Wilford Woodruff (the fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is probably best known for his issuing of the 1890 Manifesto that called for an end to the practice of polygamy in the church. For this, he is perhaps one of the more controversial prophets in the Mormon faith. If you are a devout member of the LDS church who struggles with polygamy, you probably are very grateful to Woodruff for taking the first steps to putting and end to the practice. If you are a Mormon fundamentalist who still believes in the principle of plural marriage, you probably see Woodruff’s actions as cowardly and perhaps even treacherous. Either way, his legacy is inextricably tied to how he started the process that led to the end of polygamy in the church. It may come as a surprise then to learn that Woodruff was possibly sealed to more plural wives than any other leader in the church. Certainly, he is up there near the top of the list. The catch, however, is that the vast majority of these sealings were to deceased women and performed by proxy.
A Very Patriarchal Birthday, to Me!
I discovered this story in David J. Buerger’s The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, which details the development of the temple ceremonies and the ways that they have been changed over time. This is a phenomenal book and I recommend it to anyone who is curious about the theological and historical background of modern day Mormon temple worship. Among the developments to temple worship was the advent of endowments for the dead, which were first performed on 11 January 1877 in the St. George Temple. Less than two months thereafter, Wilford Woodruff wrote in his journal that he had been commanded by revelation to perform proxy endowments in the St. George Temple for the many deceased women he previously had sealed to him:
Let my servant Wilford call upon the virgins, maidens, daughters & mothers in Zion, and let them enter into my Holy Temple on the 1st day of March, the day that my servant Wilford has seen the time allotted to man, three score years and ten, and there let them receive their washing and anointing and endowments for and behalf of the wives who are dead and have been sealed to my servant Wilford, or those who are to be sealed to him, and this shall be acceptable unto me saith the Lord, and the dead of my servant shall be redeemed in the spirit world and be prepared to meet my servant at the time of his Coming . . . Now go to and perform this work and all shall be accomplished according to the desire of your heart. Revelation recorded by Wilford Woodruff in his journal, 1 March 1877 Spelling and punctuation corrected, emphasis my own.
Accordingly, on 1 March 1877—in celebration of his 70th birthday—Woodruff was accompanied by 154 women to attend a special event at the St. George Temple to perform proxy endowments for deceased women who had been or were being sealed to Woodruff as plural wives. Of this occasion, Woodruff records in his journal:
I was there surrounded with one hundred and fifty four virgins, Maidens Daughters and Mothers in Zion from the age of fourteen to the Aged Mother leaning upon her Staff. All had assembled for the purpose of entering into the Temple of the Lord to make me a birthday present by being washed and anointed and receiving their endowments for and in behalf of one hundred and thirty of my wives who were dead and in the spirit world, the majority of which had been sealed to me. . . . When they had all assembled together in the Creation Room I presented myself before them clothed in my white doe skin temple dress. I there delivered unto them a short address. . . . You are today in this endowment without a man with you, but we shall furnish one man an Adam. . . . I went through the endowments of the day more like being in vision than a reality. These 154 sisters were led to three veils and three of us . . . all dressed in temple clothing, took them all through the three veils. . . . President Young was present at the temple in witnessing the ceremonies. . . . At the close of the labor at the temple I . . . was placed in the midst of a surprise party got up for the occasion. The room decorated and a table set loaded with all the luxuries of life, surrounded by nearly one hundred of those who had been receiving endowments for my dead during the day. President Young sat at the head of the table surrounded by his family and after blessing was asked, there was presented before me a present of a birthday bridal cake, three stories high, adorned with the beasts of the field from the elephant down, and ornamented with two satin sheets covered with printed poetry composed for the occasion. Wilford Woodruff Journal, 1 March 1877 Spelling and punctuation corrected, emphasis my own. Quoted passages found over 6 pages.
Woodruff would celebrate in similar fashion his 71st, 72nd, and 74th birthdays. On the occasion of his 72nd birthday, Woodruff recorded in his journal:
And I had sealed to me at the altar 74 single women who were dead, which makes 267 in all of the dead single women who have been sealed to me in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City and in the St George Temple. I was also sealed today for 65 Couple of dead friends of the Hart family, making 139 sealings and 7 adoptions. Wilford Woodruff Journal, 1 March 1879 Spelling and punctuation corrected, emphasis my own.
Subjugating Women via Eternal Polygamy
Celestial polygamous marriage is an institution created by elite Mormon men for the benefit of elite Mormon men. From its very beginnings, celestial marriage was limited to men in the upper Mormon hierarchy, and its secretive practice served to reinforce that hierarchy. Initiation into the inner circle of polygamy was a prominent feature of participation in the early Quorum of the Anointed and the later Council of Fifty. Women were the commodity peddled through polygamy, and the more plural wives a man had, the greater the symbol of his status. Brigham Young would put these notions on steroids in the Utah Territory, and preached that “the only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.”
Mormon polygamy has always been a hierarchical system that places women as subject to their husbands, and the temple endowment has long been the tool that indoctrinates members to accept this hierarchy. Indeed, when preaching to the Quorum of the Anointed in the newly constructed Nauvoo Temple about the principles of the endowment, Brigham taught:
Woman will never get back, unless she follows the man back. If the man had followed the woman he would have followed her down until this time. Light, liberty, and happiness will never shine upon men until they learn these principles. The man must love his God and the woman must love her husband.
Brigham Young, 28 December 1845, emphasis my own.
Quoted in "An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton", p. 239
In this same setting a week earlier, Heber C. Kimball taught:
The man was created, and God gave him dominion over the whole Earth, but he saw that he never could multiply, and replenish the Earth, without a woman. And he made one and gave her to him. He did not make the man for the woman; but the woman for the man, and it is just as unlawful for you to rise up and rebel against your husband, as it would be for man to rebel against God.
When the man came to the veil, God gave the keywords to the man, and the man gave it to the woman. But if a man don't use a woman well and take good care of her, God will take her away from him, and give her to another.
Heber C. Kimball, 21 December 1845, emphasis my own.
Quoted in "An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton", p. 227
Notice how women are consistently placed in a position of submission to men, and how that the language used portrays women as property to be “used,” “taken,” and “given to another.” The language of the temple ceremonies has consistently reinforced these notions, and teaches an explicit God > Man > Woman hierarchy. In that spirit, it is perhaps unsurprising to see the earliest uses of the proxy endowment ritual for the dead being used in a way that commodifies women through polygamy to reinforce the hierarchical dominance of elite Mormon men. In the present example, Woodruff uses women—living and dead—to increase the size of his kingdom, here and in the life hereafter. The women participating in these events are used as pawns to reinforce a dominance hierarchy between men, where the number of women owned as plural wives signifies a man’s authority and influence.
There is no other way to characterize the scenario in which 267 women are sealed to one man as his plural wives. The math alone speaks volumes about the disparity between how women and men are valued in Mormon theology. In recent years, the church has tried to soften its image by obscuring the patriarchal system that lies at its foundation, through conference talks and magazine articles that give lip-service to a soft egalitarianism while simultaneously denying ecclesiastical authority to women, and even by going so far as to soften the language in the temple. But these are all window dressing to distract from the fact that the church is still built upon a system that exploits women in this life in order to wholly subjugate them in the next.
“As Transparent as We Know How to Be”
When I first encountered this story, I could scarcely believe it; so I went online to find the above 1877 journal entries for myself, which confirmed every detail. Still reeling from the discovery, I also turned to Woodruff’s FamilySearch file, which in July 2019 contained records of his polygamous sealings to over 170 plural wives. These records remained available in September 2019, when The Exponent II serendipitously published an article on the story. However, sometime between then and now, these records were expunged from Woodruff’s FamilySearch profile. The changelog shows that in August 2020, some 234 relationship records were deleted from Woodruff’s file with the explanatory note: “GA Cleanup.” I have managed to preserve a record of these changes in the image slideshow below.
At best we can only speculate what “GA Cleanup” means in reference to these deleted relationships. In my view, they appear to reflect a General Authority mandated “scrubbing” of Woodruff’s FamilySearch profile of any reference to his having been sealed to deceased women or their children. The reasons why the church might want to hide these relationships are obvious—they are embarrassing and reveal details about the extent to which the church is built upon a foundation of patriarchal dominance.
Let’s consider a specific example. Lydia Hart was just six years old when she died in 1776, but she was sealed posthumously to Woodruff as a plural wife. Having died before the age of accountability, she has no ordinance records, with the exceptions of her sealing to her parents and her sealing to her Woodruff. Notably, the record of her sealing to Woodruff as his plural wife is now explicitly restricted. Furthermore, Joseph Smith and subsequent church leaders have taught that deceased children will be come forth as children in the resurrection. Thus, according to Mormon doctrine, Lydia Hart will be resurrected as a 6 year old girl and a plural wife of Wilford Woodruff. It goes without saying why the church might not want this particular record to be easily discovered.
In 2017, Elders Oaks and Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a fireside (as part of their YSA Face to Face series) to students at Utah State University in which they addressed the question of “how can I deal with doubts when faced with tough questions from Church history?” In their response to this query, Elder Ballard stated:
We would have to say, as two Apostles who have covered the world and know the history of the Church and know the integrity of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve from the beginning, there has been no attempt on the part of the Church leaders to try to hide anything from anybody. . . . Just trust us, wherever you are in the world, and you share this message with anyone else who raises the question about the Church not being transparent. We’re as transparent as we know how to be in telling the truth. Elder M. Russell Ballard, YSA Face to Face
How does this example regarding Woodruff’s sealing records square with that statement? How does deleting relationship references detailing the proxy sealings of hundreds of women as plural brides to the man who would serve as the fourth President of the Church not represent an “attempt on the part of the leaders of the Church to hide anything from anybody?” How does restricting access to the record of Lydia Hart’s sealing to Wilford Woodruff—or selectively redacting numerous parts of Woodruff’s and other church leaders’ journals—represent being “as transparent as we know how to be?” These statements by Elder Ballard are patently false, and the present example, along with countless others, clearly demonstrate that the church is actively engaged in whitewashing its history and practices in an effort to conceal the embarrassingly problematic bits from the public and their own members.
This is great! Super research, thanks for recording this info before it’s lost!
Excellent! Outrageous! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, I am studying the lost facts from Church history. I am currently reading “A Series of Tracts on Mormon Doctrine “ by Orson Pratt. It’s fascinating. I never ceased to be amazed by the old school history. On my way out after the past 12 months of intense study as I now have time being retired. PS I devoted 66 years to this corporation.
I think you have a few more typos to clean up. Otherwise excellent work!
adorned with the beats of the field from the elephant down,
I think that’s supposed to be beasts.
Also there are more formal ways of showing which corrections you made so that the original spelling is preserved, yet allowing people to understand the meaning better with the corrected spelling.
It is more work but I believe it makes it look more authentic.
I noticed the same thing when Family Search deleted the women, so I am so glad you preserved the removals! Great work. I have to wonder about the Missionary Certificate on the first screen shot on Wiford’s page and why Family Search also detached that record with the reason “project clean-up.” Things that make you go hmmmm.
This is beyond interesting. Thank you so much for taking the time to put it together and research.
Excellent article. Your preservation of these details is important now that the scrubbing of history has apparently happened. Thank you.
It is slightly dishonest to say that the church is trying to hide history when the changelogs are still there for everyone to be able to see. FamilySearch is notoriously messy, especially with early “adopted” sealings. Also Joseph Smith may not have taught that infants would be resurrected “as infants” as (1) it seems to deny the doctrinal idea of eternal progression and (2) there are discrepancies in the King Follett sermon records on that quote. Still the fact that apparently random deceased women were sealed to President Woodruff by proxy in grand birthday celebrations is admittedly quite strange.
I don’t see how expressing my opinion that the church is being intentionally obfuscatory with its history by deleting and/or restricting ordinance records, and by selectively redacting large portions of Woodruff’s journals and other historical documents, is “slightly dishonest.” Rather, I think “slightly dishonest” is a far more appropriate description of what the church is doing here.
From Chapter 15 of The Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith:
“But we know our children will not be compelled to remain as a child in stature always, for it was revealed from God, the fountain of truth, through Joseph Smith the prophet, in this dispensation, that in the resurrection of the dead the child that was buried in its infancy will come up in the form of the child that it was when it was laid down; then it will begin to develop. From the day of the resurrection, the body will develop until it reaches the full measure of the stature of its spirit, whether it be male or female.”
From the same chapter:
“It matters not whether these tabernacles mature in this world, or have to wait and mature in the world to come, according to the word of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the body will develop, either in time or in eternity, to the full stature of the spirit, and when the mother is deprived of the pleasure and joy of rearing her babe to manhood or to womanhood in this life, through the hand of death, that privilege will be renewed to her hereafter, and she will enjoy it to a fuller fruition than it would be possible for her to do here. When she does it there, it will be with the certain knowledge that the results will be without failure; whereas here, the results are unknown until after we have passed the test.”
I’ve often wondered what the implications of this idea are, if any, for children who die in utero.
Yup! Resurrected as a child to thereafter develop into the full adult stature of their spirit.
I contacted the church history department and Family Search. It took me a while to find someone who could answer my questions about what GA Clean-up meant and why they removed the women to Woodruff’s FamilySearch page. I got quite the runaround at first, but after some badgering, this is what I got back:
Dear Heather,
RE: Wilford Woodruff
Thank you for your inquiry about the documented sealings of Wilford Woodruff and his record on Family Tree. To answer your question concerning the reason “GA Cleanup“ was given for the changes in August 2020, it is an abbreviation for “General Authorities project cleanup.” A team has been dedicated to correcting and refining the records of early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their immediate family. All General Authorities are included in this project on the early church leaders, including Wilford Woodruff. This project necessitates changes to the records in Family Tree so you may see some records separated, combined, restricted, or even disappear. Yet, the genealogical and ordinance information will appear correctly at the end of this project. You can also anticipate that in the future, as new information is acquired, additional changes will occur, as is customary with the records on Family Tree.
As you have been researching and understand, in the early days of the Church, a common practice was to seal women who were not married or sealed in life to priesthood holders. These sealings and relationships that previously showed on the record for Wilford Woodruff and then removed were part of the refining of his record. The relationships were originally brought into Family Tree from the sealing records. Per the guidelines provided to us for this project, we are listing only the spouses that were civilly married to the Church leaders. In agreement with the FamilySearch Content Submission Agreement, the incorrect marriage relationships on Family Tree were removed from Wilford Woodruff’s record to eliminate any misleading information that might indicate a marriage relationship during life. Be assured, the sealing ordinance records still exist even if the relationships are not shown in Family Tree.
The following link is an article that contains more information: https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/my-ancestor-is-sealed-to-an-unrelated-early-church-leader
Sincerely,
FamilySearch Data Administration
NOTE:
I asked for further clarification on who is authorizing the changes and where the information that was deleted was being housed, and I received the following:
RE: Wilford Woodruff KWNT-8NB
In response to your questions, the information in the link we provided comes from department leadership and Church leadership. The project is overseen by the Family History Department and was initiated by department leadership. As you mentioned in your prior email, sealing records for Wilford Woodruff can be found in his personal documents and journals. In addition, sealing records are available in the official temple records located in the special collections at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Sincerely,
FamilySearch Data Administration
I am providing the article referenced in the email sent to me from FamilySearch, since only members are allowed to view it. The church has changed their policy about adoption sealings as of June 28, 2022:
My ancestor is sealed to an unrelated early Church leader
Article Id: 1553
June 28, 2022
Do not try to merge individuals or to create links between individuals based on early “adoptions.”
Prophets gained an understanding of the proper role of sealings “line upon line, precept upon precept” (D&C 98:12). President Wilford Woodruff recalled when the principle of baptism for the dead was first revealed. The Prophet Joseph Smith, and others were filled with enthusiasm and joy for the principle. They rushed out to perform baptisms for hundreds in the Mississippi River. No record was made of the baptisms. Later the Lord told the Prophet, “When any of you are baptized for your dead, let there be a recorder” (D&C 127:6).
Similarly, the sealing of parent to child was first understood as a “law of adoption”. Many individuals were “adopted” into the families of unrelated early Church leaders. President Wilford Woodruff ended the practice in 1894. He explained, “When I went before the Lord to know who I should be adopted to (we were then being adopted to prophets and apostles), the Spirit of God said to me,’Have you not a father, who begot you?’. ‘Yes, I have.’ ‘Then why not honor him? Why not be adopted to him?’ ‘Yes,’ said I, ‘that is right.'” (D Todd Christofferson, “The Roots of Family History,” BYU Family History Fireside, March 3, 2000, p. 5.)
In the early days of the Church, another common practice was to seal women who were not married or sealed in life to priesthood holders.
Early “adoptions” show in Family Tree as “sealings”. The “sealing” has a different meaning than the “sealing” to an actual parent as we understand it today. Records are to be left as they are until we receive further guidance about this matter. Avoid combining any known woman with the “unknown” mother. Do not use these “adoptions” in any way as evidence for historical family relationships.
If an individual could show as combined or linked to an early Church leader. If you have documentation showing that this connection is incorrect, contact us through FamilySearch Community.
Thanks for this additional information. I have heard this apologetic before, that Woodruff and other church leaders intended these to be adoptive sealings, but this don’t check out for a variety of reasons. First, adoptive sealings had been well-established by the time Woodruff was performing these proxy sealings, with many men being sealing to each other in father-son relationships despite no biological relationship (e.g. John D. Lee as Brigham Young’s ritually adopted son). With this precedent in place, there shouldn’t have been any confusion differentiating adoptive sealings from marital sealings. Second, proxy marital sealings were also a well-established practice by this point, such as when Joseph Smith’s plural widows were sealed to Brigham Young or Heber C. Kimball for time and to Smith for eternity. Other women were also sealed as spouses to Smith by proxy despite never having been sealed to him while he lived. Third, FamilySearch clearly recorded these as marital sealings, not adoptive sealings. If they were intended as the latter they could have simply changed the relationship to parent-child sealings, but they didn’t. Finally, Woodruff’s journal entry for 1 March 1877 describes them celebrating the occasion of these proxy sealings with “a birthday bridal cake”—a particularly odd gesture if these weren’t understood to be marital sealings.
For these reasons, as well as the Mormon teaching that women require being sealed to a man in a marital relationship to attain exaltation, I don’t buy the church’s apologetic that these were merely adoptive sealings.
Well said.
Dumbfounded! This “birthday celebration” is one of the most cringeworthy practices of any of the “prophets” I have ever read. Thank you all for sharing documentation for not only the “sealings” but for the Church’s decision to “clean up the records.”