Outsiders’ Observations of Utah Polygamy

Illustration taken from Roughing It by Mark Twain

In another informative episode of 132 Problems (how does anyone still think LDS polygamy was inspired?), Michelle Stone shared observations about polygamy from three reliable sources outside the early Utah church. They each provide entertaining and varied accounts of the less-than-civilized lifestyle.

Michelle presented portions of these accounts as added fuel to defend Emma, who is accused of being delusional when she repeatedly said that Joseph did not teach or practice polygamy.

The Honorable Schuyler Colfax

The first source was Schuyler Colfax. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives when he visited Utah in June of 1965. Colfax would go onto become the Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant in 1969.

A New Revelation & A Great Trial for Brigham

Among the interesting observations about his Salt Lake City visit, Colfax recorded in his journal about a meeting with Brigham Young.(pages 247-248)

He said that Brigham “…asked what we (the U.S. government) intended to do about polygamy.” Colfax replied that he “thought it about time to have another revelation abolishing it.”

Brigham said he “would be glad if it could be so” —if he could have a revelation making polygamy go away. “It had been a great trial for him to submit to it.”

Monogamy, But Then a Later Revelation that is Often Abused

Brigham said the revelations for the Doctrine & Covenants declared for monogamy, but that polygamy was “a later revelation commanded by God to him and a few others, and permitted and advised to the rest of the church; but he said it was often abused.”

Where is Joseph in This?

It seems to me that if Joseph was one of the “few others” that had polygamy revealed to them, wouldn’t Brigham name Joseph— the founder of the faith—as one of those “others”? Isn’t it more likely that Brigham’s words are referring to others learning of this revelation later, after Joseph’s death? Joseph died in 1844. This “later revelation” would not be made public until 1852. Section 132 would not even be in the Doctrine and Covenants until 1876 when the parts declaring monogamy would be pulled out.

Polygamy Vs Hanging Witches & Salvery

Here’s the July 18, 1865 edition of the New York Times. On page 4, in the lower 4th column is a brief report of Speaker Colfax and other “prominent gentlemen” meeting with Brigham Young and other Church leaders.

Colfax recorded in his journal on June 18, 1865 that during this meeting, the Church leaders “denounced the anti-polygamy law as unconstitutional, in that it interfered with their religion.” (page 247)

To the Church leaders’ claim that an anti-polygamy law was unconstitutional, Colfax recorded the following response:

“Richardson, responded that ‘when the Puritans hung witches’ they claimed divine law for it, although it was really murder…I told them I trusted they would rid themselves of it as Missouri and Maryland did of slavery, although they had declared it theretofore so interwoven with their social system, and so necessary to their labor, that they could not abolish it.”

Catharine Van Valkenburg Waite

Catharine Van Valkenburg Waite wrote a book published in 1866 entitled, The Mormon Prophet and his Harem; or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, his Numerous Wives and Children.

Some background to her Book

Here’s what Wikipedia says about why she and her family were in Utah:

“The Waite family relocated to the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1862 after her husband Charles was appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Utah Territory by President Lincoln. There, the family was threatened by Mormons with violence after Congress passed laws against polygamy. Waite was the only non-Mormon in town and learned how to use a six-shooter. After finding the laws could not be enforced, Charles resigned his position and the family left the area. They were living in Idaho City when their first son was born.

She headed the publishing firm of C. V. Waite and Co., and wrote The Mormon Prophet and His Harem, based on what she had learned of the cruelties inflicted upon Mormon women under the leadership of Brigham Young.”

Waite’s book looks carefully at Brigham and his polygamy-related life in Utah. She touches on the founding, doctrine, scriptures, and teachings around this practice.

An Abuse of the Passions of Man

As she begins her writings about the evils of polygamy, she says that it was not part of the original religion, rather it was introduced by Brigham. (p 160)

After thoroughly exploring and explaining the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, Waite concludes that polygamy is “no part of the Mormon religion, as given to the world by Joseph Smith.” (p165)

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Exquisite Cruelty Illustrated in Marriage Ceremony

She describes the church’s process for approving a plural marriage and says, “The exquisite cruelty of this abominable practice will appear most vividly from the marriage ceremony.” On pages 171-172 she describes the ceremony:

“The President, who is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator over the whole church, throughout the whole world, and who alone holds the keys of authority in this solemn ordinance, calls upon the bridegroom and his wife, and the bride, to arise, which they do, fronting the President. The wife stands on the left hand of her husband, while the bride stands on her left. The President then puts this question to the wife : 'Are you willing to give this woman to your husband, to be his lawful and wedded wife, for time and all eternity? If you are, you will manifest it by placing her right hand within the right hand of your husband’—The right hands of the bridegroom and the bride being thus joined, the wife takes her husband by the left arm, as if in the attitude of walking. The President then proceeds to ask the following questions of the man : 'Do you, brother, (calling him by name) take sister (calling the bride by name) by the right hand, to receive her unto yourself, to be your lawful and wedded wife, and you to be her lawful and wedded husband, for time and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise on your part, that you fulfil all the laws, rites, and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, — doing this in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses, of your own free will and choice?' The bridegroom answers, 'Yes.’ The President then puts the question to the bride : 'Do you, sister, (calling her by name) take brother (calling him by name) by the right hand, and give yourself to him to be his lawful and wedded wife, for time and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise, on your part, that you will fulfil all the laws, rites, and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, — doing this in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses, of your own free will and choice?' The bride answers, 'Yes.' The President then says : 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, I pronounce you legally and lawfully husband and wife, for time and all eternity; and I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, immortality, and eternal lives; and I seal upon you the blessings of thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers, and exaltations ; together with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; and say unto you, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, that you may have joy and rejoicing in your posterity, in the day of the Lord Jesus. All these blessings, together with all other blessings, pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, I seed upon your heads, and enjoin your faithfulness unto the end, by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.' "

While I don’t know how Waite obtained the wording for this ceremony long before the internet, much of this will sound familiar to those attending the temple today. I bolded the “New and Everlasting Covenant” because this key wording from the polygamy revelation (D&C 132) is still, I believe, in the sealing ceremony. I know this phrase was added back to the temple endowment ceremony in 2019 in reference to women. In this post I explain why I find this troubling.

Mark Twain

Another source for information on Brigham and polygamy is Mark Twain in his book, Roughing It. Of course he shares his observations with humor, but I don’t think that negates truth from everything he writes.

The Project Fails for Brigham Suffers It

According to Twain (page 132), polygamy was added by Brigham after Joseph's death.

Twain goes on to quote Jacob 2:23-26 from the Book of Mormon. To paraphrase, these are the verses that accuse the people of waxing in iniquity, committing whoredoms, and justifying more than one wife because of David and Solomon who had many wives and concubines which was an abomination to God. God led these people out of Jerusalem to raise a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. For this reason God will not suffer that this people commit that abomination again.

Based on these verses Twain concludes “The project failed—or at least the modern Mormon end of it—for Brigham ‘suffers’ it.”

Joseph Only on Record as Denouncing It

Twain states in the above passage that polygamy was added by Brigham even though he pretended it came from Joseph. Joseph, in his lifetime, had only denounced polygamy, as did Hyrum and Emma.

A Humorous Offense to Women

As a woman, I find the following well-known passage that goes with this illustration from Roughing It both offensive and witty.

It’s not easy to end a polygamy post on a light-hearted note, but thanks to Mark Twain this one will.

“Our stay in Salt Lake City amounted to only two days, and therefore we had no time to make the customary inquisition into the workings of polygamy and get up the usual statistics and deductions preparatory to calling the attention of the nation at large once more to the matter. I had the will to do it. With the gushing self-sufficiency of youth I was feverish to plunge in headlong and achieve a great reform here—until I saw the Mormon women. Then I was touched.

My heart was wiser than my head. It warmed toward these poor, ungainly and pathetically ‘homely’ creatures, and as I turned to hide the generous moisture in my eyes, I said, ‘No — the man that marries one of them has done an act of Christian charity which entitles him to the kindly applause of mankind, not their harsh censure — and the man that marries sixty of them has done a deed of open-handed generosity so sublime that the nations should stand uncovered in his presence and worship in silence.’ “