The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and ChildrenWaite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)
History
The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children
Waite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)
Latter Day Saint churches; Young, Brigham, 1801-1877
Mary Ann Angell Young, the first wife.--Her Family.--Lucy
Decker Seely, the first wife in Plurality.--More of "My
Women": Clara Decker, Harriet Cook, Lucy Bigelow, Twiss,
Martha Bowker, Harriet Barney, Eliza Burgess, Ellen Rockwood,
Susan Snively, Jemima Angell, Margaret Alley, Margaret Pierce,
Mrs. Hampton, Mary Bigelow, Emeline Free, or the Light of the
Harem.--Proxy Women: Miss Eliza Roxy Snow, Zina D. Huntington,
Amelia Partridge, Mrs. Cobb, Mrs. Smith, Clara Chase, the
Maniac.--Amelia, the last love.--The Prophet in Love the
Thirtieth Time.
_Mrs. Mary Ann Angell Young._
This lady is the first living and legal wife of the Prophet. She is a
native of New York, and is a fine-looking, intelligent woman. She is
large, portly, and dignified. Her hair is well sprinkled with the frosts
of age; her clear, hazel eyes and melancholy countenance indicate a soul
where sorrow reigns supreme. She has been very much attached to her
husband, and his infidelity has made deep inroads upon her mind. Her
deep-seated melancholy often produces flights of insanity, which
increase with her declining years.
Bereft of her husband's society, she naturally clings to her children,
of whom she has five: Joseph, Brigham A., John, Alice, and Luna. They
all reside with her. She formerly occupied "the Bee-Hive House," but as
the number of her husband's wives increased, it became necessary that
additional accommodations should be furnished the "plural" portion of
the family. The first wife was obliged to vacate her residence for the
benefit of new comers. She was removed to a great barn-like house on the
hill. This building looks more like a penitentiary than anything else.
It was the first house built upon the premises, and, as before stated,
is very deficient in the number and size of its windows.
Mrs. Young seldom receives guests, and her husband himself scarcely ever
pays her a visit.
When I looked upon this poor, suffering woman, as she sat at church,
surrounded by her husband's mistresses, I seemed for the first time
fully to realize the true character of that "institution" which has
crushed the hearts of many noble women.
She is very kind to her children and dependents, and is much beloved by
them. She has not succeeded so well in gaining the affection of "the
wives." With them she is very unpopular, and by some of them she is
often mocked and upbraided. It is said, "one hates whom he has injured."
This may account for much of this feeling among the "plurals."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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