that Joseph Smith ever…”? Well, since nobody here was making that point, I guess you just handily won an argument against yourself. Congratulations. (That strategy of yours is called a straw man argument, dude. Google it.)
Voyeurism is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. Aside from the sexual excitement it may arouse in you, this image also (and arguably most importantly) presents a stark contrast to the euphemism that apologists employ to make the topic palatable for believers with modern LDS sensibilities. A euphemism is a marker for something unpleasant buried below.
For example, in your website, here is your short answer to the question of whether Joseph had sex with his other wives:
“The Prophet taught that one reason for polygamy was ‘to multiply and replenish the earth’ (D&C 132:63). Hence, the presence of conjugality in some of the relationships is not surprising.”
The “presence of conjugality” is “not surprising”? Seriously? How about saying “yes”, and pointing to specific instances in the historical record, like this website does? Answering the question by citing scripture and making logical inferences is a lot cleaner than actually dealing in messy reality. And that’s your strategy for winning hearts and minds, right? (BTW, I looked up “conjugality” in the dictionary, and it isn’t another way of saying “copulation” or “sexual intercourse”. It means “the state of being married”. A true euphemism.)
You have a whole website dedicated to explaining Joseph Smith scandalous relationships with women, where you present “an analysis of sexuality in Joseph Smith’s…marriages”, and you call this image “voyeuristic”? LOL.