The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (frequently nicknamed the “Mormon Church”) has recently released a new study manual for teenagers who study the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of modern scripture that records the organization of the Church and its early history.

While the study of the Doctrine and Covenants for teenagers is certainly not new, the significance of this new manual is substantial. Several controversial events of Mormon history are covered in this manual. Whereas before, the focus was mainly the doctrine that is contained in the book and the history that brought about the revelation of those doctrines, the new manual also teaches the background about some potentially divisive episodes. Church leaders have obviously recognized that it is important to be very clear about these episodes and doctrines so that from a younger age members of the Church will know the truth and will not be so easily misled by enemies of The Church of Jesus Christ who present half truths or only portions of past events that, by themselves and out of context, could lead to a loss of faith.

Having an accurate understanding of circumstances, as well as an accurate portrayal of all the facts, gives the reader a fuller understanding of doctrines and events. There are some people who are very antagonistic towards The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of them willingly distort the truth to damage others’ faith. Some have honest misconceptions about the history of the Church and feel they are doing Church members a favor by telling them how it “really” is. By taking a new approach with the youth of today, church leaders are giving them the truth early so they can judge for themselves what is truth and what is not.

Seven of the topics addressed specifically in the new manual are:

1. The existence of multiple (and sometimes seemingly contradictory) accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision of God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
2. The Mountain Meadows Massacre and the tragic role played by members of the Church.
3. The origins of the papyri used by Joseph Smith when he translated the Book of Abraham found in the Pearl of Great Price.
4. The origins of plural marriage as well as the ceasing of the practice and the issuing of the Manifesto.
5. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and what it entails.
6. The history of the practice of not conferring the priesthood on persons of African descent as well as the time when the priesthood was made available to all worthy male members of the Church.
7. The age of the earth versus the timeline set forward in the Doctrine and Covenants as the age of man.

While the manual obviously deals with each of these concepts in depth, this article will touch very briefly on each.

1. Of the nine existing accounts of the First Vision, Joseph Smith is known to have written or dictated four of them. The other five are second-hand accounts written by people to whom Joseph related his experience. None of these accounts is contradictory to the others. Each contains specific details which Joseph chose to share in different situations. All of them record Joseph’s interaction with divine beings and knowledge they imparted to him.

2. The Mountain Meadows Massacre is a tragic event in church history. While some critics accuse the Church of hiding the truth, in reality, the Church has been quite open about this history as well as the sadness they feel at the actions of those church members who were involved. After being driven from their homes multiple times, some of the Saints were fed up and took it upon themselves to exact revenge and “protect” their own families. This culminated in a group of men attacking a wagon train of emigrants on their way to California. Their brutal and inexcusable behavior resulted in all but 17 young children of the group of 140 emigrants being killed. These actions were in no way planned nor condoned by Church leaders. As the full extent of these men’s actions gradually came to light, they were punished by both church councils (those involved were excommunicated) and government trials (nine were indicted and one was executed).

Far from excusing or trying to hide these actions, President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said on the anniversary of the tragedy:

The gospel of Jesus Christ that we espouse, abhors the cold-blooded killing of men, women, and children. Indeed, it advocates peace and forgiveness. What was done [at the Mountain Meadows] long ago by members of our Church represents a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct. . . The responsibility for the massacre lies with local leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the regions near Mountain Meadows who also held civic and military positions and with members of the Church acting under their direction. . . . No doubt Divine Justice will impose appropriate punishment upon those responsible for the massacre (“150th Anniversary of Mountain Meadows Massacre,” September 11, 2007, www.mormonnewsroom.org)

3. The Book of Abraham now contained in the Pearl of Great Price was translated by Joseph Smith from a collection of Egyptian papyri that came into the Church’s possession. These were lost for some time, but a portion turned up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Whether Joseph translated those exact records, or whether they simply served as an impetus for him to enquire and receive more inspiration is not exactly clear, but it is clear that the Book of Moses (also in the Pearl of Great Price) was given to Joseph through divine revelation, and the Book of Abraham partially by revelation and perhaps partially from the Egyptian papyri.

4. The practice of plural marriage was one all of the church leaders objected to personally, but which they ultimately obeyed because they knew it was a commandment from God. The manual deals with the earliest implementations of the practice by Joseph Smith and deals with the practice of plural marriage through to its end, when God commanded the members of the Church to cease the practice. The issuing of the Manifesto by Prophet Wilford Woodruff in 1890 told Church members to cease entering into plural marriages, though a few plural marriages were solemnized after the Manifesto. Not long after, the practice was made an excommunicable offense, which continues today. However, when it was being lived as a commandment from God, it was condoned and commanded by God, and members of the Church should feel no shame about this part of the Church’s history.

5. The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible was not made from an original source. Rather, Joseph read through the Bible and made inspired revisions through the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Some things were added to clarify confusing doctrines, other things were deleted because they were not part of the original text. All in all, Joseph Smith made revisions to 3,400 verses of the King James Version of the Bible.  His translation of Matthew 24 appears now in the Pearl of Great Price, while his inspired additions to Genesis appear as the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price.  Other corrected verses appear as footnotes in the King James Bible printed by the Church.

6. In the earliest days of the Church, there were a few men of African descent who were given the priesthood. At some point, this practice ceased, though records do not show when or why. Eventually, through inspiration given to a prophet of God, the practice of conferring the priesthood on all worthy male members of the Church was instituted.

7. In the age of science today, many skeptics point out the earth is much older than the creation story of the seven “days” it took God to create the earth. In Section 77 of the Doctrine and Covenants, it mentions the figure of 7,000 years from the time of Adam. The manual clarifies that the earth is much older, but Adam came much later in the earth’s timeline.  Mormons define “days” of creation as periods (perhaps lasting millions of years) called days by God.

These are just a few of the clarifications offered by the new student manual for the study of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is a wonderful idea to teach teenagers (and adults) in a safe setting where they can learn about things and ask questions or share concerns. I believe that the Church does not focus a great deal on any of these things because they are not essential to our salvation. Knowing the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ and living those doctrines is what is truly important. That being said, I recognize that some of these issues, if presented only in part or out of context, could really shake some people’s faith. Therefore, it is helpful to be upfront and open about these things.

At a two-day conference in March 2014, sponsored jointly by Brigham Young University and the LDS Church’s history department, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf encouraged all members of the Church to embrace their history. “Truth and transparency complement each other,” he said. “We always need to remember that transparency and openness keep us clear of the negative side effects of secrecy or the cliché of faith-promoting rumors.”

The Church is focusing on embracing the truth that we have and that we can share with others. We need to be careful that we don’t let our own truth blind us to the truth that others have, however. Nor should we allow ourselves to think we have all the truth there is. President Uchtdorf continued:

Isn’t it a remarkable feeling to belong to a Church that not only embraces truth—no matter the source—but that teaches there is much more to come!  That God “will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

As a result, we are humble about the truth we have.  We understand our knowledge is a work in progress, that the leaf we have before us is simply one microscopic snapshot—part of an infinitely vast forest of fascinating knowledge.

Our little world—our small section of experience—may be an accurate and true reflection of our reality.  But, it is only an infinitesimal atom in the vast universe of what we eventually will know.

Read the new Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual

Read the original article on FairMormon

Read article on President Uchtdorf’s speech from Religious News Service

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Polygamy Is No Longer Practiced Today

First of all, to clear up a common misunderstanding, polygamy is not practiced today by any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To practice polygamy today will lead to excommunication. Gordon B. Hinckley, fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ, said the following in October 1998:

Gordon B Hinckley

I wish to state categorically that this Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this Church. Most of them have never been members. They are in violation of the civil law. They know they are in violation of the law. They are subject to its penalties. The Church, of course, has no jurisdiction whatever in this matter.

If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the Church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church. An article of our faith is binding upon us. It states, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (Articles of Faith 1:12). One cannot obey the law and disobey the law at the same time.

There is no such thing as a “Mormon Fundamentalist.” It is a contradiction to use the two words together.

Illegality of Polygamy Then and Now

This statement by President Hinckley may confuse some. Wasn’t polygamy always illegal in the United States? Wouldn’t this mean that when it was practiced those who practiced it were breaking the law? The short answer is yes, they were, but it is far more complex than that.

Bigamy was illegal in Illinois when the Saints were living in Nauvoo. Polygamy was declared illegal during an anti-polygamy (and largely anti-Mormon) crusade when the Saints were in Utah. Many Saints who practiced polygamy, and who firmly believed that they were being commanded by God to participate in this practice, were put in a difficult situation. Thus, for them, living the law of polygamy became a case of civil disobedience.

The decision to defy the [anti-polygamy laws] was a painful exception to an otherwise firm commitment to the rule of law and order. Significantly, however, in choosing to defy the law, the Latter-day Saints were actually following in an American tradition of civil disobedience. On various previous occasions, including the years before the Revolutionary War, Americans had found certain laws offensive to their fundamental values and had decided openly to violate them. . . . Even though declared constitutional, the law was still repugnant to all [the Saints’] values, and they were willing to face harassment, exile, or imprisonment rather than bow to its demands. (James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, Story of the Latter-day Saints [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1992], 401.)

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also felt their right to practice polygamy was protected by the United States Constitution’s protection of religious liberty. They argued in courts all the way up to the Supreme Court for their rights, but when the Supreme Court ruled against them in 1879, finding the anti-polygamy laws constituional, they continued to practice civil disobedience, believing God’s law was higher than man’s and that when man’s law contradicts God’s law, a faithful person’s conscience requires him or her to follow God’s law.

Constitution of the United States of America

Why did the Saints abandon the practice of polygamy if they believed it was a commandment from God to practice it? Was it really just an excuse for men to justify immorality?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to receive criticism both for the fact that it ever promoted the practice of polygamy and, ironically, that it abandoned it. Some say it was weak of Church leaders to abandon the practice once pressure from the government peaked. Critics say it must be obvious it was never really part of God’s commandment because it brought so much grief to those who practiced it, as well as the Church as a whole. In addition, if leaders gave up, so to speak, obviously God was not on their side.

A full answer to this idea is beyond the scope of this article, but a summary is included here, along with suggestions for more in-depth reading for the interested. The short but firm answer to this argument is that those who were called to live this law did so after receiving very personal and unquestionable verification that God was commanding them to do so. Looking at just a sampling of personal accounts on this matter soon put this to rest. Whether or not the observer believes that God issued the commandment or not, it is clear that those who lived it believed God had. While it may seem to the outsider that God abandoned those who lived polygamy to the vengeance of its opponents, there are many undeniable benefits that came to the Saints for living the law despite fierce opposition. These benefits will be discussed later, but first, here are some personal accounts of people who lived the law of polygamy.

John Taylor, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remarked:

I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue and I felt as a married man that this [polygamy] was to me . . . an appalling thing to do . . . Nothing but a knowledge of God, and the revelations of God . . . could have induced me to embrace such a principle as this . . . We [the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles] seemed to put off as far as we could, what might be termed the evil day. (Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy, 89.)

Brigham Young, who succeeded Joseph Smith as president of the Church following Joseph’s martyrdom, said of his initial reaction to the doctrine of polygamy:

Some of these my brethren know what my feelings were at the time Joseph revealed the doctrine; I was not desirous of shrinking from any duty, nor of failing in the least to do as I was commanded, but it was the first time in my life that I had desired the grave, and I could hardly get over it for a long time. And when I saw a funeral, I felt to envy the corpse its situation, and to regret that I was not in the coffin, knowing the toil and labor that my body would have to undergo; and I have had to examine myself, from that day to this, and watch my faith, and carefully meditate, lest I should be found desiring the grave more than I ought to do (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:266).

Margaret Cooper West, a convert to the Church, recorded her own experience with being converted to the law of polygamy:

One day one of my sisters said to me, “Do you believe in the Spiritual Wife Doctrine? I said, “No.”

She said, “If Brother Joseph was to tell you he had a revelation and you must be his spiritual wife, [what] would you say?” I would say, “You may go to hell with your revelations.” And I was raving mad and said I would not believe it if I was to hear the Lord tell an angel to come and tell me, I thought he would do it for a trial as he did to Abraham in telling him to offer up his son.

In such ways I fretted. My husband did not believe it was right and it appeared that the devil had the advantage. I was taken sick and also several of the children and the doctor was called for the first time since we joined the Church. I came near to death though I was convinced of my wrong before I was taken sick. It came to me like this.

My husband and I were going to meeting and as I opened the gate all creation came before me and they seemed as the grass of the field for multitudes. I saw Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob living the Celestial law. Then Joseph and his brethren stood before me and I could feel as it were the pain that pierced their heart when they were told that Principle must come forth in this generation. I said in my heart, “It is enough, I will never fight that Principle again.”

Sometimes full acceptance of the principal took time. The people living this and other commandments were not perfect, and they made mistakes. Tamer Washburn struggled for a long time after her husband took a second wife, even though she liked the woman. Her daughter recorded in a biography of her mother:

Tamer was a social person, and usually very optimistic, yet she was capable of very intense feelings. Flora’s daughter Lorena related, “Tamer told me how hard it was to live in plural marriage, and for a long time she was unkind to my mother although she loved mother. She prayed often for strength, and God finally gave her victory over herself. After that, plural marriage ceased to be a trial, and my mother became one of her best earthly friends.”

Such is a few of the trials and only a few that she with others passed through because they believed that God lived and had a Soul and Body like unto that of Man whom He had created and because they believed that He had the right and privilege to converse with the men He had created and that He did make known His mind and will and they believed it and would not deny it and troubles were multiplied upon them.

Joseph Smith himself was not excited about the idea of practicing polygamy and put off as long as possible sharing the doctrine that had been revealed to him about restoring the principle. Lorenzo Snow, who became the fifth president of the Church recorded the first time Joseph Smith revealed the doctrine to him, which gives some insight into how Joseph felt about it himself.

 In the month of April, 1843, I returned from my European mission. A few days after my arrival at Nauvoo, when at President Joseph Smith’s house, he said he wished to have some private talk with me, and requested me to walk out with him. It was toward evening. We walked a little distance and sat down on a large log that lay near the bank of the river. He there and then explained to me the doctrine of plurality of wives; he said that the Lord had revealed it unto him, and commanded him to have women sealed to him as wives; that he foresaw the trouble that would follow, and sought to turn away from the commandment; that an angel from heaven then appeared before him with a drawn sword, threatening him with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment (Lorenzo Snow affidavit, 28 August 1868; cited by Joseph F[ielding] Smith, Jr., Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage: A Discussion (Independence, Missouri: Press of Zion’s Printing and Publishing Company, 1905), 67–68).

The comments above show that no one was really excited about living the law of plural marriage. However, as the Book of Mormon tells us, it is against God’s commandments to have concubines or more than one wife unless He specifically commands it.

Therefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things (Jacob 2:27–30).

The law of monogamy was an integral part of society in the United States. All members of the Church had been taught monogamy from the time they were children. It was not an easy thing for them to live the law of plural marriage. However, each person who was called to live the law was given a personal witness that it truly was a commandment from God.

After sacrificing a great deal to live the law of plural marriage, the Saints eventually abandoned the practice. Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of the Church, issued a declaration which came to be known as the Manifesto in 1890 announcing plural marriage would no longer be practiced. Why would the Saints give in to pressure at this point, after having already endured so much persecution for their beliefs?

Contrary to some critics’ views, it was not pressure from the government that made Wilford Woodruff decide to end the practice. For years he had prayed about God’s will concerning the matter. In the late 1800s, things had finally reached such a point that the government was about to dissolve the Church and take over everything, including the Saints’ three temples—their most sacred edifices. This time, in response to a great deal of prayer, pondering, and fasting, Wilford Woodruff received revelation from God that it was no longer expedient for the Church to continue living the law of plural marriage. God withdrew His commandment and sanction to live the law. Those who had already entered plural marriage still had the responsibility to provide for their families, but no new plural marriages were to be performed.

After the Manifesto, monogamy was advocated in the Church both over the pulpit and through the press. On an exceptional basis, some new plural marriages were performed between 1890 and 1904, especially in Mexico and Canada, outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law; a small number of plural marriages were performed within the United States during those years. In 1904, the Church strictly prohibited new plural marriages. Today, and person who practices plural marriage cannot become or remain a member of the Church (Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah).

Why Were the Saints Commanded to Practice Plural Marriage?

Since God is the one who commanded the Saints to live this law, only He is qualified to answer this question, and no revelation has been given concerning this question. The only answer we can give as to why the Saints lived the law is because they were commanded to. As to why the commandment was given, no one today has that answer.

In hindsight, however, there are many clear blessings that came from the Saints living this law. It can be instructive to look at some of the benefits they received for their obedience, though we are not stating that any of these blessings was a specific reason for the commandment of plural marriage being given in the first place.

Obedience, Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) believe, is an eternal principle. Strict obedience to God’s commandments will always bring blessings, even if the only immediately obvious one is to strengthen one’s relationship with God by proving that one’s loyalty lies with Him. For the Saints, obedience to the law of plural marriage irrevocably separated them from the rest of the nation. While this certainly had major drawbacks, a benefit was to strengthen a feeling of unity in the Church and to draw a clear line between God and the world. This helped the Church to grow stronger and to develop faith in its members.

Another result of the Saints practicing plural marriage was sacrifice. By living a life that was more than repugnant to the rest of their society, they were asked to sacrifice their reputations as moral, upstanding Christians; they were stripped of their civil rights; many times they were forced out of their homes and lost all their material possessions. Many people lost loved ones on the trek west. Then they were told God no longer required them to live the law which they had given so much to try and live. None of this was easy.

Helen Mar Whitney provides some valuable insight into the feelings of those called to live this law:

Those who have not the knowledge and assurance that the course which they are pursuing is according to the will of God, cannot endure all these afflictions and persecutions, taking joyfully the spoiling of their goods and even if necessary to suffer death, by the hands of their foes. They will grow weary and faint and fall by the way unless they have unshaken confidence and a perfect knowledge for themselves. They cannot make a sacrifice of their character and reputation; and give up their houses, their lands, brothers, sisters, wives and children; counting all things as dross, when compared with the eternal life and exaltation, which our Savior has promised to the obedient; and this knowledge is not obtained without a struggle nor the glory without a sacrifice of all earthly things. In the last days (we read) the Lord is to gather together his Saints who have made covenant with Him by sacrifice and each one must know that their sacrifice is accepted as did righteous, Abel and Abraham the father of the faithful. Every Latter-day Saint knows this to be true, and that according to our faith so are our blessings and privileges. [Helen Mar Whitney, A Woman’s View: Helen Mar Whitney’s Reminiscences of Early Church History (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1999), 187.]

The only reason which God has ever clearly stated for why He may command the practice of plural marriage is to “raise up seed” unto Himself as quoted above from the Book of Mormon. In Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants (a collection of revelations given to Joseph Smith from God on specific points of doctrine), the Lord says:

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.

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. Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promise of my Father, which he made unto Abraham. God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.

Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it (Doctrine and Covenants 132:30–34).

This discussion of Abraham having lived the law of plural marriage (and there are other Old Testament prophets who also lived this law with God’s approval) shows that periodically, God has commanded His people to live it. Having it be culturally uncomfortable or unacceptable is of no concern to God, because His law is eternal. When He commands it, it should be lived; otherwise, it is expressly forbidden.

Whether or not it was God’s single purpose to raise up seed unto Himself when He commanded the Saints to practice plural marriage, that was certainly a result. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a young, fledgling church when the doctrine of plural marriage was first revealed to Joseph Smith. All its leaders and members were converts to the gospel. There were more women than men who were faithful members of the Church. By having one faithful man marry multiple faithful women, a much larger faithful generation was raised in a shorter period of time than would have otherwise been possible.

At a time when women were not given many opportunities in society in general, and when a lack of technology restricted them to home life because running a household was so time-demanding, plural marriage gave many women the opportunity to pursue other interests and to contribute in their communities in ways they would have otherwise been unable to. Responsibilities of housework and childcare could be shared among women, lifting many burdens. Women were even given the right to vote in Utah long before a constitutional amendment was passed. In fact, when Utah sought statehood, its government had to rescind the right the right it had already given women to vote.

Contrary to what many think today, no one was forced to live the law of plural marriage. In fact, it was a relatively small percentage of Church members who did live the law, up to 30 percent at its highest in 1870, and it decreased after that. No woman was forced to enter a marriage she did not wish to. In addition, women who found themselves unhappy with the situation after entering a plural marriage were allowed to divorce and either remarry or stay single, as they chose. For men, however, divorces from plural wives were not so easy to obtain. It was difficult for a woman to support herself. Therefore, if men found themselves in difficult situations, they were counseled to make it work.

Again, since the Lord has not revealed His purpose for having commanded the Saints to practice plural marriage, no one today can point to a reason and say, “This is why it was a commandment.” However, it can be very enlightening to look at all the benefits that came to the Saints for their obedience to this law.

An official statement from The Church of Jesus Christ offers the following summary of the positive effects of polygamy for the early Saints:

Plural marriage did result in the birth of large numbers of children within faithful Latter-day Saint homes. It also shaped 19th-century Mormon society in other ways: marriage became available to virtually all who desired it; per-capita inequality of wealth was diminished as economically disadvantaged women married into more financially stable households; and ethnic intermarriages were increased, which helped to unite a diverse immigrant population. Plural marriage also helped create and strengthen a sense of cohesion and group identification among Latter-day Saints. Church members came to see themselves as a “peculiar people,” covenant-bound to carry out the commands of God despite outside opposition, willing to endure ostracism for their principles.

For a much more in-depth view on polygamy, read Gregory Smith’s comprehensive article “Polygamy, Prophets, and Prevarication: Frequently and Rarely Asked Questions about the Initiation, Practice, and Cessation of Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Script: Why did Mormons practice polygamy?

Before answering that, let’s deal with the other question that often comes up first.

Do some Mormons still live with multiple wives?

No.

The practice of polygamy, also known as plural marriage, is not practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often called Mormons, today.

Obeying the Lord’s command, Mormons followed this practice
for about 50 years during the nineteenth century, but it is often a misunderstood part of Church history.

These early Latter-day saints obeyed revelation to the Lord’s prophet Joseph Smith as it was given, out of their great love for the Lord, and their faith in His eternal plan.

Even at the time, it was a very difficult commandment from God and was a great test of faith for many involved.

Polygamy dates back to the Bible.
At times and to fulfill His specific purposes, God, through His prophets, sanctioned the practice of plural marriage.

Several scriptural figures like Abraham, Jacob, David, Moses and others had more than one wife.

The Lord restored many things through revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, including eventually, polygamy, but it was not instituted for the purpose of sexual license as some critics have accused.

It was practiced only by the command of the Lord to bring forth a new generation, as a trial of faith for the saints at that time, and to allow all worthy women the chance to be sealed into eternal families.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, times became extremely difficult politically for the members of the Church. It was then revealed to the prophet Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of the Church, that the Church should stop the practice of polygamy in order to avoid more difficulties.

The practice officially ceased around 1890, and has not been practiced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over a century.
At the time, however, some members of the Church did not follow the prophet’s call to end the practice, and started their own churches, often with similar names, which still practiced polygamy.

Some of these sects still exist today and may even call themselves Mormons, but these groups have no relationship to
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church today, in accordance with the law of the land, prohibits living in polygamy, and focuses on strengthening families and marriages between one man and one woman.

The Church has always taught the supreme importance of the family in God’s eternal plan, and that families can be sealed and live together forever – the highest blessing possible through
the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

John White Curtis, Jr., (1859–1949) was born in Springville, Utah, to John White Curtis (1820–1902) and Matilda Miner (1840–1909). His parents married in 1855 in Springville, Utah, and had 14 children between 1858 and 1885. John White Curtis, Sr.’s, first wife was Elmira Starr (1815–1883). They married 1836 in Connecticut had 3 children between 1842 and 1846.

John White Curtis, Sr., joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently called the Mormon Church) in 1832.  Matilda was baptized in 1851.

Honored Mormon Pioneers

John White Curtis

Since past history is sure to indicate the general character of future families, this history will fall short of the very vital part of my parent’s lives. Nothing has been written of them until now, and I can only recall a small part of our family life. My parents were both pioneers and had to endure all the hardships of those days. Words fall short of expression of Father’s nobility and manhood. He had unusual foresight, used good judgment, and was always known as a fair dealing man. Both my parents were highly esteemed and their character is worthy of study for well-directed ideals.

My mother could remember the death of the Grandfather, Edmond Durfee by a mob. How it grieved her childish heart. She told how she lay counting the stars to make herself sleep. She well remembered walking across the plains, or carrying wood miles for their evening camp. Grandmother Tamma kept a jar of dry salt-rising bread meal ready for emergency needs. When they couldn’t have a fire, they had this bread to nibble on. Sometimes they soaked it in water so they might eat it. Mother often told of her white factory dressed dyed with blue. She told us of one little girl who traveled near in crossing the plains who had two pairs of shoes. When they came to thorny, rocky roads, this girl wore the best pair and let Mother wear the other until they came to better roads, then Mother trudged happily along. Mother walked across the plains when only twelve years old, and had no shoes except when the girl loaned her shoes to Mother.

My mother was born the 12th of January 1847 at Lima, Hancock County, Illinois, and was married in 1855. Her unwavering patience and sincere honesty are traits worthy of study by any person. To one who knew her casually, little note would be given, but to those who knew her innermost life, she is idolized as one among many. She devoted her all to those of her acquaintance and had a life of unusually hard toil and rough experiences.

Father had erysipelas of the bone and was very sick for two years, was never really well after this sickness, being somewhat crippled. Among experiences in these hard times, I remember helping Mother gather heads of grain in the fields that had been harvested. The hordes of grasshoppers which we always had to fight will always hold a place in my memory.

Memories of Indian Encounters

Our home life in Springville was quite adventurous because of savage Indians. They would steal our horses and cattle every chance they got. The women and children would all gather at one place at night and the men would stand guard. The squaws were bad to steal; they came often to our home and demanded food, etc., which Mother always shared.

I remember when I was very small my Father took me into the canyon with him for a load of wood. As we were leaving for home, an Indian stopped us and asked for a ride. Father let him ride but was rather uneasy, as then Indians were always treacherous. He had a rope under his blanket which he thought was well hidden, but we saw it and knew he was after something. He rode into the valley with us and disappeared. Hay was very scarce with us, so we had to turn our horses in pastures. The next morning, one of our horses was gone, and this Indian was later seen riding him.

On the 26th of June 1886, a band of these troublesome Indians stole horses from Spanish Fork and Springville pastures. They fled up Maple Canyon with our men in hot pursuit. As our men drew near they all began firing. One white man was killed and one seriously wounded. I was seven years old, and I remember they would not let me see either of the men they brought back. After this battle the Indians seem a little frightened and caused less trouble for a while. I loved the mountains, and being the oldest boy, my father usually took me along with him.

John’s Parents’ Polygamous Marriage

Times were very hard and my parents were poor, so we did any kind of work to get provisions and clothes. Father and his brother Ezra cared for the Utah County Coop sheep for two years. It took a great effort, as Father did his part with the sheep and went to Springville often enough to keep the farm going. His first Wife, Elmira Starr, stayed at home with part of the family, while my Mother went with, taking me and the baby girl. I was old enough to help some.

Both of father’s wives lived in the same house. They were very congenial and worked together on all problems. They were both fond of children and Aunt Elmira treated us as her own. We loved her, the same as we did Mother. They were both spiritual people and we were taught religion from our early youth. Father’s timely guidance with the firm cooperation of his wives are to be admired by all his children.

Settling Again

In 1877, when I was 18 years old, we moved to Willow Bend, now Aurora. Father took up land, and by extra hard effort raised a crop the first year. He went to the mountains and cut logs immediately, then moved his family from Springville. This first house was made by placing four poles in the ground and then making sides and a roof of willows. When winter came, we plastered the willows with mud to hold out the cold. We did our cooking on an open fire out of doors. Our furniture was limited. The chairs were made with rope, cane and leather, basket woven for seats. The beds were four posts beds, with rope for springs, and straw tick mattresses. Stools were commonly used for chairs. Later, the fireplace was a substitute for a stove, shelves were used for cupboards, and the roof was dirt covered.

Father traded one yolk of oxen to Mr. Coons in Richfield for water rights in the Rocky Ford Dam and Canal Company. I worked with father all my life until twenty-five years of age, helping him to support the family and get a start.

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Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Women belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have always done remarkable things. Emma Smith, first president of the Latter-day Saint women’s organization, told the women working with her, “We are going to do something extraordinary” (Relief Society Minute Book, Nauvoo, Illinois, March 17, 1842, Church History Library, 12), and they haven’t stopped doing extraordinary things since their organization on March 17, 1842.

The Relief Society, which Emma Smith headed originally, is today a world-wide women’s organization—one of the world’s oldest and largest. Its female members strengthen families and homes and seek to provide relief to those in need, all while increasing personal faith and righteousness. Joseph Smith, first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ, said of the Relief Society’s organization, “The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized” (Quoted in Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, Sept 1, 1883, 51). Mormon women have always been recognized and appreciated for their unique skills and potential.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”) was organized on April 6, 1830. Historically, women have not had as many freedoms as men have had, even in the United States, which prides itself on its liberated view of individual rights. Women’s rights were long-awaited and long fought-for in being made law and in becoming more accepted in society. The Church of Jesus Christ has stood out as a champion of women since its restoration in 1830 and has been at the forefront of women’s rights in all that movement’s most positive goals.

Overcoming the Oppression of Women

It is hard for us to believe now, but even as late as 1830 and beyond, married women were not recognized, at least by the law, as more than mere possessions of their husbands. The English Common Law was accepted widely and stated:

By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is, the legal existence of woman is merged in that of her husband. He is her baron or lord, bound to supply her with shelter, food, clothing and medicine, and is entitled to her earnings and the use and custody of her person, which he may seize wherever he may find it (History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. 6, p.961).

Women were so bound by the law that it was very difficult for them to work to obtain personal funds. It was also very difficult for them to gain higher education and to escape from unhappy, oppressive marriages. They had few rights and freedoms if they were unmarried and seemingly even fewer if they were married. They were trapped in a society which largely viewed them as cooks and housekeepers who were able and expected to provide children as heirs and workers. For the most part, women were not seen as having the capacity for higher intellectual pursuits or for being able to contribute to society in any way outside the home.

Negative Effects of the Feminist Movement

This mindset continued well into the 20th century until the feminist movement really took hold. It wasn’t until 1920 that an amendment was signed into law giving all adult women the right to vote in America, but there was still a long way to go in the fight for women’s rights. For several more decades it was common practice for a woman to lose her job when she married and, if not then, certainly when she became pregnant.

Great strides have been made in the last 100 years liberating women from being viewed as possessions. However, somewhere along the way, the true end goal of being valued equally was lost, and many pioneers in the quest for women’s rights began to look beyond the mark. The pendulum seems to have swung to the opposite extreme, telling women they are worthless unless they are treated exactly like men with the same contributions and expectations. This attitude is just as harmful as telling women they are worth less than men. The true spirit of feminism should be that women are just as valuable as men are in their own right. They have their own strengths and talents to offer and should be valued equally for what they bring to the table as men are for what they bring to the table.

I want to be valued for who I am and what I have to offer because I am human, I am a daughter of God, and I have worth. Telling me that because I am a woman I am worthless is just as harmful and hurtful as telling me that I must not be worth the same as a man unless I act exactly like him and am treated exactly like him. We as women need to be proud of our divine qualities. The world is in need of these qualities, but the harm of modern feminism is the idea that these qualities should be dropped by everyone because they are feminine. I am proud of being a woman and realize that many feminine qualities are just what the world needs more of today.

Mormon Feminism and Mormon Doctrine

Mormon doctrine teaches, however, that “gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”). Society is fighting against this eternal truth.

Many people have fought for women to have the freedom to choose their own futures. Free will is also considered an eternal truth by Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”), and so women choose for themselves what they want to do with their lives. However, Mormon doctrine also teaches that men and women have complementary characteristics. Both a righteous man and a righteous woman are essential to God’s plan for families.

The Church of Jesus Christ has always recognized the eternal value that women have and the vast array of talents they have to offer in building up the kingdom of God on the earth. Still, it is part of Mormon doctrine that Mormon women have the most to offer the world in raising up righteous children. This does not make women less capable in the workplace than men; it simply means there is no more valuable or meaningful work they can perform than to raise up righteous children. Many extraordinary women have managed to raise children in righteousness and to also contribute to their communities in other very meaningful ways. Men and women are seen as being of equal value, but they do not have identical abilities and strengths.

Mormon Women Doing Extraordinary Things

When the early Saints were forced to move west, they set up their own community in the desert in what was then the Utah Territory, but getting there was a long, dangerous, arduous task. Many people died; everyone who made the journey suffered. Bathsheba W. Smith, the fourth Relief Society General President, recalled what helped them through this trial:

I will not try to describe how we traveled through storms of snow, wind, and rain; how roads had to be made, bridges built, and rafts constructed; how our poor animals had to drag on day after day with scanty feed; nor how our camps suffered from poverty, sickness, and death. We were consoled … by having our public and private meetings in peace, praying and singing the songs of Zion, and rejoicing that we were leaving our persecutors far behind. We were further consoled by seeing the power of God manifested through the laying on of the hands of the elders, causing the sick to be healed, and the lame to walk. The Lord was with us and his power was made manifest daily (Autobiography of Bathsheba W. Smith, typescript, Church History Library, 13; punctuation, spelling, and capitalization standardized).

It was the faith these women had in God that got them through this trial. They supported one another; they mourned with each other when their loved ones died; they shared what little they had; and they rejoiced together when they finally arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

When a large group of Saints were stranded on the plains in a blizzard, those who had struggled themselves to get to Salt Lake were exhorted by Brigham Young, second president of The Church of Jesus Christ, to help those who were in need. After President Young’s admonition, Lucy Meserve Smith recorded that women immediately took off all the warm clothing they could spare (e.g. petticoats and stockings) and piled them in wagons that left immediately to try and help the stranded people. This sense of immediacy in helping those in need has continued in the spirit of Relief Society.

Society Benefiting from Women’s Freedoms

From the earliest days in the Salt Lake Valley, Mormon women were encouraged to exercise a great deal of freedom. There was a whole city and community to build. Women were given the vote in all applicable matters. Many women gained higher education and served their communities as doctors, as teachers in universities, running hospitals, holding public office, and even publishing their own newspapers. However, before the United States would admit Utah into the Union as a state, the vote was taken away from Mormon women by the government, and they had to fight to get it back. This temporary setback did not deter women, though, and the first female Senator in the United States was Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, a Mormon woman, who won the election by more than 3,000 votes—running against her own husband!

President Brigham Young urged many of the women of the church to become doctors. Zina D. H. Young was one who followed his counsel. She completed a course in obstetrics and helped deliver countless babies. She also encouraged other women to gain these skills. Many went east to obtain degrees and then came back, teaching what they had learned to others. One such woman, Emma Andersen Liljenquist, was given a blessing from a church leader that, “if [she] lived right [she] should always know what to do in case of any difficulties.” She recorded:

That promise has been fulfilled to the very letter. Many times when one of my patients was seriously ill, I have asked my Heavenly Father for assistance, and in every case it was given to me. One in particular was a lady who had just given birth to a baby and hemorrhage set in. The husband called the doctor, but he did not realize that it was so serious. I … asked the Lord to help us. The hemorrhage ceased and I did the necessary things for her. When the doctor arrived, he said he could hardly believe what had happened, but said I had done exactly what he would have done. …

… I have brought over one thousand babies [into the world]. Once again I give thanks to my Heavenly Father for His help and the strength the Lord has given me, for without it I could not have rendered this service to my sisters or our community (Our Pioneer Heritage, comp. Kate B. Carter (1963), 6:445–46).

Many prominent women who worked in the general women’s suffrage movement, including Susan B. Anthony, sought advice from Mormon women who had experience in the field.

This kind of influence continues in the world today. In 1992, the Relief Society celebrated its 150th anniversary. Local organizations were encouraged to look to their own communities for ways to serve them.

One of our Relief Society presidents went to the city council in a California city and said, “What are the things that you feel are needed in this community that we could do?” And the men said, “You mean 20,000 groups throughout this world are going to be doing this same thing?” And she said yes. And [one of the council members] said, “You’ll change the world.” And I think we did … for the better. That was one of the unifying things. And [there was] such a variety of service. … [Sisters] made lap rugs in South Africa for those elderly in the home. … They planted flowers around [a] clock tower in Samoa. And they did so many things with homeless shelters or providing books for children or painting homes for unwed mothers, that sort of thing. We felt that throughout the world these community service projects were a great thing, both for the sisters and for the community (Elaine L. Jack, interview by Julie B. Beck, Feb. 10, 2009, transcript, Church History Library).

Mormon Women Today

Mormon women are highly valued and respected. Mormon doctrine has always taught this principle. However, the Lord has created men and women as complementary to one another to help fulfill His purpose for all of us. We need each other to be complete and to reach a full level of joy. Men and women both have important things to offer and critical roles to fill, but they need to fill the roles the Lord has created for them.

Another observation Elder Christofferson made helps me to grasp the bigger picture of how we are meant to work together, “In blurring feminine and masculine differences, we lose the distinct, complementary gifts of women and men that together produce a greater whole.”

There is a lot of discussion among the few women who don’t clearly understand how God’s Church works about allowing women to hold the priesthood. Many other Christian denominations have made changes in their structure to allow for this. It surprises me when I hear Mormon women who say they felt left out by not being allowed to hold the priesthood. I have never felt this way.

One key difference between priesthood in the Mormon Church and other Christian denominations is that our clergy is unpaid. All who serve in any capacity in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do so as volunteers. There are many, many areas in which women serve and do so very well. However, in Mormon doctrine, it is only worthy male members of the church who hold the priesthood. Men are the patriarchs of the family, and it is really on the family that the whole structure of the Church is based. Following God’s pattern,

Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.4

Thus, if we follow God’s plan, every home will have a worthy priesthood holder in it. There is no need for two to lead the home. This is not part of doctrine, this is my personal feeling. What it really boils down to is that God has declared this to be His will, but it is equally important to recognize that He has provided for all His children to have access to the blessings of the priesthood.

I understand that God loves me just as much as anyone else. I also understand that His plan is set up in His own way. Even if we may not understand everything all the time, there is a purpose for how He has decreed His gospel is to be organized on this earth. I do not feel in any way deprived of blessings because I cannot hold the priesthood. No man who holds the priesthood can use it to serve himself. I am able to receive all the blessings from the priesthood which any man may receive. My personal feeling is that I have enough responsibility on my plate as it is without worrying about priesthood responsibility on top of everything else.

I also recognize and am comforted by the fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is, in fact, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He is in charge. No movement in the church is going to change His eternal doctrine. The doctrine and principles of His gospel are unchanging. If He decides to make a change in practice, like allowing all worthy men to hold the priesthood,  then He will direct that change; no one can force it.

I am grateful to be a woman in The Church of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to be valued and to be shown my eternal potential. I know my Heavenly Father loves me and values me. That is enough to sustain me through others’ doubts and questions.

If you want to gain a better understanding of the Mormon doctrine regarding women, the family, and God’s plan for each of us, read, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Meet with Mormon missionaries to ask them questions and to learn more.

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Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tamer Washburn was a daughter of Jesse and Susannah Tompkins Washburn. She was born July 4^th, 1805, at Mt Pleasant, Westchester County, New York. When she was 19 years old, Tamer married Abraham Washburn (whose grandfather was her father’s brother) on March 16, 1824, at Mt. Pleasant, New York. In their early married life, they moved to Sing Sing, where Abraham went into the shoe-making and tanning business.

Mormon Missionaries

When Parley P. Pratt came to New York with the gospel message, Abraham Washburn was converted immediately; the message was so plain and beautiful that he believed everybody could readily be converted. Abraham took Brother Pratt home with him to explain the wonderful message to his wife. Brother Pratt told her that the Lord and His Son had visited, in person, the boy Joseph Smith, and later sent heavenly messengers who had restored the Priesthood, both Aaronic and Melchizedek, and that the Lord was giving the boy Prophet continued revelations, revealing the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness. He said that the Angel Moroni had delivered the history of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, written on gold plates, to the Prophet, and he had by the power of God, translated them, and that the book was now published and was called The Book of Mormon.

This was too much for this dear lady, who was a staunch Methodist, yet retaining many ideas of the Quaker faith in which she had been reared. She was infuriated at what she had just heard; it was impossible for God to give new revelations to man; all such things had ceased with the death of the ancient Prophets and Apostles. This man was surely an imposter teaching false doctrine. Her righteous indignation arose and she turned on Brother Pratt and poured out the venom of her wrath in no gentle tones. Her husband tried in vain to soothe her. He, however, knew that the message was true and in a short time was baptized. He tried gently, at every opportunity to convert his dear wife, but it seemed, for some time, that his efforts were useless.

One evening, while he was attending an evening meeting, Abraham received a message to come home quickly: his wife was in a terrible nervous condition on account of his being at a Mormon meeting. As he was leaving, Brother Pratt said, “Be of good cheer, Brother Washburn, for in a very short time your wife will be a member of the Church.” It was but a few weeks until she asked Brother Pratt to baptize her.

She learned to love Brother Pratt and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Her home was ever after a home for the Mormon missionaries.

As time passed, both Parley and Orson Pratt made their home with the Washburns while doing Missionary work in New York. On one occasion, Orson Pratt brought his wife. She wore, as was the custom in those days, a lace cap with bows of ribbon and small artificial flowers on the side of her cap. Tamer had not yet sufficiently recovered from her Quaker notions to be able to tolerate these ‘excessive’ practices, so she asked Sister Pratt to please remove the trimmings from her cap while she remained her guest.  Sister Pratt complied with the request to please Sister Washburn. In after years, Tamer laughed as she related the story wondering how she could have been so narrow minded because she herself wore just such little lace caps to the end of her days and enjoyed having them handsomely decorated.

Abraham was a prosperous business man and he gave Tamer a regular allowance of 75 dollars a month. She was saving, and deposited a part of her allowance each month in the bank. Once, Orson Pratt was going to England on a mission; he arrived in New York with no money to pay his traveling expenses. Tamer gave him enough money from her savings account to pay his passage to England.

A Blessing and Promise from the Prophet Joseph Smith

After joining the body of the Church at Nauvoo, Brother Washburn was a member of the Nauvoo Legion. They were friends of the Prophet, Joseph Smith. The Prophet Joseph Smith visited with Tamer and her folks many times. On one occasion when the Smiths and others were at their home at an evening social, the Prophet arose to his feet and said, “Sister Washburn, there is a special blessing from the Lord to you, and the Lord says that you’re just as sure of your Celestial crown as though you already had it on your head.” The sisters assembled said to the Prophet, “This is enough to make us jealous.” And then the Prophet said, “This blessing is for Mother Washburn above the rest, because she is a free giver. She could always give and never regret.”  Her salvation in the Celestial Kingdom was assured on account of her liberality.

Mormon Polygamy and Victory Over Herself

They came from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake City early in 1848 with the Richards Company. Tamer drove three yoke of wild steers across the trackless desert. Shortly after their arrival in the valley, Abraham married Flora Clorinda Gleason Johnson.

Tamer was a social person, and usually very optimistic, yet she was capable of very intense feelings. Flora’s daughter Lorena related, “Tamer told me how hard it was to live in plural marriage, and for a long time she was unkind to my mother although she loved mother. She prayed often for strength, and God finally gave her victory over herself. After that, plural marriage ceased to be a trial, and my mother became one of her best earthly friends.”

Such is a few of the trials and only a few that she with others passed through because they believed that God lived and had a Soul and Body like unto that of Man whom He had created and because they believed that He had the right and privilege to converse with the men He had created and that He did make known His mind and will and they believed it and would not deny it and troubles were multiplied upon them.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

We must remember the law of polygamy was given to our Prophet in the early days of our church. The records say only about 20% of the male members had more than one wife and they had to have the sanction of the church authorities before taking a plural wife. Of course there were some who abused this privilege.

Being a daughter of a polygamist, I’ve been asked many questions about it. This is the way I have answered some of them: We in these latter days were given all of the other keys of an ancient church, why not polygamy? It was practiced all through the old Bible days. Our church teachings are not new, but a restoration of that which once was. And here is another idea–Our Heavenly Father may have wanted a people he could call His own. All of the first Mormons were converts, not one had been born a Latter-day Saint. Polygamy was one way of getting a lot of children who would be Latter-day Saints without any other religious training. Also, many more women than men joined the church and that too must be considered in polygamy, because we are taught we cannot gain the highest degree of glory without being sealed in the Temple…

January 11, 1869, when William Fisher Tolley was 46 years old he married Sarah Gadd, a little blue-eyed, fair haired girl who had just passed her 18th birthday. They were married in the Old Endowment House in Salt Lake City. So now he had two Sarahs.

After I was grown, I visited my mother’s brother, Uncle Isaac Gadd, who was then living in Provo. I asked him, “How come my mother married a man twice her age, didn’t she have any other beaus?” He said, “OH, yes, plenty of young men liked her, in fact she could have married the son if she had wanted to.”

The girls were taught that being a plural wife was a part of their religion and their reward in the hereafter would be much greater. I certainly hope so. I have often wondered which needed the most sympathy, the older woman who had to put up with her husband’s young wife or the young wife going into the home of another woman and starting a family of her own. Father Tolley’s oldest son was a year older and his oldest daughter a year younger than his new wife, and they had gone to school together. I have been told the two families got along very well together. Much better than some did. It seems the two families lived together about ten years or more.

Father was 70 years old when I was born so he would be 75 or 76 before I could remember him, but I remember he was a well built and well preserved old gentleman. His hair was still quite black and thick with just a bit of gray and his beard and mustache were white. His eyes were dark brown and still had a twinkle in them. I think he must of had quite an influence on his daughters because all ten of his daughters had dark brown eyes and most of them had black hair although both of his wives had blue eyes and light brown hair.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

Heber and Vilate’s daughter Helen (1828-1896) recorded their experience.

My mother often told me that she could not doubt the plural order of marriage was of God, for the Lord had revealed it to her in answer to prayer.

In Nauvoo, shortly after his return from England, my father, among others of his brethren, was taught the plural wife doctrine, and was told by Joseph the Prophet three times to go and take a certain woman as his wife; but not till he commanded him in the name of the Lord did he obey. At the same time Joseph told him not to divulge this secret, not even to my mother, for fear that she would not receive it; for his life was in constant jeopardy, not only from outside influences and enemies, who were seeking some plea to take him back to Missouri but from false brethren who had crept like snakes into his bosom and then betrayed him.

My father realized the situation fully, and the love and reverence he bore for the Prophet were so great that he would sooner have laid down his life than have betrayed him. This was one of the greatest tests of his faith he had ever experienced. The thought of deceiving the kind and faithful wife of his youth, whom he loved with all his heart, and who with him had borne so patiently their separations, and all the trials and sacrifices they had been called to endure, was more than he felt able to bear.

He realized not only an addition of trouble and perplexity that such a step must bring upon him, but his sorrow and misery were increased by the thought of my mother hearing of it from some other source, which would no doubt separate them, and he shrank from the thought of such a thing, or of causing her any unhappiness. Finally he was so tried that he went to Joseph and told him how he felt-that he was fearful if he took such a step he could not stand, but would be overcome. The Prophet, full of sympathy for him, went and inquired of the Lord; His answer was, “Tell him to go and do as he has been commanded, and if I see that there is any danger of his apostatizing, I will take him to myself.”

The fact that he had to be commanded three times to do this thing shows that the trial must have been extraordinary, for he was a man who from the first, had yielded implicit obedience to every requirement of the Prophet.

When first hearing the principle taught, believing that he would be called upon to enter into it, he had thought of two elderly ladies named Pitkin, great friends of my mother’s, who he believed would cause her little, if any, unhappiness. But the woman he was commanded to take was an English lady named Sarah Noon, nearer my mother’s age, who came over with the company of Saints in the same ship in which father and Brother Brigham returned from Europe. She had been married and was the mother of two little girls, but left her husband on account of his drunken and dissolute habits. Father was told to take her as his wife and provide for her and her children, and he did so.

My mother noticed a change in his manner and appearance, and when she inquired the cause, he tried to evade her questions. At last he promised he would tell her after a while, if she would only wait. This trouble so worked upon his mind that his anxious and haggard looks betrayed him daily and hourly, and finally his misery became so unbearable that it was impossible to control his feelings. He became sick in body, but his mental wretchedness was too great to allow of his retiring, and he would walk the floor till nearly morning, and sometimes the agony of his mind was so terrible that he would wring his hands and weep like a child, and beseech the Lord to be merciful and reveal to her this principle, for he himself could not break his vow of secrecy.

The anguish of their hearts was indescribable, and when she found it was useless to beseech him longer, she retired to her room and bowed before the Lord and poured our her soul in prayer to Him who hath said: “If any lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.” My father’s heart was raised at the same time in supplication. While pleading as one would plead for life, the vision of her mind was opened, and, as darkness flees before the morning sun, so did her sorrow and the groveling things of earth vanish away.

Before her, was illustrated the order of celestial marriage, in all its beauty and glory, together with the great exaltation and honor it would confer upon her in that immortal and celestial sphere, if she would accept it and stand in her place by her husband’s side. She also saw the woman he had taken to wife, and contemplated with joy the vast and boundless love and union which this order would bring about, as well as the increase of her husband’s kingdoms, and the power and extending throughout the eternities, worlds without end.

With a countenance beaming with joy, for she was filled with the Spirit of God, she returned to my father, saying: “Heber, what you kept from me the Lord has shown me.” She told me she never saw so happy a man as father was when she described the vision and told him she was satisfied and knew it was from God.

She covenanted to stand by him and honor the principle, which covenant she faithfully kept, and though her trials were often heavy and grievous to bear, she knew that father was also being tried, and her integrity was unflinching to the end. She gave my father many wives, and they always found in my mother a faithful friend.

Account taken from Life of Heber C. Kimball, Whitney, 1888, p335-338.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

Consecrated Offerings

When David Patten preached in Tennessee in 1834, I believed it was the work [of God]…and…[was] baptized by David Patten. I have not hankered for the coffee grain nor the tea leaves since. My husband was soon baptized by Elder Parrish and he soon left off tobacco, coffee, and tea. We fed and clothed the Elders with a liberal hand and heart when they were with us. My husband sent money to assist in the building at Kirtland…

When Brother George A. Smith and Brother Carlos Smith [were] in the South, my husband lent them $25.00 to bear their expenses here and he gave money to Brother Wells to bear his expenses. To those that asked he gave and to those that asked he lent and by request he sent just as they asked and his ability would afford. It was in Tennessee with free good will and we have not asked reward nor desired it from our brethren. We have ever been willing to suffer with our brethren and we have been meek when we could not rejoice… [The horse we lent to Brother Wilford Woodruff] was poisoned. Brother Woodruff wrote to us concerning her and wished to make us satisfaction but we were satisfied. Brother Woodruff spoke of her worthiness in his letters and said that she had carried the Gospel. Well we lent her for that purpose and…I supposed that we had given her for the Kingdom of Heaven or in other words in helping establish the principles of the Gospel.

The Polygamy Principle

One day one of my sisters said to me, “Do you believe in the Spiritual Wife Doctrine? I said, “No.”

She said, “If Brother Joseph was to tell you he had a revelation and you must be his spiritual wife, would you say?” I would say, “You may go to hell with your revelations.” And I was raving mad and said I would not believe it if I was to hear the Lord tell an angel to come and tell me, I thought he would do it for a trial as he did to Abraham in telling him to offer up his son.

In such ways I fretted. My husband did not believe it was right and it appeared that the devil had the advantage. I was taken sick and also several of the children and the doctor was called for the first time since we joined the Church. I came near to death though I was convinced of my wrong before I was taken sick. It came to me like this.

My husband and I were going to meeting and as I opened the gate all creation came before me and they seemed as the grass of the field for multitudes. I saw Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob living the Celestial law. Then Joseph and his brethren stood before me and I could feel as it were the pain that pierced their heart when they were told that Principle must come forth in this generation. I said in my heart, “It is enough, I will never fight that Principle again.” When I got well, I was re-baptized for the remission of sins.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

Emma Smith was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania and had unusual opportunities for a girl in her time. She was well-educated and taught school. She even owned cows and other items, possibly given as payment from students. Her family had a fair amount of money. Imagine, then, her family’s concern when she developed a fondness for Joseph Smith, who was from a poor farm family and had almost no formal education—just that which his father had given him at home with a small amount of traditional schooling. He had no steady occupation and was involved intensely with religion. He was not, however, a member of her family’s faith and in fact, had received a vision at age fourteen telling him not to join any existing church because none were completely right.

Emma saw in him what her family missed. She, like others who knew him well, saw an innate intelligence, a willingness to work very hard, and great integrity. Those who hired him found him to be the best employee they’d ever hired. He attended school as they courted, trying to live up to her. Despite her parents’ disapproval, she eventually eloped. They lived with his family and then with hers for a time.

She worked hard to support his mission. When the time came for Joseph Smith to retrieve the golden plates hidden in ancient times by an angel—a book today called the Book of Mormon—she went with him, praying at the wagon while he went to open the box. She joined in his efforts to protect them from thieves and acted on occasion as his scribe. He was not sufficiently educated to write the translation of the plates, so while he translated through the Holy Ghost, she wrote his words. Other scribes would do the majority of the translation, but she filled in as needed.

She had sufficient faith to avoid looking at the plates even when they were in her bedroom or kitchen, although she frequently felt them and moved them out of her way as she worked. Later witnesses would be permitted to view the plates, but God asked Emma to accept them on faith, a testimony that God recognized her as a woman of great faith.

Emma Smith would make tremendous sacrifices for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for her husband, and for the church. She was not perfect and made choices that seem hard for us to understand today. There can be no question, though, that she made sacrifices far beyond what most Mormons would be asked to make, and that she experienced more than her fair share of suffering.

She would lose many of her children. Her first three died so quickly they were not even named. After losing twins, she adopted a set of twins, but one died after being exposed to the cold when a mob invaded their home while the children were ill. One child died at the age of fourteen months and another died less than a year later.

She would leave her parents in 1830, never to see them again as she and her family were forced to move from place to place to avoid persecution and violence. Her husband was arrested, essentially for being Mormon, leaving her alone to care for her children. She wrote to him that only God knew how hard it was for her to flee her home with her children, abandoning all her possessions and leaving her husband to endure whatever was to come.

Time and again, she was uprooted, often without warning and frequently without time to pack her belongings. She endured the jeering and insults of mobs. The comfortable and peaceful life she had led as a girl had done little to prepare her for this new life, but she faced it with faith. She comforted other women, instructed them, and helped them to build their own faith. She frequently found herself living in the homes of others and just as frequently took complete strangers into her own home. When a group of black Mormons arrived after a very difficult and painful journey fraught with danger and racial prejudice, their feet bleeding because they no longer had shoes, she sat them at her own dinner table and took them all into her home as guests until they could find work. When one was unable to find employment, she hired Jane Manning herself.

She led the Relief Society, an auxiliary for the women of the church that was organized to educate the women and to allow them to serve others. She compiled the first hymnbook.

She handled nearly every trial with grace. She was often anxious and sad, but she coped. Eventually, however, she encountered a trial that became more than she thought she could handle. It is possible that polygamy would have come more easily if it had not been added to an already extraordinary number of other trials and if she had not been the first wife to face it in the Church. She had no example to follow and no real support group, as later women would have.

Initially, when Joseph admitted to her that he had received a revelation about polygamy and was told he absolutely must carry it out, she accepted it. Later, when Brigham Young was the prophet, the practice would be refined so that the first wife had to approve each subsequent wife, but as we also see in the Bible, refinements of new practices often come over time as prophets continue to pray for guidance. Emma did, from time to time, offer approval of specific marriages. At other times, she found she could not handle the choices she had made, much as Sarah in the Old Testament first encouraged her husband to marry her handmaiden and then discovered it was more than she was prepared to handle.

According to historian Richard Bushman, Joseph saw polygamy simply as a way to join families together for eternity. Mormons believe family life continues after death. When eternal marriage was first introduced, many families carried out “sealings” with friends and those they wanted to be eternally associated with, not entirely understanding what the revelation meant. Many wished to be associated with the prophet for the eternal blessings they felt this would bring. He did not court the women or put his proposals in romantic terms. In fact, he generally took another man with him or even asked a father or brother to approach the woman. He instructed them to have the women pray about the request.

Modern DNA has ruled out all children Fran Brodie had proposed were his through other marriages. Since he did father many children with Emma, parenthood was possible, but there is, at this time, no biological proof of traditional marriage relationships and the only accounts came from others, not the women or Joseph. For him, it appears the marriages were fairly impersonal and meant to fulfill the requirement given him by an angel and to join certain families together in the eternities.

Whatever the situation, Emma eventually found herself unable to cope with polygamy. Bushman reports that Emma and Joseph had many intense discussions about his polygamy and their relationship was periodically strained.

All the same, she continued to have a testimony of his role as a prophet and she carried out her duties faithfully. She became the first woman to receive the temple endowment involving the making of sacred covenants with the Savior. She then became a temple worker, helping others with their first temple experiences. During this time, their relationship improved and Joseph may have agreed to stop taking on additional wives.

Although their marriage was often troubled following the introduction of polygamy, Emma continued to care for Joseph. When he was murdered, she bent over him and expressed her sorrow that they had taken him from her. She had a lock of his hair cut and given to her. She wore it in a locket the rest of her life, even after she remarried.

She was left alone with her five children, including her adopted daughter and four sons. Her financial state was precarious because there had not been a clear line between the family money and the church money, with Joseph often going into debt to help support the church. She made an understandable effort to keep some of the property and this put her at odds with Brigham Young, since it was unclear which of those properties belonged to the church and which to her. Some church members inappropriately rejected her because of her rejection of polygamy and her outspokenness on the subject. The Church was already in a period of great stress and grief as people struggled to decide who the next prophet would be and they faced the realization that they were again in great danger with an uncertain future. This most likely caused people to behave differently than they might have in gentler circumstances. With discomfort on both sides, she soon found herself outside the mainstream of the church.

When the Mormons left for Utah, she elected to remain behind. She moved away from Nauvoo for a while to avoid danger, but eventually returned to her former home. She was able to utilize the properties she owned to support her family, but with difficulty, particularly since she was left to cover Joseph’s many debts. She later married Major Lewis Bidamon, who had supported the Mormons during the trials, but was not a member. He had one illegitimate child and after marrying Emma had another, which she raised, making her a most extraordinary woman. They had a reasonably good relationship despite these challenges.

When her son became an adult and headed up the Reorganized Church, as it was then known, she joined. However, she was never really an active member of that church, nor did she become active in any other church. She admitted that she had been reluctant to give her children any formal religious life—just personal reading of the Bible and Book of Mormon—because she was afraid of a return to the many trials she had faced. She helped to care for Joseph’s mother and her mother-in-law noted that few women had endured as many trials as she had with so much grace.

Emma’s life was a complex one. Her refined childhood and girlhood was not designed to give her the skills she needed in adulthood, and yet she managed nearly everything thrown at her. She held on to her faith in God, in the gospel, and in Joseph Smith as a prophet throughout it all. She was not perfect, but what is amazing is that she was as perfect as she was given the powerful trials and persecutions she experienced. Her heartaches were very real and would have been a challenge to any woman, particularly without the lens of understanding time brings. They were enough to wear out any woman and if she, in the end, was tired of fighting her way through life, that can be understood.

Modern Mormons are beginning to come to terms with Emma as the elect lady God declared her to be in a revelation, but a very real and human one at the same time who fought for God as long as she had to before choosing the calmer life she longed for. She stood by her husband even when they faced strains in their marriage. After his death she resisted encouragement to deny his role as a prophet. Since she left no journal, we don’t really know what the entire truth about Emma Smith is…but we do know she was remarkable.

Sources:

Turley, Richard E., and Brittany A. Chapman. “A Comfort unto My Servant, Joseph.” Women of faith in the latter days. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 2011. 343-362. Print.

Bushman, Richard L., and Jed Woodworth. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

In the 1880s, Arizona became a pivotal center of religious persecution for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is frequently misnamed the Mormon Church). The LDS Church had made efforts to colonize Arizona, sending many of its members from Utah to establish colonies along several rivers in Arizona from 1876–1881.

Things began to spiral downward for the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in 1882, when the federal Edmunds Act was passed. This made the practice of polygamy a felony and made polygamists ineligible for public office. One local election judge refused the right to vote to at least one Mormon bishop.

Mormon polygamy is a practice which is largely still misunderstood. Though the LDS Church has not condoned its practice since 1890, many people still think that Mormons practice polygamy, which is not true. Those who practice polygamy today are fundamentalists and are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though many refer to themselves as Mormons.

However, in 1880, polygamy was being practiced by a small percentage of the membership of the LDS Church, and those who obeyed what they truly believed to be a direct commandment from God (and a right they felt was protected under freedom of religion in the U.S. Constitution),were severely persecuted. After the Edmunds Act was passed, more than 1,000 Mormons were imprisoned because of their faith, according to an estimate by Carmon Hardy, a professor emeritus of history at Cal State Fullerton who is an expert on Mormon history.

Though many people opposed to Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) used polygamy as an excuse to persecute the Saints because the real fear was that the large numbers of Saints would take everything over politically and economically. “They soon found themselves under attack, ostensibly because they practiced polygamy, but actually because their growing population threatened the status quo,” according to “Prosecution of the Mormons in Arizona Territory in the 1880s,” a 1977 article in “Arizona and the West,” a quarterly journal of history put out by the University of Arizona.

Battles over land lot jumping were common, as were disputes for control of the communities’ land and water. In 1879, Ammon Meshach Tenney bought land, under the direction of the Church, to establish a Mormon colony at St. Johns, but Mexican squatters were already living there and existing white settlers tried to jump the claim. In 1882, Ammon’s father, Nathan, was shot and killed while trying to keep the peace. At this time, the Saints’ enemies tried to use the new, stronger polygamy law to drive the Mormons out.

During this tumultuous time, several Mormon leaders were arrested and sentenced to 3.5 years in the federal prison in Detroit, which they referred to as the “American Siberia.” Their trials took place in Prescott, the territorial capital.

It was at this time that Miles Park Romney, Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather was arrested for practicing polygamy. After witnessing his fellow Saints’ unfair trials, Romney fled to Mexico along with hundreds of other Mormons, trying to escape religious persecution.

“The Mormons were subject to land-grabbers, cheats and deceivers, denied the right to vote, harassed by the local law enforcement, and involved in gunfights where one bullet went through Miles’ home while his families were in it,” said Larry Romney of Chino Valley, another great-grandson of Miles Park Romney.

In addition to the charges drawn up against practicers of polygamy, many Church leaders were accused of perjury. Though many were arrested on these charges, a grand jury would not indict them. However, after a few men were convicted on polygamy charges, some federal authorities decided to revive the perjury charges and brought them against Romney, Joseph Crosby, and David King Udall in 1885. While Romney escaped to Mexico and Crosby was acquitted, Udall was convicted. He was crushed. He said he would rather have been convicted on a polygamy charge, because the charge of perjury attacked his character. He was worried that his family was languishing without his financial support.

Ammon Tenney, Peter Christofferson, and Christopher Kempe refused to plead guilty to their charges and were convicted in December 1884 to 3.5 years in the Detroit prison. Two months later, Mormon prophet John Taylor was publicly encouraging Arizona polygamists to seek refuge in Mexico.

In addition to the persecution they were already facing, Mormon polygamists were prohibited from voting or holding public office by the territorial legislature in Prescott. Church leaders began to fight back by getting key witnesses to plead on Udall’s behalf that he had not perjured himself. They then appealed to President Grover Cleveland to pardon Udall at the end of 1885.

Next, Church leaders gained support from other territorial leaders to get a presidential pardon for the three men sent to Detroit. After they had served nearly two years in prison, Cleveland signed their pardons in October 1886. This led to other polygamists being pardoned. Eventually, in 1887, the territorial legislature repealed its own anti-polygamy law.

To try and decrease tension, local Mormon leaders even encouraged the Saints to split their votes by becoming Republican. This continues today, with many political Udalls remaining Democrats while the Flakes, Romneys, and Tenneys are mostly Republicans. When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially stopped practicing polygamy in 1890, even more of the tension died down.

However, many who were persecuted didn’t live to see the benefit of peace. Miles Park Romney died in Mexico in 1904 before his family returned to the U.S. during the Mexican Revolution in 1912.

Mitt’s father George, a Michigan governor who also ran for president, was born in Mexico in 1907. Mitt Romney descends from Miles Romney’s first of five wives.

It is because of stressful histories like these that many misconceptions still exist about Mormons today. The attention the media has given to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints due to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, has done a lot to educate the public on Mormon beliefs.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.