Did Joseph Smith practice plural marriage in Nauvoo?

The July 1842 sealing instructions survive in copies. Joseph’s August letter to Sarah Ann and her parents and his March 1843 blessing to her are originals. Those documents fit the instructions and the later testimony about her sealing.

You distinguish the date assigned to the instructions from the dates of their copies, then look for corroboration.

The surviving July 1842 revelation is Joseph’s original handwritten record of the ceremony.

The original instructions are apparently lost. The source note identifies the surviving copies, including the Whitney family typescript.

The Kingsbury copy is dated to July 1843. In June 1844, the Expositor printed affidavits from people who said they had read a written revelation or heard it presented by Hyrum.

You distinguish publication of the full text from evidence that the revelation circulated earlier, including testimony from opponents.

The 1852 publication is the first record of anyone describing a written plural marriage revelation.

The Expositor published sworn descriptions of a written revelation in 1844. Those statements were on record before Joseph’s death.

The denial raises a real question about what the audience was led to believe. The Whitney records, the 1844 affidavits, and later testimony still favor the conclusion that Joseph practiced plural sealings.

You acknowledge the denial and weigh it against records that bear independently on what happened.

The public denial should settle it because the only contrary accounts came from supporters after Joseph’s death.

The Whitney letter and blessing survive from Joseph’s lifetime. The 1844 public affidavits came from opponents of the practice.