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
It is not our purpose to detract from the merits of any one. We desire
to do justice to all. But the impartial truth of history requires us to
say that the uniform course of Judge Kinney has been to aid and abet
Brigham Young in his ambitious schemes, with but little regard to the
advancement of the interests of the whole country, or the requirements
of indiscriminate justice.
As to his merits as a jurist, the writer of these pages cannot undertake
to decide. But it would seem, to one uninitiated, that a Judge cannot be
very profound who will try, convict, and sentence men not within the
jurisdiction of his court, and even men not in the land of the living.
This was done by Judge Kinney, in the case of the
Morrisites,--dissenters or apostates from the Mormon Church.
In the spring of 1863 a large number of these men were tried, convicted,
and fined $100 each. Many of them were out of the Territory at the time,
and one was dead. This statement is fully substantiated by affidavits
which were taken at the time. Over ninety were tried and convicted,
about twenty of whom were out of the Territory, and one had died before
the trial commenced.
When the cases were called on for trial, it was stated that some of the
accused were absent. The Judge remarked, it made no difference; he was
gratified that so many had made their appearance, and directed the trial
to proceed. All were found guilty, and sentenced to pay a fine of $100
each, except a few of the leaders, who were sentenced to the
penitentiary,--one of them for fifteen years.
These men were accused of resisting the Mormon officers who came to
arrest them. Robert T. Burton, the sheriff of Salt Lake County, who was
the principal one thus "resisted," had shot Morris, their Prophet, in
cold blood, after he and his party had surrendered; and yet, while the
Morrisites were so severely punished, Burton went scot free. The grand
jury of Salt Lake County would not even find a bill of indictment
against him. Burton stands high in the community, and was afterwards
appointed Collector of Internal Revenue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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