Introduction

Saints volume 1 discusses a second sealing ceremony performed between Joseph Smith and Eliza and Emily Partridge in the presence of Emma Smith. Eliza and Emily had already been sealed to Joseph a few months earlier, but Emma was later given an opportunity to select additional wives for Joseph, and she chose Emily and Eliza.

The Saints narrative states that Emily chose to remain silent about her prior sealing when Emma selected the sisters. This may accurately describe Emily’s decision not to disclose the earlier ceremony. However, Emily’s own later account indicates that the decision to perform a second sealing ceremony was initiated by Joseph Smith in order to avoid conflict with Emma. This aspect of the episode is not mentioned in Saints.

The account

Saints volume 1, chapter 40 on page 490, states:

…

Because neither Joseph nor Emma wrote down how they felt about plural marriage, many questions are left unanswered. In her writings, Emily recorded some of their struggles with the practice. At times Emma rejected it completely while at other times reluctantly accepting it as a commandment. Torn between the Lord’s mandate to practice plural marriage and Emma’s opposition, Joseph sometimes chose to marry women without Emma’s knowledge, creating distressing situations for everyone involved.

In early May, Emma took Emily and Eliza aside and explained the principle of plural marriage to them. She had told Joseph that she would consent to him being sealed to two additional wives as long as she could choose them, and she had chosen Emily and Eliza, apparently unaware that Joseph had already been sealed to them.

Rather than mention her former sealing, Emily believed that keeping silent on the matter was the best thing for her to do. A few days later, she and Eliza were again sealed to Joseph, this time with Emma as a witness.

The question of responsibility for the second ceremony

The Saints narrative highlights Emily’s decision to remain silent about the earlier sealing. This helps explain why Emma proceeded to select the Partridge sisters as plural wives without realizing they had already been sealed to Joseph.

Because the narrative focuses on Emily’s silence and does not discuss who initiated the second ceremony, a reader could reasonably come away with the impression that the second sealing simply followed from Emily’s decision not to disclose the earlier marriage. However, a separate question concerns why a second ceremony was performed once Emma had made her selection. Saints does not explicitly address who initiated the second sealing.

Emily later described the episode in the Historical Record (emphasis added):

… We had been there about a year when the principle of plural marriage was made known to us, and I was married to Joseph Smith on the 4th of March, 1843, Elder Heber C. Kimball performing the ceremony. My sister Eliza was also married to Joseph a few days later. This was done without the knowledge of Emma Smith. Two months afterwards she consented to give her husband two wives, provided he would give her the privilege of choosing them. She accordingly chose my sister Eliza and myself, and to save family trouble Brother Joseph thought it best to have another ceremony performed. Accordingly on the 11th of May, 1843, we were sealed to Joseph Smith a second time, in Emma’s presence, she giving her free and full consent thereto. From that very hour, however, Emma was our bitter enemy.

In Emily’s account, the second ceremony was performed because Joseph “thought it best” to repeat the sealing in order to “save family trouble.” Her description therefore attributes the decision to Joseph rather than to Emily herself.

Emily’s silence explains how Emma remained unaware of the earlier sealing. But the decision to repeat the ceremony appears, in Emily’s telling, to have been Joseph’s attempt to reconcile the situation once Emma had selected the Partridge sisters as plural wives.

Note on revisions:

Minor wording adjustments were suggested with the assistance of ChatGPT to improve clarity and sharpen the logical structure of the argument. These edits did not change the substance of the analysis but help more clearly distinguish between Emily Partridge’s silence about the earlier sealing and the later decision to perform a second ceremony.