[Key Excerpts] On the scope of the practice: "Careful estimates put the number of Joseph Smith's wives between 30 and 40. Some were married to him both for time and eternity, while others were sealed to him only for eternity." On the earliest plural marriages: "The revelation on plural marriage was not written down until 1843, but its early verses suggest that part of it emerged from Joseph Smith's study of the Old Testament in 1831. Historical evidence suggests Joseph Smith acted on the angel's first command by marrying a plural wife, Fanny Alger, in Kirtland, Ohio, in the mid-1830s." On polyandrous marriages: "Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married. These sealings may be explained by the complex relationship in early Latter-day Saint theology between sealings for time alone and sealings for eternity alone. In these cases, the sealings to Joseph Smith may have been for eternity only, meaning they would have no practical effect during this life." On younger wives: "The youngest was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph's close friends Heber C. and Vilate Murray Kimball, who was sealed to Joseph several months before her 15th birthday." On secrecy and its consequences: "The practice of plural marriage was kept secret during Joseph Smith's lifetime. The secrecy resulted in part from the fact that plural marriage was illegal under the laws of Illinois. This secrecy led to considerable tensions between Joseph and Emma, his first wife, and among members of the church who were not privy to the practice." On the theological rationale: "Latter-day Saints believed that they were living in the last days, and that the restoration of all things included the restoration of practices known from the Bible, including plural marriage as practiced by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon."