Yes. Brigham Young had about 55 verified wives on record. He married single women and widows. Strangest of all, he was sealed with two different mothers-in-law. Young swore he was a happy monogamist in his first marriage to Mary Ann Angell. It was Smith who convinced him to change his ways.
Smith beseeched Young to partake in plural marriages. His lifestyle peaked in 1846. In that year he married 20 wives. On the spousal end, it wasn’t all fun and games. Wife Zina Huntington sobbed bitterly upon moving into a home with multiple wives.
Why People Hated Smith
Smith was adored by his followers, but he was despised by many. His doctrine preached Christian scripture that was not in the scripture. To many Christians of the era, Smith’s new sect was heretical. Just as offensive, Smith willfully married multiple wives, refusing to adhere to societal norms, even after a movement led by his detractors succeeded in making polygamy illegal in the U.S. by 1862.
Smith reportedly took in as many as 40 wives. One reason Mormons were forced from one place to another was to avoid persecution.
Did He Really Have 40 Wives?
Yes. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently published information about their founder’s plurality of wives. Records do not show all the wives he eternally sealed with, code for intimacy in marriage, but he did have at least 40. Some were also married to friends of his.
The youngest, Helen Mar Kimball, was 14 when they married and his oldest was Fanny Young, 56. According to the prophet, an angel of God came to him several times and commanded him to go ahead with marrying more than one woman.
The 1838 Mormon War
The war, known also as the Missouri Mormon War, created the need for Mormon relocation in Nauvoo. Tensions and anti-Mormon violence led to Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs ordering Mormons to leave Missouri or be killed. Most of Smith’s followers escaped, joining an exodus of 10,000 who made it safely to Nauvoo.
It’s hard to say exactly why the backlash against Smith’s disciples was so virulent but naming Missouri the holy land did not help. He said the town of Independence in Missouri would be the Mormon City of Zion, land for his followers to inhabit.
The First Detractors of ‘The Book’
Smith rose to prominence in western New York where he grew up as a farmer. This is where he acquired his first flock of followers. But by 1831, his LDS converts were already feeling the burn of their prophet’s critics.
The ridicule of anti-Mormon sentiment marked the onset of the Mormon church’s slow crawl westward, riddled of course with conflicts like the war in Missouri. Ultimately destined for Salt Lake City, the modern church has proliferated abundantly ever since.