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Experimental and correlational techniques are often combined in multifactor studies. When the
study contains a personality variable and an experimental manipulation, it’s termed experimental
personality research. Multifactor studies permit the emergence of interactions.
KEY TERMS
TEST ITEMS
Multiple Choice
a. inspection.
b. self-monitoring.
c. introspection.
d. personal case study.
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. Henry Murray used the term to describe efforts to understand the whole person.
a. biographical research
b. personology
c. introspection
d. macro-assessment
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
a. Introspection
b. Cognitive
c. Personology
d. Correlational
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Moderate
5. Experience sampling studies are similar to case studies in that they both
Answer: A
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
6. What prevents the results of a single case study from being applied to many people?
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
8. A is a dimension along which variations exist. There are always at least two
along each dimension.
a. level, constructs
b. value, variables
c. variable, observations
d. variable, values
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
10. Which of the following is one way to organize information about a correlation?
a. A scatterplot
b. A horizontal plot
c. A pie chart
d. A vertical plot
Answer: A
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
11. A scatterplot with many points in the lower right quadrant of the plot, many points in the upper
left quadrant, and very few points in the other quadrants would indicate a(n)
a. positive correlation.
b. negative correlation.
c. inverse correlation.
d. reverse correlation.
Answer: A
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Difficult
12. When low values on one dimension are associated with high values on another dimension, the
correlation between the two variables is termed
a. inadequate.
b. inverse.
c. qualified.
d. substantive.
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
13. The strength of a correlation refers to its
a. directionality.
b. degree of accuracy in prediction.
c. positivity as opposed to negativity.
d. level of statistical significance.
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
a. 0.0
b. 1.0
c. 10.0
d. 100.0
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
a. 1.68
b. -.63
c. .42
d. .56
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Difficult
a. .5
b. .0
c. -.5
d. -1.0
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
17. To test whether research findings can be attributed to chance, researchers use
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: A
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Moderate
a. scientific
b. humanitarian
c. practical
d. historical
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Moderate
21. Why can’t correlational research tell us why two variables go together?
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Moderate
22. What type of study design allows for statements about causality?
a. Case study
b. Experimental
c. Correlational
d. Multifactor
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
a. free to vary.
b. measured.
c. manipulated.
d. the outcome variable.
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
a. independent variable.
b. control variable.
c. dependent variable.
d. correlation coefficient.
Answer: A
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
25. Ensuring that all variables are constant in an experiment, except for the independent variable,
is called
a. random sampling.
b. experimental control.
c. random assignment.
d. experimental manipulation.
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
26. Which of the following is NOT a reason someone would use random assignment?
a. To assure that each participant has an equal chance of being in either experimental
condition
b. To balance out differences between experimental groups
c. To rule out the third variable problem
d. To assure that people within each group are similar to one another
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Evaluate
Difficulty Level: Difficult
27. If a researcher randomly assigns subjects to two groups at the beginning of an experiment, we
can assume that at that point
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Evaluate
Difficulty Level: Difficult
28. If you find that two groups differ from each other on the dependent measure at the end of an
experiment, you are able to conclude that
a. only one thing could have caused the difference: manipulation of the dependent variable.
b. the groups differed on the dependent measure before the study started.
c. only one thing could have caused the difference: manipulation of the independent
variable.
d. none of these answers are correct
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Evaluate
Difficulty Level: Moderate
29. If a study categorizes subjects on the basis of some naturally occurring difference, it is most
likely a(n)
a. correlational study.
b. experimental study.
c. cross-lagged study.
d. case study.
Answer: A
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
30. One reason that a personality psychologist might not use the experimental method is
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: B
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Analyze
Difficulty Level: Moderate
33. In multifactor research, possible results fall into which two categories?
Answer: C
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
a. interaction studies.
b. correlational studies.
c. main effect studies.
d. multifactor studies.
Answer: D
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
LO #/Text: 2.2: Examine the process of establishing two kind of relationships between
variables
Skill Level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
True and False
Answer: T
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. One reason introspection is problematic is that people tend to feel certain their memory is
correct.
Answer: T
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: F
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
Answer: T
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill Level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
Answer: F
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
6. Case studies are lacking in detail relative to other types of studies.
Answer: F
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. One advantage of experience-sampling studies is that they do not tend to require people to
remember events from the distant past.
Answer: T
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
Answer: F
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Apply
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Answer: T
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Most of the research on personality has been done in the United States and Europe.
Answer: T
Topic/Concept: Gathering Information
LO #/Text: 2.1: Define case study, experience sampling, and the concept of generality
Skill level: Understand
Difficulty Level: Easy
Answer: F
Topic/Concept: Establishing Relationships among Variables
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CHAPTER XXXII.
DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS OF THE SAINTS:—
POLYGAMY FROM A WOMAN’S STANDPOINT.
To face p. 302.
In a very large house, with many wives, there is greater safety and peace
for the husband than in a small house with only two wives. When there are
only two apartments, the husband, if not in one, is supposed to be in the
other, and the neglected wife frequently expresses her opinion of her rival in
the opposite room in very powerful language. Scenes may be witnessed in
such households which are too shocking to disclose. Brigham Young was
conscious of this when he said he “would stand no more fighting and
scratching around him”; and yet, in the face of all this, he dares to tell the
people that this is the “Order of Celestial Marriage.” With many wives living
together in a large house there are many advantages. The whereabouts of the
husband is not so easily discovered, and the unhappy or jealous wife is at a
loss to know upon whom to vent her ire. On this account even men with small
means prefer to have three wives instead of two, as each wife, not knowing
which of the other two she ought to hate the most, divides her jealousy. It
takes, however, a wise man to know how to live in Polygamy, so as to balance
all the conflicting interests and obtain a little peace, if happiness is out of the
question.
Where the husband is a rich man and has abundant wealth wherewith to
supply the wants of his numerous wives and children, and to furnish all the
necessary accommodation that a growing family demands, much of the
jealousy and ill-feeling inseparable from Polygamy can, to a certain extent, be
avoided.
It would be quite impossible, with any regard to propriety, to relate all the
horrible results of this disgraceful system. It has debased the minds and
degraded the lives of good and honest men and women, while those who
naturally had a tendency towards evil have become a hundred times worse.
Marriages have been contracted between the nearest relatives; and old men
tottering on the brink of the grave have been united to little girls scarcely in
their teens; while unnatural alliances of every description, which in any other
community would be regarded with disgust and abhorrence, are here entered
into in the name of God, and under the sanction of a “Revelation” supposed
to proceed from the pure and holy Saviour.
I was much shocked and disgusted when first I went to Utah, to find a man
whom under other circumstances I had known in London, living with two
sisters whom he had married in the manner I have just described, and,
strange as it may appear, it was not with them a matter of necessity. When I
knew the husband in Europe, I considered him a man of education and
refinement; but I certainly was mistaken, for no man whose nature was at all
sensitive would have lived as he did. His wives, too, who had been considered
highly respectable English girls, were not ashamed of their degraded position;
they professed to believe in bringing the world back to its primitive purity and
innocence.
It is quite a common thing in Utah for a man to marry two and even three
sisters. I was well acquainted with one man who married his half-sister, and I
know several who have married mother and daughter. I know also another
man who married a widow with several children; and, when one of the girls
had grown into her teens, he insisted on marrying her also, having first by
some means won her affections. The mother, however, was much opposed to
this marriage, and finally gave up her husband entirely to her daughter; and
to this very day the daughter bears children to her step-father, living as wife
in the same house with her mother!
In another instance, a well-known man in Salt Lake City, who has several
wives and married daughters, married a young girl of fifteen years of age
whom his wife had adopted and brought up as her own.
Quite a number of the leading Mormons have wives in the various
settlements; and this is very convenient to them if they have to travel much.
If the wives are old and experienced, as wives who are sent into the country
generally are, they can then look after and manage a farm; and if they have
growing boys, the farm can be worked upon a very economical plan. The
younger wives in the city can be supplied from them with all the butter,
cheese, vegetables, &c., that they require. It takes considerable shrewdness
to manage women in such a way as to turn all their abilities to good account
and to make them profitable.
Let me ask the good brethren who read this to act for once impartially, and
try to put themselves in a woman’s place; and let me for their benefit draw a
little picture for them to contemplate.
It is evening, and the family are all assembled in their pleasant home—a
home made happy by the kind and thoughtful care of a loving father. Peace
and tranquillity dwell in every heart, and the father is happy in being
surrounded by his children, to whom he is fondly attached. He listens to the
prattle of the little ones, or the music and songs of the elder children; and for
a time he is forgetful of everything save the happiness of the hour.
Suddenly his wife, the mother of his children, whom he dearly loves, rises
from her seat beside the fire and retires to her own apartment. There she
arranges her toilet with irreproachable care, sees that every straying curl is in
its place, and gives every touch to her appearance which she thinks is likely to
render her attractive in the eyes of a man. She now descends the stairs, ready
to leave the home of this, her first husband, for she is going to see her
second husband, or some young man to whom she has taken a fancy, and
who she thinks would be suitable for a third. She kisses her children good-
bye, and is about to take an affectionate farewell of their father, when she
suddenly discovers that he is not looking happy. “What is the matter now?”
she says; “is not your home a pleasant one? have I not taken pains to train
your children in a proper manner, and have I not remained an hour longer
than usual with you? What folly it is for you to be moping in this way! this is
not the way to live our religion, if we expect to get the blessing of God. You
know very well it is very painful for me to leave you and my children; but we
must be obedient to the commands of God, and I owe attentions to my other
husband as well as to you!”
Can any man be supposed who would for a moment endure such an
outrage upon decency and common sense, such a violation of all that is
sacred in the human heart? And yet this is only reversing the case; and just
as any Mormon man can suppose he would feel, if the wife he loved were to
act in the way I have described, so do Mormon wives feel, only as much more
acutely, as women are more sensitive in their affections than men.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF POLYGAMY—MARRIAGE
AND BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD.
My life was now one continued series of deceptions, as was also that of my
husband, and we began habitually to wear the mask when in each other’s
presence.
It may have been wrong, perhaps, but I confess that for my husband’s
intended bride I felt such a detestation that I could not endure her presence,
although I knew that she was not to blame. I believed that I should not have
felt it so much if she had been a little older; but to have a mere child placed
on a level with me, and to be compelled to treat her with all the respect due
to a wife, was so terribly humiliating to me that at times I thought that I could
not endure it another day. She, of course, expected to be treated with all the
consideration which is proper to a wife, and to be consulted in everything by
my husband, as a wife should be. She was not, however, competent to
undertake any household duties or wifely cares, and was herself an additional
responsibility to me. Young and inexperienced as she was, she had everything
to learn; but, at the same time, she stood so much upon her dignity that it
was anything but a pleasant task to teach her. It of course devolved upon me
to instruct her in everything, and I found it anything but a congenial task. I
soon began to look upon her simply as a boarder, and expected nothing more
from her than I should if she had really been such.
She took very kindly to this position, and would spend her days in her own
room, reading and otherwise amusing herself, and of course was always
pleasant and well-dressed to receive her husband. But this did not suit me. In
fact I do not know what would have suited me at that time, for I was
disposed to be displeased with everything. And yet a visitor to our house
would, I have no doubt, have, said, “How very pleasantly those two wives get
along together!” This has been said of scores of women in Utah by casual
observers—Gentiles, who thought they “understood” the system. How little do
they know the aching void and the bitter hatred which exists in the hearts of
those wives—the detestation which they have of one another! How little can
they know, when everything is so carefully hidden, even from their husbands!
It is a shameful thing that women, faithful wives and mothers, should be
placed in such a position.
How many times during the day have I been compelled to leave everything
and rush to my chamber, and there on my bended knees supplicate for
strength to endure, thinking all the time that, in ordaining this Revelation, God
had given us a burden greater than we could bear!
Then in the evening, when we were assembled together in our cosy parlour,
as we were wont to be, all traces that remained of the terrible struggle which
I had endured were a sad countenance and perhaps the deepening lines upon
my brow, which contrasted unpleasantly with the bright and cheerful face of
the young wife, and made my husband feel that I was getting very sour in my
disposition, as indeed was probably the case.
Things and actions, which at another time I should have considered too
trifling to notice, had now a painful significance to me. On one occasion, not
long after the wedding, my husband asked me to take a walk with him, and I
consented. Among the Mormons it is a custom to take their wives out
together very frequently. Their object, I presume, is to display the “jewels” in
their crowns before the eyes of their less fortunate brethren. I had resolved
that I would never submit to this; if my husband would not take me out
alone, I would stay at home. On the occasion I mention, when I came out of
my room ready dressed, I found him and his wife, Belinda, waiting and
chatting pleasantly together, and looking unutterable love at each other—at
least, so I thought—and I felt greatly insulted and annoyed, and told them I
did not wish to go. I carefully avoided showing any outbursts of temper
before the young lady, which I thought would be undignified, for I desired at
least that she should respect me, though I did not want her love. If I had
expected that they would urge me to accompany them, I should have been
greatly mistaken, for my refusal appeared to be just what they wanted. They
tripped off together as light-hearted and happy as children, while I remained
rooted to the spot, tearing my pocket-handkerchief to pieces, and wishing I
could do the same with them.
I used sometimes to wonder whether it would be the same in the Mormon
heaven, where this Celestial Order of Marriage is expected to be carried out in
all its fullness, and I felt troubled for myself. These dreadful feelings would, I
believed, be the ruin of my soul, and I thought it was impossible for me to
obtain salvation until I had entirely subdued them—and that I had not power
yet to do. I had, however, so concealed what I felt, that my husband believed
that I was becoming used to this new life.
Day after day my rebellious soul was agitated by the same troubled
feelings. There was no rest for me—nothing upon which I could stay my mind.
My husband was painfully aware that there was a coldness and restraint
existing between his young wife and myself, and I know that he was grieved
by it, for he had tried in every way to create a friendly feeling between us. I
felt, however, that it was utterly impossible that I could ever be affectionate
towards his other wife, much as I might strive. I would do my duty, but I
could not love her, or, in fact, him either for that matter, when he was
associated with her. I regret to be obliged to confess such a truth; but from
that time, and as long as I remained in Mormonism, the sentiment that was
uppermost in my mind was an utter detestation of the whole system. I
despised myself for being the abject slave that I was. Why could I not have
the moral courage to set everything at defiance—Revelation and all—and free
myself from the bondage that enthralled me?
I know this day scores of women in Utah who think and feel exactly as I did
then, who suffer wrongs against which their hearts daily and hourly rebel, but
who, like me, dread to cast aside the yoke of the oppressor.
At that time, in respect to pecuniary matters, we were very comfortably off.
Almost immediately after our arrival in Utah, Mr. Stenhouse had found
employment on the staff of the Deseret News. Before long he obtained the
appointment of postmaster for Salt Lake City, and before his marriage with
Miss Pratt he had started the Telegraph, the first daily paper that was ever
published in Utah. From the beginning it had been remarkably successful; for
Brigham had counselled the people to sustain it, knowing very well that he
himself would in return be supported by my husband. Brigham had no more
devoted follower than Mr. Stenhouse was then, for the scales had not yet
fallen from his eyes, and he believed the Prophet was really what he claimed
to be—a faithful servant of God. True, we had frequently talked together of
his very mean actions; but my too generous, or perhaps too credulous,
husband had attributed all that to the weakness of his human nature, and
would not believe that it affected his priesthood. He therefore sustained him
strongly and consistently before the public; not for gain, for he had given too
many instances of his devotion to be suspected of that; but I may say from
pure attachment, for I know too well that at that time he was almost ready to
lay down his life for the sake of his religion.
The Telegraph soon became the leading journal in Utah, and in a little while
we were surrounded by every comfort and luxury which at that time could be
procured in Salt Lake City. No family in the Territory was better provided for
than was ours, not excepting Brigham Young’s. I had always believed that if
my husband were left alone, untrammelled by the Church, to make his own
way, he would do so successfully. In this I was not mistaken. We now owned
a fine dwelling-house, a valuable city lot and house, where the paper was
printed, and also another very desirable lot, near to Brigham Young’s
residence. This last lot was my own; it was very beautifully situated, and we
expended on it upwards of three thousand dollars. Everything that my
husband undertook at that time seemed to prosper—not excepting his love
affairs.
Just then a great deal was whispered privately about certain murders which
had been committed, all knowledge of which was strenuously denied by the
authorities. When any case was so notorious that it could not possibly be
altogether hushed up, we were told that the murdered persons were
dangerous people, and had been killed in self-defence by those whom they in
the first instance had attacked.
My husband, like hundreds of others, was never in the confidence of the
Church authorities in these matters. He believed firmly in the divine mission of
Joseph Smith, and shut his eyes to the actions of Brigham Young, thinking
that he alone would be responsible to the Lord for his misdeeds. When I drew
his attention to the inconsistency of Brigham’s conduct, as on more than one
occasion I did, he said we had enough to do to look at home and see that we
ourselves did what was right. This, of course, was true; but I thought,
nevertheless, that a little more consistency on Brigham’s part would not be
amiss.
My talkative friend called one day to speak of a very serious subject.
“I have come, Sister Stenhouse,” she said, “to talk to you about a matter of
great importance, but I don’t want to offend you, and you must promise
beforehand to forgive me.”
I readily promised, and she added: “I thought I should find you very
unhappy, Sister Stenhouse, about poor dear Carrie Grant, and I think if you
are so you deserve it, but I don’t like you to be miserable, and so I came to
comfort you.”
“But, Sister Ann,” I said, “I don’t want to be comforted in the way you seem
to mean. I have been very sad indeed at losing Carrie; but you know I did
everything I could for her, poor girl, and I have nothing to blame myself for.”
“Nothing to blame yourself for?” she exclaimed. “Why, Sister Stenhouse,
you have everything to blame yourself for. If poor Carrie has less glory, it is all
your fault.”
“How so?” I said.
“Why,” she answered, “if you had not held back and expressed your dislike,
Carrie would have married your husband, and would most likely have been
alive now. She would have had her family, and would have added to your
husband’s glory; while now, although she is your husband’s wife, she has no
children, and, of course, must have less glory in the Kingdom.”
“Well, Sister Ann,” I said, “I never thought of it in that light. I loved Carrie
very much, and I tried to make her love me. It was not until almost the last
that I knew of her love for my husband; but if I had known before, I am sure
my own heart would have rebelled against my husband taking another wife. I
did, however, ask him to marry her, and after she was dead I was married to
him for her.”
“That’s all very well, Sister Stenhouse,” she replied, “but for all that I think
you have committed a great wrong against that poor orphan girl. You ought
to be thankful that at last you were able to repair a little of the mischief which
you did. I don’t want to vex you, but I am really sorry that you had such an
antipathy to your husband having Carrie. However, I suppose, now he has
really got another wife, you are not so much set against Polygamy. You must
find it quite a blessing to have Miss Pratt—I beg pardon, I mean Mrs.
Stenhouse number two—with you now.”
I did not answer her, for I had my own opinion about the matter. She went
on without hesitation: “Well, you must not be vexed with me, dear; I say it all
for your good, you know; but I do wish you felt a little more as I do about
these matters. Why, do you know, I have been trying to show my faith and
zeal in every possible way ever since we came to Utah. It was only last week I
was baptized for Queen Anne.”
“Queen Anne!” I exclaimed. “What can you possibly mean?”
“Exactly what I say, Sister Stenhouse; I was baptized for Queen Anne, and
if you like I’ll tell you all about it. It is only just what every one else has been
doing, only they were baptized for other people. I don’t think you’ve ever
thought much of this, and so I’ll explain myself. You see, Sister Stenhouse,
the Elders teach us that the whole world is lying in darkness and sin, and has
been so ever since the apostolic gifts were lost ages ago. Now there is no
salvation outside the Church, and you may remember that Christ Himself went
and preached to the miserable souls in Paradise.”
“In Paradise?” I said, “why I thought that was a happy place.”
“Oh, no, Sister Stenhouse,” she said, “not very happy. The souls of those
who have not heard the gospel, and have not been baptized, go there, and
it’s a sort of prison for them until they are brought out again through the
kindness of some believer. The thief on the cross went there, and Christ went
there and preached to the spirits in prison; and when the Elders die, they go
on mission to Paradise and preach to them also. All your people and my
people, our fathers, and mothers, and grandfathers, and so on, right up to the
apostolic times, are waiting in Paradise with millions and millions of souls to
be released and be admitted into the Celestial Kingdom. All the good brethren
and sisters have been doing their best to get out their relations and friends,
and I know many of them who have sent over to England and have spent
large sums of money in tracing their pedigrees and genealogies, in order to
find out the right names and to be baptized as proxies for the dead who
owned those names. I have been baptized for a good many of my own
relations, and I mean to be baptized for scores more; and many of the
brethren, too, have been married as proxies for their own friends, and for
distinguished people besides, so that they might be admitted into the Celestial
Kingdom, and raise up patriarchal families of their own. The poor souls, if
they were released from Paradise by a proxy baptism, could not, of course,
have been married in heaven, as there is no giving in marriage there; so some
one was married for them as proxy to some one else, and now they can begin
to establish their own celestial kingdoms.”
“And have you been proxy in this way, Sister Ann?” I asked.
“No, and yes,” she replied; “I haven’t yet been proxy in marriage for any
one, but I was proxy in baptism. When we were children, I remember we
used to have some rhymes about Queen Anne, and, as it was my own name,
I always thought a great deal of her. It seemed to me that it would be very
nice, and at the same time very charitable, if I were to help her out of
Paradise. It quite struck my fancy, for it was no small thing to have a real
queen thankful to you for so much. So I went and was baptized for her, and
now she is out of Paradise and has entered the Celestial Kingdom. But that
isn’t all. There was my old friend, George Wilford, who heard all about the
matter, for I see him frequently, and he at once said that he would be
baptized for Prince George of Denmark, Queen Anne’s husband, and he
means to do so; and after that we’ll be married by proxy for them here on
earth, and then they’ll both be happy.”
“Why, Sister Ann, what a droll idea!” I said.
“Sister Stenhouse,” she replied, quite seriously, “it’s very wrong of you to
talk so. Some of the best Saints have stood proxy in this way. There was one
lady who stood proxy for the Empress Josephine, and her son stood for
Napoleon, and some one else for Washington. Queen Elizabeth, too, has been
baptized by proxy. And now Napoleon and Washington are both Mormon
Elders, and I suppose some one will be married for Queen Elizabeth, and
she’ll enter into Polygamy. Do you know, Sister Stenhouse, there was one
brother who, out of pure kindness, said he would be baptized for the thief on
the cross, for he supposed that no one else would take pity on him, and a
sister who was present said she would be baptized for his wife, if Brother
Brigham thought he ever had one. I’ve been persuading my Henry to be
baptized for Henry the Eighth, for I’m sure he needed baptism for the
remission of sins; and he—I mean my Henry—has promised me to do so; but
he says that he means to ask Brother Brigham first before he is married for
him—if ever he is—as King Henry was almost a polygamist in his way, and my
husband thinks there is not much need to be married for him at all.”
“I can’t help being amused,” I said. “Of course I have often heard of being
baptized for the dead, and I know the Elders say that St. Paul spoke of it in
one of his epistles, but I never thought of it in that light; I always thought we
should have to wait till the Temple was finished.”
“That’s true, Sister Stenhouse,” she replied; “all the marriages of all the
Saints—of every one, in fact, on the face of the earth—ought to be
solemnized in the Temple here in Salt Lake City, and every one ought to
receive their Endowments in it; but as it is not yet finished, the Lord permits
us to be married, and everything else, in the Endowment House. But you
know yourself that there’s a record kept, and that, when the Temple is
finished, the ceremony will be all gone through with again. I’ve heard it said
that many of the Elders and their wives will live there, and that day and night
perpetually the ceremonies will be going on. You ought to be baptized,
however, now for as many relations as you can think of.”
“I think I shall wait, Sister Ann,” I said, “until I can find a Queen Fanny, and
then I’ll be baptized for her.”
She did not like me saying this, for she evidently thought I was jesting. I
was not jesting, however, but I felt greatly amused, for this peculiar doctrine
of the Saints had never struck me in such an odd light before. Sister Ann was
shocked at the way in which I viewed her strange stories, but “I’ll come again
in the course of a day or two, Sister Stenhouse,” she said, “and put you all
straight.”
CHAPTER XXXIV.
MY DAUGHTER BECOMES THE FOURTH WIFE OF
BRIGHAM YOUNG’S SON—THE SECOND
ENDOWMENTS.
After I had consented, and in reality had given my husband a second wife,
my status in Mormon polygamic society was very considerably improved. First
wives who lived in, and firmly believed, this “Order of Celestial Marriage,” tried
in every way to make me feel that I was one with them; and those who had
not much faith felt more kindly towards me, because I had been caught in the
same snare with themselves.
Every polygamic wife, whether first, second, third, or tenth, no matter how
much or how little she may believe in “Celestial Marriage”—no matter how
refined or how coarse and degraded her nature may chance to be—must feel
that her position is inferior to that of a monogamic wife. On this account,
many of the Mormon women are never satisfied until they have drawn every
woman of their acquaintance down to their own level. The influence of this
supposed “Revelation” is by no means elevating or refining.
I was now upon an equal footing with other first wives. They had,
therefore, no hesitation in confiding to me their griefs; and, situated as I was,
I had abundant opportunities of hearing stories of cruelty, wrong, and
suffering, under the “Celestial” system—many of them so utterly revolting that
I would not dream of relating them again. Polygamy among the Mormons is
so full of disgusting and disgraceful details, that a modest woman would not
dare to relate all she knew. In this book I have endeavoured to be true to my
title and to “tell all,” as far as such a thing is possible. But there are thousands
of horrible incidents, which form part and parcel of the system of Polygamy,
but which no woman who had any respect for herself would think of putting
upon paper.
Previous to the time when my husband took his second wife, although I had
learned too much, I had to a certain extent been kept in the dark respecting
some of the vile and loathsome practices of Polygamy; but after that, by slow
degrees, I was thoroughly initiated into the system.
Visitors to Utah would perhaps notice in the faces of the Mormon wives a
dull, careworn, weary expression, altogether the reverse of that contented
look which is seen among “Gentile” women. But those very women would
never disclose to the stranger the depth of that sorrow which is wearing away
their lives. Some few, indeed, have been led to speak of their troubles; but
they have afterwards found that the very persons in whom they confided
most distorted and exaggerated every word that they had uttered, for the
sake of making a good story for the press. In many cases the names of those
who were thoughtless enough to expose their sorrows, together with little
personal matters which should never have been made public, were put into
print; and when the matter came before the Church authorities, as in course
of time it was certain to do, there was a great deal of trouble and
unpleasantness. Women, consequently, as a rule, tell nothing; and book-
makers and people connected with the press, while they give to the world
astonishing stories of what they have heard, know really nothing of the truth.
When a smart man, or a man connected with the press, comes to Utah, the
Church authorities take him in hand at once. He is carried here and there, and
treated with the utmost deference; a pair of Mormon spectacles is placed by
Brigham, or one of his numerous factotums, upon the visitor’s eyes, and
through them he looks at all that transpires. Then comes a glowing account in
the papers, or else apocryphal stories appear in the visitor’s last new book;
and unsophisticated people, who innocently suppose that all that is in print
must be true, begin to think that the stories of the evil-doing of the Prophet,
which from time to time have crept out, were only scandalous reports, and
that Brigham Young—like somebody else who shall be nameless!—was, after
all, not quite so black as he has been painted.
A gentleman, who had for five years resided in Salt Lake City, said to me a
few months ago: “Mrs. Stenhouse, when I had been here about three weeks,
I thought that I knew enough of Mormonism to write a book; when I had
been here three months, I began to think that I did not know quite as much;
and now, after five years, I have come to the conclusion that I really know
nothing at all. I have lived in a Mormon family for the past year, but that has
not increased my knowledge. They are constantly upon their guard. They
treat me kindly, but they never let me know anything.”
This, I believe, has been the experience of nearly all the Gentiles resident in
Salt Lake City. Gentlemen had no chance of learning anything, and the
opportunities of ladies were only a trifle better.
Up to this time I had said very little to my children about my doubts and
fears. With the exception of my daughter Clara, they were all too young. Clara
was just budding into womanhood, and day by day gave promise of more
beauty and interest in her future life. I dreaded to cast a cloud across her way
by telling her of my own apprehensions in respect to Polygamy. If that were
the “Order” of “Heaven,” she would certainly have to live in it; and in any case
it was the “order” of Brigham Young, and my child could not escape from it.
We had lived together in Polygamy about a year, when my husband told me
that his young wife desired to have a home of her own, and that he intended
to provide her with one. This was very pleasant intelligence to me; for the
sight of that other wife constantly before my eyes, sitting at my table, in the
midst of my family, walking in the garden with my husband in the evening, or
tête-á-tête with him in the parlour, was more than I could bear. I began to
feel, whether justly or not, that my presence was a restraint to them, and that
they felt annoyed when I was with them. This feeling was so strong with me
that I constantly avoided them, and I finally concluded to spend the evenings
in my own room with my children, for, being out of their presence, I should
perhaps be at peace.
This, however, was all changed when my husband established a second
home. I did not mind being deprived of his society so long as I could get rid
of her: her presence was painful to me, and when she was near me I hardly
felt able to breathe.
Just at that time the marriage of my daughter Clara first began to be talked
about seriously. One day my husband being out driving with Joseph A. Young,
the eldest son of the Prophet, the subject was discussed between them, and
Joseph A. made a proposition of marriage. This, to me, was the cause of
considerable uneasiness, as Joseph A. was a Polygamist, and at first I
altogether refused to listen to the suggestion. At that time Clara was not
fifteen years of age, and not only did I consider her altogether too young to
think of marriage, but I was shocked at the bare idea of her becoming a
polygamic wife. I almost hated Joseph for asking for her.
Personally I had no objection to Clara’s lover. I had known him for several
years. He was an intelligent, generous-hearted, and handsome man, of very
good standing among the Saints, and wealthy. As a friend, I valued and
esteemed him; but that he, a polygamist, should wish to marry my darling
daughter, was very repugnant to my feelings. Clara was then growing old
enough to understand my more serious thoughts and sentiments, and her
companionship was very precious to me. The thought of her marrying into
Polygamy was to my mind almost as painful as the thought of her death
would have been.
My husband agreed with me that she was too young to marry; but on that
point he could not offer any great objection, as his own wife, although very
womanly in appearance, was but very little older in years. I told Joseph A. of
my reluctance to the proposed marriage, and he fully entered into my
feelings. I could not absolutely refuse him, but I wished to gain time. Every
day found me more and more weak in the faith, and I thought that, if I could
only postpone my Clara’s marriage for a few years, something might transpire
which would relieve me of my difficulty.
Joseph promised to wait just as long as we thought proper, if only we would
allow him to speak to Clara and explain to her the sentiments with which he
regarded her. In this he acted in a way very unlike the Mormon men generally,
and I respected him accordingly. I promised him that I would not influence my
daughter, but would let her decide for herself. This, after much careful
consideration, I came to the conclusion was all that I could do. My mind at
that time was in a very troubled state. Day by day my doubts respecting the
plural wife system became stronger and stronger, and I felt that before very
long some great change must take place, both in my fate and in my life. At
the same time, outward circumstances gave no promise of any such change.
My husband gave no signs of apostasy, and, as a Saint, I knew he would
never think of undertaking anything without the permission of Brother
Brigham. We did not even dare to leave the city without consulting the
Prophet. In times, then very recent, it was at the risk, and sometimes, indeed,
at the sacrifice of life, that any one left Salt Lake Valley without permission;
and even at the present moment no good Saint who values his standing in the
Church would dream of going East without first obtaining the approval of
Brigham Young. I could not, therefore, at the time of which I write, foresee
the great changes which have since taken place. To refuse my daughter to the
Prophet’s son would, I knew, be utterly useless. By partial submission I might
gain some advantages; and the longer I postponed the marriage, the greater
chance there was that “something” might turn up, which we all more or less
look for when we are placed in circumstances which admit of the exercise of
very little choice or effort.
My only objection against Joseph A. was, as I just stated, that he was a
polygamist; but so long as we remained in the Church I could not openly
allege this in opposition to the proposed marriage. If my Clara married a
single man, there was every chance, if not an absolute certainty, that after a
while he would take another wife, or wives. This had been the case with other
girls with whom my child was acquainted. They had married single men,
trusting that their influence over them would be sufficient to retain their
affections ever to themselves alone; but they had soon reason to see how
groundless their expectations and hopes had been. If, on the other hand, I
gave my daughter to a polygamist, there was certainly no reason why Joseph
A. should be refused. I felt surrounded on every side by difficulties, and out of
them all I endeavoured to choose the least.
One day my husband told me that Brigham Young had seriously spoken to
him about the matter, and had “counselled” him to let the marriage take place
at once, saying that my Clara was quite old enough. After this, objection on
my part would have been utterly unavailing. Everything was settled at the fiat
of Brigham; and the feelings and judgment of a father and mother in respect
of their own daughter were, of course, of not the slightest consequence.
The wedding-day was therefore fixed, when the sweet flower of my own
quiet garden was to be transplanted to another home.
We went to the Endowment House—my husband, myself, and our daughter,
together with some friends of the family. There we met with Joseph A. Young,
the expectant bridegroom; his father, Brigham Young; Joseph A.’s first wife,
Mary Young; and several of the brethren. The bride and bridegroom, and the
bridegroom’s first wife, were all dressed in their Temple robes. We then
entered a small room where the altar, of which I have already spoken, is
placed. At the end of the altar, Brigham was seated in a large armchair
covered with crimson velvet. The altar was also crimson. Brigham officiated.
Joseph A.’s first wife, Mary Young, knelt in front of the long crimson altar; and
my daughter Clara knelt beside her on a sort of faldstool or ledge, arranged
for that purpose. Behind the altar knelt Joseph A. Brigham said: “Joseph, are
you willing to take Clara Stenhouse to be your lawful and wedded wife for
time and for all eternity?” Joseph answered, “Yes.” Then Joseph’s first wife
was told to place the right hand of my daughter in the right hand of her
husband, in token that she was willing; and then Clara was questioned, as
Joseph had been. When she replied in the affirmative, Brigham said, “I
pronounce you man and wife in the name of the Lord. Amen.” They were now
married; and Brigham Young, Joseph A.’s first wife, and a few other friends,
came home to the wedding breakfast, after which my daughter went to her
own pleasant home.
Thus my worst fears were realized. My own daughter had become a
polygamic wife; she was the fourth wife of her husband, Joseph A. Young.
It is a source of sorrow to any mother who really loves her children to lose
them, even if it be for their own good and happiness; but in my own case
there were reasons why I felt the loss of my daughter more than I should
have done under ordinary circumstances. I felt quite desolate without her; for
when left all alone, when my husband took his second wife, and when I had
no one else to turn to, my little daughter had entwined herself about my heart
in a thousand sweet and loving ways. She knew how great an influence music
had over me, and how much I loved to hear her play and sing; and when she
saw how sad my heart was, or caught me in tears, she would go to her piano,
and lure me to her side by some sweet song which she knew was dear to my
memory. But with her went all that love and gentleness which in my time of
deepest trouble sustained me and kept me from absolute despair.
I have often wondered whether Joseph ever realized how great, how dear a
gift, I bestowed upon him when I gave him my little Clara. But in saying this I
do not mean to cast the shadow of a doubt upon his true-heartedness and
love towards her. He was always kind and thoughtful, considering her comfort
in everything; and although they have now been married seven years, he has
never changed, but is the same to her as on the first day of their marriage. A
good, kind, and gentle husband he has ever been, anticipating her every
wish, tenderly and carefully guarding her from even a painful thought. My
only regret has been that he is a polygamist, and she a polygamic wife.
Not long after this, my husband one day told me that a select few had been
chosen to receive their Second Endowments, and that we were to be
honoured with the same privilege. This I was told was one of the highest
honours that could be conferred upon us, as the Second Endowments had
never been given to any one since the Mormons left Nauvoo.
The glory of this privilege I did not myself, however, feel; and,
notwithstanding any respect which might be intended by our names being
added to the list of chosen ones, I refused to see the slightest good in the
whole affair. I am afraid I was naturally perverse—or was it that the light was
now beginning to dawn more clearly upon my mind? I know not. But I raised
every possible objection, feeling, though I did, that all opposition on my part
was useless. I knew that I should have to go, but I felt a dismal satisfaction in
letting every one know how much I hated the system.
“Our” second wife—I say “our,” because I had been taught that my
husband and myself were indissolubly one, even in the matter of taking wives
—“our” second wife seemed the happiest of us all when the day arrived, and I
believe she considered that we were very highly favoured. After preparing our
Temple robes, we started for the Endowment House. The reluctance which I
felt caused me to lag behind, and I was gently reminded several times that I
was making myself very disagreeable. I did not, however, feel much remorse,
for my husband had still one good, obedient wife walking at his side, who I
knew would sympathize with him; and that, as every one is aware, is more
than falls to the lot of every man.
When we reached the Endowment House, we ladies were shown into one
room and our husband into another. We then proceeded to array ourselves in
our robes, caps, and aprons—the same as when we received our first
Endowments—and when all was ready we were ushered into another room by
one of the brethren, who was also dressed in his Temple robes. There we met
our husband and several other brethren, all dressed in the same way. We sat
down, and oil was then poured upon the head of our husband by two of the
brethren—Daniel H. Wells and another—and he was then ordained a King and
Priest to all eternity. After that, we two wives were anointed in like manner,
and ordained Queens and Priestesses, to reign and rule with our husband
over his kingdom in the celestial world.
Had I ever solaced myself with the notion, which some Mormon women
entertain, that first wives are queens over all the rest, I should have been
sadly disappointed when I heard “our” second wife ordained to the same high
office as myself. As it was, however, my faith was so small that I should have
been quite contented had they consecrated her alone queen for Eternity, so
long as they would have allowed me to rule and reign by myself in my own
home for Time.
The ceremony did not last long; but it all appeared to me such folly that I
was anxious to leave the place, and, though I dared not say so, I was truly
ashamed to be seen coming out of the House. While going through these
Endowments I was filled with a thorough contempt for everybody and
everything around me, and I suppose that my feelings were visible upon my
countenance; for, after leaving the House, I remember the Apostle John Taylor
asking me if I did not feel well, and I told him as plainly as I dared what really
was the matter. He spoke to me very kindly, and tried to reassure me; but the
scales were now falling from my eyes, and all his arguments availed nothing.
Notwithstanding all this, I was not ready yet to cast off the yoke, and a few
months after our Second Endowments I again gave evidence of my faith. An
event occurred in the other branch of my husband’s family which produced a
strong impression upon my mind—a little daughter was presented to him by
his second wife. I was, of course, expected to go and visit the young mother
and child, and I thought I could never bring my mind to do that.
It would be impossible for me to define my feelings at that time—loathing
and hatred for him and for her, and even for the poor innocent babe, on the
one side; and, on the other, thoughts of what I considered was my duty
towards God, my husband, and his other lawful wife. I was bewildered. My
heart said, Do not go; but my conscience said, It is your duty to treat her
kindly, for she believes she has done you no wrong. Then I thought, She is a
young mother, and, without you frowning upon her, sorrow will come swiftly
enough to her door.
I saw that my husband was troubled as to what my feelings might be,
although he had not had courage to tell me himself of the interesting event.
He was afraid of paining me, and sent a lady friend with the intelligence. I
spoke to him myself, and told him that I would go and see Belinda and her
child. He thanked me, and said, “God bless you for that.” Then I went to see
her; but I was thankful when the visit was over; and although I went again
many times, and tried my very best to treat her kindly and even affectionately,
I could never get over the painful feelings which agitated my mind when in
her presence.
ORSON PRATT,
The Mormon Philosopher.
Born in 1811.
CHAPTER XXXV.
REALITIES OF POLYGAMIC LIFE—ORSON
PRATT: THE STORY OF HIS YOUNG ENGLISH
WIFE.
To face p. 326.
The next day she was still raving, and it was told me that in her
wild frenzy she even attempted to strangle her babe. Orson essayed
to hold her, but she caught his gold chain and snapped it in two. His
touch and the sight of the chain recalled her for a moment to her
senses, and she said reproachfully, “You are puffed up with pride,
Orson, with your gold chain and rings, while you leave me and my
babes to starve. Poor little lambs! where are they?”
For a moment the yearning of a mother’s heart for her children
conquered the fever that tortured her mind, and she listened to her
husband’s attempted words of comfort, as he said, “I am with you
now, Eliza, and I will take care of you.”
Steadily, for a moment, she looked up into his face, and, with
tears in her eyes, said mournfully: “It is too late, Orson—it is too
late!”
These were the last sane words which she uttered in this life,
although she still lingered on insensible.
The next morning the Apostle Pratt resolved to leave for Salt Lake
City and his young bride. The Bishop, however, called a council and
summoned him to remain until his wife was dead. Nevertheless he
did not wish to stay, and, being an Apostle, he overruled the council.
At the last moment before his intended departure, one of the sisters
said: “Brother Pratt, should she die, what shall we do with her?”
“Oh, she won’t die,” he replied.
“But should she?” the sister urged.
“Then bury her with her children,” he answered.
After much solicitation, he was prevailed upon to remain for a few
hours, and the next morning his wife died. The language of her last
moments, as she raved and tossed in mad delirium, showed how
terrible had been her mental agony, and how much she had suffered
from this frightful system.
But one might easily fill a large volume with stories quite as cruel
as this. It is simply absurd to expect that it should be otherwise.
Men and women can train and discipline their minds, they can crush
out the affections of their hearts if they will; but no effort of man
can change man’s nature entirely, or root out altogether humanity
from the soul. Women may endure, as that poor woman did whose
story I have just related, but they never can get perfectly adapted to
the system of “Celestial Marriage.” The nearer they approach to its
requirements, the further they recede from all that is held good and
noble in womanhood; and as for the men, they are brutalized by
every effort which they make to conform to it.
During the summer, about three years ago, a young-looking
woman, very shabbily dressed, came frequently to my house with
heavy baskets of fruit, which she entreated me to buy. One day she
said: “You do not remember me, Sister Stenhouse, I think, and I do
not wonder, for I am so changed. I have to work very hard now, for
all I have to live upon is what I can make by selling fruit, or any little
work that I can get my neighbours to give me to do; and if my
husband could prevent even that, I believe he would. I am obliged
to gather my fruit at night and hide it from him, and that is why I
urged you so to buy, for I never know when I may meet him.”
I was very much surprised at this, as her husband, I knew, was
getting a good salary, and appeared to be a most gentlemanly man.
His first wife, I was aware, had left him, it was said, on account of
cruelty and neglect, and he had married this one just after her
arrival from England. I had every reason to believe that she had
been a good wife to him, and a mother to his motherless children;
but he had taken another wife since he married her, and had cruelly
neglected this poor woman, leaving her his first wife’s children to
take care of. She said that he was again paying his addresses to
another still, and she expected that he would soon marry her. And
yet this woman [his second wife] told me that all he had left for her
and the children to live on was a sack of bran and about fifty pounds
of corn meal. Everything else had been taken to the third wife, even
to the best articles of furniture.
She said: “One evening I had been sitting in the porch in my
rocking-chair, when he came in and remained about an hour. As
soon as he left, I went out to bring in the chair, and was just in time
to see him carrying it off. I knew where he was going with it.” I saw
this poor woman frequently, and bought her fruit often when I did
not need it, for it grieved me to see her carrying such heavy loads in
her then delicate situation. After a time I lost sight of her, and then I
heard that she was dead. One day her own daughter—for she was a
widow when she married this man—came to me before leaving the
city. “I am going away to some friends,” she said, “for I will never
live near that man; he killed my mother; he kicked her so severely
that she never recovered, and when her child was born, they both
died from the effects of the blows which she had received—and I
hate him.”
The first wife of “Brig.” Hampton, one of the Mormon authorities,
told me how her husband whipped her because she would not
consent to his stripping their home of everything that was either
useful or handsome in order to furnish a house for his second wife.
Finally, he shut her up while he took her entire parlour furniture
away. She was a fragile little woman, and perfectly helpless when in
the power of a strong man, and therefore was forced to submit, as
there was no appeal to law in Utah.
It is a very difficult thing for a woman, after listening, day after
day, to such tales of woe and misery, and knowing them to be true,
to retain any respect for a polygamist, whoever he may be. For my
own part I regard them all with such feelings of loathing that I can
hardly speak civilly of them, and would prefer never to speak to
them. I know scores of ladies—married ladies—Mormon ladies, who
in secret feel and speak just as I do upon this subject.
For many years past the American Elders have derived a rich
harvest from Britain and Scandinavia. After the introduction of
Polygamy, an Elder was seldom known to return from Mission
without bringing with him one, two, and sometimes three young
girls, or else arranging in some way for their emigration. The
Missionaries, however, preferred, whenever it was possible, to bring
the girls with them; for if they trusted them to the care of a brother
returning before or after, he very frequently turned traitor, and
carried off the prize himself.
The Elders were not permitted to marry these extra wives while on
or returning from a mission, unless they had special permission from
Brigham Young. But quite a number of the poor weak brethren were
so impulsive and so anxious to be married, that they could not wait
for the ceremonies of the Endowment House. One conscientious
Swiss brother, named Loba, who could find no one willing to take the
responsibility of marrying him while crossing the Plains, said that as
he was an Elder he could just as well marry himself, and be under
no obligation to anybody; and he did so. He had fallen in love with a
little miss—a mere child, about one quarter of his own age.
Many men have married wives, and have brought them home,
before their first wives knew even that they were in love. They had
not had courage to introduce the subject, but believed that when the
wife found that it was done, and could not be undone, she would
see the uselessness of feeling badly, and would soon get over it. But
no wife who has been thus treated ever did “get over it.” What can a
man know of woman’s nature who would dare to act thus towards
her, and think that she would become reconciled to such treatment?
What strange ideas the Mormon men must have of woman’s
nature if they believe that women can submit to such treatment as
this and still love them! What folly to think even of love!
It would be very wrong for me to say that there are no men who
try to be just in the practice of Polygamy, for I know many who try
their very best to act impartially to all their wives; but this is not
really the result of their religion, about which some of these men
appear to care very little. I feel sure that if they are good men,
notwithstanding the evil effects of Mormonism upon them, they
would have been much better men without it.
On the other hand, I have known men who, before they became
Mormons, were reputed good husbands and fathers, but who
afterwards became cold and harsh in their natures, cruel to their
wives, and neglectful to their children. It seemed as if they thought
of nothing else but courting the girls and taking more wives,
altogether regardless as to whether they could support them or not.
Some of the Elders, finding that they might not marry plural wives
before they reached Utah, have bound the girls by solemn vows and
covenants to marry them when they arrived in Salt Lake Valley; and
the poor girls, believing that, because these men were Missionaries,
all they said and did must be right, have often—in fact, in almost
every instance—to their own great injury, kept their “covenants” and
married the men to whom they were vowed. I have known
personally and intimately several women who have in this way
ruined their prospects and blighted the hopes of their whole lives,
and sadder stories than theirs could not be told.
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