How many wives did Mormon Church leaders have?
Church founder Joseph Smith had at least 33 wives. One was 14. Five others were 17 or under. He married five pairs of sisters. Two of which were his own adopted daughters. After his death, another 335 women were sealed to him, many of whom he did not know. (Religion and Sexuality, p 156) Second LDS Church leader Brigham Young had 55 wives. Ten of them divorced him. At his death, Brigham Young’s oldest child was 52 and his youngest was 7. Third LDS Church leader John Taylor had 15 wives. Three wives divorced him. (A Book of Mormons, 1982, pg 354) Fourth LDS Church leader Wilford Woodruff had at least 10 plural wives. According to his record, he was also sealed to 336 dead single women. Fifth LDS Church leader Joseph F. Smith married at 20 and then married five others later. His first wife divorced him on the grounds of “adulterous intercourse” with his “concubines.” Did polygamist marriages produce more children than monogamous marriages? No, plural marriages produced fewer children tha
