BYU Studies Quarterly
Keywords
Mormon studies, Kirtland, Newel Knight, Lydia Bailey, wedding
Abstract
In October 1835, Newel Knight and Lydia Bailey, two spouseless adults still in the prime of life, found themselves living in the same boardinghouse and eating at the same dining table. As lodgers with Hyrum and Jerusha Smith in Kirtland, Ohio, they had good reason to notice each other. Lydia's husband had deserted her more than three years earlier, and Newel's wife had died, a year before. Romance developed quickly, and in a couple of months, Lydia accepted Newel's marriage proposal. Their pending wedding led Joseph Smith, who had personally converted both Lydia and newel, to declare his right to perform marriages. Being a leader in a church that had published its beliefs concerning marriage, he could legally do so, and he also believed he had authority from God by virtue of the priesthood he held. Nevertheless, the wedding has given rise in recent times to historical controversy.
Recommended Citation
Hartley, William G.
(2000)
"Newel and Lydia Bailey Knight's Kirtland Love Story and Historic Wedding,"
BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 39:
Iss.
4, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol39/iss4/2