175 years ago today - Mar 15, 1842

The Church's official newspaper Times and Seasons formally apologized for a sexual joke that had appeared within a wedding announcement the month before. Blaming "the boys" who had previously been compositor and typesetter, this apology insisted that Joseph Smith (the newspaper's editor) had never written "a single indecent or unbecoming word or sentence" in his life. Referring to the bride and groom, the newspaper's offending word-play had stated: "... and they find a peaceful abode in the `narrow house,' may the many outs and ins they have made, leave to the world an abundant posterity to celebrate their glorious example" (emphasis in original).

[Source: "MARRIED--In this city on the 6th inst. by the Rev. Erastus H. Derby, Mr. Gilbert H. Rolfe, to Miss Eliza Jane Bates," Times and Seasons 3 (15 February 1842): 701, with the following statement on page 702: "The Times and Seasons, IS EDITED BY Joseph Smith" (emphasis in original). This announcement was immediately followed by another "MARRIED"-notice, signed "Ed.", in "Evidence For The Sexual Side of Joseph Smith's Polygamy," Comments by D. Michael Quinn on Session #2A "Reconsidering Joseph Smith's Marital Practices," Mormon History Association's Annual Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 29 June 2012 (unabbreviated version, revised during July)]

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