Saints Helen Mar Kimball

Unprepared to engage Mormon missionaries when they knock on your door? Perhaps the Mormonism Research Ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now your host for today's Viewpoint on Mormonism. Who was Helen Mar Kimball and why is her story included in the book Saints, No Unhallowed Hand? Welcome to this edition of Viewpoint on Mormonism.

I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director of Mormonism Research Ministry, and with me today is Eric Johnson, my colleague at MRM. Saints, No Unhallowed Hand covers the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1846 to 1893. On page 511, it talks about how Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, and his brother, Alexander, came to Utah Territory on another mission for the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith III was the head of the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They did not believe in plural marriage. In fact, Joseph Smith III's mother, Emma Smith, denied that her husband even practiced it. So Joseph Smith III and his brother Alexander go to the Utah Territory and they're going to interview people, I guess, Eric, to put to bed once and for all that this either did or did not happen. But the book mentions it, and I'm actually quite surprised, Eric, that they included this story in the book, because I think if most people were unfamiliar with the story of Helen Mar Kimball, reading it would probably shock some of them if they knew all the details.

Well, what does the book have to say about her on page 511? Among the Saints who noted their arrival was Helen Whitney, the 56-year-old daughter of Heber and Violet Kimball. Helen was familiar with the brothers' message. In fact, she had once published a pamphlet called Plural Marriage as Taught by the Prophet Joseph in response to Joseph III's claim about his father. As a plural wife of Joseph Smith herself, Helen knew for certain that the prophet had practiced plural marriage. Helen was 14 when her father taught her the principle and asked her if she would be sealed to Joseph. Her feelings had revolted at first, and she responded indignantly to his words. But over the course of the day as she thought about what to do, she knew that her father loved her too much to teach her anything that was contrary to God's will.

She agreed to the sealing, believing the union would help exalt her and her family and connect them to Joseph Smith in the eternities. Now let's go back and dissect that paragraph, Eric. It says Helen was 14 when her father taught her the principle. The principle, of course, if you're not familiar with that term, is the doctrine of plural marriage. That's how it was understood.

In fact, many polygamous groups today use that same word to describe plural marriage. So her father, who is, as it mentions, Heber C. Kimball. Kimball dies in 1868. He was a first counselor under Brigham Young. He had 43 wives himself.

I mean, he was right up there with Brigham Young. It mentions how she was revolted at this doctrine when she first heard about it from her father. And it's interesting because I think a lot of women are probably repelled by this doctrine of plural marriage, because it's not something that we normally expect, especially in the United States during this time.

We found that when the Gospel Topics essays came out, and there were two different articles on polygamy, including Joseph Smith's polygamy, that that was one of the reasons why people were leaving the church 2015 on, because when they found out that Joseph Smith was polygamous in such a way, including marrying other men's wives and marrying teenagers such as Helen Mar Kimball, that that was really repulsive to them. And that was a good reason for them to leave. Some didn't have that kind of reaction that you just gave. Others says, well, that's the way it happened.

And they kind of like, nothing to see here, move along, move along. But in this paragraph on page 512, when speaking of Helen's reaction to this doctrine, it says that over the course of the day, she thought about what to do. She knew that her father loved her too much to teach her anything that was contrary to God's will. I read that, and my first thought was, okay, just because a parent may have love for a child, that suddenly prevents them from teaching them something that's horribly wrong?

Of course not. That's not what truth is based in. Just because your parent may love you, and they tell you something does not necessarily mean that what they're telling you is accurate, but that's how she takes it. And of course, what he is teaching her is something that Mormons are supposed to believe at that time.

So you can understand why she reacts the way she does. It says she agreed to the sealing, believing the union would help exalt her and her family and connect them to Joseph Smith in the eternities. Now that's an interesting line, because that refers to something that Helen Mar Kimball herself wrote about and is recorded in the book Mormon Enigma, Emma Hale Smith. What does it say in that book about this particular topic, Eric?

And this is from her 1881 autobiography. This is found on page 146 of Mormon Enigma. I will pass over the temptations which I had during the 24 hours after my father introduced me the principal and asked if I would be sealed to Joseph, who came next morning and with my parents. I heard him teach and explain the principle of celestial marriage, after which he said to me, quote, if you will take this step, it will ensure your eternal salvation and exaltation and that of your father's household and all of your kindred, end quote.

I willingly gave myself the purchase so glorious a reward. None but God and angels could see my mother's bleeding heart when Joseph asked her if she was willing. Now for emphasis, and I think it's important, what did Joseph Smith say to this 14 year old impressionable girl? Remember folks, he is 38 years old at the time.

What does he tell Helen specifically that she records? If you will take this step, it will ensure your eternal salvation and exaltation and that of your father's household and all of your kindred. So you're a 14 year old listening to a 38 year old man that you revere as the prophet of God. And he's telling you, if you take this step, these are going to be the benefits of it.

You're 14 years old. You're thinking, well, what if I don't take this step? Is this actually a veiled threat on the part of Joseph Smith to a 14 year old? I think it could be taken that way. It certainly sounds like it might have been because it's not the first time that Joseph Smith is petitioning other women to become his wives. And in some cases, he does tend to use his position as a means of getting them to acquiesce to the desires that he has for them. Here a 38 year old man is using that tactic on a 14 year old.

Today we would call that person a sexual predator. The book goes on to say the arrangement had been unconventional in almost every way. Helen was young for marriage, although some women her age did marry in the United States at that time. The reason I think they stick that sentence in there is because they want you to get the impression that this wasn't so uncommon. It was uncommon, folks. Even Joseph Smith himself was not that young when he marries Emma. Emma was actually older than Joseph Smith when they got married.

And we've done research on this and the average age was around 19 or so, 20 somewhere in that age range, but not 14. That was a very rare occurrence. It goes on to say that like some of Joseph's other wives, she was sealed to the prophet for eternity only. That is supposed to give us the impression that there was no sex involved when you hear that phrase. She and Joseph rarely interacted socially and she never indicated that she had an intimate physical relationship. She continued to live in her parents' home and like other plural wives in Nauvoo, this is in Nauvoo, Illinois, kept her ceiling private. Well, of course, because no one was supposed to talk about plural marriage at that time. Joseph Smith knew it was illegal. You don't go bragging about a crime you're committing. You keep it secret. Remember, polygamy does not become public till after the Latter-day Saints leave Illinois and move into the Salt Lake Valley. Then in 1852, it is finally announced publicly, even though it was always being practiced secretly. But she had been the age when some young women began courting, making it hard for her to explain to her friends why she stopped attending some social gatherings.

What does it say in the next paragraph, Eric? After the prophet's death, Helen had married Horace Whitney, a son of Newell and Elizabeth and Whitney. Helen was 17 and Horace was 22 at the time and they were deeply in love.

On the day of the marriage, they promised to cling to one another for the rest of their lives and if possible, in the eternities. But at the altar of the Nauvoo temple, they were married for this life only since Helen had already been sealed to Joseph Smith for eternity. Notice the age though when she marries Horace. She's 17 because Joseph Smith is killed right after she is sealed to Joseph Smith.

He's killed at Carthage jail. Horace is 22. Not a young teenager, which goes along with what you just said earlier, that this wasn't a normal thing to marry young teenagers. Even though I give them credit, they use the word some women, but of course, what does that mean? How many means some, it doesn't say.

But here is something else that needs to be talked about. She ends up marrying Horace Whitney and it says very clearly, but at the altar of the Nauvoo temple, they were married for this life only since Helen had already been sealed to Joseph Smith for eternity. But this brings up some complications, especially in the context of Mormonism. Later after settling in Utah, Helen had consented to Horace's marriages to Lucy Bloxham and Mary Cravath. Lucy died a short time later, but Mary and Helen lived next door to each other and enjoyed a good relationship. Helen and Horace were happily married for 38 years and she gave birth to 11 children.

Horace died on November 22nd, 1884, and Helen now spent some of her time writing for the Deseret News and Women's Exponent. Because Helen Mar Kimball Whitney was married to Horace Whitney for time only, that would mean because she was married to Joseph Smith for eternity, that every one of their children that they would have together, and it mentions here, Helen and Horace were happily married for 38 years and she gave birth to 11 children. Not all of them lived, but still the point is every one of those children would become Joseph Smith's children in the hereafter.

They would not be the children of Horace, even though he had those children with Helen Mar Kimball. On page 514, it goes on and says though Helen spent most of her life married to Horace, she knew she had been sealed of the prophet Joseph Smith. How her relationships would work themselves out in the hereafter was not always clear to her, but she intended to claim all the eternal blessings God had promised her family. God had always brought her through the furnace of affliction, and she continued to trust that he would make things right in the end, quote, I have long since learned to leave all with him who knoweth better than ourselves what will make us happy, she wrote. Bill, why do you think they included the story of Helen Mar Kimball in this history book?

Now, some might think that my answer is born out of my prejudices, you might say, and I will agree that I do have my prejudices when I read this story. But I really think the reason why this story is included in the book Saints is to just show loyalty, even though that loyalty might bring some uncomfortable situations for you. And it may be directly tied to a lot of the problems that many Latter-day Saint women have with the Mormon doctrine of celestial polygamy. In other words, a Mormon male who qualifies for exaltation will have the ability, according to Mormonism, to take on more wives in the hereafter. And that certainly has caused a lot of Latter-day Saint females consternation. We hope you will join us again as we look at another Viewpoint on Mormonism.