Chapter Thirteen: Polygamy
“I could get you all wives”
(Wardle, Isaac, letter 1879)
Should each prove true
their work to do
Like true and faithful
wives
Then all shall share, my
love and care
With crowns of endless
lives. . . . . . (Johnson)
The
church espoused polygamy. There are
reports of the doctrine having been received as early as 1831, and practiced
among church leaders from as early as the early 1840s. This is based on a revelation given to Joseph
Smith, and recorded in 1843 D&C 132:
30 Abraham
received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose
loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which were to continue so long as they
were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they
should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as
innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye
could not number them.
31 This
promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto
Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein
he glorifieth himself.
32 Go ye,
therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law and ye shall be
saved.
33 But if
ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promise of my Father, which he
made unto Abraham.
…61 And
again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin,
and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he
espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then
is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he
cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
62 And if
he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for
they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
The leaders
of the Church began this practice before Joseph Smith was killed, but it was
not public. It was made public in
1852. “On
August 29, 1852, at a general conference of Mormons in Salt Lake City, the
church leadership publicly acknowledged plural marriage for the first time.
Orson Pratt, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, delivered a lengthy
discourse, inviting the members to "look upon Abraham's blessings as your
own, for the Lord blessed him with a promise of seed as numerous as the sand
upon the seashore." After Pratt finished, Young read aloud Smith's
revelation on plural marriage. (Roberts
2) "Pratt announced that he had
unexpectedly been called upon to address the crowd on the subject of 'plurality
of lives.' Denying that the practice had
been instituted to 'gratify the carnal lusts and feelings of man,' he argued
that its chief purpose was to provide righteous men and women the opportunity
to have 'a numerous and faithful posterity to be raised up and taught in the
principles of righteousness and truth.’”
(Van Wagoner)
That the Saints might take more than one wife
was not publicly announced until 1852; but it was included in a revelation at
least nine years earlier. The original teaching on this subject was a simple
revival of the practice of polygamy by Old Testament Patriarchs; which had been
sanctioned by God. (Taylor, P.A.M. p 10)
Polygamy was openly taught in the churches in
England after this time. “At this time
polygamy was taught in all their churches.”
(Goodaker, BYU) The announcement was made public in England
before Isaac emigrated.
There were two basic tenants of how polygamy
worked. The first is that entry into a
polygamous relationship was a very serious manner, and was through personal and
church revelation. (See Van Wagoner p
3) The second is that entry into a
polygamous relationship required approval of church leadership. "Some men entered plural marriage
because they were asked to do so by Church leaders, while others initiated the
process themselves; all were required to obtain the approval of Church leaders
before entering a plural marriage."
(lds.org/plural marriage)
"Sometimes a man might take a new wife due to personal inspiration,
the sense that God desired it. But as
frequently a more highly ranked officer in the church might take him aside and
note that his leaders felt the time was right for him to take another
wife." (Bowman p 129)
Church leadership was sometimes a reason to
practice polygamy. However, entry into
polygamy was not a requirement for leadership positions. With the exception of general authorities and
stake officers, both polygamous and monogamous men were called to different
leadership roles. (Embry chart p 111)
The Millennial Star explained the process of
polygamy:
(Extract
from the Seer) No man in Utah, who
already has a wife, and who may desire to obtain another, has any right to make
any propositions of marriage to a lady, until he has consulted the President
over the whole Church, and through him, obtains a revelation from God, as to
whether it would be pleasing in His sight.
If he is forbidden by revelation, that ends the matter; if, by
revelation, the privilege is granted, he still has no right to consult the
feelings of the young lady, until he has obtained the approbation of her
parents, provided they are living in Utah; if their consent cannot be obtained,
this also ends the matter. But if the
parents or guardians freely give their consent, then he may make propositions
of marriage to the young lady; if she refuse these propositions, this also ends
the matter; but if she accept, a day is generally set apart by the parties, for
the marriage ceremony to be celebrated.
It is necessary to state, that before any man takes the least step
towards getting another wife, it is his duty to consult the feelings of the
wife which he already has, and obtain her consent.
...It is
the duty of a man who takes another wife, to look after her welfare and
happiness, and to provide for her the comforts of life, the same as for the
first. (MS XV 1853 pp 214-15)
Entry into plural marriage was not based on
lust, nor even sometimes romance:
For these
early Latter-day Saints, plural marriage was a religious principle that
required personal sacrifice. Accounts left by men and women who practiced
plural marriage attest to the challenges and difficulties they experienced,
such as financial difficulty, interpersonal strife, and some wives’ longing for
the sustained companionship of their husbands.
But accounts also record the love and joy many found within their
families. They believed it was a commandment of God at that time and that
obedience would bring great blessings to them and their posterity, both on
earth and in the life to come. While there was much love, tenderness, and
affection within many plural marriages, the practice was generally based more
on religious belief than on romantic love.
(Lds.org/plural marriage)
Contrary
to popular notions about polygamy, the Mormon harem dominated by lascivious
males and hyperactive libidos, did not exist.
The image of unlimited lust was largely the creation of Gentile
travelers to Salt Lake City more interested in titillating audiences back home than
in accurately portraying plural marriage. ..Mormon plural marriage, to propagating
the species righteously and dispassionately, proved to be a rather drab
lifestyle compared to the imaginative tales of polygamy, dripping with
sensationalism, demanded by a scandal-hungry eastern media market.
...Brigham
Young explained the purposes of plural marriage to a 14 July 1855 Mormon
audience: "God never introduced the Patriarchal order of marriage, with a
view to please man in his carnal desires, nor to punish females for anything
which they had done, but He introduced it for the express purpose of raising up
His name a royal Priesthood, a peculiar people."
…Plural
wives, like their husbands, viewed polygamy as a practical and honorable means
for providing marriage and motherhood to thousands of women who may have
otherwise remained unmarried in a monogamous world. Church leaders pronounced over and over that
plural marriage countered various social evils.
Above all they stressed that the principle was commanded by God to raise
a righteous generation. Mormons nearly
always entered polygamy because they believed it was essential to their
salvation, that God required it of them.
((Van Wagoner Ibid pp 89-90)
The
religious reasons were two fold; first to follow the prophet, and second to
follow God's command to multiply and replenish the Earth. While it is true, second and third wives had
less children than first marriages, the progenitors of a polygamous male was
much larger than that of a monogamous male.
(Embry p 40)
Open
polygamy changed the society in general.
Some of these changes were foreseen, including an increase in the
fertility rate. Others were not
foreseen, such as an alleviation of poverty as widows and lower class women
married wealthier men. Another
consequence was the lowering of the age of marriage:
While the
Mormon marriage system was in place....the church's influence on families was
decisive. The influence of plural
marriage reached beyond those who entered it.
When many women became plural wives, as they did in the late 1850s, the
entire marriage market was affected, and the average age of all brides
decreased. In addition, the church's
lenient divorce policy provided opportunity for women who wished to
remarry. Moreover, as the richer men
took economically disadvantaged women--the widowed, the divorced and the
fatherless--as plural wives, the wealth per capita within families became more
evenly distributed. Plural marriage thus
supported the goals of the church: it supplied all women who wanted to marry
and opportunity to do so; it fostered a more equal distribution of wealth; and
it provided aid to financially disadvantaged women by transferring economic
resources from wealthier men. (Daynes,
pp 13-14)
Almost all Mormon women married during this
time. "The demand for wives meant
that almost all women married. ...Less
than 1 percent of those [Mormon] women never married, in contrast to 7 or 8
percent of women….in the United States more generally. Moreover, immigrant women from Europe in particular
generally married within a year of arriving in Utah, nearly half as plural
wives." (Bowman p 131)
The change of the Mormon society from a
monogamous society to polygamist happened very quickly. There was no established norm. "Since
the number of wives permitted was never defined some men married beyond their
means. ...Courtship manners were not
well established... The rules of wooing
depended on the individuals involved: interest could be initiated by the man,
the prospective wife, or even the first wife who felt it was her religious obligation
to do so." (Van Wagoner p 90)
Polygamy was not the norm among members of
the Church:
Although
monogamy had been the most common marriage from among Mormons, polygamy was
considered the ideal from the mid-1840s to 1890… The standard Mormon explanation is simply
that God chose to introduce the practice, as he had in ancient Israel, and he
therefore made his well known to his spokesman on earth. However that may be, it is clear that the
Prophet typically went to the Lord with problems and then received
answers. A naturalistic approach would
pay a good deal of attention to the kinds of problems that entered the
Prophet’s mind in the first place. Among
these might well have been the practical difficulty of providing for all the
unmarried females who were attracted to the new religion. (Arrington and Bitton pp 194-95)
Based on
the best information now available, we estimate that no more than five percent
of married Mormon men had more than one wife.”
(ibid p 199)
Other sources indicate the prevalence of
polygamy was much higher, and that about half of the church membership lived in
a polygamous family, either as a child or married partner. (See Lds.org/plural marriage) Other estimates of the proportion of men
involved vary from one-tenth to one-fifth; and exceeding few of them took more
than a second wife.” (Taylor, P.A.M. p
68) However polygamy was the norm among
the leaders of the church:
In
emphasizing how small was the percentage of Mormons, who were directly involved
in polygamy it is important to recall that all the central church leaders were
polygamists. From the president down
through the apostles and the Presiding Bishopric during the period, no general
authority was a monogamist; the same was true of most bishops and stake
presidents, as well as, for all practical purposes, their counselors. The privilege of polygamy was granted to the
pure in heart and hence was a clear sign of worthiness for promotion in the
Mormon hierarchy. (Arrington and Bitton
p 204)
The rate of polygamous marriages varied
greatly from community to community.
Some had rates as high as 67 percent, while others as low as 5
percent. “...Polygamous men often
married only one additional wife.” (see
Van Wagoner p 91) Van Wagoner quotes a study
by Stanley Ivins in which two thirds of polygamous men had only two wives. Isaac would represent this group, having only
two wives at a time.
Mary AnnAshton
Isaac decided to enter polygamy with a fellow
handcart pioneer, Mary Ann Ashton, the daughter of William Ashton who left the
handcart company and joined the infantry at Fort Laramie. We can get an idea of Isaac's motives for
entering a polygamous relationship from a letter he later wrote while on his
mission. "And I was glad to hear
that our worthy Bishop William A. Bills and Thomas Jenkins was getting ready to
be a partner of Bro George Reynolds and stand up for God and His kingdom on the
Earth by taking more wives. I hope that
some of the brethren will follow suit. ...I hope that all the good will be married
before I come home." (Wardle, Isaac, undated letter)
As noted earlier, entry into a polygamous
relationship would imply the consent of the first wife. "Although the first wife's consent was
required by scripture, occasionally it was not sought nor freely
given." (Embry p 70) There is nothing written nor story told explaining
this with regard to Isaac and Martha, but most often the husband approached the
first wife and received consent before seeking consent from Church authorities.
It is not known if Isaac was familiar with
Mary Ashton on the handcart trek or not.
It is impossible to tell if they were in the same ward on the trek, as
records were not kept of who was under which captain of 100. However, with the circumstances of Mary's
mother passing away on the plains, and their father leaving the company to join
the infantry at Fort Laramie, and three sisters passing away on the trip, it is
likely Isaac had heard about them. The
surviving Ashton girls, Sara and Mary, had been taken in by local church
members. There circumstance for the ten
years after the trek until they married was not recorded. One family story says they were not always
well treated, and were forced to serve families as maids or servants rather
than treated as family members. Isaac in
marrying Mary, and Thomas Beckstead in marrying Sarah were rescuing them from a
bad situation. (As related at Isaac
Wardle reunion June 2010.) Thomas
married Sarah Ashton a few years before Isaac married Mary. “Thomas W. Beckstead, sixth
child of Alexander and Catherine Beckstead, was born April 27, 1833. Homesteaded in 1859. Thomas married (2) Sarah Ellen Ashton on
January 30, 1864. In 1887 the Thomas
Beckstead family moved to Whitney, Idaho, where they lived the rest of their
lives. Thomas passed away September 21,
1893, and Sarah died January 18, 1912.”
(Bateman p 65)
Isaac married Mary Ashton in August or
September of 1867. (Family Search has
the date 14 August, Mary Rupp as 23 September and Ronald Bateman as 14 September.) She was 16 at the time:
How the
contact between Isaac and Mary was made the records do not tell. Those were the days of polygamy in the
Church. Generally polygamous marriages
were made only at the instruction or at least with the permission of the
General Authorities of the Church.
Nevertheless, in the early fall of 1867, Mary was a young girl just
turned sixteen. They were married in
Salt Lake City in the Endowment House 14 September 1867. (Wardle, Orrin)
Marrying someone that young was common on the
frontier. Also the age difference was
also common in marrying a polygamous second wife. "Women did marry at fairly young ages in
the first decade of Utah settlement (age 16 or 17 or, infrequently, younger),
which was typical of women living in frontier areas at the time." (Lds.org/plural marriage) Well more than half of women married before
age 20. The age difference between
husband and wife usually increased with second or third marriages. Also the number of children usually decreased
with subsequent marriages. (See Embry,
charts pp 35-37)
Courtship was quite different during this time. It was less often based pm romantic love and
was usually shorter. The motivation for
courtship was often religious. (Embry p
40) In this case, it may have also been
a practical solution for Mary to leave a situation where she was being taken
advantage of and was possible bordering on being abusive.
"Marital love was not seen as something held
exclusively for one person. Learning to
work together for common goals including the ultimate reward, eternal life, was
more important than physical attraction. ...With this attitude about love,
nineteenth-century "dating" in monogamous and polygamous marriages
was much different from today. ...These
courtships were very short, and by our standards quite formal." (Embry p 40)
Mary lived in the same home as Isaac's first wife and her
two children, Isaac John Jr. and Crilla.
It was common for the second wife to initially stay in the same home as
the first wife and husband. "Often
the wives shared a home just after the second marriage, but as soon as it was
financially possible, the husband provided a separate one for each wife. (Embry p 73)
Family roles would have been similar to that in a monogamous families
with the only benefit being a sharing of some of the household chores. (ibid p 89)
During this time a second daughter was born to Martha, Araminta born 25
April, 1868, (Family Search) Generally
wives shared responsibility for newborn babies, or helped with the other
children while the birth mother attended to the new born.
A year and a half after her marriage, April 5
1869 Mary gave birth to William Haston.
Mary would not survive childbirth as she passed away. (Rupp)
“Isaac married Mary Ann Ashton in the Endowment House on
September 14, 1867. She too had traveled
across the plains in the Martin Handcart Company. Mary Ann died four hours after giving birth
to their only child, William Haston Wardle.
She was buried in South Jordan.”
(Bateman p 70) Uncle Orrin wrote:
Mary’s
life was not to last much longer. When
she gave birth to her first and only son, William Haston Wardle, on 5 April
1869, there were complications and she died only four hours after her only son
came into this life. It should be noted
that Isaac apparently gave the young son a name after his maternal [the son’s]
grandfather, only he heard the pronunciation of his wife’s maiden name as
Haston rather than Ashton. (Wardle,
Orrin)
Mary
likely was attended by the Relief Society President, who was also a local
midwife:
Ann Harrison Holt was a remarkable
individual who served as a nurse, doctor, and midwife. She also gave blessings by laying hands on
patients’ heads and pronouncing words of comfort and healing. … Ann Holt
delivered five hundred babies in the southern part of the Salt lake
Valley. She cared for innumerable sick
people and stayed an hour or a day, depending on their needs. Many times she cared for a mother and her
baby for ten days in a row. … She served as ward Relief Society president from
1869 until her death in 1901, a period of thirty-two years. (Bateman pp 43-44)
Ann Harrison Holt: Ann was a midwife who delivered more than 500
babies in the south valley area. For a
time, she was the only midwife and doctor between South Jordan and Point of the
Mountain. She had received her training
in England. (ibid p 86)
The relief society was responsible to sit
with the dead. This included preparing
the body for burial:
One responsibility of
the ward Relief Society was to help prepare the dead for burial. They helped by washing the bodies and then
placing quart bottle of crushed ice around them to retard decay. Saltpeter dissolved in water was used to
bathe the face to keep it looking nice.
“Sitting with the dead” was a common practice in which two or more
people sat with the body all night and replaced the ice as needed to preserve
it. This was often done in the parlor of
the family home. Burial clothes were
made by hand, as were the caskets.
(Bateman p 44)
This gives us some idea of the process Mary’s
body would have gone through before her burial at South Jordan Cemetery. She is buried in the middle, towards the back
of the cemetery, with her in-laws close by.
Sophia Meyers
Isaac did not remain long without a second
wife. “Isaac
married Sophia Meyers in the Endowment House on July 26, 1869. Their children included Charles M., Hannah
M., Atheamer M., and Wilford Woodruff Wardle.”
(Bateman p 70)
Isaac made Sophia a separate home on the same homestead,
close to Martha's. (Isaac Wardle
reunion) However when it was built, and
if she always stayed there I am not certain.
She did not have a separate home after the family moved to Idaho.
A
polygamous family had some things in common with other families and other
things were different. There was not
always a clear distinction as to who parented who. In Isaac’s case, Sophia took the major role
of parenting William. I have an original
photo of Sophia and her family. William
is included in this picture. Children however
had relationships with both parents. In
a letter Sophia wrote to Isaac while he was on his mission, we get a glimpse of
their family life. While Martha was
tending baby Junius, Sophia helped with her next youngest child Silas, “Little Silas is calling me to come to bed so goodnight and God Bless
you.” (Wardle, Sophia, letter August 6,
1879)
Because a woman did not
have her husband fulltime, this could lead to jealousies, or feelings of
loneliness. "Church leaders,
recognizing the emotional trauma that polygamy could induce, encouraged plural
wives to focus their attentions on their children and on church and community
activities." (Van Wagoner p 102)
Loneliness could be a byproduct of a
polygamous family, whether for the husband or one of the wives;
"especially when the husband was at another home." (Embry 130)
"While plural wives experienced loneliness when their husbands were
gone….the wives worked closely together in common interests." (ibid p 133)
In Isaac's family, the common interests were the garden and the
orchard. These would have been the
responsibility of the wives while Isaac tended sheep. "Religious commitment was a major
incentive for the wives to work together closely." (ibid p 139-140)
The admission that polygamy introduced trials
is a clue that it often led to heartache and suffering. The initial discussion between husband and
wife presented opportunities for misunderstanding and tears. If there was agreement that another wife
would enter the family, deciding just who it would be presented other grounds
for bickering. Once the new wife was in
the home, the wisdom of a Solomon was required to prevent jealousy from
developing. Who would do what
chores? Who would accompany the husband
to church meetings? To the theater? How much time would he spend with each? Possibilities of friction led those who could
afford it to build separate houses, and when polygamists were prosecuted, it
became prudent to maintain households in different settlements. Spending alternate nights or alternate weeks
with each family was a common method of attempting to be fair to both wives,
but even here there were practical obstacles.
After passage of the Edmonds Act, whether admitted or not, the fact that
only the first wife had married status in the eyes of the federal law gave her
an advantage over the others. And
although in theory all wives (as well as children) were equal, jealousies
between different families could easily make the plural families feel like
second-class citizens. (Arrington and
Bitton p 202)
Embry points out that the relationship
between spouses in a polygamous family could take on three patterns, mother
daughter type pattern if there was a great difference in age, a sisterly
pattern, or that of friends. (See Embry
pp 139) In reading the letters Sophia
wrote, it would appear Sophia and Martha took the role of close friends or
sisters. In the case of Martha and
Sophia, Sophia was literate and Martha was not.
Sophia would write the letters to her husband, and provide comments as
requested by Martha.
Being involved in a polygamous relationship
required personal growth. "Living
in polygamy and overcoming natural jealousies and selfishness took considerable
effort." (ibid p 128) One sister, Mary Jane Jones, would say:
Polygamy was a great trial to any woman. And it was just as hard for the man. He had to learn to adjust to his women and
his troubles were worsened by the women having to learn to adjust too. ...Polygamy was a great principle and we were
taught to believe in it. I know that it
does bring added blessings if one lives it the best she knows how. It makes one more unselfish and more willing
to see and understand other people.
After you learn to give in and consider other people, it makes you less
selfish in all your relations. I never
wanted polygamy, but I don't regret that I lived it. (As quoted in Embry pp 187-88)
Additional hands made for less work for
all. This included additional wives as
well as children. "Since the women
made all the food from scratch and clothing by hand, extra hands made the load
for each individual lighter and there was usually plenty for everyone to
do." (ibid p 94)
Children sometimes referred to their mothers
through polygamy as aunts, and sometimes as mother. (See Embry p 164) Although Sophia took the mothering role for
William after she married Isaac, William had positive relationships with both
Sophia’s and Martha’s cildren. William
is in several family pictures, some in the primary family group, but others
with siblings across groups. This gives
an indication that the sons of equal age were very close. (I have a portrait of William with Charles
and Joseph from three different wives.)
There were a couple of circumstances that
lead to supportive roles for Isaac's wives.
While Isaac was on his mission, based on the letters Isaac received,
particularly that of Henry Beckstead, it appears both wives were living
together. (Beckstead, Henry,
letter) Also when either wife was
pregnant, or with a baby, the other wife would provide extra support. (See Martha's letters) This was a common reaction in polygamous
families. "Moments of need--particularly
those related to health--usually saw extra helpfulness." (Embry p
147) Jessie Embry comes close to describing
the relationship between Martha and Sophia:
Although
any given set of human relationships is complex, the relationship of plural
wives, though sometimes strained, was surprisingly rewarding in many
cases. Motivated to accept polygamy as a
religious practice, plural wives tried hard to treat each other with respect
and love. ...There were jealousies, but the women
learned to overcome, deal with, or suppress them, and still love each
other. Relationships changed, especially
with childbirth and sickness, and brought the women closer together. (ibid p 149)
Gentile Reaction
The general population of the United States
abhorred polygamy. "The reactions
from outside the Church to Pratt's announcement and subsequent statements about
polygamy were immediate and negative. In
1854 the Republican Party termed polygamy and slavery the 'twin relics of
barbarism'" (ibid p 8)
Polygamy became a source of contention
between the Mormon Church and those the Mormons considered “gentiles:”
Of plural
marriage, little need be said. American
feelings of horror and fascination were stirred up again and again by books
written by outsiders or deserters to expose all that was bad in Mormonism. The fact that plural marriage was never
practiced by more than a minority of Saints, the existence of Church
supervision rather than personal caprice as the controlling force, the sobriety
of most Mormon family life, were all overlooked; and for many Americans Utah
became a society in which, to gratify the lusts of elderly hypocrites, maidens
were daily torn by authority from young men of their choice, who suffered
coercion or worse. (Taylor, P.A.M. p
68)
A review of newspapers of the period gives an
idea of the enmity in the non-Mormon community towards Mormons and polygamy:
Thousands
of female dupes, are annually brought over to the Salt Lake Zion. Rochester
U.S. Herald
This
Church of Latter-day Lepers sends its procurers abroad under the protection of
our flag, and fills it harems with victims duped with the promise freedom--the
most flagrant crime perpetrated today in the name of liberty. New York Herald
Another
squad of Mormon tramps left the city yesterday to rope the ignorant classes
into the Latter-day fraud. Salt Lake
Tribune, June 1 1881 (Jarman)
Morrill Act
The Morrill Act was passed in 1862. This act, "prohibited plural marriage in
the territories, disincorporated the Church, and restricted the Church's
ownership of property to $50,000."
(Embrey p 8) However this law was
not really enforced as the government was focused on the Civil War.
In 1867 the Utah Territory asked for the repeal
of this law. However the governmental reaction
was to seek even more strict laws with regards to polygamy. The Cullom Bill was introduced to strengthen control
over the territories. This bill passed
the House of Representatives but not the Senate. (Polygamy Faq)
Mormon women let their voices be heard on the
subject. “An
early public mention of South Jordan regarding polygamy was in the Deseret
Evening News of January 13 1870. The
article stated that twenty-five thousand ladies voluntarily assembled in mass
protests against legislation designed to suppress “patriarchal marriage.” South Jordan was one of the principal
settlements where such a mass meeting was held.” (Bateman p 167) “1870: “Indignation meeting” held by South
Jordan women to protest anti-polygamy in U.S. Congress. (ibid p 242)
"The Mormons continued to practice polygamy despite
these laws since they believed they were protected by the freedom of religion
clause in the Bill of Rights."
(Embrey p 9) In 1879, while Isaac was serving his mission, the Supreme Court
ruled that laws against polygamy were constitutional. Bishop Bills talked about a meeting in Salt
Lake that many from South Jordan attended, to show their support for polygamy
and against the persecution that the Saints were enduring. “We have
had a Grand Demonstration in Salt Lake City to welcome President D H Wells back
on his return from the Penitentiary as he was fined for contempt of court one
hundred dollars and two days imprisonment for not revealing the secrets of the
Endowment House. Most of our Ward went…”
(Bills) The persecution was very
heavy and burdensome, starting before Isaac left on his Mission. Bishop Bills wrote to Isaac. “The news that I
selected for you contains more news and rascality from our enemies than any
other paper ever published.” (Bills)
Isaac got some idea of the
changed atmosphere that took place while he was on his mission to England upon his
return home while traveling through New York.
(See chapter 13.) A New York
reporter confronted them ( See New York Times 1879) about efforts of the State Department with
regards to asking other countries to prohibit Mormons from immigrating to the U.S.
because of their belief in Polygamy.
Secretary of State Evart had written a form letter to go to other
countries. "It is not doubted,
therefore, that when the subject is brought to its attention, the government of
___ ___ will take such steps as may be compatible with its laws and usages to
check the organization [Mormon Church] of these criminal enterprises by agents
who are thus operating beyond the reach of the law of the United States and to
prevent the departure of those proposing to come hither as violators of the law
by engaging in such criminal enterprises by whomsoever instigated." (U.S. Department of State 1879) No
foreign government saw a way to comply with this request.
The
atmosphere and persecution of polygamist families Isaac met upon his return
home, was different from when he left.
After
the U.S. Supreme Court found the anti-polygamy laws to be constitutional in
1879, federal officials began prosecuting polygamous husbands and wives during
the 1880s. Believing these laws to be unjust, Latter-day Saints engaged in
civil disobedience by continuing to practice plural marriage and by attempting
to avoid arrest. When convicted, they paid fines and submitted to jail time. To
help their husbands avoid prosecution, plural wives often separated into
different households or went into hiding under assumed names, particularly when
pregnant or after giving birth.
(Lds.org/plural marriage)
The Edmunds Act
The Edmunds Act calling for more severe penalties was passed in 1882. It increased the penalty for polygamy, but
also added a misdemeanor, unlawful co-habitation which was easier to prove. "Soon after the Edmunds Act passed,
federal marshals began to enter Utah in force, and the period the Mormons
called 'the Raid' began. ...By 1886 every
Mormon settlement in Utah had been visited and its people
questioned." (Bowman):
As the legal wheels
set in motion by the Edmunds Act began to turn slowly, disruption of Mormon
life became extensive. Scores of federal
marshals were brought into the territory to conduct "cohab hunts,"
and bounties were offered for information leading to the arrest of
polygamists. Mormons not wishing to give
up their plural wives and children faced dismal options--legal prosecution, a
life in hiding on the "Mormon underground," or complete exile. Despite the bravado demonstrated by the
"cohabs," as the polygamists were called, those who did not submit to
arrest had to be constantly on the move.
Many Mormon men on
the underground hid near or within their own homes. Hidden compartments and
cellars--"polygamy pits" as they were called--secreted men who had
scurried for cover when an unexpected knock was heard at the parlor door. (Van Wagoner pp 118-19)
The Edmunds Act also questioned the citizenship of the polygamist:
.
...Starting in 1862, and again in 1882 and
1887, anti-polygamy laws were enacted in the U.S. Congress. Each succeeding law was harsher than the
preceding one. The Edmunds Act of 1882
provided for a stiff fine plus imprisonment of polygamists. It also took away the right to vote, hold
public office, or trial by jury. The law
took away the U.S. citizenship of violators.
Consequently, federal marshals were sent to Utah to hunt and prosecute
polygamists with the purpose of incarcerating them. The marshals were awarded a twenty-dollar
bounty for every polygamist they arrested which was an added incentive. Also, all local and state public officials
were replaced by federal appointees brought in from the East. In addition, the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887
resulted in the seizure of all church-owned property. The Mormons felt they were again under
extreme persecution. They had suffered
greatly in both Illinois and Missouri and had migrated to the West to escape
the persecution. (Bateman p 166)
One can
only imagination how Isaac would have felt at being stripped of the right to
vote, or hold public office. Isaac also
would have felt the pressure of federal marshals who searched for polygamists.
The
Edmunds law did not stop polygamy. The
Mormon men went into hiding, and if they were sent to prison would come home as
folk heroes after serving their term.
Consequently a more severe Edmunds Tucker Act passed in 1887. This law "required plural wives to
testify against their husbands, dissolved the Perpetual Emigrating [Fund],
abolished the Nauvoo Legion, and provided a mechanism for acquiring the
property of the Church." (Embrey p
10)
The
Edmunds Tucker Act also indicated that only children of the first wife were
entitled to inheritance. Isaac however
planned for this and left a will with all of his children receiving inheritace. (See chapter fifteen.)
“Federal marshals harassed the polygamists of South Jordan during the 1880s
as they did elsewhere in the territory…. Even after the 1890 Manifesto whereby
the church outlawed polygamy, the marshals continued to hunt for polygamist for
several more years. Finally, under
threat of excommunication, most stopped the practice. (Bateman p 167) One particular story of this harassment was
that of the Bishop:
In 1886, the federal marshals, who were
searching for Mormon polygamists, came looking for “Billie Bills,” as they
called him. Joseph Thomas Hutchings was
approached by the marshals, who mistook him for Bishop Bills. Fortunately, Mr. Hutchings was acquainted
with one of the marshals, Frank Drier.
Joseph warned the bishop, who escaped via an irrigation ditch and hid in
Hutchings’s straw stack for three days.
Mrs. Hutchings supplied him with food and water during the time he was
hiding.
Thereafter, Bishop Bills built a room in the
loft of his barn to hide in when harassed by the marshals. He had a bed, a chair, and a table he used
for a desk. When the marshals came
looking for him, Bishop Bills hid in the secret room. It was so carefully constructed that no one
but the bishop could find the entrance.
A raid undertaken in South Jordan on April
6, 1887, searched the houses of Isaac J. Wardle, J.W. Winward, Henry Beckstead,
and William A. Bills. John W. Winward
was arrested but was released when the marshal stated that a mistake had been
made. Alex Bills (William A. Bill’s son)
and Henry Beckstead were arrested and posted fifteen hundred dollars’
bond. Alexander and Henry were arraigned
in the Third District Court, September 22, 1887, on charges of unlawful
cohabitation, the which they pleaded guilty.
Alexander was asked if it was his intention to obey the law against
cohabitation in the future. His
matter-of-fact reply was, “No, sir; it is not.” (Bateman p 93)
As indicated above the marshals were looking
for Isaac in 1887. An indictment was
placed against him in 1887, and we was actually arrested in 1890:
Isaac J. Wardle of South Jordan was arrested
Wednesday, June 4 at his home by Deputy Marshal Doyle, on a charge of unlawful
cohabitation. He was brought to the city
and taken before Commissioner Greenman and bound over for trial at the
September term on an indictment found against him April 23, 1887. Geo. A. Lowe and S.P. Teasdel are his bondsmen. (The Deseret Weekly, Volume 40 p 824)
The Manifesto
The
Church issued the Manifesto in 1890, withdrawing support for polygamy. After
this time, very few new plural marriages were performed. President Woodruff explained, "This
Manifesto only refers to future marriages and does not affect past
conditions. I did not, could not, and
would not promise [the nation] that you would desert your wives and children. This you cannot do in honor. (Van Wagoner p 145) However even this statement was confusing to
some members, as President Woodruff testified in court, "I intended the
proclamation to cover the ground, to keep the law." However he further explained "he was
placed in such a position on the witness stand that he could not answer other
than he did. Yet any man who deserts and
neglects his wives or children because of the Manifesto, should be handled on
his membership." (Embrey p 13,
quoting President Woodruff)
Consequently,
the polygamist family was left with dual messages, and the individual family
confronted the Manifesto and the new laws in many ways. Some families chose to separate, the husband
generally living with the first wife, and the second wife living elsewhere,
often in another town. The husband would
visit only occasionally, like for conference or when in the area on
business. Some chose to leave the state
and even the country, moving to Arizona, Mexico or Canada. Isaac chose to stay with his wives, and
attempted to use the underground. The federal marshals only had jurisdiction in
the territories. For this reason,
polygamists would sometimes move to the states.
Isaac did eventually move his family to Idaho, perhaps to be farther
from the marshals. He also disappeared
for a time, perhaps trying to stay ahead of the marshals. (See chapter sixteen.)
Isaac
had affection for both of his wives (Martha and Sophia after Mary had passed
away.) This is expressed in his
missionary letters he sent to his family from England. “Dear Wives, it with love and affection that I set down to write to you and
my dear children.” (Wardle, Isaac,
letter Feb. 17, 1879)
