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
The writer has no disposition to bring private individuals into public
notice, especially those who deserve only to sink into obscurity. But as
this is a subject which affects the whole country, and must eventually
be disposed of upon the basis of _facts_, we shall give two or three
other instances, citing cases of persons so well known, that the facts
will not be questioned for a moment.
Mr. Townsend, a hotel-keeper at Salt Lake, married a young wife. The
other wife became disgusted, and refused to remain in the house. So, in
another house back of the hotel, lived the first wife, leading a
miserable, unhappy life, looking upon the second wife as an interloper,
having an unutterable contempt for her, and refusing to speak to her.
Mrs. Captain Hooper, an intelligent and lady-like woman, says she does
not like to think of the subject,--would rather not talk about it;
admits that if her husband were to take a second wife, it would make her
very unhappy, but says it is a part of her religion, and she believes it
would be her duty to submit. It is known that Brigham urges Captain H.
to take a second wife, and it is thought the Captain will be forced into
it by the absolute power, whose behests he must obey, no matter how
contrary to his own inclinations it may be. He was once seen to come out
of the President's office with tears in his eyes, after having had a
conversation upon the subject.
T. B. H. Stenhouse, an active, intelligent man, holding the office of
Postmaster at Salt Lake, under the Federal Government, has a beautiful
and accomplished wife, and an interesting family of eight children. For
a long time after arriving in Utah, he remained true to his wife. She
lived in constant apprehension that her husband would "go into
polygamy," and so much was she opposed to it, that she once said to me
in his presence, that if he did, she could not and would not live with
him longer.
Mr. Cook, the Superintendent and Assistant Treasurer of the Overland
Stage Company, who was accidentally killed in California, was, during
his lifetime, on intimate terms with Stenhouse, and is supposed to have
exercised considerable influence to prevent him from embracing the
pernicious system. It is known that on one occasion, Cook, hearing that
Stenhouse contemplated something of the kind, threatened him with a
prosecution under the Anti-Polygamy Law of Congress.
Cook was killed, as stated, and soon after, Stenhouse, freed from any
restraint except the church and his own pliable conscience, married
Celia, daughter of Parley P. Pratt, a pert little miss, fourteen years
of age, and took her into his family, with his eight children and the
wife with whom he had lived so many years. And this too, in open
violation of a law of the United States, under the government of which
he holds a lucrative commission!
FOOTNOTES:
[219:A] _Deseret News_, October 1, 1856.
[225:A] _The Seer_, Vol. I. p. 41.
[227:A] _Times and Seasons_, Vol. V. p. 423.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account