Mormon Stories Podcast
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Polygamy or Adultery? Fanny Alger & Joseph Smith - John Turner Pt. 20 | Ep. 2078
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October 31, 2025
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Welcome to part 20 of our epic series on Dr. John G. Turner’s landmark biography, “Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet.”
Things are really heating up as we enter the mid-1830s in the life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-day Saint movement. This episode dives into one of the most controversial and debated episodes in early Mormon history –Joseph’s relationship with Fanny Alger, a young woman employed in the Smith household in Kirtland, Ohio in 1836.
Was it adultery? Was it an early form of plural marriage? Or was it something else entirely –a “scrape”?
Join us for Part 1 of Chapter 18, where we unpack Turner’s detailed treatment of this scandal, explore how it fractured relationships within the early church (especially between Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery), and trace how it shaped the theology of polygamy that would later emerge in Nauvoo.
Please purchase the book here
To support this series please donate hereOne half of all donations will go to Dr. Turner for as long as he is participating in the series.
You can find the Joseph Smith Podcast dedicated feed on Spotify here
Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here
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