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Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt
Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt (February 2, 1817 – December 25, 1888) was the first wife of LDS Apostle and polygamist Orson Pratt and later a critic of Mormon polygamy who called herself a Mormon apostate. She was born in Henderson, Jefferson County, New York, the first daughter and third child of Cyrus Bates and Lydia Harrington Bates.
Sarah Marinda Bates lived in Henderson, New York, from the time of her birth in 1817 until October 1836. While she was there, her family encountered Mormon missionaries, and in the summer of 1835 she and several siblings were baptized into the faith. She also fell in love with one of the missionaries, Orson Pratt, who, after leaving to preach in other areas, returned to seek Sarah's hand in marriage. They were wed July 4, 1836, and Orson returned to his missionary travels after a three-day honeymoon. Sarah stayed with her family with only periodic visits from her husband until the couple moved in October to an apartment in Kirtland, Ohio.
The Pratts' stay in Kirtland was short. Amidst the economic difficulties of 1837 and the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society, Sarah gave birth to their first son Orson Jr. With few financial prospects in Kirtland, the family moved back to Henderson as soon as the infant was capable of the journey, and several months later relocated to New York City. In July 1838, Orson Pratt was called to gather with a number of other church elders at Far West, Missouri, to prepare for another mission.
The move to Missouri was difficult due to Sarah's pregnancy with their second child. They reached St. Louis, and their daughter Lydia was born on December 17, 1838. Violence in Missouri led to the expulsion of the Mormons from that state, and the Pratts were forced to flee to the upriver settlements on the Mississippi. They eventually found a "shanty" in nascent Nauvoo, Illinois. There, baby Lydia fell ill with one of the epidemics that ravaged the swamplands and died in August 1839. Orson left eleven days later to serve a mission to Europe.
With her husband in Europe, Sarah had to provide for her family, and she did so by taking in sewing. She was hired by Joseph Smith's family to do some sewing, and Joseph referred her to John C. Bennett, a recent convert to Mormonism who had quickly become a close associate of Smith.
In the summer of 1842, John C. Bennett was excommunicated for seducing several women into adultery. While Sarah Pratt's husband was on a mission in England, it was rumored that Sarah had an affair with Bennett. When his exploits were uncovered, he devoted considerable effort to attributing his own sexual improprieties with Sarah, and other women, to Joseph. Bennett claimed that Joseph approached Sarah while Orson was on a mission and solicited her to be one of his "spiritual wives." To counteract these allegations, Joseph Smith compiled a pamphlet of affidavits, certificates, and letters which proved his innocence and Bennett's guilt concerning sexual misconduct. This included affidavits produced by non-Mormon Sheriff Jacob B. Backenstoes and Sarah's erstwhile landlords, Stephen Goddard and Zeruiah Goddard. At the time, Sarah maintained a public silence regarding the matter. Nancy Rigdon and Pamelia Michael rejected Bennett's accusations involving them. Meanwhile, Martha Brotherton produced a damning affidavit involving Joseph Smith at Bennett's request.
Sarah's silence and the silence of her husband, Orson, were seen as traitorous. Orson was excommunicated by the apostles in August 1842 for failing to support Joseph Smith. According to Van Wagoner's article "Sarah M Pratt: The Shaping of an Apostate", Sarah was not excommunicated at this time. In February 1843 Joseph Smith allowed both Orson and Sarah Pratt to be rebaptized, and Orson was restored to his former position as an apostle. After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, Sarah accompanied Orson Pratt to Utah.
In 1858 Sarah Pratt's former teenage neighbor, Mary Etta Coray Henderson Smith (aka Mary Ettie V. Smith), wrote that in 1841 Sarah "occupied a house owned by John C. Bennett... Prophet Joseph, who called upon her one day... alleged he found John C. Bennett in bed with her. As we lived but across the street from her house we saw and heard the whole uproar." It is unclear how Mary Etta's assertion affected Pratt.
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Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt
Sarah Marinda Bates Pratt (February 2, 1817 – December 25, 1888) was the first wife of LDS Apostle and polygamist Orson Pratt and later a critic of Mormon polygamy who called herself a Mormon apostate. She was born in Henderson, Jefferson County, New York, the first daughter and third child of Cyrus Bates and Lydia Harrington Bates.
Sarah Marinda Bates lived in Henderson, New York, from the time of her birth in 1817 until October 1836. While she was there, her family encountered Mormon missionaries, and in the summer of 1835 she and several siblings were baptized into the faith. She also fell in love with one of the missionaries, Orson Pratt, who, after leaving to preach in other areas, returned to seek Sarah's hand in marriage. They were wed July 4, 1836, and Orson returned to his missionary travels after a three-day honeymoon. Sarah stayed with her family with only periodic visits from her husband until the couple moved in October to an apartment in Kirtland, Ohio.
The Pratts' stay in Kirtland was short. Amidst the economic difficulties of 1837 and the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society, Sarah gave birth to their first son Orson Jr. With few financial prospects in Kirtland, the family moved back to Henderson as soon as the infant was capable of the journey, and several months later relocated to New York City. In July 1838, Orson Pratt was called to gather with a number of other church elders at Far West, Missouri, to prepare for another mission.
The move to Missouri was difficult due to Sarah's pregnancy with their second child. They reached St. Louis, and their daughter Lydia was born on December 17, 1838. Violence in Missouri led to the expulsion of the Mormons from that state, and the Pratts were forced to flee to the upriver settlements on the Mississippi. They eventually found a "shanty" in nascent Nauvoo, Illinois. There, baby Lydia fell ill with one of the epidemics that ravaged the swamplands and died in August 1839. Orson left eleven days later to serve a mission to Europe.
With her husband in Europe, Sarah had to provide for her family, and she did so by taking in sewing. She was hired by Joseph Smith's family to do some sewing, and Joseph referred her to John C. Bennett, a recent convert to Mormonism who had quickly become a close associate of Smith.
In the summer of 1842, John C. Bennett was excommunicated for seducing several women into adultery. While Sarah Pratt's husband was on a mission in England, it was rumored that Sarah had an affair with Bennett. When his exploits were uncovered, he devoted considerable effort to attributing his own sexual improprieties with Sarah, and other women, to Joseph. Bennett claimed that Joseph approached Sarah while Orson was on a mission and solicited her to be one of his "spiritual wives." To counteract these allegations, Joseph Smith compiled a pamphlet of affidavits, certificates, and letters which proved his innocence and Bennett's guilt concerning sexual misconduct. This included affidavits produced by non-Mormon Sheriff Jacob B. Backenstoes and Sarah's erstwhile landlords, Stephen Goddard and Zeruiah Goddard. At the time, Sarah maintained a public silence regarding the matter. Nancy Rigdon and Pamelia Michael rejected Bennett's accusations involving them. Meanwhile, Martha Brotherton produced a damning affidavit involving Joseph Smith at Bennett's request.
Sarah's silence and the silence of her husband, Orson, were seen as traitorous. Orson was excommunicated by the apostles in August 1842 for failing to support Joseph Smith. According to Van Wagoner's article "Sarah M Pratt: The Shaping of an Apostate", Sarah was not excommunicated at this time. In February 1843 Joseph Smith allowed both Orson and Sarah Pratt to be rebaptized, and Orson was restored to his former position as an apostle. After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, Sarah accompanied Orson Pratt to Utah.
In 1858 Sarah Pratt's former teenage neighbor, Mary Etta Coray Henderson Smith (aka Mary Ettie V. Smith), wrote that in 1841 Sarah "occupied a house owned by John C. Bennett... Prophet Joseph, who called upon her one day... alleged he found John C. Bennett in bed with her. As we lived but across the street from her house we saw and heard the whole uproar." It is unclear how Mary Etta's assertion affected Pratt.