About this time a 37-page pamphlet titled "An Israelite, and a Shepherd of Israel. An Extract from a Manuscript entitled The Peace Maker, or the Doctrines of the Millennium" is published in Nauvoo by "J. Smith, printer." The pamphlet uses the scriptures to defend the practice of polygamy, and is published about a month after John C. Bennett's expose of Mormonism (with its lurid tales of "spiritual wifery") has been published. The author of the pamphlet, Udney Hay Jacob, is a nonmember. When there is a negative uproar about the contents of the pamphlet, Joseph Smith, on Dec. 1, 1842, denies that he knew the content of the pamphlet before publication, but defends the author's right to publish his opinions.
[Source: Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
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