Polygamy
[I wrote this in November of last year. Since we are celebrating pioneers this month, I decided to post this on my blog. There are a number of people who try to destroy testimonies by using this against the church, claiming deception on our part. We do not practice polygamy now. We should leave it in the past where it belongs.]
The church has recently posted
some articles on their website on this topic.
I have included links below.
There has been a lot of hullabaloo about this in the lay press. They intimate that this has been a secret
kept by the church. Any church member
who has studied church history or read the Encyclopedia of Mormonism knows all
about this, but sadly many members of the church do not take the time or have
the inclination to inform themselves and are thus led to and fro by every wind
of doctrine and let their faith be challenged by speculation and innuendo.
I thought it might be interesting to explore the influence of polygamy in my ancestors.
Marriner Wood Merrill (second great grandfather) had eight wives and 46 children. There are two of his descendants living in our ward, one from the same wife that I descend from. One of my classmates in medical school was married to one of his descendants. A missionary in Lander when I was growing up was a descendant. I worked in the temple with his brother. My brother Glendon's mission president was one of his descendants.
He died in 1906 and lived with all of his wives at that time. Two of his wives never bore him any children. They were the sixth and seventh wives.
I am not aware that he was ever imprisoned for unlawful cohabitation.
John Telford (third great grandfather) had two wives. His first wife was his first cousin. They fell in love and because their parents were opposed to their marriage, they went to Scotland from their home in Ireland and were married. They later moved to Canada, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and then to Utah. He married as his second wife Elizabeth Robinson. She was a survivor of the Martin Handcart Company. He had seven children by the first wife and nine children by the second.
He died in 1896, six years after the manifesto. As far as I can determine he was never incarcerated for unlawful cohabitation.
Joseph Sharp Rawlins (third great grandfather) married Mary Ellen Frost prior to the exodus to the valley in about 1840. He then married Hannah Stringfellow in 1865. She was the widow of George Stringfellow, who died in 1860 leaving her with three small children.
Joseph died in 1900 being the father of five children by Mary Ellen and seven children by Hannah.
As far as I can determine he never went to prison for unlawful cohabitation.
John Ulrich Stucki (great grandfather) was a young man who left Switzerland to immigrate to Utah. On board the ship Emerald Isle in 1859 was another Swiss family who had a daughter, Margaretha Huber. The Huber family had more than they could handle and prevailed upon John to marry their daughter to take care of her and so it was done on the ship. They settled in Providence, Utah where they adopted a boy who subsequently died at the age of eight. Margaretha never did have any children of her own.
Jane Butler was a convert from Wales and immigrated to America and traveled by train to Ogden, Utah in 1869. Later that year she accompanied the Lowe family to Providence, Utah where she was employed by John and his wife. She and John were married in February 1870 and in July of that year John and his two wives moved to Paris, Idaho.
Jane and John were blessed with nine children.
John served two missions as mission president in Switzerland leaving his wives and children to manage the homes and farm in his absence.
During the second mission in 1888 he met Jacob Spori and his sister Anna Clara Spori in Switzerland. He became friends with Jacob and promised him that he would marry his sister Anna when he got back to Paris, Idaho after his term as mission president. Jacob came to America and went to Rexburg, Idaho where he was instrumental in founding what later became Ricks College and subsequently BYU-Idaho.
Anna and John were married in the Logan temple September 21, 1891 in one of the few polygamous marriages performed with sanction after the manifesto. They had two children.
On the way to his second term as mission president in Switzerland in 1888 he was marked to be arrested as he boarded the train from Ogden to Salt Lake. He disguised himself as a vagrant and had a corncob pipe in his mouth. The federal marshals did not recognize him and he eluded captivity and was able to go to Switzerland.
There is no record of his arrest or conviction for unlawful cohabitation, although he was in prison in Switzerland for preaching the gospel as a young convert before he came to America.
I thought it might be interesting to explore the influence of polygamy in my ancestors.
Marriner Wood Merrill (second great grandfather) had eight wives and 46 children. There are two of his descendants living in our ward, one from the same wife that I descend from. One of my classmates in medical school was married to one of his descendants. A missionary in Lander when I was growing up was a descendant. I worked in the temple with his brother. My brother Glendon's mission president was one of his descendants.
He died in 1906 and lived with all of his wives at that time. Two of his wives never bore him any children. They were the sixth and seventh wives.
I am not aware that he was ever imprisoned for unlawful cohabitation.
John Telford (third great grandfather) had two wives. His first wife was his first cousin. They fell in love and because their parents were opposed to their marriage, they went to Scotland from their home in Ireland and were married. They later moved to Canada, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and then to Utah. He married as his second wife Elizabeth Robinson. She was a survivor of the Martin Handcart Company. He had seven children by the first wife and nine children by the second.
He died in 1896, six years after the manifesto. As far as I can determine he was never incarcerated for unlawful cohabitation.
Joseph Sharp Rawlins (third great grandfather) married Mary Ellen Frost prior to the exodus to the valley in about 1840. He then married Hannah Stringfellow in 1865. She was the widow of George Stringfellow, who died in 1860 leaving her with three small children.
Joseph died in 1900 being the father of five children by Mary Ellen and seven children by Hannah.
As far as I can determine he never went to prison for unlawful cohabitation.
John Ulrich Stucki (great grandfather) was a young man who left Switzerland to immigrate to Utah. On board the ship Emerald Isle in 1859 was another Swiss family who had a daughter, Margaretha Huber. The Huber family had more than they could handle and prevailed upon John to marry their daughter to take care of her and so it was done on the ship. They settled in Providence, Utah where they adopted a boy who subsequently died at the age of eight. Margaretha never did have any children of her own.
Jane Butler was a convert from Wales and immigrated to America and traveled by train to Ogden, Utah in 1869. Later that year she accompanied the Lowe family to Providence, Utah where she was employed by John and his wife. She and John were married in February 1870 and in July of that year John and his two wives moved to Paris, Idaho.
Jane and John were blessed with nine children.
John served two missions as mission president in Switzerland leaving his wives and children to manage the homes and farm in his absence.
During the second mission in 1888 he met Jacob Spori and his sister Anna Clara Spori in Switzerland. He became friends with Jacob and promised him that he would marry his sister Anna when he got back to Paris, Idaho after his term as mission president. Jacob came to America and went to Rexburg, Idaho where he was instrumental in founding what later became Ricks College and subsequently BYU-Idaho.
Anna and John were married in the Logan temple September 21, 1891 in one of the few polygamous marriages performed with sanction after the manifesto. They had two children.
On the way to his second term as mission president in Switzerland in 1888 he was marked to be arrested as he boarded the train from Ogden to Salt Lake. He disguised himself as a vagrant and had a corncob pipe in his mouth. The federal marshals did not recognize him and he eluded captivity and was able to go to Switzerland.
There is no record of his arrest or conviction for unlawful cohabitation, although he was in prison in Switzerland for preaching the gospel as a young convert before he came to America.
My uncle Wendell Stucki once asked
his grandmother Jane Butler Stucki how she felt about polygamy. She responded that she knew it was an
inspired principle and a great blessing to her life.
Robert Marion Kerr (second great grandfather) born in Tennessee came from California by way of Australia and went to work for his bishop, Joseph Sharp Rawlins. He became enamored with the sixteen-year-old daughter, Nancy Jane Rawlins. They were married and then they moved up to Cache Valley where Robert married Nancy's cousin Margaret Elzirah Rawlins two years later. Margaret had twins that did not survive their first year of life. She had another child, but she did not survive and died five days after the birth. This son, James Harvey Kerr was killed in an accident at the age of twenty-eight having never married. There is no record of Robert’s arrest or conviction for unlawful cohabitation.
Lysander Gee (second great grandfather) married his first wife Amanda Sagers in Missouri. They had one son, Orlando Lysander. They were driven from Missouri after the extermination order by governor Lilburn Boggs. They moved to Quincy, Illinois and then to Nauvoo. Lysander then married his second wife, Theresa Bowley in Nauvoo. The four were then expelled from Nauvoo and found themselves in St. Louis, Missouri. We do not know how Amanda died there. There was a Cholera epidemic at that time that killed a number of saints. The papers of Lysander are silent on the circumstances. Lysander and his wife Theresa and her daughter Rozelia along with Orlando came across the plains to Salt Lake City in 1849 and settled on a lot at the corner of fourth south and third west next to Hiram Gates and his two wives, Sarah Maria and her children (they had six children, but probably only four were left at home and Maryette and her two daughters.
Hiram left for California with Emily Amanda Rockwell leaving his two wives to fend for themselves. Lysander married the abandoned Maryette and the family moved to Tooele. Maryette died from complications of childbirth with her eleventh child. Maryette had two children with Hiram Gates and nine with Lysander.
As far as I can determine he never went to prison for unlawful cohabitation, although he was sentenced to jail for allowing people to vote from a party that was disenfranchised. I have not been able to determine if he ever served time in jail.
Erasmus Lysander Gee (great grand uncle) was Lysander's first son by Maryette and the older brother of Erastus Rowe Gee.
He apparently was married to three different wives, but there is some question that he was not married or at not least living with the first two at the same time, although he was accused of such. He was arrested and spent time in prison for unlawful cohabitation while protesting his innocence. He was under the impression that his first wife divorced him before he married the second. There is not much information about him. He essentially disappears after his release from prison. One child that died early is documented.
William Jasper Kerr (great grand uncle) was my great grandfather's oldest brother. He was nineteen years older than Marion Joseph. William’s father had two wives. William also had two wives, the first wife was Leonora Deseret Hamilton. They were married in 1885. They had six children. Two years later in 1887 he married Lois Cordelia Morehead. They had two children.
In 1890 the manifesto was issued. All those marriages were still valid. The pressure that was exerted on those families by the federal government and those who were not members of the church was very heavy. Evidently the pressure on William Jasper was great enough that he divorced Lois and renounced his affiliation to the church. He became quite prominent in the field of education, serving as the president of Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) and Oregon State College (now Oregon State University).
Although some of his children were baptized as members of the church, none remained active enough to receive their temple ordinances in this life either from the first or second marriage.
George Washington Gee (first cousin three times removed) was Lysander's older brother. He had a son by the name of George Washington II. He fell in love with a young lady, Sophina Alcesta Fuller. When she was almost fourteen years of age she was to marry a man (James Bird) who was 46 years of age and already had a wife. She did not want to get married and ran off and hid in a cornfield after the marriage and did not return until she was assured that the marriage would not be consummated. She married George at the age of nineteen and produced ten children. One of her daughters was the mother of the patriarch of the church Eldred Gee Smith.
George Brown Bailey (second great grand uncle) was born in Bath England and married Elizabeth Young in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England in 1853. They then immigrated to Utah. They had twelve children. In 1868 George married Elsie Marie Anderson in the Endowment House. They had nine children.
Robert Marion Kerr (second great grandfather) born in Tennessee came from California by way of Australia and went to work for his bishop, Joseph Sharp Rawlins. He became enamored with the sixteen-year-old daughter, Nancy Jane Rawlins. They were married and then they moved up to Cache Valley where Robert married Nancy's cousin Margaret Elzirah Rawlins two years later. Margaret had twins that did not survive their first year of life. She had another child, but she did not survive and died five days after the birth. This son, James Harvey Kerr was killed in an accident at the age of twenty-eight having never married. There is no record of Robert’s arrest or conviction for unlawful cohabitation.
Lysander Gee (second great grandfather) married his first wife Amanda Sagers in Missouri. They had one son, Orlando Lysander. They were driven from Missouri after the extermination order by governor Lilburn Boggs. They moved to Quincy, Illinois and then to Nauvoo. Lysander then married his second wife, Theresa Bowley in Nauvoo. The four were then expelled from Nauvoo and found themselves in St. Louis, Missouri. We do not know how Amanda died there. There was a Cholera epidemic at that time that killed a number of saints. The papers of Lysander are silent on the circumstances. Lysander and his wife Theresa and her daughter Rozelia along with Orlando came across the plains to Salt Lake City in 1849 and settled on a lot at the corner of fourth south and third west next to Hiram Gates and his two wives, Sarah Maria and her children (they had six children, but probably only four were left at home and Maryette and her two daughters.
Hiram left for California with Emily Amanda Rockwell leaving his two wives to fend for themselves. Lysander married the abandoned Maryette and the family moved to Tooele. Maryette died from complications of childbirth with her eleventh child. Maryette had two children with Hiram Gates and nine with Lysander.
As far as I can determine he never went to prison for unlawful cohabitation, although he was sentenced to jail for allowing people to vote from a party that was disenfranchised. I have not been able to determine if he ever served time in jail.
Erasmus Lysander Gee (great grand uncle) was Lysander's first son by Maryette and the older brother of Erastus Rowe Gee.
He apparently was married to three different wives, but there is some question that he was not married or at not least living with the first two at the same time, although he was accused of such. He was arrested and spent time in prison for unlawful cohabitation while protesting his innocence. He was under the impression that his first wife divorced him before he married the second. There is not much information about him. He essentially disappears after his release from prison. One child that died early is documented.
William Jasper Kerr (great grand uncle) was my great grandfather's oldest brother. He was nineteen years older than Marion Joseph. William’s father had two wives. William also had two wives, the first wife was Leonora Deseret Hamilton. They were married in 1885. They had six children. Two years later in 1887 he married Lois Cordelia Morehead. They had two children.
In 1890 the manifesto was issued. All those marriages were still valid. The pressure that was exerted on those families by the federal government and those who were not members of the church was very heavy. Evidently the pressure on William Jasper was great enough that he divorced Lois and renounced his affiliation to the church. He became quite prominent in the field of education, serving as the president of Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) and Oregon State College (now Oregon State University).
Although some of his children were baptized as members of the church, none remained active enough to receive their temple ordinances in this life either from the first or second marriage.
George Washington Gee (first cousin three times removed) was Lysander's older brother. He had a son by the name of George Washington II. He fell in love with a young lady, Sophina Alcesta Fuller. When she was almost fourteen years of age she was to marry a man (James Bird) who was 46 years of age and already had a wife. She did not want to get married and ran off and hid in a cornfield after the marriage and did not return until she was assured that the marriage would not be consummated. She married George at the age of nineteen and produced ten children. One of her daughters was the mother of the patriarch of the church Eldred Gee Smith.
George Brown Bailey (second great grand uncle) was born in Bath England and married Elizabeth Young in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England in 1853. They then immigrated to Utah. They had twelve children. In 1868 George married Elsie Marie Anderson in the Endowment House. They had nine children.
He was arrested and confined to
prison for unlawful cohabitation. There are documents of his letters to his
wives while he was in prison.
There are six of my direct
ancestors who practiced polygamy and four uncle and cousin relations that were
also involved.
This was not an easy principle to
accept for both the man and the woman involved. There were, as you can see, good and bad outcomes to the
practice.
If you want to read more about Polygamy here are some links.
If you want to read more about Polygamy here are some links.
From the church website
From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism
From a Blog
