Martha: A Historical Novel — Francis M. Gibbons

This historical novel is a fictionalized account of the lives of early Mormon converts Martha McBride Knight and her husband, Vinson Knight. The story focuses chiefly on their lives from the time of their conversion in 1834 by Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt through their experiences in New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois.

Vinson Knight served as a counselor in the bishopric in Kirtland; as the Bishop in Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Missouri; Bishop in Quincy, Illinois; and as the Bishop of Lower Ward in Nauvoo, Illinois; and as the first Presiding Bishop of the Church. Bishop Knight was a confidant of the Prophet Joseph Smith and served as a member of the City Council of Nauvoo, as a regent of the University of Nauvoo, as a member of the Agricultural and Manufacturing Society of Nauvoo, and as an aid-de-camp to Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Legion.

Martha McBride Knight was a charter member of the Relief Society. After the death of Vinson Knight in July 1842, she was married as a plural wife to the Prophet Joseph Smith; and after Joseph Smith was martyred, she was married as a plural wife to Heber C. Kimball with whom she migrated to Utah.