Delcena Johnson Sherman (Smith) Babbitt - wife #14

With Delcena Johnson (Novermber 19, 1806 - October 21, 1854) we have yet another widow. She was first married to Lyman R. Sherman, with whom she had six children, so right off the bat we can see that Joseph Smith wasn't following the virginal bride requirement. The couple joined the Church together in 1831 in New York. They moved Kirtland, then to Far West, and, following Lyman's death, Nauvoo. Delcena's brother Benjamin took her and her children in.

Then Benjamin was sent on a mission to Canada and before he returned in 1842 Delcena was married to Joseph. Benjamin accepted the marriage without question. Delcena was living with her sister wife, Louisa Beaman. The three of them - Benjamin, Delcena, and Louisa - would eventually all pitch in to convince Almera Johnson, Benjamin and Delcena's younger sister, to marry Joseph as well.

Delcena married a third time after Joseph's assassination, this time to Almon Babbitt. In 1850 he left for Utah without her. She made the trip four years later, eager to no longer be left lonely, only to die within a couple of months of arriving in Utah.

Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs (Smith) Young - wife #5

The early 1840s in Nauvoo is where and when Joseph Smith's polygamy took off. We can only guess as to why. Maybe it was because Joseph was under threat of death by an angel of God if he refused. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that now Joseph had an entire city full of citizens eager to show their faith and devotion in his prophetic calling and willing to do just about anything to gain God's favor. Whatever the case, Joseph's marriage to Louisa really set things in motion. Zina Jacobs followed in relatively short order.

Like Louisa, Zina had recently lost her mother to the early Nauvoo malaria epidemic. In addition to coping with her mother's death, Zina had to juggle the attention of two suitors: Henry Bailey Jacobs, who wanted a wife, and the nearly all-powerful brother Joseph, who explained (to his credit) he needed another wife. Henry had started his pursuit before Joseph, but that didn't necessarily rule out Nauvoo's number one citizen. Amazingly she turned Joseph down to accept Henry's proposal.

Or maybe Zina's refusal shouldn't shock us at all. How many women are dying to become a sister wife?

A couple of months later Joseph came back at Zina with this story:

Obviously the death-threatening angel bullshit worked. Despite the deep shame she felt by consenting, Zina eventually (and conveniently) gained a testimony of plural marriage.

Zina continued living with Henry, but Joseph kept sending Henry on missions. After Joseph was killed, Zina married Brigham Young, who sent Henry to England. Zina then moved in with Brigham and his other wives leaving Henry feeling like total shit. Poor Zina. Poor Henry.

Why was Zina ever a candidate for plural marriage? She was not a virgin and she did not bear children with Joseph. And do you honestly think Emma gave her consent?

Here is the Feminist Mormon Housewives Podcast episode about her. 

Louisa Beaman (Smith) Young - wife #4

Louisa Beaman (February 7, 1815 - May 16, 1850) married Joseph Smith a couple of years before being baptized. Try taking an unbaptized fiance to the temple now and see what happens.

Louisa and Joseph had met once in 1834 when Louisa's father hosted Joseph and Parley P. Pratt, who were on a mission together. The next time she saw Joseph was in Nauvoo around 1839 or '40. She was living with her sister Mary and brother-in-law, Joseph Bates Noble, when Smith spoke to J.B. about plural marriage and asked that he (J.B.) marry him (Joe, Jr.) to Louisa. The wedding, conducted in April 1841, was secret and Louisa even dressed as a man to disguise her identity. The newlyweds spent their wedding night at the Nobles'.

Did Emma know about it? Had she given her permission? Not likely. At least Louisa hadn't been married before and was probably a virgin, right?

She later married Brigham Young despite her previously "belonging" to Joseph. She and Brigham had five children, all of whom died before Louisa's death to breast cancer at age 35.

Here is the Feminist Mormon Housewives Podcast episode about her.