LUCINDA MORGAN HARRIS

Lucinda Harris, and her husband George, joined the “Church of the Latter Day Saints” during the fall of 1834.  The missionary, Orson Pratt, records in his journal: “At Terre haute I preached a few times, and baptized George W. Harris and his wife...”.  The following year, George and Lucinda moved to Missouri, to gather in “Zion” with the rest of the Saints.

In early 1838, amidst growing dissent and legal problems, Joseph Smith fled Kirtland, Ohio for Far West, Missouri.  A leader in Far West, George Harris met Joseph and Emma upon their arrival.  Joseph wrote: “We were immediately received under the hospitable roof of George W. Harris who treated us with all kindness possible. here we refreshed ourselves with much satisfaction after our long and tedious journey.”.  The Smiths lived in the Harris home for two months before moving into a home of their own.

The date of the marriage between Joseph and Lucinda is uncertain.  Sarah Pratt, a friend of Lucinda’s (and wife of Apostle Orson Pratt), indicated that the wedding occurred sometime during Joseph’s stay in Missouri.  After marrying Joseph, Lucinda continued to live with George.  This was typical of Joseph’s other polyandrous unions.  It is uncertain if Lucinda’s first husband, George, was aware of the marriage.

Unrest in Missouri forced Joseph Smith to flee to Illinois.  From Nauvoo, Joseph wrote to Lucinda and George, that he had selected a lot for them, “just across the street from my own”.  Shortly thereafter, Lucinda and George moved from Far West to Nauvoo. 

As “Acting Associate Justice” in Nauvoo, George presided over the city council meeting on June 10, 1844 when the claims of the dissenting newspaper, the “Nauvoo Expositor” were discussed.  The minutes of the meeting record: “Alderman Harris spoke from the chair, and expressed his feelings that the press ought to be demolished.”.  The city council passed a resolution that directed the destruction of the press.  Joseph Smith was soon arrested for abetting this destruction and was later killed in Carthage on June 27th. 

Joseph’s body was returned to Nauvoo.  B.W. Richmond, a visiting journalist, unaware of Joseph and Lucinda’s relationship, wrote, “[Mrs. Harris was] standing at the head of Joseph Smith’s body, her face covered, and her whole frame convulsed with weeping.”

Lucinda later divorced George Harris and according to one biographer, “Mrs. Harris afterward joined the (Catholic) Sisters of Charity, and at the breaking out of the civil war, was acting in that capacity in the hospitals at Memphis Tennessee...”.
 

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