WHY A FAIR CITY AROSE IN A DESERT
The history of Utah is a history of the Mormons, but that history, as is
well known, strikes its roots much further East. It is not the purpose
of this story to give a chronicle of Mormonism, nevertheless, as some
startling events have marked the birth of nearly every religious sect, a
cursive glance at the beginnings of Mormonism seems necessary to
introduce us into the atmosphere of Mormon life and make our later
observations better understood. The brief account here given is largely
the result of personal investigation and of conference with old citizens
in the early centers of Mormon influence.
The revelation made to Joseph Smith on the hill Cumorah, near the
village of Manchester, in the state of New York; the delivery to him by
Moroni, a messenger from God, of the book written on plates of gold,
also a key with which to translate the mystic characters engraved
thereon,--all of which was alleged to have taken place in the year 1827,
naturally became the subject of much comment, chiefly of an adverse
nature.
[Illustration: JOSEPH SMITH]
A few persons accepted as a divine revelation the book as translated,
which was finally crystallized into the _Book of Mormon_, now held by
that people as a part of the Holy Word and equal in importance and
authority with the Old and New Testaments.
After suffering many persecutions, during which the disciples of Smith
gradually increased in numbers, the leaders of the New Church
practically abandoned the state of New York, a number of them reaching
Independence, Missouri, in the early part of the year 1831, where in
obedience to another revelation they established a Zion, a term which
appears to be adopted for their various centers of religious activity.
Almost concurrently with the movement to Missouri, a colony of the
scattered New York Saints settled in Kirtland, Ohio. In both of these
Zions monthly journals were published to represent the interests and
claims of the New Church. Temples were also built, the one in Kirtland
being dedicated in 1836. Records show that the Saints held their
property in common. In Independence and other towns in Missouri, soon
after their settlement by the Mormons, numerous adherents of the new
faith were mobbed, tarred and feathered. After continued tribulations,
which in the severe winter of 1839 developed into open warfare, they
were driven from the state, leaving their possessions chiefly in the
control of their persecutors.
They were soon heard of in western Illinois, which they reached after
being goaded at every step by the opposition and derision of the former
settlers. Nauvoo, or the Holy City, as it was called by the Saints,
became the center of their proselyting in that state. There they erected
a temple, which in many respects was remarkable, partly because of the
fact that it is said to have cost $1,000,000. It is described in detail
in _Times and Seasons_, Vol. II. The cornerstone was laid on April 6,
1841. They also established a university and built several factories.
Being industrious, they became prosperous and increased in numbers
until, as stated in Smucker's _Mormonism_, their churches in and
around Nauvoo embraced from ten to twenty thousand members. The
_Millennial Star_, Vol. V, reports more than that number in attendance
at the October conference in Nauvoo, in 1844.
During these years they claim to have been guided at all times by divine
revelations, which were given to their leaders and are published in
their journals. Having faith in the authority by which they were being
led, they acted as a unit in all matters, and thus became a power to be
reckoned with in the political affairs of the state. This subordination
of local civil government to the head of a new religious sect, and
especially to one which its adherents recognized as a theocracy, seemed
contrary to the spirit of American institutions and was repugnant to the
ideas of the early Illinois pioneers.
It was especially odious to those political leaders on whom the Mormons
would not unite their votes. This situation intensified the hatred that
had previously met them and they were soon confronted by fresh
opposition. It would appear from the text of letters addressed by Smith
to Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, prior to the election in 1844, that
he was arrogant in a high degree. In those letters he demanded from the
candidates a statement of what their attitude toward the Mormons would
be in case of their election. Some journalists characterized the demand
as insolent and yet suffragettes, labor unionists and other equally
respectable leaders frequently make similar demands.
On the 12th of July, 1843, a revelation was said to have been made to
Joseph Smith and was duly published. A copy is given by Bancroft, (page
160), sanctioning by divine authority the practice of polygamy. This
declaration seemed to afford sufficient grounds for a renewed war of
extermination. Then followed the bitter conflict between the citizens
represented by mobs and the state militia on the one side, and the
Mormons on the other side, which culminated in the assassination of
Joseph Smith, the prophet, and Hyrum, his brother, by a mob of about one
hundred and fifty disguised men, in the prison in Carthage, Illinois, on
June 27, 1844, where they were awaiting trial on an indictment for
treason. On July 25th, Governor Thomas Ford issued a proclamation to the
people of the county (Hancock) denouncing mob violence. The governor's
paper is given in _The Star_ of October, 1844.
This event occurred during a carnival of crime and murder in the country
around Nauvoo, all of which has given rise to such conflicting opinions
that the investigator, after conversing with numerous witnesses and
reading various journals of the time, cannot fail to conclude that both
Mormon and Gentile desperadoes infested that part of the state. Edward
Bonney, in a little volume entitled _The Banditti of the Prairies_,
gives a thrilling record of crime which he, as an officer, assisted in
bringing to light, and which resulted in the execution of a number of
Mormon murderers, but I discovered that he himself was brought to trial
under an indictment for issuing counterfeit money. A change of venue
carried the case to a Gentile court, where he made a successful defense.
Recrimination, robbery, riot, and organized resistance by both parties
in this war continued until the final eviction of the Mormons from the
state. Fourteen years had now passed since the New Church was organized
by a few obscure men. At the time of the assassination of Joseph and
Hyrum Smith the Mormon enrollment of Nauvoo numbered thousands.
The history of other new religious faiths was repeated. Mormonism was
strengthened by the persecutions through which its enemies aimed at its
extermination.
"Strive with the half-starved lion for its prey--
Lesser the risk
Than rouse the slumbering spirit of wild fanaticism."
In August, 1844, Brigham Young, in accordance with a revelation said to
have been received by him, declared himself to be the successor of
Joseph Smith, and in December he was elected by the great assembly at
Nauvoo, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
which was the name officially adopted for the new society. Sidney Rigdon
was also an active candidate for the office. His defeat was humiliating.
He was tried, convicted, and condemned.
Previous to the death of Smith there appears to have been but one
organized separation from the parent church, but Young and Rigdon were
not the only persons who laid claim to the mantle of the prophet, Smith.
The succession was bitterly contested by James J. Strang, who aside from
Brigham Young, was perhaps the first and most formidable aspirant for
office, partly because of his powers of leadership, and partly because
he declared that at the moment of Smith's death he received a revelation
that vested in him divine authority to become leader of the Saints. But
little seems to have been written concerning the remarkable career of
this Mormon prophet, who for several years exercised a dictatorship over
his few thousands of followers which in rigor hardly has a parallel in
our history. Some letters from his followers, and among them those of
Bishop George Miller, have come into my hands, and these give some
history of the Strangite movement. Miller had been appointed by Young
to organize the association to erect the Nauvoo house and temple, but
finally joined Strang and opposed Young. Neither these letters nor the
records in the historical society are so complete and convincing as are
the statements of Strang's own people.
It has been my privilege to be granted several interviews with the one
person who doubtless knows more than any other now living concerning the
life of the so-called king and prophet, Strang, and of the autocratic
rule of his island dominion. It was her husband, Thomas Bedford, who put
the final quietus on that monarch's authority.
Sitting with her daughter and me in their neat little cottage in
Northern Michigan, she modestly consented to give the full story, which
they both stated had never before been given in detail even to her own
children, but, as she said, the time had come when all the truth should
be given, and some of that truth had to that time for various reasons
been withheld.
Mrs. Bedford descended from hardy Connecticut stock, and at the age of
seventy-six abounded in vigor, and yet she was serene in temperament.
Her statements in reviewing the thrilling history of her experiences in
the Northern Empire were clear and definite, and she never hesitated in
giving either names or dates.
In the winter of 1844, Mrs. Bedford passed through the Endowment
house at Nauvoo. After suffering with the Saints in their various
vicissitudes of fortune and fate in Nauvoo and Nebraska, in the year
1850 and at the age of sixteen, she entered with her parents the Strang
colony on Beaver Island and spent five years in that fellowship.
[Illustration: THE KING OF BEAVER ISLAND]
James J. Strang was born in Scipio, N. Y., in the year 1813, and was
educated for the practice of law. He had been a Baptist until he became
interested in Mormon affairs and at Nauvoo, when Smith was at the
zenith of his authority, he was baptized into the Mormon Church and soon
became an elder. His complexion was florid, his hair was red, and he
wore a glass eye, but he was a convincing speaker.
As the result of an alleged revelation he established Zion at Spring
Prairie (now Voree) Wisconsin, where (so he often stated to his
disciples) he discovered eighteen metallic plates containing valuable
history. It appears that these were never submitted to the inspection of
his people.
In 1847 with a few followers he established a new Zion on Beaver Island,
in Lake Michigan, to which point considerable additional Mormon
immigration was attracted in 1849. It was his declared purpose to make
this island the center of Mormon power. In 1850 the government of his
colony was established on Mormon lines by the Union of the church and
civil government, and on July 8th of the same year he was formally
crowned King by George Adams, president of the twelve. I find this union
of church and state to be authorized, and the argument therefor
presented in _Times and Seasons_, 1844.
The assumption of civil authority by the Strangites resulted in much
friction between the Mormons and their opponents, though not so serious
as what arose from a similar cause in Illinois. The fact that the number
of votes cast on Beaver Island was equal to its entire population seems
to be conceded. It is, however, the inside life of that people that is
of present interest.
Strang had one wife, named Mary, when his kingdom was established, but a
revelation that he announced to his people decreed polygamy to be a
divine institution. He accordingly added four wives to his household,
the last two, Phoebe and Delia Wright, who were cousins, being taken
on the same day, as the sequel of a picnic held by the Saints on an
island in Pine Lake, which in memory of the happy event was called Holy
Island, by which name it is still known. Two daughters from his second
and third marriages were named respectively Eveline and Evangeline in
honor of whom two important townships in Michigan still bear the name
given by Strang.
Strang was the father of twelve children, four of whom were born after
his death and were the children of his last four wives. They all lived
together in the one home. John R. Forster in his report, 1855, on his
survey of Beaver Island, which appears in _Michigan Historical Society
Reports_, Vol. IX, states that Strang had six wives. My informant, who
was thoroughly familiar with the family and home says that this
statement is incorrect, but that Strang had said in her hearing that he
would be a father to the fatherless and a husband to the widow, and one
mourner did sojourn for a time in his hospitable log cabin.
Each of Strang's twelve apostles also took more than one wife, two of
the apostles having three wives each.
All weddings were private, none but officers who were to perform the
ceremony being present. The temple in which all these religious
functions were performed, and where services were held was built of pine
logs, hewed square.
In accordance with early Mormon teachings the use of tea, coffee,
tobacco, and spirituous liquors was interdicted. The payment of tithes
to the King, as well as the first fruits of field and flocks was
required. One of the earliest edicts of the King prescribed the dress
that must be worn by his people. The women were required to wear the
style of costume which Miss Bloomer endeavored later to introduce. The
men were commanded to wear an equally distinctive garb consisting in
part of a short jacket, with no skirt or tail to the coat.
Mrs. Bedford states also that from infancy and during the first four
years under Strang's dominion she religiously conformed to all the
decrees of the church. One day, however, she was discovered in her home
by the prophet when for a brief period she was wearing an ordinary
dress. The Prophet King at once declared that the rule pertaining to
dress must be enforced, or the people must walk over his dead body. The
strong, independent spirit of the woman rose within her, and the
beginning of the end had come. Bedford had previously been ordered to
appropriate some fishing nets, which were the property of others. A boat
had been stolen, and Bedford, who was a sturdy Englishman, _would_ speak
the truth, which reflected upon the integrity of certain of Strang's
apostles, whereupon the King caused his officers to enforce upon Bedford
a brutal punishment with whips. These were secured later and were sent
to a museum in Detroit.
The rule of a tyrant is quite certain in time to be brought to an end by
some lover of liberty and justice.
Night came down upon Bedford's home far back upon Beaver Island, and
husband and wife conversed together concerning the wrongs and oppression
of the King's despotic rule. Strang had preached that no bullet could
enter his body.
"If you are going to shoot Strang go now and do it," said the indignant
young wife, and Bedford went out into the darkness. It was long past the
midnight hour of June 17th when the waiting wife heard a pounding at the
barred door of their log cabin.
"Who is there?"
"Friends."
She stood with an axe in her hands prepared to defend herself, her
children, and her home. Stating what defence she would make, if
necessary, she told her visitors that she must know their names, before
they would be admitted. On becoming assured that they were marines from
the government steamer, Michigan, that her husband was aboard their
ship, and that they had come to rescue her, she unbarred the door. A
supper had been laid upon the table awaiting her husband's return, from
which the sailors were glad to take refreshment.
Bundling her two little ones and a few light effects, they fled to the
steamer before the King's officers reached the house.
Strang had been duly shot. In a few days a passing steamer carried him
to Racine, from which place he was conveyed to Voree, where on July 8th
he died from the effects of his wound.
Bedford was taken to Mackinac and placed in an unlocked jail with a
friendly guard, but boldly returned with his wife to Beaver Island.
There was no recognized leader. The spell was broken. The Saints
scattered, some in one direction and some in another, as opportunity
offered, by passing vessels. Women wept as each party embarked. It was
well known that at whatever port they might be landed their peculiar
dress, which marked them as disciples of the despised and now fallen
prophet, would invite the searching gaze and contemptuous jeers of rude
and unsympathetic onlookers. Such was in fact their fate. Thus was
closed the chapter of the Strangite defection.
An old pioneer has related to the writer the story of the gallows, which
was erected on the Michigan beach by the Mormons and which he cut down.
Upon it was suspended the effigy of an obnoxious Gentile, which is
preserved by its prototype to this day.
At the time of the dispersion of the Strangites Brigham Young had long
since established himself as the hierarch of the Mormon Church, and to
that master mind was delegated supreme authority in conducting a
movement that has hardly a parallel in history.
The occasion for prompt, energetic, and sagacious leadership arose when
in the autumn of 1845 armed mobs of so-called Illinois citizens
descended upon Mormon settlements in the vicinity of Nauvoo and burned
stacks of grain, and other property, also a score of homes, driving men
and helpless women and children of Mormon families from their own farms
out into the darkness. These brutal demonstrations were repeated by the
destruction of mills, factories, and business property in Nauvoo,
accompanied by demands that the Mormons must leave the country within
sixty days.
These facts are confirmed by Bancroft, who also quotes many other
authorities in verification. Governor Ford's proclamation which followed
the riots, embraced the statement that prior to the outbreaks Hancock
County, then occupied in part by the Mormons, was as free from crime as
any county in the state of Illinois.
The eviction of the Mormons from Illinois and other states, even though
they were despised, would seem to have been as lawless and barbarous as
has been the expulsion of Jews from Russia or Huguenots from France.
When thousands of Mormon women and children wept as they turned their
backs in flight upon the beautiful temple just completed and which two
years later was also burned by vandals, it was like the sigh of the Moor
when from the distance he cast his last glance toward the glorious
Alhambra and Granada from which his people had been driven.
The Mormons were now again in exile. And now came the chosen president
and prophet of that church, the Moses who essayed to lead his homeless,
impoverished followers to a promised land. The exodus of this people to
an undetermined part of the far West unknown to them cannot fail to
excite the admiration of their bitterest enemy because of the marked
abilities and masterly generalship displayed by their leader. Nearly
every obstacle that the mind can conceive seemed to confront them. Their
homes were destroyed, or abandoned for slight compensation and beset
by profane mobs that were often brutal, and doubtless inferior in
moral qualities to the Mormons themselves, and certainly not fair
representatives of the industrious citizenship of the state. The evicted
Saints moved westward toward the Missouri River. We have read the
pathetic story of their subsequent wanderings, and I, myself, have heard
it from the quivering lips of men and women who were apparently honest
and sincere. While suffering from hunger and disease, with inadequate
means for aiding their afflicted helpmates and children, the objects of
general derision and hatred, they turned their backs upon the homes
which they had built and loved, and like a conquered tribe of Indians,
(but less respected than vanquished savages,) they turned their weary
steps toward the setting sun.
A great emergency often calls forth an able leader. With a base of
operations in Eastern Nebraska, Brigham Young quickly laid plans looking
to the removal of his people to Northern Mexico, which then embraced the
present territory of Utah and had been brought to his notice by
Fremont's explorations. He would there establish his new empire in that
far-away wilderness, in a foreign country, and be at peace. In the
spring of 1847, he personally led his first party of 132 Saints across
the plains and over the mountains, and on July 21st, from the foot of
Emigration Canyon they beheld for the first time the sparkling waters of
Great Salt Lake, which in the following February, as the result of the
war with Mexico, was ceded to the United States, with the territory
south as far as the Rio Grande.
Less than two decades later our own little party also descended into
that valley. The stirring events of their past history and experiences
were then fresh and I may say burning in the memory of that generation
of Saints. We were also more or less familiar with the history of the
Mormons, as gathered from various authorities, and while inspired with
admiration for the heroism of their pioneers, we doubtless shared in the
prevailing prejudice against what was believed to be a misguided people.
The purpose of this brief review of events that led to the settlement of
Utah, is to enable the reader to share our preconceived ideas, while we
spent the remainder of the summer and autumn with the Saints. Our
business, on the arrival of our big train, would bring us into relations
with many men of affairs and with the heads of the church. These
relations were doubtless more unrestrained and cordial than they would
have been, if in return for their courtesy we had been expected to
publish a literary broadside of caricature such as they had become
familiar with. As a fact, a few journalists had reached the city and
after two or three days spent in sight-seeing, some of those writers had
seemed able to arrive at conclusions concerning men and affairs in Utah
quite satisfactory to themselves and with abundant material for humor
and ridicule. It has been my privilege to attend religious services in
many temples in the Orient and elsewhere, where millions of presumably
devout worshippers bend the knee in submission to divine authority, and
offer their prayers more fervently and humbly than I am wont to do, and
strange as I may have thought it that the faith of those people was not
the same as mine, I would not now discuss Mormonism as a religious
belief because my judgment may be biased by the strong convictions
inherited from my Puritan ancestry. Theologians trained in religious
thought and utterance have already passed judgment with the usual
result.
As the one overshadowing fact in Constantinople is Mohammedanism and the
Sultan, so in Salt Lake City it was Mormonism and Brigham Young. It was,
therefore, not strange that on the day after our arrival, which was the
Sabbath, our footsteps were directed toward the square, which was the
center of the religious life of the Mormons, and in which was the bowery
where their great services were held on Sabbath afternoons. The present
temple and tabernacle had not then been built. We were assigned to
favorable seats near the platform. The bowery was a rude structure built
on posts set into the ground and covered with bushes to shade the
worshippers from the sun. It was situated near the old tabernacle and
was used during the summer months. We were informed that it afforded
seating capacity for 8000 persons. Having come early to the services, we
waited, and watched the arrival of the worshippers until nearly all the
seats appeared to be occupied, and we glanced with great interest over
the vast assemblage.
[Illustration: BRIGHAM YOUNG]
I had been a regular attendant upon the morning services of our little
Congregational Church in the East and had been inspired by the vast
audiences convened and the eloquent sermons preached by Henry Ward
Beecher in his great tabernacle in Brooklyn, and I knew something of
church life and the means often adopted for bringing together audiences
for religious worship. What, therefore, I asked myself, was the power
or influence that had attracted this vast gathering of thousands of
worshippers to a rude sanctuary in that far-away town in a mountain
wilderness?
"Is this an ordinary Sabbath service?" I asked a man who occupied a seat
near by.
"O yes, this is about an average attendance."
"It would seem to represent about half the entire population of the
city. Are we not correct in that estimate?"
"Yes, but there are a few people here from outlying districts, who
attend these services."
At about that moment a man arose from among the few who occupied the
platform. He was above the average in height, with broad shoulders, a
deep chest, and a strong, well-knit frame. His movements were indicative
of great physical strength and vigor. He had cold, gray eyes, thin
compressed lips, a firm mouth, and a broad, massive forehead. He was
dressed in plain business clothes, and his bearing indicated that he was
master of the occasion. It was Brigham Young.
The thought at once comes into the mind that if the Mormon doctrines
were true there stood before us a man in whom was combined all that
there once was in Moses as a leader, and in Elijah as a prophet.
Suppliants kneel and kiss the ring of the Roman pontiff. The Mussulman
trembles if he approaches the Sultan, yet neither of those ecclesiastic
sovereigns arrogates to himself higher authority than was assumed by
this president of the Mormon Church except that being within the limits
of a modern republic the power of any church is in some degree
restrained. Moreover, Brigham Young was not an aristocrat, and although
his predecessor, Joseph, by virtue of his office as president of the
church, was Mayor of Nauvoo, and Brigham as far as possible was also
the political head of his people, yet he was not hedged about by courts,
princes, or prelates, but mingled with the people and was drawing
thousands to himself.
We are all in some degree hero worshippers. As a youth I had gone far to
listen to addresses made by some of our noted orators, chiefly because
of the fame they had achieved. With equal pleasure I had heard the
voices of Emerson, Whittier, Saxe, Bryant, and others who had become
distinguished through their writings. Our great generals also had been
objects of intense interest. On the other hand, we all remember our
associations with some men whose acquaintance had been formed before
their achievements had made them objects of public notice, and we
possibly remember that we then gave them but little consideration. The
prophets were rejected, the apostles were persecuted, yet if one of them
should now appear and be recognized he would be honored by the millions.
Before us in that Mormon tabernacle stood a strong man assuming the
highest authority that it is possible for man to claim. Thousands of
people were flocking to his standard possibly in greater numbers than
came at any time to the apostles of our Saviour.
After the first service that we attended in the bowery, we asked of each
other the question, "What will be the verdict concerning Brigham Young
in the ages to come?"
On each Sabbath when in the city I was present at the Mormon services.
President Young spoke on each occasion with but one exception, that
being a Sabbath when he was absent on an important convocation in
another town.
He taught that the Book of Mormon is a continuation of the history and
revelations of the Bible. Jesus was recognized as having been one of the
prophets, therefore the Mormons profess to be Christians. His sermons
treated largely on practical affairs of his church and people, even to
matters pertaining to dress. He urged habits of economy in household
affairs. Now and then when addressing his great audiences, all of whom
listened to his utterances with rapt attention, Brigham emphasized a
point by bringing down his powerful fist heavily upon his desk and then
pausing, as if to indicate that the fact presented was firmly nailed
down. As an apostle of temperance in the use of intoxicants and
narcotics he was uncompromising. Although many of his people had come
from England, Wales, Scandinavia, and other European countries, we did
not see an intoxicated person in Salt Lake City. One saloon only, so far
as we could learn, existed in the year 1866, and that was said to be
owned by one Charles Trowbridge, who consented to pay the required
license of $500.00 per month, which it had been supposed would be
prohibitory.
During our visit the relations between the Mormons and the government
were not friendly. In one sermon, while dealing with that subject,
Brigham said, "If we are ever obliged to leave this valley, we will
leave it as desolate as we found it," to which the people replied,
"Amen."
Heber C. Kimball, who was first councillor to President Young and Chief
Justice of the State of Deseret, a man to whom was conceded a high
character for sincerity and integrity, in one of his addresses in
Brigham's presence, said that he and the president once traveled 500
miles, and all the money they had during the trip was $13.50, yet they
paid out $16.00 for every 100 miles of travel. This he said was the
Lord's work, for every time they wanted money they had only to put their
hands into their pockets, and the required money was there. This
statement was apparently offered for the purpose of inspiring faith in
the hearts of their missionaries.
As is well known, nearly every Mormon was required to serve for a
prescribed term in such mission work as was assigned to him, and must go
without purse or scrip. The effect of this system is that their church
is represented economically and faithfully in nearly every part of the
civilized world.
Their messengers go with the Bible and the Book of Mormon as their
guide. We naturally gave to this last-named revelation a somewhat
careful perusal and confess that we found nothing in it that in our
judgment compared favorably with the First Chapter of _Genesis_ in
dignity of style or clearness in expression, no words as assuring to the
believer or as poetic in style as those found in the 23d _Psalm_, nor
any thoughts as exalted as are written in the 14th Chapter of _John_.
Its biblical style imparts to the book a semblance of antiquity. It is
either a history of races concerning which there had been no known
recent record until the alleged discovery of the golden plates, or it is
a clever fabrication accepted by hundreds of thousands as the truth.
We returned from Sabbath to Sabbath to obtain all the light possible
from the lips of the prophet concerning this mysterious revelation. Now
and then one might observe some newly arrived doubter, just in from the
mountains, who gave expressions of contempt on listening to the
exposition of some chapter. We have also heard the tittering of
light-hearted youths in the old Methodist prayer meetings in the States.
Brigham Young seldom indulged in flights of rhetoric, and his teachings
were often given in the form of commands and not as advice. He
frequently dealt rather at length on the social and domestic affairs of
his people, urging industry, temperance, economy, and thrift, and
advocated a simple, modest life similar to that which was required in
his own family, where each wife attended to her own domestic affairs. In
referring to his wives, which he did frequently, he used the term "my
women." This expression fell very unpleasantly upon our ears
unaccustomed to its use. We were informed that the terms "my man" and
"my woman" have long been in use in other languages, even with the
ancient Hebrews, but the phrase does not strike the right chord where
woman occupies the position she does in America.
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered each Sabbath. Water
was used instead of wine, and along with the bread was carried round by
officers of the church, during the delivery of the afternoon address.
There seemed to be no effort to make it the solemn occasion that other
churches make of the communion service.
In the minds of the curious there is a peculiar interest in the complex
family life of a people where numerous families center in a single head.
Although an occasional guest at the president's home, I found it
impossible to learn with certainty how many persons were comprised in
his family, and much diversity of opinion seemed to exist in the minds
of those who would be most likely to know the facts. On many semi-public
occasions I have seen sixteen of his wives and was led to believe that
to be the number then living. In 1869, after the completion of the
railroad, when the Boston Board of Trade visited the city, in reply to a
direct question made by one of the visitors, Brigham stated that he had
16 wives and 49 children. In the Utah notes MS., the statement is made
that this was the first occasion on which he publicly gave the
statistics. During our stay I noted such information on this subject as
could conveniently be obtained.
These notes have been revised after reference to some later official
publications and being now substantially correct may be of interest,
especially as the names of his consorts are also given.
The following is a summary of the names of the wives of Brigham Young,
the dates of their births as fully as can be ascertained, also the dates
of their marriages to the president, also the number of children
resulting from each union.
BORN MARRIED TO DIED NO. OF
BRIGHAM CHILDREN
-------------- -------------- ---------- --
Miriam Works Oct. 8, 1804 Aug. 8, 1824 Sept. 8, 1832 2
Cayuga Co,
N. Y. State
Mary Ann Angell June 8, 1803 Feb. 18, 1834 June 27, 1882 6
Seneca, N. Y.
Lucy Decker May 17, 1822 June 16, 1842 Jan. 24, 1890 7
Phelps, N. Y.
Harriet E. C. Nov. 7, 1824 Nov. 2, 1843 1
Campbell Whitesborough,
N. Y.
Augusta Adams ------ 1802 Nov. 2, 1843 ------ 1886
Lynn, Mass.
Clara Decker July 23, 1828 May 8, 1844 Jan. 5, 1889 5
Phelps, N. Y.
Louisa Beman Feb. 7, 1815 ------ 1844 Mar. 15, 1850 4
Livonia, N. Y. Widow of
Joseph
Clara C. Ross June 16, 1814 Sept. 10, 1844 Oct. 17, 1858 4
N. Y. State Widow of
Joseph
Emily Dow Feb. 28, 1824 Sept. 1844 -------- 7
Partridge Painesville, O. Sealed for time
Susan Snively Oct. -- 1815 Nov. 2, 1844 Nov. 20, 1892
Woodstock, Va.
Olive F. Frost July 24, 1816 Feb. -- 1845 Oct. 6, 1845
Bethel, Me. Widow of
Joseph
Emmeline Free ------ Apr. 30, 1845 July 17, 1875 10
Margaret Price Apr. 19, 1823 ------ 1845 ------ 1
Ashton, Pa.
Naama K. Carter Mar. 20, 1821 Jan. 26, 1846 ------
Wilmington,
Mass. Sealed for time
Ellen Rockwood ------ 1829 Jan. -- 1846 Jan. 6, 1866
Holliston, Mass.
Maria Lawrence ------ Jan. -- 1846 Died in Nauvoo
Canada Widow of
Joseph
Martha Bowker Jan. -- 1822 Jan. -- 1846 Sept. -- 1890
Mt. Holly, N. Y.
Margaret M. Dec. 19, 1825 Oct. -- 1846 Nov. -- 1852 2
Alley Lynn, Mass.
Lucy Bigelow Oct. 3, 1830 Mar. -- 1847 ------ 3
Charleston, Ill.
Zina Diantha Jan. 31, 1821
Huntington Watertown, ------ 1848(?) Had been
N. Y. sealed to
Joseph at
age of 17
Eliza Roxey Jan. 21, 1804 June 29, 1849 Dec. 5, 1887
Snow Becket, Mass. Widow of
Joseph
Eliza Burgess ------ Oct. 3, 1850 ------
Harriet Barney England ------ ------ 1
divorced from
former
husband
Harriet Amelia Aug. 23, 1838 Jan. 24, 1863 ------
Folsom Buffalo, N. Y.
Mary Van Cott Feb. 2, 1844 Jan. 8, 1865 Jan. 5, 1884 1
Elmira, N. Y.
Ann Eliza Webb ------ 1844 Apr. 6, 1868 Had been
Illinois divorced
from former
husband
It will be observed that of the twenty-six wives who were from time to
time united to Brigham Young, sixteen were added to his household within
a period of forty months, five were united to him in each of two years;
two of the wives, Lucy and Clara Decker, are said to have been sisters;
six of the number were widows of Joseph Smith, the first president;
eleven were born in the state of New York; and six were born in New
England. Our investigations also disclose the fact that two of Brigham's
wives were women who had been divorced from former husbands, also that
one of his wives, the attractive Zina Diantha, had been sealed when a
young girl to the prophet, Smith. It also shows that two of the wives
were not regularly married but were sealed for time to President Young.
These peculiar and varied relations will be referred to in another
chapter.