* When Mr. and Mrs. Stenhouse left the church at the time of the
"New Movement" their daughter, who was a polygamous wife of Brigham
Young's son, decided with the church and refused even to speak with her
parents.
"On the following evening, when the brother returned home, he found two women sitting there. His first wife said, 'Brother Taussig' (all the women call their husbands brother), 'these are the Sisters Pratt.' They were two widows of Parley P. Pratt. One of the ladies, Sarah, then said, 'Brother Taussig, Brother Kimball told us to call on you, and you know what for.' 'Yes, ladies,' replied Brother Taussig, 'but it is a very hard task for me to marry two' The other remarked, 'Brother Kimball told us you were doing a very good business and could support more women.' Sarah then took up the conversation, 'Well, Brother Taussig, I want to get married anyhow.' The good brother replied, 'Well, ladies, I will see what I can do and let you know."*
* "The Mormon Prophet," p. 258.
Brother Taussig compromised the matter with the Bishop of his ward by marrying Sarah, but she did not like her new home, and he was allowed to divorce her on payment of $10 to Brigham Young!
Each polygamous family was, of course, governed in accordance with the character of its head: a kind man would treat all his wives kindly, however decided a preference he might show for one; and under a brute all would be unhappy. Young, in his earlier days at Salt Lake City, used to assemble all his family for prayers, and have a kind word for each of the women, and all ate at a common table after his permanent residences were built. "Brigham's wives," says Hyde, "although poorly clothed and hard worked, are still very infatuated with their system, very devout in their religion, very devoted to their children. They content themselves with his kindness as they cannot obtain his love."* He kept no servants, the wives performing all the household work, and one of them acting as teacher to her own and the others' children. As the excuse for marriage with the Mormons is childbearing, the older wives were practically discarded, taking the place of examples of piety and of spiritual advisers.
* "Mormonism," p. 164.
** How far this doctrine was not observed may be noted in the
following remarks of H. C. Kimball in the Tabernacle, on February 1,
1857: "They [his wives] have got to live their religion, serve their
God, and do right as well as myself. Suppose that I lose the whole of
them before I go into the spiritual world, but that I have been a good,
faithful man all the days of my life, and lived my religion, and had
favor with God, and was kind to them, do you think I will be destitute
there? No. The Lord says there are more there than there are here. They
have been increasing there; they increase there a great deal faster than
they do here, because there is no obstruction. They do not call upon the
doctors to kill their offspring. In this world very many of the doctors
are studying to diminish the human race. In the spiritual world... we
will go to Brother Joseph... and he will say to us, 'Come along, my
boys, we will give you a good suit of clothes. Where are your wives?'
'They are back yonder; they would not follow us.' 'Never mind,'
says Joseph, 'here are thousands; have all you want.'"—Journal of
Discourses, Vol. IV, p. 209.
A summing up of the many-sided evils of polygamy was thus presented by President Cleveland in his first annual message:—"The strength, the perpetuity, and the destiny of the nation rests upon our homes, established by the law of God, guarded by parental care, regulated by parental authority, and sanctified by parental love. These are not the homes of polygamy.
"The mothers of our land, who rule the nation as they mould the characters and guide the actions of their sons, live according to God's holy ordinances, and each, secure and happy in the exclusive love of the father of her children, sheds the warm light of true womanhood, unperverted and unpolluted, upon all within her pure and wholesome family circle. These are not the cheerless, crushed, and unwomanly mothers of polygamy.
"The fathers of our families are the best citizens of the Republic. Wife and children are the sources of patriotism, and conjugal and parental affection beget devotion to the country. The man who, undefiled with plural marriage, is surrounded in his single home with his wife and children, has a status in the country which inspires him with respect for its laws and courage for its defence. These are not the fathers of polygamous families."