Here is the Part of that FARMS Review that Blog Web Site Page was Referring to:
The Partridge and Lawrence Sisters
Emma was at the peak of resentment against plural marriage in July and August of 1843, demanding about this time that Emily and Eliza Partridge leave the Mansion House, though she had earlier given permission for their marriages. From Emma's viewpoint, there were several problems, including the proximity of young wives in the family residence that doubled as a hotel. Relying on Emily's candid memoirs, Compton tells how the Partridge sisters were evicted and resettled elsewhere in Nauvoo. And as he suggests, the Clayton journal of 16 August indicates that Emma threatened divorce, which forced Joseph to agree to these sisters leaving the household (see p. 411). In Sacred Loneliness gives an ambiguous picture of what this meant to the Prophet, first saying that "Joseph seems to have agreed to separate from his two young wives" (p. 410). This fits Emily's understanding, if it means they were to end a marriage for time in favor of one for eternity. She says that Emma "wanted us immediately divorced . . . but we thought different. We looked upon the covenants we had made as sacred."21 Emily's statements are informative and introspective, and she always treated her sealing to Joseph Smith as eternally binding (see p. 733). However, In Sacred Loneliness further concludes that Joseph "allowed the marriages to lapse" (p. 432). The author explains that Joseph shook hands with the sisters, granting that "the marriage is over" (p. 411). That statement, however, is doctrinally incorrect because nothing says the priesthood sealing was canceled.
The author reasons from Emily's "Autobiography," which tells how Emma confronted Joseph and these sisters: "She insisted that we should promise to break our covenants, that we had made before God. Joseph asked her if we made her the promises she required, if she would cease to trouble us, and not persist in our marrying some one else. She made the promise. Joseph came to us and shook hands with us, and the understanding was that all was ended between us" (quoted on p. 410). So the earthly marriage was suspended, but nothing was said or done to terminate the eternal sealing that had also taken place. Joseph was apparently protecting that—otherwise why would he ask Emma not to insist on the sisters "marrying some one else."
Joseph's intention in these conflicts is given in the 16 August 1843 Clayton journal entry, quoted and paraphrased by Compton (see pp. 411, 732), as the secretary reported the Prophet's frank conversation. Since Emma was unyielding, "he had to tell her he would relinquish all for her sake. She said she would give him E[mily] and E[liza] P[artridge], but he knew if he took them she would pitch on him and obtain a divorce and leave him. He, however, told me he should not relinquish anything."22 One could read this as ambivalence on the part of Joseph Smith, but he was a highly decisive person. He sincerely negotiated to keep Emma, for after her fierce rejection of the polygamy revelation of 12 July 1843, Clayton tells how they spent the next morning in expressing their feelings and working out "an agreement they had mutually entered into." In fact, Joseph showed his willingness to "relinquish all" for Emma, including his earthly relationship with the Partridge sisters. But as just discussed, he also asked Emma not to insist that they marry someone else. This furnishes the clue to consistency in the 16 August Clayton journal entry, ending with his intention, "he should not relinquish anything." This would be true for the life to come, since the sealings for eternity were still in force.
The Lawrence sisters continued to live in the Mansion House after the Partridge sisters moved to other Nauvoo homes. In Sacred Loneliness mentions several reliable documents indicating that Emma approved and was present when Maria and Sarah Lawrence were sealed to Joseph Smith (see pp. 743—44). So the author's tentative conclusion is puzzling: "It is entirely possible that she gave her permission for these marriages, as Emily asserts" (p. 475). The Lawrence family was converted in Canada and moved to Illinois before the father died, after which time Joseph Smith was appointed guardian of the children who had not reached legal majority. The Prophet managed the whole estate under court supervision. Ex-Mormon William Law gave exaggerated figures in later accusing Joseph Smith of mismanagement. However, author Compton recognizes that Gordon Madsen discovered new documents (see p. 475) and summarizes part of Madsen's 1996 Mormon History Association paper (see pp. 742-43). Madsen, a senior attorney and meticulous historian, gave expert interpretations on the meaning of the entries preserved in the Illinois probate records and in existing Joseph Smith account books. Compton accepts these new insights in his notes, but straddles the fence by using William Law's incorrect version in the chapter that weaves the Lawrence estate in and out of the narrative.
In Sacred Loneliness quotes Law's interview on the subject, as printed in 1887 in the Salt Lake Daily Tribune (see pp. 742—43). Compton says the interview "contains some factual errors," undervaluing Madsen's paper, which showed that most of what Law said about the estate itself was incorrect. Law claimed that its assets were worth $8,000, and that Joseph charged $3,000 for boarding Maria and Sarah Lawrence (quoted on pp. 742—43). Compton correctly rounds off the actual inventory of assets, as recovered by Madsen in court records: "The inheritance was $3,831.54 . . . in a farm in Lima ($l,000) and promissory notes ($3,000)" (p. 743). However, Compton publicizes Law's story that in 1845 Joseph's estate "still owed the young women $5,000" (p. 478). Compton adds: "While this is too large a figure, there was apparently money due them" (p. 478). However, Madsen's paper quoted the will, under which Maria and Sarah would share equal parts of the estate with several siblings, but the distribution was not due during the life of their widowed mother, who was entitled to her share of annual interest on the undivided assets. Compton does not report other important findings of Madsen. Between 1841 and early 1844, Joseph Smith charged nothing for boarding Maria and Sarah, nor did he bill the estate for management fees.
The Bold Font Colour Blue Emphasis is Mine.
Here is The Hyper-Link to this FARMS Review:
FARMS Review: Volume - 10, Issue - 2:"And I've said it before, you want to know what Joseph Smith looked like in Nauvoo, just look at Trump." - Fence Sitter