LDS Freedom Forum

BYU's Neal A. Maxwell's Institute for Religious Scholarship
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publica ... m=2&id=290" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...Were these unions simply dynastic sealings—the practice of sealing women to certain senior priesthood leaders for eternity only, with little or no temporal relationship—or were they relationships including intimacy and offspring? ...there is no responsible report of sexual intercourse except for Sylvia Sessions Lyon. In 1915, her daughter, Josephine Lyon Fisher, signed a statement that in 1882 Sylvia "told me that I was the daughter of the Prophet Joseph Smith, she having been sealed to the Prophet at the time that her husband Mr. Lyon was out of fellowship with the Church" (quoted on p. 183). The Fisher document is somewhat supported by Angus Cannon's recollection of hearing that Patty Sessions said the Prophet fathered Sylvia's child (see p. 637)...Joseph was sealed to eight women with an existing marriage. In one marriage, that of Sylvia Sessions Lyon, there was a pregnancy, which, according to family tradition, Sylvia related to the time when her husband "was out of fellowship with the Church" (p. 183). As stated in the above discussion on polyandry, even this is not shown to be a concurrent sexual relationship with two husbands.

livy111us wrote:Yet, every DNA test that has been done on so-called descendants of Joseph Smith's marriages has shown that there is no genetic link. Therefore, these were probably just falsified/misunderstood family rumors that were passed on from generation to generation.
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/dna--lds- ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Glenn wrote:

livy111us wrote:Yet, every DNA test that has been done on so-called descendants of Joseph Smith's marriages has shown that there is no genetic link. Therefore, these were probably just falsified/misunderstood family rumors that were passed on from generation to generation.
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/dna--lds- ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Exactly! The more one researches the degree that Joseph Smith was involved in polygamy and/or polyandry the more ambiguous it becomes....In the case of Brigham Young its much more clear...Thanks for the link.

Lastly, the next big project I am working on is to establish the paternity of Josephine Lyon Fisher, daughter of Sylvia Session...I have already collected DNA samples from approximately 120 individuals who are direct descendants of Josephine...Hopefully in the next year or so there will be some answers about this case study. This is probably the strongest of all the cases in the current provisional list linked to Joseph Smith. It is based on an affidavit her mother left at the end of her mortal life stating that “You are Joseph Smith’s daughter.”
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/uploads/4 ... online.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cowell wrote:

Glenn wrote:

livy111us wrote:Yet, every DNA test that has been done on so-called descendants of Joseph Smith's marriages has shown that there is no genetic link. Therefore, these were probably just falsified/misunderstood family rumors that were passed on from generation to generation.
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/dna--lds- ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Exactly! The more one researches the degree that Joseph Smith was involved in polygamy and/or polyandry the more ambiguous it becomes....In the case of Brigham Young its much more clear...Thanks for the link.

Ummm... the link you provided had this to say:

Lastly, the next big project I am working on is to establish the paternity of Josephine Lyon Fisher, daughter of Sylvia Session...I have already collected DNA samples from approximately 120 individuals who are direct descendants of Josephine...Hopefully in the next year or so there will be some answers about this case study. This is probably the strongest of all the cases in the current provisional list linked to Joseph Smith. It is based on an affidavit her mother left at the end of her mortal life stating that “You are Joseph Smith’s daughter.”
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/uploads/4 ... online.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not sure what's so ambiguous about that. The evidence as we know it, including the sworn statement of the wife herself, indicates that she is his daughter.

livy111us wrote:Yet, every DNA test that has been done on so-called descendants of Joseph Smith's marriages has shown that there is no genetic link. Therefore, these were probably just falsified/misunderstood family rumors that were passed on from generation to generation.

livy111us wrote:Yet, every DNA test that has been done on so-called descendants of Joseph Smith's marriages has shown that there is no genetic link. Therefore, these were probably just falsified/misunderstood family rumors that were passed on from generation to generation.
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/dna--lds- ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

gdemetz wrote:According to Fair, that was a deathbed statement, and she may have meant that she was only sealed to Joseph as his daughter. This is what I believe.

Josephine Lyon

In 1915, Sylvia Sessions Lyon's daughter, Josephine, signed a statement that in 1882 Sylvia "told me that I was the daughter of the Prophet Joseph Smith, she having been sealed to the Prophet at the time that her husband Mr. Lyon was out of fellowship with the Church." It is not known whether Sylvia was referring to her daughter as being a literal descendant of Joseph Smith, or if she was referring to the fact that she had been sealed to the prophet.

In an article published in Mormon Historical Studies, Brian C. Hales demonstrates that Sylvia considered herself divorced prior to marrying Joseph polygamously. [See: Hales, Brian C. "The Joseph Smith-Sylvia Sessions Plural Sealing: Polyandry or Polygyny?" Mormon Historical Studies 9/1 (Spring 2008): 41–57.]

DNA research is ongoing but it is rendered more difficult since the Y chromosome evidence of paternal lineage is not present in females.

livy111us wrote:Yet, every DNA test that has been done on so-called descendants of Joseph Smith's marriages has shown that there is no genetic link. Therefore, these were probably just falsified/misunderstood family rumors that were passed on from generation to generation.
http://www.josephsmithdna.com/dna--lds- ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"I know he [Joseph] had six wives and I have known some of them from childhood up. I know he had three children. They told me. I think two are living today but they are not known as his children as they go by other names." (Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, "Remarks", April 14, 1905, BYU Lee Library).