Parley P. Pratt and Mary Ann Frost
While several of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve returned to America from their missions in Great Britain in the summer of 1841, Parley P. Pratt, with his wife Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt and her sister, Olive Frost, remained behind. His responsibilities ended in late 1842 and on April 12, 1843, they arrived in Nauvoo with a group of English Saints. Mary Ann Stearns Winters, daughter of Mary Ann Frost and her first husband Nathan Stearns (d. 333), recounted their reunion with the Prophet:
Brother Joseph came on the boat and into the cabin where our family were. After cordial greetings, he took a seat and taking the little boys, Parley and Nathan, upon his knees, seemed much affected, Brother Pratt remarking, “We took away three children and have brought back five.” Then Brother Joseph Said, “Well, well, Brother Parley, you have returned bringing your sheaves with you,” the tears streaming down his face. Brother Pratt, seeing the general emotion this caused, said, in a tender jesting fashion, “Why, Brother Smith, if you feel so bad about our coming home, I guess we will have to go back again,” tears of joy filling his own eyes. This broke the spell – smiles returned, and joy unbounded filled every heart.[i]
Less than a month after their arrival, Joseph Smith introduced Parley and Mary Ann to the principle of plural marriage that had been presented to other returning apostles in 1841. Joseph invited the Pratts and Olive to join a hundred other Saints on a steamer cruise up the Mississippi. Winters continued:
On the fourth of July, 1843, [This date is incorrect. The correct date is ninth of May, 1843]there was an excursion, on the little Maid of Iowa, up to Burlington, Iowa, and my father and mother and Aunt Olive went on the pleasure trip. Mother and Aunt Olive were dressed alike and were standing a little distance off, when Brother Joseph said to Brother Parley, “It is the will of the Lord that those two sisters should never be parted” (meaning that they should both belong to one man).”[ii] Apparently, that evening Parley and Mary discussed this unusual, perplexing remark in the presence of their daughter, Mary Ann who later wrote that her mother remembered it and frequently spoke about it.[iii] Since polygamy essential destroyed their marriage, it is not unusual that Mary spoke of that first introduction.
It is clear that the Prophet was subtly referring on the boat excursion to the principle of plural marriage. However, the narrative could be interpreted in different ways. One possibility is that Joseph was suggesting that Parley should marry his sister-in-law, since he was already legally married to her sister. This seems less likely however, because within weeks, the Prophet indicated that he had selected Elizabeth Brotherton as Parley’s first plural wife.
A second reconstruction posits that the statement was only a test for Parley similar to that experienced by John Taylor, Heber C. Kimball and perhaps other of the apostles when they first returned to Nauvoo from England.[iv] Joseph was challenging Parley’s loyalty to him and to the church’s teachings by asking for his wife to be sealed to him; or as some have claimed, Joseph simply wanted the two Frost sisters to be his own plural wives.
Although the exact date is unknown, Olive Frost was one of the last known women to be sealed to Joseph Smith in the fall of 1843. It is probable that their marriage for time and eternity took place on or near September 17th, the date that she received her Patriarchal Blessing from Hyrum Smith, in which she was promised that she “shall be blessed in the Covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob”. There is no evidence that Mary Ann was sealed to Joseph Smith during his lifetime, although she was sealed to him in the NauvooTemple for eternity on February 6th. The next day she received a second anointing to Joseph.
It appears that Joseph’s instructions to the Pratts were interrupted. On June 13th, the Joseph and his family left town to visit Emma’s relatives inDixon, Illinois.Before leaving, he apparently counseled them to ponder and pray for the assurance and the acceptance of plural marriage..
Impatient to wait for their own eternal sealing, Parley and Mary Ann approached Hyrum Smith to perform this special blessing. On June 23, Hyrum proceeded to seal Parley and Mary Ann monogamously for “time and all eternity.”[v]
Andrew Ehat wrote:
Hyrum’s zealousness [in promoting eternal marriage] soon led to some difficulties that would underscore the exclusive authority only his brother, the Prophet, held. Two years before his [May 1843] conversion, Hyrum was appointed by revelation as a prophet, seer, and revelator to the Church. And so he could “act in concert” with Joseph in all the affairs of the church, this revelation nominated him Assistant President of the Church in the place of the fallen Oliver Cowdery. Additionally, Hyrum was promised in this revelation that he would “hold the sealing blessings of [the] church, even the Holy Spirit of promise, whereby [one may be] sealed up unto the day of redemption, that [one] may not fall.” When Hyrum became Joseph’s chief representative in teaching and administering eternal and plural marriage he assumed because of these earlier appointments that he had the authority to perform these ordinances independent of consultation with Joseph.”[vi]
Word was received on June 25th that Joseph had beenarrested on old Missouri charges at his wife’s sister’s home in Dixon, Illinois and there was a distinct possibility that he would be taken back immediately to Missouri for indictment Parley and Mary Ann, after deep soul searching and prayer, as advised by Joseph before he left, were ready to participate in the new principle of plural marriage. They knew thatJoseph had chosen Elizabeth Brotherton [not Olive Frost] who the Pratt’s had known in Manchester, England to be his plural wife.
Parley and Mary Ann approached Vilate Kimball, Mary’s close friend, for counsel on July 26th. Vilate wrote of her interaction with them to her husband Apostle Heber C. Kimball the next day:
I have had a visit from brother Parley [Pratt] and his wife, they are truly converted it appears that J[oseph] has taught him some principles and told him his privilege, and even appointed one for him. I dare not tell you who it is [Elizabeth Brotherton], you would be astonished and I guess some tried. She has been to me for council. I told her I did not wish to advise in such matters. Sister [Mary Ann] Pratt has been rageing against these things. She told me herself that the devil had been in her until within a few days past. She said the Lord had shown her it was all right. She wants Parley to go ahead, says she will do all in her power to help him; they are so ingagued I fear they will run to[o] fast. They ask me many questions on principle. I told them I did not know much and I rather they would go to those that had authority to teach
Parley said he and Joseph were interrupted before he got what instruction he wanted, and now he did not know when he should have an opportunity. He seemed unwilling to wait, I told him these were sacred things and he better not make a move until he got more instruction.[vii]
Joseph outsmarted his captors and returned to Nauvoo on June 30th.
When he learned that Hyrum had sealed Parley and Mary Ann for eternity, he rebuked his brother and cancelled the sealing. Brigham Young referred to the incident in an 1845 letter to William B. Smith:
Hyrum held the patriarchal office legitimately. So do you [William B. Smith]. Hyrum was counseller. So are you, but the sealing power was not in Hyrum, legitimately, neither did he act on the sealing principle only as he was dictated by Joseph in every case [sic] This was proven, for Hyrum did in one case [sic] undertake to seal without counsel, & Joseph told him if he did not stop it he would go to hell and all those he sealed with him.[viii]
Joseph said that the sealing power is always vested in one man, and that there never was, nor never would be but one man on the earth at a time to hold the –sealing power- keys of the sealing power in the church, that all sealings must be performed by the man holding the keys or by his dictation, and that man is the president of the church. (see D&C 132:7). Ehat also related Joseph’s anger to the fact that Hyrum had not yet accepted “the Principle” of polygamy.
After a convincing talk about polygamy with Brigham Young and the recording of the revelation on polygamy on July 12th Hyrum Smith, now with the permission of Joseph and the needed authority, performed a tri-part sealing at the home of Brigham Young on July 24th. Parley was first sealed to his deceased first wife, Thankful Bartlett, for eternity with Mary Ann as proxy.He was then sealed to Mary Ann for time and eternity, and lastly to Elizabeth Brotherton for time and eternity as his plural wife. [Affidavits and Mary Ann Stearns Winters’ autobiography. Also see Elizabeth Brotherton’s autobiography in the Women’s Exponent.] Joseph did not attend the sealings. Although feeling ill, he met with a visiting state legislator and settled a debt, but the next day found him in bed, attended by a doctor. [HC5:518]
Whatever the intentions, on July 24 at Brigham Young’s home, he sealed Parley P. Pratt to his deceased wife, Thankful Halsey, with Mary Ann standing proxy. Then he proceeded to seal both Mary Ann and Elizabeth Brotherton to Parley for time and eternity in separate ceremonies.[ix]
In 1869, Mary Ann testified that her sealing to Parley was for “time and eternity,” but questions concerning it have been raised.[x] Wilford Woodruff recorded the following entry (with strikeout) dating it “Jan 21st 1844”:
Joseph said Concerning Parley P Pratt that He had no wife sealed to him for Eternity and asked if their was any harm for him to have another wife for time & Eternity as He would want a wife in the Resurrection or els his glory would be Cliped. Many arguments He used upon this subject which were rational & consistant. Br Joseph said now what will we do with Elder P P Pratt? He has no wife sealed to him for Eternity. He has one living wife but she had a former Husband and did not wish to be sealed to Parly for Eternity. Now is it not right for Parley to have another wife that can [ ]?[xi]
In fact, Parley had been sealed to both his deceased wife, Thankful, and Elizabeth Brotherton at that time, independent of the status of his sealing to Mary Ann Frost. Joseph Smith was not present that day and so the strikeout might have been because Wilford later learned it was inaccurate. Or possibly other undefined factors prompted the censorship.
Several authors have written that Mary Ann Frost was sealed to Joseph Smith.[xii] Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt’s biographer, Jayne Winters Fife believes this is unlikely for two reasons.[xiii] First, sources list July 24, 1843 as the date without any evidence.[xiv] Mary Ann signed an affidavit saying she was sealed to Parley P. Pratt then, not Joseph Smith.[xv]
Second, Fife writes:
On Feb 6, 1846, Mary, who had not been resealed in the [Nauvoo] temple to Parley because of their estrangement over his secret plural wives, asked him to allow her to be sealed “over the Altar in the Temple before it would be closed.” He “told her it was her privilege to make a choice, and that she could be sealed to anyone she chose. She replied that he would be her choice but she wanted to know the mind and will of the Lord.” At the temple, they consulted with Brigham Young, who understood their current situation and advised that Mary be sealed to Joseph for eternity, but. Parley remained responsible for her for time.[xvi]
Mary Ann’s relationship with Parley was rocky from the time plural marriage was introduced. In 1850, Parley recounted his version:
Mary Ann Frost who was sealed to Parley P. Pratt for time and all eternity at the house of Hyrum Smith and by his hand in Nauvoo, June 23, 1843. [canceled by Joseph, but redone on July 24th after Hyrum received the proper authority and permission] Afterward alienated from her husband and taught by all manner of falsehoods to destroy his influenced and character. [Incorrect information received from Orson and Sarah Pratt] But repenting of these things and confessing them before President B. Young in the temple at Nauvoo and solemnly covenanting to take back her words of falsehood wherever they had been spoken she was frankly forgiven by her husband and was by mutual consent of parties and by the advise of President Young sealed to Joseph Smith (the deceased President of the Church) for eternity and to her former husband for time, as proxy. This ordinance took place about the eighth [sic should be the sixth] of Feby 1846 by the hand of B. Young in the temple at Nauvoo.[xvii]
The absence of adequate documentation prevents a full evaluation of the interaction between the Prophet, Parley P. Pratt and Mary Ann Frost. However, available evidence supporting her as a plural wife of Joseph Smith during his lifetime is unpersuasive.
[i] Mary Ann Stearns Winters, “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine, 3 (Oct 1916), 577.
[ii]Mary Ann Stearns Winters, “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine, 3 (Oct 1916), 580-81.
[iii]Mary Ann Stearns Winters, “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine, 3 (Oct 1916), 580-81.
[iv] In council with Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., John H. Smith, John W. Taylor, and George F. Gibbs, on June 25, 1896, Franklin D. Richards refered to “trials or tests to which Prests. B. Young & Jno. Taylor were put by Prest. Joseph the Prophet in Nauvoo, as the plurality & Eternity of the M. Covenant was being revealed. also what Emma was commanded to abstain from, and O. Hyde’s trial also.” (Franklin D. Richards Diaries –1896 Bk (June 25, 1896): CHL.)
[v] Belinda Marden Pratt diary, March 11, 1850, USHS; Parley P. Pratt, “Family Record of Parley Parker Pratt,” photocopy of holograph, Church Hist. Dept. Archives, entry for March 11, 1850.
[vi] Andrew F. Ehat, "Joseph Smith's Introduction of TempleOrdinances and the Mormon Succession Question." M.A. thesis, BrighamYoungUniversity, 1982, 66-71. Bracketed text Ehat’s. All endnotes references have been removed. See Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books 1:62 2:38, 2:40.
[vii] Vilate Kimball, letter dated June 27-29, 1843, to Heber C. Kimball, in Winslow Whitney Smith Papers, box 5, folder 2, CA. Also quoted in part in Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, “Scenes and Incidents at Nauvoo,” Woman’s Exponent, 11 (September 15, 1882) page 58.
[viii] Brigham Young to William Smith, "City of Joseph, Aug 10th 1845," in Brigham Young Collection, CR 1234/1; Reel 24; LDSChurch Archives. See also William Smith to Brigham Young, August 27th 1844, in Brigham Young Collection, incoming correspondence, CR 1234 1, Box 42, Fd. 13 (Reel 55).
[ix] “Affidavit of Mary Ann Pratt,” MS 3423, CHL; this was copied into the Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 2:38, 3:38. “Affidavit of Mary Ann Pratt Witness to sealing of Elizth [sic] Brotherton to P.P. Pratt,” MS 3423, CHL; this was copied into the Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 2:40, 3:40. See also Mary Ann Stearns Winters, “Mothers in Israel,” Relief Society Magazine, 3 (Nov 1916), 643.
[x] “Affidavit of Mary Ann Pratt sealed to P.P. Pratt,” MS 3423, CHL; this was copied into the Joseph F. Smith Affidavit Books, 2:38, 3:38.
[xi]Scott G. Kenny, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833-1898, typescript, 9 vols., Midvale, Utah: Signature Books, 1983-85, 2:340.
[xii]George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: “… but we called it celestial marriage”, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2008, 206-09; Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, 2nd rev. ed. New York, 1971, 484; Gary J. Bergera, “Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamists, 1841-1844,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 38, no. 2 (Fall 2005): 67 [1-74]; Lyndon W. Cook, Nauvoo Marriages, Proxy Sealing 1843-1846, Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 2004, 12, 17; Lisle Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings: a Comprehensive Register of Persons Receiving LDS Temple Ordinances, 1841-1846, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2006, 285.
[xiii] Jayne Winters Fife, “Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt,” forthcoming.
[xiv]George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: “… but we called it celestial marriage”, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2008, 206-09; Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, 2nd rev. ed. New York, 1971, 484; Lyndon W. Cook, Nauvoo Marriages, Proxy Sealing 1843-1846, Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 2004, 12, 17; Lisle Brown, Nauvoo Sealings, Adoptions, and Anointings: a Comprehensive Register of Persons Receiving LDS Temple Ordinances, 1841-1846, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2006, 285.