Louisa Beaman

1815–1850

Sealed to Brigham Young 19 Sept 1844 — she was 29, he was 43.

This was a sealing, not a marriage in law — plural marriage had no legal standing. What that meant.

Nauvoo, after the martyrdom

Who she was, and what happened

MORMONISM'S FIRST DOCUMENTED PLURAL WIFE - sealed to Joseph Smith in April 1841, the ceremony that started everything. Brigham married her nine days after Clarissa Ross, at his own house. His diary that day: 'staed at home all day my wife is quite sick,' and separately in code, 'I saw [sealed and wed] Louisa B. Smith.' Afterward he wrote: 'Grate is the work of the Lord in these Last days... the Lord is with me continuly.' She bore him five children, including two sets of twins; none survived. She died of a breast tumour in 1850 at 35, with Eliza Snow, Zina and Presendia around her.

Key dates

1844 Sealed to him 19 Sept 1844 A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
no date Temple sealing confirmed Confirmed in the Nauvoo temple, Jan-Feb 1846. Documented, but Johnson gives no date
1850 Died 15 May 1850

Nothing here is inferred. Johnson's Table 1 has one date column, so where an event is documented but undated it is shown as "no date" rather than given a spurious one — the missing date is itself a fact about how these records were kept. Only two of the fifty-five have a civil marriage date; for the other fifty-three the single date records a sealing, because plural marriage had no standing in law.

What survives in her own words

Nothing from her; a life of her was written by someone else.

No writings of her own survive. A full biographical chapter in Compton.

Compton ch. 3; Historian's Office Journal, 16 May 1850

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: 1815
Died: 15 May 1850
Died at: Salt Lake City
Outlived Brigham Young?: No - died before him
Marriage or sealing: 19 Sept 1844
Her age at the marriage: 29
His age at the marriage: 43
Age gap: 14 years
Phase of his life: Post-martyrdom, pre-temple
Type of sealing: To Joseph for eternity, to BY for time ?
Already married to another man?: No ?
Her other husbands: (1) Joseph Smith
Widow of Joseph Smith?: Yes
Sexual relationship?: Yes - children
Children by Brigham Young: 5
Lived with him?: Yes - household
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?: Remained LDS (documented)
Remarried after Brigham Young?: No - died 1850
Her later husband(s): None recorded

Source and confidence: Johnson Table 1; Turner p. 133; Compton ch. 3

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.