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3. Joseph's history was modified to change his position on
plural marriage.
“The official History of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints was published in book form under the direction
of the First Presidency in 1902. The introductory assurance that
‘no historical or doctrinal statement has been changed’ is
demonstrably wrong. Overshadowed by editorial censorship, hundreds
of deletions, additions, and alterations , these seven volumes are
not always reliable. …The nineteenth century propaganda mill was
so adroit that few outside Brigham Young’s inner circle were aware
of the behind the scenes alterations so seamlessly stitched into
church history. Charles Wesley Wandell, an assistant church
historian, was aghast at these emendations. Commenting on the many
changes made in the historical work as it was being serialized in
the Deseret News, Wandell noted in his diary: ‘I notice the
interpolations because having been employed in the Historian’s
office at Nauvoo by Doctor Richards, and employed, too, in 1845,
in compiling this very autobiography, I know that after Joseph’s
death his memoir was ‘doctored’ to suit the new order of things,
and this, too, by the direct order of Brigham Young to Doctor
Richards and systematically by Richards.” The Quorum of the
Twelve, under Brigham Young’s leadership, began altering the
historical record shortly after Smith’s death. Contrary to the
introduction’s claim, Smith did not author the History of the
Church. At the time of his 1844 death, the narrative had been
written up to 5 August 1838.'” (Richard S. Van Wagoner, Sidney
Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess , Signature Books (Salt
Lake City), p. 322)
Joseph's Journal entry for October 5, 1843 was specifically
changed to reverse Joseph's position on plural marriage.
Here is the original entry
(Spelling Updated) Evening at home and walked up and
down the street with my scribe. Gave instructions to try those
persons who were preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine
of plurality of wives. On this, Joseph forbids it and the
practice thereof. No man shall have but one wife.
Now here is a picture of the draft journal entry (josephsmithpapers.org).
You can see how space has been allocated to make changes to this
entry and on the side is written at an angle: "To be revised".

Notice that the revision completely changes the meaning. Words in
Red are added and strikeout
words removed.
Evening at home and walked up and down the street with
my scribe. Gave instruction to try those who were preaching
teaching or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives; for according to the law I hold the keys of
this power in the last days, for there is never but one on the
Earth at a time on whom the power and its keys are conferred
and I have continually said On this, Joseph
forbids it and the practice thereof No man shall have
but one wife at a time unless the Lord
directs otherwise.
That was written in History,
1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] page 1746.

Denver Snuffer commented on this change in Joseph's journal:
The original entry is definitive with no exceptions
provided and matches perfectly with what Joseph consistently
taught: polygamy was not something to be practiced. If
Joseph was secretly practicing polygamy, why would he continue
this charade in a private conversation with his scribe?
Why would he unequivocally forbid it? Why would he demand
those practicing it be tried in a church court?
In order to reconcile this with the prevailing narrative that
Joseph was lying requires a person to ascribe significant
duplicity to a man shown now to have denied and forbidden polygamy
publicly and privately. Conversely, this document shows yet
another example of a willingness on the part of the LDS church to
modify historical records to fit a preconceived narrative. And
once again, contemporary evidence is found to show
Joseph perfectly consistent in his views condemning plural
marriage.
On April 1, 1845, Brigham Young recorded the following: "I
commenced revising the History of Joseph Smith at Brother
Richard's office: Elder Heber C. Kimball and George A. Smith were
with me." By this time Joseph had been dead for ten months. One
must wonder what revisions Brigham Young was making to Joseph’s
history.The extent to which the early LDS church went in making
revisions is only now beginning to be understood as more and more
historical documents are released for the first time. Consider
this perspective:
The official History of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints was published in book form under the direction
of the First Presidency in 1902. The introductory assurance that
'no historical or doctrinal statement has been changed' is
demonstrably wrong. Overshadowed by editorial censorship,
hundreds of deletions, additions, and alterations , these seven
volumes are not always reliable. …The nineteenth-century
propaganda mill was so adroit that few outside Brigham Young’s
inner circle were aware of the behind-the-scenes alterations so
seamlessly stitched into church history. Charles Wesley Wandell,
an assistant church historian, was aghast at these emendations.
Commenting on the many changes made in the historical work as it
was being serialized in the Deseret News, Wandell noted in his
diary: "I notice the interpolations because having been employed
in the Historian’s office at Nauvoo by Doctor Richards, and
employed, too, in 1845, in compiling this very autobiography, I
know that after Joseph's death his memoir was 'doctored' to suit
the new order of things, and this, too, by the direct order of
Brigham Young to Doctor Richards and systematically by
Richards.” The Quorum of the Twelve, under Brigham Young’s
leadership, began altering the historical record shortly after
Smith’s death. Contrary to the introduction’s claim, Smith did
not author the History of the Church. At the time of his 1844
death, the narrative had been written up to 5 August 1838.
(Richard S. Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of
Religious Excess , Signature Books (Salt Lake City, 1994),
p. 322.)
It would appear that every effort was made by Brigham Young and
those who followed him west to preserve a narrative. That they did
so is beyond questioning. It’s impossible for us today to decipher
their motives for doing so. Regardless, the original history
supports the notion that Joseph Smith was not a polygamist.
(Joseph Smith Monogamy, p. 17-18)
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