WILLIAM MARKS
The testimony of William Marks—a man who was out of harmony with the Prophet before the latter's death! This testimony of William Marks sounds too suspicious, given as it was, when it was, and describing an alleged conversation which never could have taken place. "The reader will please notice," said David Whitmer in his Address (p. 41), "this fact in regard to William Marks' statement; and that is, the time when Brother Joseph told him that polygamy must be put down in the Church." That time was a "few days" before the Prophet's death.
True, the Prophet was no "fool" (Herald 51:74), and such a "conversation" as this related by William Marks would have stamped him "foolish, irrational and a moral suicide," because he could not bring a charge against others for that for which he was himself responsible. The Prophet had plural wives, and had officiated in the ceremony of the sealing of plural wives to others. I have conversed with the principals in these cases, and know that they told the truth. Furthermore, Mr. Marks' testimony condemns itself. He proves—if he proves anything at all—that the Prophet was responsible for this doctrine. This thought is in harmony with the early teachings of the original elders of the Reorganization, for the time was when even your elders acknowledged that the Prophet received the revelation on celestial (including plural) marriage. On this point David Whitmer says:
As time rolled on, many of the Reorganization saw that to continue to acknowledge that Brother Joseph received the revelation would bring bitter persecution upon themselves, as the public feeling at that time was very bitter. * * * The leaders of the Reorganized church, after a time, began to suppress their opinions concerning this matter. They would answer the question when asked about it "I do not know whether Joseph Smith received the revelation or not."