before starting their exodus. Plural marriage Clayton accepted plural marriage as a religious principle. He is reported to have preached that a man could only enter the Celestial Kingdom by having more than one wife in 1873. Other church leaders disagreed with the teaching. They did agree that a man should take more than one wife when "Personally commanded [...] by the Almighty through his servants". Clayton ultimately married ten wives though three of his wives later left him. He married his first wife, Ruth Moon, before leaving England. He married four wives in Nauvoo and five more in Utah. His ten wives together bore him at least 42 children, with Ruth bearing him ten children. Clayton married four women in Nauvoo. Margaret Moon, Ruth's younger sister, on April 27, 1843, when plural marriage was still done in secret. At the time, Margaret was engaged to marry Aaron Farr, who was on a mission elsewhere. Seeing Margaret's emotional distress when Farr returned, Clayton asked Joseph Smith if they could annul the marriage, but he said no. Margaret insisted that she wanted to stay with Clayton, perhaps because she was already pregnant by him. On finding out that Margaret was Clayton's second wife, Margaret's mother, Lydia Moon, expressed her strong disapproval, threatening to commit suicide or move out. In order to avoid rumors about Margaret's pregnancy, Joseph Smith advised Clayton that Margaret should stay home until the baby was born. Margaret gave birth in February 1844 to a baby boy who died six months later. Margaret and Clayton later had five other children together. Clayton married Alice Hardman on September 13, 1844. He knew her from his time in the LDS Church in Manchester. Alice did not live in the Clayton home, but Clayton visited her in her own home, and they had four children together. They divorced in 1858. Clayton also married Alice's cousin, Jane Hardman, on May 31, 1840. They were sealed on November 20. 1844, but their marriage failed and she did not accompany Clayton when he left Nauvoo in 1846. Clayton also married Diantha Farr, younger sister to Margaret's once-fiancee, Aaron Farr. They were married on January 9, 1845. Diantha continued to live with her parents and was in late pregnancy when Clayton left Nauvoo with his other family members in February 1846. Diantha died on September 11, 1850, shortly after the birth of her third child.