Lorenzo Snow, the 5th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a dutiful Mormon polygamist. He jumped right into the practice and went (according to some accounts) from single to husband of four wives in just 2 days! The official lists of his marriages show he was married to 9 (at least) and due to deaths, at most 7 at one time. Some of his wives passed away soon after the marriage, but he was not long missing them and replaced them with a new wife. There are differing reports on the dates of some of these marriages and even the order. In the confusion (and a scandal), the record seems to have “forgotten” one of his first wives.
She is his first cousin, and sister to his wife Adaline Goddard. Adaline was previously married and had 3 children, but divorced her husband (who was not a member of the church). Some accounts note that this was likely the reason for the divorce. She was soon married to Lorenzo Snow and evidence shows she brought her younger sister, Hannah, along too.
Hannah ends up being unhappy with Snow and after not bearing him any children, leaves his family and goes to live with a “friend.” At the time she is already pregnant with this friend’s child though, and Joseph E Johnson confesses to Lorenzo Snow and a church council that he’s committed adultery with Snow’s wife. Lorenzo relinquishes his “earthly claim” on the pregnant Hannah Goddard and allows her to marry her true love, Joseph Johnson. Later the couple persuades Snow to even annul the sealing so they can be sealed as a family.
She is not mentioned in most lists of Lorenzo Snow’s polygamous family or plural wives.
- Hannah Maria Goddard
- Born July 2, 1828
- Marries Lorenzo Snow January 19, 1845
- Sister to Mary Adaline Goddard
- Has relations with Joseph E. Johnson around April 12, 1849.
- Joseph Ellis Johnson is already married at this time and is later married again (3 plural wives)
- He is disciplined for adultery in a church court but is shortly re-baptized.
- Birth of Joseph Eugene Johnson on January 3, 1850
- Released from Earthly Marriage (Divorced) by Lorenzo Snow
- Marries Joseph Ellis Johnson December 2, 1850
- After pleading with Lorenzo Snow to annul their sealing, they are sealed in 1861.
- Bears 8 children to Joseph E. Johnson, none to Lorenzo Snow.
The first time I heard a bit about Hannah’s life, I thought it had to be wrong. It was on an anti-Mormon website. But the story checks out, from multiple sources including BYU…
Hannah was the eighth of nine children born to Percy Amanda Pettibone and Dan Goddard in Schuykill, Pennsylvania… In 1837 her cousin Lorenzo Snow visited their home while serving on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Her parents converted, as did her 24-year old sister Adaline… So did little Hannah, who was nine. Adaline was married with two children at the time.
Hannah had just turned 13 when her father died in July 1841… Adaline had a third child 1839, but then separated from her husband around 1844. Maybe religion played a role, as he did not join the Church, and she wanted to gather with the Saints.
Single women were at a tremendous disadvantage. There were few options for supporting oneself, and even fewer if one had children. Women also gained status by marriage. Marriage was – and is – especially important in the LDS Church. In the beliefs of the church, one can only enter the highest level of heaven by being a “worthy priesthood holder,” a male church member in good standing, or for women, by marrying a worthy priesthood holder.
So when cousin Lorenzo Snow offered to marry her, it was probably a welcome offer. Adaline was 33 with three children to support. Lorenzo was a bit unusual as he was a bachelor until he was 31, and entered into polygamy all at once. (In contrast, most men taking a plural wife were already married and had to face talking to their wives about bringing a new wife into the home.)
The records are complicated and differ as to dates, but some say Adaline wasn’t the only one to marry her cousin on her wedding day. Her 17-year old sister Hannah may have. Sisters were often married as plural wives to the same man. Historians Holtzapfel and Hedges say both married Lorenzo 19 Jan 1845.
It was a chaotic time as the prophet, Joseph Smith, was dead; the Saints were involved in what would be a multi-year mass exodus to Utah and the church was in a succession crisis, with families often split apart by individual decisions about whom to follow.
February 1846 Lorenzo led a family party of seven in two wagons out of Nauvoo. With him were wives Charlotte and Harriet Squires, Sarah Ann Pritchard, Adaline’s two younger sons from her first marriage — and Hannah. Adaline, who had just discovered she was pregnant, stayed behind with her mother and 12-year old son….
In June Lorenzo fell deathly sick. He was sick for several weeks and it was thought he would die. It was at this time that Adaline and her mother and son arrived from Nauvoo. The family was offered a home to move into, which was most welcome after three months living out of a tent. That summer, illness and death were rampant. Lorenzo wrote that there were few well enough to help the sick and bury the dead.
In early September, Hannah decided she had enough. She wasn’t the only one. Porter and Calvin Squires, cousins of his wives Charlotte and Harriet, “had got uneasy,” in Lorenzo’s words, and wanted to return to Ohio. “I tried to reason upon them the impropriety of leaving the church,” Lorenzo wrote, “and promised them a home and fare as good as we had so long as they would continue with the saints, but it was all to no purpose, so I let them go.”
Hannah, whom Lorenzo described as “a member of my family” left “contrary to my council and went back among the Gentiles [non-Mormons] thro’ the persuasions of her mother.” Percy arrived at Mt. Pisgah with Adaline in June. By early September, she’d encouraged Hannah to leave. But there was much more to it than discontent. There was something major that Lorenzo left out. In September, Hannah was three months pregnant, but the baby was not his.
Hannah had gotten involved – fallen in love, one hopes – with Joseph Ellis Johnson.
Scandal
Joseph was 11 years older and married to Harriet Snider when he became involved with Hannah. He was a New Yorker who was an early convert to the church, being baptized in 1832. He became a good friend of both Brigham Young and Joseph Smith. He came from a remarkable family of 16 children, and would lead an amazing life. Five of the Johnson brothers brothers went to Utah.
His July 1848 diary reveals a lively person who enjoyed some worldly fun. He wrote of enjoying a “grand fandango” with friends, playing euchre, drinking cherry bounce and Irish whiskey,” and dancing with a heap of pretty gals till 2 o’clock in the morning.” He mentioned a lot of socializing with alcohol involved. He made one reference to seeing his wife Harriet, waiting at home.
Apparently, when Hannah left Lorenzo, she moved in with Joseph Ellis Johnson. Lorenzo wrote that she went to live with Gentiles, but Joseph was a church member. What he may have meant, however, was that they were living amongst the “Gentiles,” obviously not part of the gathering of Saints in camps preparing to journey to Salt Lake.
In 1849, due to his actions with Hannah, Joseph Ellis Johnson was stripped of his priesthood authority – his good standing in the church. He was brought before a church council at which Brigham Young presided. Testimony was recorded as follows:
Orson Hyde: There is a matter of Bro Johnson to be laid before the Council….his priesthood was required to be laid down until he came here. A Miss Goddard, wife of Lorenzo Snow became in a family way by Bro Johnson – she was living in his house – we deemed it improper for her to be there – he sent her away to a retired place – she was delivered of a child – she is again living in his house in Kanesville – he wishes to retain his fellowship in the Church. He says he has [met with] bro Snow and he was satisfied.
Joseph E. Johnson: I am come purposely if possible to get the matter settled and atone for the wrong I have done—I have neglected to lay it before you before this –bro Hyde’s statements are all correct – true – all I can do is beg for mercy – I became acquainted with the girl & the consequences are as they are – I saw bro Snow at Kanesville and he was satisfied – I am come here to atone for the wrong I have done…
Reports state that Lorenzo released Hannah from her sealing to him. Hannah and Joseph were not sealed together until 1861 after they had six children together.
Oregon Trail Genealogy: Hannah Maria Goddard
https://oregontrailgenealogy.com/hannah-maria-goddard/
Lorenzo waited until he was 31 years old to marry, choosing to wed five young women in two back-to-back ceremonies, followed by “sealing the spouses for eternity,” another controversial Mormon practice, on 19-20 December 1845. He chose two sets of sisters, including two first cousins, and another family friend. His oldest bride was his cousin Mary Goddard, 33, already a widow with three young children; her sister Hannah was the youngest at just 17. As he later said: “neither was to take or assume the status of a first or legal wife,” thus demonstrating his commitment to the ideal of plural marriage, as yet not publicly announced but already taught as God’s commandment by Joseph Smith to his closest (male) followers. Mary soon became pregnant with Lorenzo’s first child, a daughter, born in November 1846.
The fact of marrying so many young women at the same time is a key part of this story for shortly after these ceremonies, Lorenzo, whom Joseph Smith had already sent to England on the church’s first foreign mission, once again left home for several months on church business; apparently failing to consummate all of his plural marriages physically. Teenage Hannah Goddard, was still a virgin; something that must have been known, certainly to her sister and obviously to Lorenzo.
Almost predictably, in Lorenzo’s absence, and with her sister pregnant for the fourth time, young Hannah soon fell in love with a younger Mormon elder named Joseph Ellis Johnson who lived nearby (in Nauvoo, Illinois). Johnson had already been married (by Joseph Smith himself; Joseph’s first wedding) to Harriet Snider in 1840 and had three young children but he still fell madly in love with Hannah who was soon “put in a family way,” according to a contemporary’s commentary.
Wanting to do the “right thing,” Joseph sought out fellow elder Lorenzo Snow when he returned to Nauvoo and told him of Hannah’s situation, begging Lorenzo to annul his unconsummated marriage so that he, Joseph, and Hannah could marry. Although he never publicly commented on the matter, ever, Lorenzo told LDS leaders he would “give up his earthly rights” to Hannah. She married Joseph in December 1850, 11 months after their son was born. They went on to have seven more children; Joseph had a total of 28 offspring by three different wives.
After a brief period of “dis-fellowship” imposed for his adulterous behavior, Joseph Johnson was restored to full church membership by Brigham Young and the LDS leaders; helping run several pro-LDS publications for the next 25 years. After a decade living in Iowa, Hannah and Joseph moved to Utah, settling in Saint George and eventually helping found the town of Tempe, Arizona, where he died in 1882 and is buried near the LDS Temple in neighboring Mesa.
As one of the last acts of his long life, Joseph sought to be “sealed for eternity” to his children and to all three of his wives, including Hannah, at his local temple. This re-opened the entire 1849-50 adultery controversy and at first the LDS Church President and highest Church council refused, stating that Lorenzo Snow remained “spiritually and legally sealed” to Hannah as of 1845, having only, in the church’s eyes, given up his “earthly rights” to her. Hannah and Joseph appealed this decision and they must have persuaded Lorenzo, now 68, to intervene because at last, just months before he died, Joseph and Hannah were finally “eternally sealed” by the Saint George Temple. Hannah lived on until 1919 and died in San Diego, California.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:The_Eternal_Triangle
After a couple years, our family history quickly descended from pride to one shocking discovery after another. First, one of the uncles discovered that Joseph Ellis Johnson admitted to a church court presided over by Brigham Young that he had committed adultery with one of the wives of future church prophet Lorenzo Snow and fathered her child. Surprisingly, both Lorenzo Snow and Brigham Young forgave him, and Snow released his wife from her vows so that she could marry Johnson. It’s something of a “Camelot” story, with Snow as King Arthur, Johnson as Lancelot, Hannah Goddard as Queen Guinevere, and Brigham Young as Merlin the Great. It was interesting, even poetic, but for us it was humiliating, too. [1] Those of us who knew about it kept it to ourselves.
This was shocking enough for my family, but their next discovery threatened to unravel not only the family but also the LDS Church itself. The family has tried – successfully, so far – to keep it somewhat confidential, or, as they say, sacred.
https://blog.mrm.org/2015/04/a-mormon-detective-story/
On January 19, 1845, Brigham Young sealed Lorenzo Snow to Hannah M. Goddard (b. 1828), sister of his legal wife.
After the sealing, but apparently, prior to consummating the union, Lorenzo left on a mission. Around April 21, 1849, Joseph E. Johnson became intimately involved with Hannah who became pregnant with his child, Joseph Eugene Johnson, born January 3, 1850 (died March 7, 1852). Upon learning of the incident, Lorenzo Snow relinquished his claim to Hannah Maria as his wife, allowing her to eventually be sealed to Johnson.
Endowment House records indicate that Joseph Ellis Johnson and Hannah Goddard Johnson were sealed on November 17, 1861. Together, they had eight children—six before the sealing and two afterward.
In April 1849, upon discovery of Hannah Maria’s pregnancy and the circumstances, Joseph Ellis Johnson’s church membership was in jeopardy. He attended a council of priesthood leaders in the Salt Lake Valley on September 2, 1850, that discussed the case.
Brigham Young presided at the meeting, which was also attended by Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, Orson Spencer, Daniel Carn, Alexander Neibaur, Joel H. Johnson, Benjamin F. Johnson, and Joseph Kelly (secretary). Notes from that council explain:
O. Hyde [speaking] there is a matter of bro: [Joseph E.] Johnson to be laid before the Council—this matter was brot. before Council in Kanesville his Priesthood was required to be laid down until he came here—a Miss Goddard wife of Lorenzo Snow became in a family way by Bro Johnson—she was living in his house—we deemed it improper for her to be there he sent her away to a retired place—she was delivered of a child—she is again living at his house in Kanesville—he wishes to retain his fellowship in the Church. He says he has bro: Snow & he was satisfied.
Joseph E. Johnson [speaking]—I am come purposely if possible to get the matter settled & atone for the wrong I av done—I av neglected to lay it before you before this—bro Hydes statements r all correct—true— all I can do is beg for mercy—I became acquainted with the girl, & the consequences r as the[y] r—I saw bro. Snow at Kanesville & he was satisfied—I am come here to atone for the wrong I av done.
https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/mary-heron/#link_ajs-fn-id_37-5648During the proceedings, Secretary Kelly recorded Joseph Ellis Johnson’s explanatory comments that make it clear he was not attempting to justify his conduct:
I never heard any conversation to say it was right to go to bed to a woman if not found out—I was aware the thing was wrong.—had been with—he sd. He was familiar with the first frigging [slang for sexual relations]—that was done in his house with his mother in law—by Joseph.
https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/mary-heron/#link_ajs-fn-id_38-5648The “mother in law” was Mary Heron Snider. While disagreements exist, the “house” referred to by Johnson appears to have been built in 1843 in Ramus, Illinois.
https://josephsmithspolygamy.org/plural-wives-overview/mary-heron/
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