Mormon History Quiz

Q: How many women did Joseph Smith marry between 1827, when he married Emma, and 1844, when he died?
A: The historians are not exactly sure, but it's at least 30, and probably several more.

Q: How many do they bother telling you about at church?
A: Just one. Emma's a hero, after all - but not so much when Joseph keeps bedding most young (and some not-so-young) women in his vicinity and she's yelling at him and smacking him around some, as any right-headed person would do. So it saves Joseph's and the church's face if their first prophet isn't a polygamist (especially not [gasp] BEFORE the revelation was publicized) and saves hers if she looks like such a generous, loving, supportive woman instead of a reasonable normal human being.

Oh yeah - another thing they don't tell you about is the fact that several of these women were already married at the time, to living husbands, some of whom knew about the marriages and some of whom did not. I don't think they're too interested in the polyandrous side of things, although I knew from a young age that I'd be a sister-wife in a polygamous heaven.

Q: (just for fun, this one)How many sets of sisters did Joseph marry?
A: I think it's 3 or 4, can't remember exactly, but at least 3.

Q: How old was the youngest and the oldest when they were married?
A: Helen Mar Kimball - 14. Rhoda Richards - 58.

You can see short bios of all the well-documented wives at www.wivesofjosephsmith.org.