We could not find a photograph of her. If you hold one — a descendant's album, a county archive, a gravestone portrait — it would fill this space permanently. Write to mormonstories@gmail.com.
No. 24 on Johnson's list — but this page is hers
Emily Haws
1823–?
Sealed to Brigham Young 15 Jan 1846 — she was 23, he was 45.
This was a sealing, not a marriage in law — plural marriage had no legal standing. What that meant.
Nauvoo temple, January-February 1846
Who she was, and what happened
A case Turner uses to show that a temple sealing often changed NOTHING on the ground. She was legally married to William Whitmarsh when she was sealed to Brigham in mid-January 1846 - and in mid-FEBRUARY, a month later, she completed a property transaction as Whitmarsh's wife. She presumably stayed with him. The sealing and the marriage simply ran on separate tracks.
What survives in her own words
Nothing from her, and no life of her written by anyone else.
None known. A property transaction a month after the sealing is the clearest trace of her.
Turner p. 136
15 of the fifty-five left words of their own. The rest are known only through other people's papers. What that silence means.
The record
- Born
- 1823
- Died
- ?
- Died at
- Not established here
- Outlived Brigham Young?
- Unknown - no death year recorded
- Marriage or sealing
- 15 Jan 1846
- Her age at the marriage
- 23
- His age at the marriage
- 45
- Age gap
- 22 years
- Phase of his life
- Nauvoo temple (Jan-Feb 1846)
- Type of sealing
- For time only ?
- Already married to another man?
- Yes (Turner n. 56) ?
- Her other husbands
- (1) William Whitmarsh
- Widow of Joseph Smith?
- No
- Sexual relationship?
- Not documented here
- Children by Brigham Young
- 0
- Lived with him?
- No - presumed stayed with Whitmarsh
- Divorce or separation
- None recorded
- Named in his will?
- Not applicable or not recorded
- Sealed to him as an adopted daughter first?
- No ?
- Kin tie to him or another wife
- None recorded
- Left the church?
- Not documented here
- Remarried after Brigham Young?
- No - apparently stayed with Whitmarsh
- Her later husband(s)
- None recorded
Source and confidence: Turner p. 136; Johnson Table 1 n. 24
A blank or “not established here” means the fact was not documented in the sources behind this table. It does not mean zero, and it does not mean no. We leave it empty rather than guessing, because inventing a detail of her life would be another way of not listening to her. The size of that gap is the argument for the book she never got.