Fanny Alger (born 30 September 1816 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, died 29 November 1889 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is believed to be the first plural wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. Alger's parents were neighbors of the Smith's, and Alger lived with Smith and his wife, Emma.[1] Chauncey and Ann Eliza Webb later recalled that rumors had been whispered while Alger lived with the Smiths about Smith and Alger.[2] Alger stopped living with the Smiths as a result of a fallout with Emma, after Emma found Joseph and Fanny in a compromising situation, and was dismissed as their housekeeper. By some accounts, she was pregnant with Joseph Smith's child. [2] Alger then lived with relatives in Mayfield, Ohio until 1837, when she moved with her relatives to Indiana where she married Solomon Custer, with whom she had nine children.[3] When asked about her relationship with Smith after Smith's death, she is reported to have said: "That is all a matter of my own, and I have nothing to communicate."[3] The first contemporary reference to the alleged relationship was in a letter dated January 21, 1838. Oliver Cowdery wrote to his brother Warren stating that Smith had inappropriately spent time alone with Alger, referring to it as a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair."[3] During this time Cowdery was estranged from Smith and they were disagreeing over leadership issues in the new movement.[4] In 1903, Benjamin F. Johnson, a patriarch in the Church in Utah, wrote a letter to George S. Gibbs. After repeating rumors about the relationship, Johnson alleges that "without doubt in my mind, Fannie Alger was, at Kirtland, the Prophet's first plural wife."[1] Johnson also claimed that although Alger did not join the Saints in Utah, "she did not turn from the Church nor from her friendship for the Prophet while she lived"(sic).[1] See also: Joseph Smith, Jr. and polygamy
Footnotes
References
- Compton, Todd (1996), "Fanny Alger Smith Custer, Mormonism's First Plural Wife?", Journal of Mormon History 22 (1): 174–207, <http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/jmh,18163>.
- Compton, Todd (1997). In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Signature Books. ISBN-X.
- "Cowdery, Oliver". Encyclopedia of Mormonism 1. (1992). Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Fanny Alger. Remembering the wives of Joseph Smith. Referenced as Fanny Alger (Remembering).
- Fanny Alger. The Wives of Joseph Smith. Referenced as Fanny Alger (Wives).
- Johnson, Benjamin (1903). Letter to George S. Gibbs. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
- Newell,, Linda King; Valeen Tippetts Avery (1994). Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith. University of Illinois Press. ISBN.
- Van Wagoner, Richard S. (1992). Mormon Polygamy: A History. Signature Books. ISBN.
