Dear Fanny:
Fanny Alger is known, inside the church, as Joseph Smith's first plural wife. Others might say it was just a normal affair, covered up later as a plural marriage. Fanny was a young girl of about 16, and Joseph Smith was an adult of about 28. I found out recently that Fanny is my 5th great aunt. Here is my letter to Fanny. Dear Fanny: I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way you were treated. I know that you were only doing your best to help while you lived with Joseph and Emma Smith. I'm sure you were a good worker. In fact, I bet you were a good friend and support to Emma. I can imagine you, and her, scrubbing dirt out of the laundry together and laughing as you hung each piece on the clothesline stretched outside. I know that your parents sent you there to help out with your family's finances. You were there to help two families, yet who helped you? I'm sorry that Joseph Smith, who was supposed to be a prophet of God, took advantage of you. ...