The Peace Maker is a thirty-six page pamphlet written by Udney Hay Jacob and published in Nauvoo on October 29, 1842 which rejected the growing rights of women on Biblical grounds. Jacob claimed female power was growing, it was dangerous, and the way to curtail it was through polygamy and granting men the sole power of divorce. On December 1st, Smith printed a denial of any connection to the work, and stated that it had been published without his knowledge.
Reaction
Smith denounced the pamphlet in the December 1, 1842, issue of Times and Seasons, the official church newspaper, writing:
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There was a book printed at my office, a short time since, written by Udney H. Jacob, on marriage, without my knowledge; and had I been apprised of it, I should not have printed it; not that I am opposed to any man enjoying his privileges; but I do not wish to have my name associated with the authors, in such an unmeaning rigmarole of nonsence , folly, and trash. JOSEPH SMITH.
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However, other sources raise the possibility that this statement may have been misleading. In particular, John D. Lee's 1877 "Confessions" states, speaking about the 1842–43 period:
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During the winter Joseph, the Prophet, set a man by the name of Udney Hay Jacob to select from the Old Bible scriptures as pertained to polygamy, or celestial marriage, to write it in pamphlet form, and to advocate that doctrine. This he did as a feeler among the people, to pave the way for celestial marriage.
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Laurel Thatcher Ulrich notes that while both Jacob and Smith used Biblical arguments to justify polygamy (which Smith secretly practiced at the time), the beliefs about divorce espoused in The Peace Maker do not match Joseph Smith's teachings or practices on divorce.