 CHAPTER 18 OF TELL IT ALL by FANNY STENHOUSE With the eager observation of a woman who has a great personal interest at stake, I took note of everything in Zion which was new to me and especially all that related to the system of plural marriages, and all my worst fears were abundantly realized. Although I had looked at the dark side of Mormonism and had pictured with horror the life of women in polygamy, there were nevertheless some truths which broke upon my mind with painful effect. In England we had heard so frequently from the lips of the apostles and elders that not only was polygamy contrary to the teachings of Joseph Smith, but that it was utterly unknown in Nauvoo during the prophet's lifetime. Directly when the revelation was published we of course knew that if it really proceeded from Joseph he could not have been so innocent of polygamy as we had been taught. But I was hardly prepared to meet several of his wives out in Utah, and yet almost the first thing that I heard was that there were living in Salt Lake City, ladies well known and respected, who had been sealed to the prophet. This I afterwards found was true. The Mormon colony in Salt Lake City had at first to contend with all those difficulties and submit to all those privations which beset the path of all new settlers in a strange country. Still very recently the greater number of the dwellings were small and low, like so many little huts, and not infrequently you might see a row of these huts with one window and a door to each, and inside a wife, a bedstead, two chairs and a table, with poverty to crown the whole. But even then might be seen in the laying out of the streets and in the other arrangements the germs of a great city. The roadways were broad and the sidewalks convenient and provision was made more with an eye to the future than to present necessity, for a great depth in the measurement of the houses and blocks. Down the sides of the streets flowed a sparkling stream, the water of which was brought from the mountains for the purpose of irrigating the gardens in the city, and as far as they possibly could the settlers marked out and planned a capital worthy of that name for the Mormon people. When I arrived in Salt Lake City a great many improvements had been affected, and expecting as I did that this would be our future home for many years perhaps for life I was interested in everything that I saw. But even then in merely taking a walk about the city I met with evidences of the degrading teachings of polygamy, and I saw that little deference was paid to the women. They were rudely jostled at the crossings and seemed to be generally uncared for. Since the completion of the railway and the constant influx of gentiles this of course has not been noticeable. The city is built on a slope formed by a bend in the mountain range. William Young's house is on the northern side and has a commanding prospect. The tabernacle and tithing office are in the same street. The tabernacle is a plain looking building entirely devoid of any architectural beauty. It stands in the block where the temple which has been building for the last quarter of a century and is now only a few feet above ground is waiting to be finished. Shortly twenty six years ago Brigham wrote to Orson Spencer, the president of the Mormon Church in England, urging him to gather up as much tithing as he possibly could for glass, nails, paint, and so forth, to assist in building up the temple of the Lord in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. A large sum of money was collected and millions have been raised by tithing and by other means. But there has been no one hitherto with courage and authority sufficient to demand of the profit and account of those funds and the interest and compound interest which should be accruing thereunto. The first Sunday I went to the tabernacle I was greatly amused at the way in which some of the sisters were dressed. Quite a number wore sunbonnets, but the majority wore curious and diverse specimens of the milliner's art, relics of former days. Some wore a little tuft of gauze and feathers on the top of the head, while others had helmets of extraordinary size. There were little bonnets, half-grown bonnets, and grandmother bonnets, with steeple crowns and fronts so large that it was difficult to get a peep at the faces which they concealed. As for the dresses they were as diversified as the bonnets. Some of them presented a rather curious spectacle. I noticed two young women who sat near me. They were dressed alike in green calico sunbonnets, green calico skirts, and pink calico sacks. On inquiring who they were I was told that they were the wives of one man and had both been married to him on the same day, so that neither could claim precedence of the other. Outside of Utah such a thing would seem impossible, but so many of the young girls at that time came out to Zion without father or mother or anyone else to guide them, and left to their own inexperience and afraid to disobey counsel, it is no wonder that they soon yielded to the universal custom. The two young women whom I have mentioned did not appear to me to be overburdened with intelligence. They looked like girls who could be made to believe anything, but after that I met with two well-educated women, who like these foolish girls thoughtlessly tried the experiment of two or more, marrying the same man on the same day, agreeing with their Lord that that would be the best way to preserve peace in their household. But they were terribly mistaken, and even before the marriage day was over the poor bewildered husband had to fly to Brother Brigham for counsel. The tabernacle services seemed to me as strange as the women. There was no regular order in conducting the proceedings, but the prominent brethren made prayers or sermons as they were properly called upon to do so. The sermons would be more properly called speeches. They were nothing but a rambling, disconnected glorification of the saints, interspersed with fearful denunciations of the Gentiles, and not infrequently a good sprinkling of words and expressions such as are never used in decent society. More unedifying discourses could hardly be imagined. As for the spirituality and devotional feeling which characterized our meetings in England, they were only conspicuous by their absence, and many devout saints have told me that when they first went there, before the erection of the great organ, the free and easy manners of the speakers, and the brass band which was then stationed in front of the platform made them feel as if they had come to witness a puppet show rather than to attend a religious meeting. There was one lady at the tabernacle service whom I regarded with considerable interest. This was no other than Eliza R. Snow, one of the Prophet's wives. I was told that she was the first woman married in polygamy after Joseph Smith received the revelation, and I believe it was so. People who lived in Nauvoo, respectable people, and not one or two either, have assured me that for four years before Joseph is said to have received the revelation, he was practicing polygamy, or something worse, and that the revelation was given to justify what was already done. After it was given, or said to be given, Joseph and his brother Hiram cut off from the church more than one person for preaching it, and nine years more passed away during which the Mormon elders, everywhere, most emphatically and solemnly denied it before it was publicly avowed. However this might be, it is generally understood that Eliza Snow was the first plural wife of the Prophet, and I was told by a lady from Nauvoo that Joseph did not care much for her, but that she was getting to be quite a quarrelous old maid, and he married her to keep her tongue quiet. If that is true, she has entirely changed her tactics, since she left Nauvoo, for her principal occupation at the present time is converting rebellious wives to obedience to their husbands, and convincing young girls that it is their duty to enter into polygamy. She husbands derive great consolation from her counsels. In matters of religion she is a perfect fanatic, and in connection with the female Relief Society she reigns supreme. But otherwise there are many excellent traits in her character, and I could tell of many acts of loving-kindness and self-denial which she has performed, and which will surely have their reward. She is said to have been tolerably good-looking when young, but in appearance there is nothing now to distinguish her. As the chief poet of the Mormon Church, and as the representative of Eve in the Mysteries of the Endowment House, she enjoys a reputation such as would be impossible to any other woman among the saints. Another of the late Joseph's wives is a Mrs. Dr. Jacobs, who was actually married to the Prophet while she was still living with her original husband, Jacobs. Under the same circumstances she married Brigham Young after Joseph's death. For some time her husband knew nothing of the whole affair, but Brigham very soon gave him to understand that his company was not wanted. The sister of Mrs. Jacobs, a Mrs. Bewell, was another of Joseph's wives, and she married the Apostle Heber C. Kimball, but does not appear to have made a very good bargain. Besides these there is another lady, a Mrs. Shearer, or as she is familiarly called, Anti-Shearer. She is in every respect a unique specimen of womanhood, tall and angular, with cold yet eager gray eyes, a woman of great volubility, and altogether grim-looking and strong-minded. She was an early disciple and is said to have sacrificed everything for Mormonism. She lived in Joseph Smith's family and, of course, saw and heard a great deal about polygamy, and at first it was a great stumbling block to her. She was, however, instructed by the immaculate Joseph, and so far managed to overcome her feelings as to be married to him for eternity. Like the others she is called Mrs., and I suppose there is a Mr. Shearer somewhere, but upon that point she is very reticent. Her little lonely hut is filled with innumerable curiosities, and little knick-knacks which some people are forever hoarding away, in the belief that they will come into use some day. She is a woman that one could not easily forget. She wears a muslin cap, with a very wide border flapping in the wind under a comical-looking hood, and is easily recognized by her old yellow martin fur cape and enormous muff. Her dress, which is of her own spinning and weaving, is but just wide enough, and its length could never inconvenience her. Add to these personal ornaments a stout pair of brogues, and you will see before you Auntie Shearer, one of the Prophet's spiritual wives. I may as well explain what is meant by spiritual wives and proxy wives. Marriages contracted by the Gentiles or by Mormons, in accordance with Gentile institutions, are not considered binding by the Saints. That was partly the cause of my indignation, and the indignation of many another wife and mother. We were told that we had never been married at all, and that our husbands and our children were not lawfully ours. Surely that was enough to excite the indignation of any wife whatever her faith might be. For a marriage to be valid, it must be solemnized in the endowment house in Salt Lake City, or the persons contracting it can never expect to be husband and wife in eternity. Should the husband die before he reaches Zion, and if the wife loves him sufficiently well to wish to be his in eternity, when she arrives in Salt Lake City, if she receives an offer of marriage from one of the brethren, and does not object to him as a second husband in this world, she will make an agreement with him, and she will be his wife for time, but that in eternity she and all her children shall be handed over to the first husband. A woman thus married is called a proxy wife. It can well be understood that if the lady had lost her youth and good looks, there would be very little chance of her husband seeing her again in eternity, as there would not be too many willing to stand proxy for him, and in that case he would have to depend upon the generosity of friends. Now spiritual wives are of two classes. The one consists of old ladies who have plenty of money or property, which of course needs looking after, and generous elders marry them, and accordingly look after that same property, and the owner of it becomes the elder's spiritual wife. She will only be his real wife in eternity when she is rejuvenated. The prospect of which rejuvenation is, I suppose, very fascinating to some men, for I have known quite youthful elders who displayed their self-sacrificing spirit by marrying spiritually, very old, but very wealthy ladies. The other kind of spiritual wife is one who is married already, but who does not think that her husband can exalt her to so high a position in the celestial world as she deserves. Perhaps some kind brother who takes a great interest in her welfare has told her so. She then is secretly sealed to one of the brethren who is better able to exalt her. Perhaps to this same brother and in the resurrection she will pass from him who was her husband on earth, to him who is to be her husband in heaven, if she has not done so before. This is what is meant by proxy and spiritual wives. I think it will be evident even to the dullest comprehension that under such a system the world, the flesh, and the devil are far more likely to play a prominent part than anything heavenly or spiritual. All this is so repugnant to the instincts and feelings of a true woman that I feel quite ashamed to write about it, and yet the working out of this system has produced results which would be perfectly grotesque were it not that they outrage every ordinary sense of propriety. Let me give an example. One of the wives of Brigham Young, a Mrs. Augusta Cobb Young, a highly educated and intelligent Boston lady with whom I am intimately acquainted, requested of her prophet husband a favor of a most extraordinary description. She had forsaken her lawful husband and family and a happy and luxurious home to join the saints under the impression that Brigham Young would make her his queen in heaven. She was a handsome woman, a woman of many gifts and graces, and Brigham thoroughly appreciated her, but she made a slight miscalculation in respect to the prophet. He cares little enough for his first wife, poor lady, and few people who know him doubt for a moment that he would unqueen her and cut her adrift for time and eternity too, if his avaricious soul saw the slightest prospect of gain by doing so. He did not care for her, but he would never allow himself to be dictated to by any woman. So when the lady of whom I speak asked him to place her at the head of his household, he refused. She begged hard, but he would not relent. Then finding that she could not be Brigham's queen, and having been taught by the highest Mormon authorities that our savior had, and has many wives, she requested to be sealed to him. Brigham Young told her, for what reason I do not know, that it really was out of his power to do that, but that he would do the next best thing for her, he would seal her to Joseph Smith. So she was sealed to Joseph Smith, and though Brigham still supports her and she is called by his name on earth, in the resurrection she will leave him and go over to the original prophet. The reader will certainly be shocked at this terrible burlesque of sacred things, but I felt at my duty to state the truth and place facts in their right light. It is not generally known that the Mormons are taught that the marriage at Cana of Galilee was Christ's own nuptial feast, that Mary and Martha were his plural wives, and that those women who in various parts of the New Testament are spoken of as ministering to him, stood to him in the same relation. Malicious first wives, especially if they are rather elderly themselves, frequently call the proxy wives fixins, and the tone in which some of them utter the word is in the last degree contemptuous. These poor fixins are seldom treated as real wives by the husband himself. He may think sufficiently well of the proxy wife to make her his for time and to raise up children to his friend as the elders say, but he never forgets that in eternity she will be handed over to the man for whom he hested proxy, and he expects that she also will bear that in mind and do all she can for her own support, and never complain of his want of attention to her. Some men, after having married a young proxy wife, have become so enamored that they grew jealous of the dead husband and have tried to get the wife to break faith with him and be married to them for eternity as well as time. This was certainly rather mean. Very few gentile husbands would fret themselves about possibilities in the world to come if in this world they had the certainty of enjoying the undivided affections of their wives. Mormon husbands are so influenced by their religion that they neither act nor think like other men. I am thinking of one wretched family that I knew soon after I went to Utah. There was a man and his wife, and four children, all living together in a miserable poverty-stricken hut. I had heard that the man was paying attentions to a young girl with a view to making her his second wife, and I frequently watched the first wife as she went in and out, doing her chores, and wondered how she felt about it. The poverty of the man, of course, was of no consequence. Living in the primitive style in which necessity then compelled the saints to live, one or even half a dozen extra wives made very little difference, and Brigham and the leading elders have always represented it as a meritorious act for the young especially to build up the kingdom without regard to consequences or the misery of bringing up a family in a destitute condition. I never can see children without loving them, and in this case it was not long before I contrived to make acquaintance with the little ones. One day while I was talking to them the mother came out. She seemed pleased to see me, for she had heard of me that I was not too strong in the faith, and she told me that her husband had said, in speaking of such women as myself, who did not like the celestial order of marriage, that their husbands ought to force them right into it, and that would show what they were made of. If they were true-hearted women seeking their husband's glory and exaltation in the world to come, they would bear it well enough, and if not, the sooner it killed them the better, for if they were dead their husbands could save them in the resurrection, but if they lived they would only be an encumbrance. This I found was the general opinion among the Mormon men. Even in England the American elders taught us that the man was the head and saviour of the woman, and that the woman was only responsible to her husband. It was necessary, we were told, that the woman should keep in favour with her lord, otherwise he might withdraw his protection, and refuse to take her into the celestial kingdom, in which case, when she got to heaven, she would only be an angel. To be an angel is not considered by the saints to be, by any means, the highest state of glory. Those who do not obey the celestial order of marriage will, like the angels, neither marry nor be given in marriage. They will be located, the men in one place and the women in another, and will serve as slaves, lackeys, and boot blacks to the saints. Once publicly said of a certain precedent of the United States, that he would clean the boots of the Mormon leaders in heaven. He did not say this as a figure of speech, but meant it literally. Those who have obeyed the gospel of the new dispensation, but who have failed to enter into polygamy, will be as upper servants, but the rebellious, the vile apostates, and the wicked gentiles, will join the angels and do all the drudgery for the men of many wives. Thus I learned in Zion that my youthful notions about the glory of the cherubim were quite a mistake, and that it was not such a fine thing to be an angel after all. But I have run away from my story, and had almost forgotten my poor acquaintance. She was a woman who was likely to preserve a painful place in the memory of anyone who saw her. Her face was as pale as death, and her jet-black eyes glistened with an unearthly luster. It was easy to perceive that she was very unhappy, although she tried hard to exhibit a cheerful disposition. And when our conversation turned to that subject which, to women here is all absorbing, the nervous twitching of her pale face showed how deeply painful such thoughts were to her. She told me that her husband was soon to be married to a young girl about fourteen years of age. Do you see, she said, that he is building for her? And sure enough he was, at odd hours, adding another hut to the miserable hovel in which they already lived, and thither, when it was finished, he intended to take his bride. As I looked at the poor wife, I felt little doubt that ere that time came, her troubles on earth would have ended, and her little ones would be motherless. The Mormon women, as well as the Mormon men, are noted for attending to their own business. They do not care to tell their sorrows and trials to strangers, or to people who are not of their own faith. In this way, visitors to Salt Lake, who have gone there with the intention of writing up the saints in the newspapers, or in a book, have generally been misled. My own experience as a Mormon woman leads me to form anything but a flattering opinion of the Mormon stories told by Gentile pens. The following instance will show that the sisters are not quite so free in giving their experience as some writers would suggest. One day, while passing through the city, I saw a young woman running across the road with a little child in her arms. The child was crying piteously, for the water was running from its clothing, and I saw in a moment that it had fallen into the stream which ran in front of the house. I followed to see if I could be of any assistance, but fortunately found that the little creature was not seriously hurt, but would soon recover from the fright and cold. I helped the mother to change its clothing, and while she was lulling her baby to sleep we entered into conversation. At first she appeared to be very shy of me, and avoided speaking of anything in the slightest degree personal, but growing more interested she said at last, Are you a Mormon? Certainly I answered, but why do you ask me? Because she said, We have had one or two Gentile women among us, and they go round among our people and question the women, and get them to tell their troubles, which God knows are heavy enough, and then they go and write about it, and Brigham Young finds it out, and their husbands are called to account for allowing their wives to speak to the Gentiles. You are sure you are a Mormon, she added, and you are not deceiving me? I'm sorry you should think such a thing, I said, but if you suppose I would deceive you I will not trouble you with my company, and I rose up to leave. Do not go yet, she said, and pray forgive me if I have wounded your feelings, it is simply the fear I have of getting into trouble. Brigham Young and the elders have frequently told us to have nothing to do with the Gentiles, for they are enemies to the kingdom of God, and are seeking our overthrow, and I suppose it is true. How long have you been here, I asked? Over two years, she replied, and it seems almost twenty, time has passed so slowly. I left father and mother, sisters and brother for the Gospel's sake, and I do not regret it, because it is right. But it was a very great sacrifice to make, yet I believe that God blesses us for the sacrifices we make, and I shall get my reward. You have it already, I said, in that pretty child on your knee, and your husband, I hope, is a good man, and kind to you. Yes, she answered, my child is a very great source of happiness to me, and I love my husband very much, but hesitatingly. Are you in polygamy? No, not yet, but I do not know how soon my husband may take it into his head to get another wife. Are you first wife? She asked. Yes, I replied, and I suppose you are also? No, I am third wife, she said. I wish I were first wife. And why I suggested do you wish that? If polygamy is the true order of marriage, I do not see that it makes much difference whether one is the first or the twentieth wife. Oh dear yes, she replied, it does make a great deal of difference. For the first wife will be queen over all the others, and reign with her husband. If I had known that before I was married, I should have made my husband promise to place me first. One can do that if they like. But do you think you would be doing right in trying to gain the position of first wife in that way? Why not, she said. Didn't Jacob obtain his brother's birthright by deception? And was he ever punished for it? Do you think that Brother Brigham, notwithstanding that he is the inspired servant of God, could have obtained his position and all his money by simple, honest dealing? If you think so, I don't. And it is just as proper and right for us women to secure a position for ourselves by such means as it is for Brigham Young. And the end justifies the means. If that is so, I said, it is a wonder to me that any woman should consent to become second, third or fourth wife, seeing they cannot be queens. I can see that you have not yet had your endowments, she said, or you would understand more about these things. But as you are a good Mormon, I can speak freely to you. You see, it is not always those who are first wives in this world who will be first in the celestial kingdom. It all depends upon the amount of sacrifice the wife is capable of making for her husband, her faithfulness to him, and the number of children she has borne him. If she pleases him in every particular, and is good, patient, and above all things obedient to all his wishes and commands, then she is almost certain to be made queen, unless the first wife is just as good. And then I don't know how they would fix that. And so you see it is safer to be first wife at once. Well, but I asked, knowing all this I am surprised that you consented to be third wife. But I did not know it then, she continued. My husband told me that all the wives were queens, all equal, and he says so still when I talk to him about it. But he can't deceive me. I have spoken to some of the old Nauvoo women who know all about it, and they tell me that all the polygamic wives will be subject to the first wife. But the first wife, having suffered the most, will be the one who has gone through the fire and been purified and found worthy. But do you think that your husband would wish to deceive you about such an important matter, I said? Wait till you have lived a little longer here, she replied, and you will be able to answer that question yourself, or else your experience will be very different from that of the rest of the people here. Just then the husband made his appearance and put an end to the conversation. He was a tall, dark-looking man with gray hair, old enough to be her father. He appeared to be well educated and to have seen better days, though everything about their home indicated poverty. The room in which we were sitting had no carpet on the floor. There was a plain white pine table in the middle, a small sheet iron stove, four wooden chairs, a small looking glass, and some cheap pictures. This was the sitting-room for the whole family, three wives, eleven children, one husband. He asked me if I had seen the rest of the family. I replied negatively and he said he would see if any of them were about. Presently he returned, accompanied by an elderly woman whom he introduced as Mrs. Simpson. Then came another not quite as good-looking as the first, but a great deal younger, and he introduced her as my wife Ellen. And this one, he said, turning to the one with whom I had been conversing, is my wife Sarah. Don't you think I have got three fine-looking women? Then after a pause he added, and they are just as good as they are good-looking, good-obedient wives, I have no trouble with them. My wishes are law in this house. Here you have a family in which the spirit of God reigns. We are not rich in worldly goods, as you see, but we are laying up treasure in heaven. We all live in this little home of four rooms. My wife Ellen here has given up her room for a parlor for us all to meet together in, and she sleeps in a wagon-box. It is not the most comfortable. But she never grumbles. Then here is our Sarah. We are obliged to humor her a little and give her a room all to herself. She is young and inexperienced, and doesn't like to be put up with the inconveniences that the saints have to bear with. While old mother here has got to have half a dozen children in her room, but she never complains. Why did you not wait, I said, until you had a larger house? Then where would my kingdom be, he answered? Young men may wait, but old men must improve their time. There came in now a troop of children of all ages. They had been playing in the lot, were miserably clad, barefooted, and some looked gaunt and hungry, manners to match. These he said with all a father's fondness. These constitute my kingdom, and I am proud of them. I felt thankful that I was not destined to be queen over such a kingdom, wished them good-bye, and with a sad heart went home to my own darling little ones, not knowing what might be their fate. CHAPTER 19 OF TELL IT ALL by Fanny Stenhouse. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Brigam Young at home, we visit the prophet and his wives. Shortly after our arrival in Salt Lake City, we visited President Young, who received us very graciously and appointed an early day for us to dine with him. On that occasion he invited some of the apostles and leading men to meet us at his table, and we passed an exceedingly pleasant evening. The prophet made himself very affable, talked with us about our missionary life and other subjects of personal and general interest, and expressed a high opinion of the energy and ability which my husband had displayed. His wives, too, who I found as far as I could judge from such a casual acquaintance, to be amiable and kind-hearted ladies, made every effort to render our visit agreeable. I was much pleased with the manner and appearance of Brigam Young, and felt greatly reassured, for he did not seem to me like a man who would preach and practice such things as I had heard of him while I was in London. This I was glad to see, for it encouraged me to think that, perhaps, after all, matters might not be as bad as I had anticipated. We were, in fact, very kindly received in Salt Lake City by everyone with whom we came in contact, for having been missionaries for so many years, we were, of course, well known by name, and had a wide circle of acquaintances among the chief elders and emigrants. Fifteen years have, of course, worked a great change in the appearance of Brigam Young, but though he is nearly seventy-three years of age, he is still a portly, I might almost say, handsome man. His good looks are not of the poetic or romantic kind at all. He is very commonplace and practical in his appearance. But long and habitual exercise of despotic authority has stamped itself upon his features, and is seen even in the way he carries himself. He might, without any stretch of the imagination, be mistaken for a retired sea-captain. When I first knew him in appearance, he was a little over fifty years of age, was of medium height, well built, and, as I just stated, with the air of one accustomed to being obeyed. His hair was light, sandy, I suppose I ought to call it, with eyes to match, and the expression of his countenance was pleasant and manly. I, of course, regarded him from a woman's standpoint, but there were others who were accustomed to steady physiognomy, and they detected, or thought they detected, in the cold expression of his eye, and the stern hard lines of his lips, evidences of cruelty, selfishness, and dogged determination, which it is only fair to say I myself never saw. The lines on his face have deepened of late years as what little gentleness his heart ever knew has died out within him, but still he presents the appearance of a man who would afford a deep study to the observer of human nature. In early life he had to work hard for a living, and according to his own statement he had a rough time of it. He was, by trade, a painter and a glazier, and has frequently said in public that in those times he was glad to work for six bits a day, and to keep his hands busy from morning to night, to get even that. Whether or not the privations of early years fostered in him that avaricious and grasping spirit which of late years has been so conspicuous in him, I cannot say, but it is certain that it cropped out very early in his career as a saint. An old Navu missionary, a Mormon of the Mormons once, but alas a vile apostate, as Brigham would politely call him, once told me that when the prophet Joseph Smith sent the apostle young on mission a good deal of discontent was shown that the said apostle did not account properly for the collections and tithings which passed through his hands. Brother Joseph, who was then the church, suggested in a pleasant way, for the prophet Smith was a big jovial fellow, six foot two or three inches in height and with all somewhat of a humorist, that the said apostle Brigham would appear in his eyes a better saint if he displayed a little less love for filthy lucre. There upon the apostle, like somebody else who shall be nameless, quoted scripture and reminded the prophet that Moses had said, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Through brother Brigham said Joseph, but Moses did not say the ox was to eat up all the corn. Brother Brigham made no reply, but is said to have sulked for two or three days. I have not the slightest doubt that, but for Mormonism the prophet would have remained all his life a journeyman painter and his sweetness as the poet says would have been wasted on the desert air. And he was born just at the right time, and he fitted into the right groove, and thus while the original prophet of the new faith, Joseph Smith, a man of ten times the intellect of his successor, a man ignorant and deluded it is true, but at the same time a man in whom was the material for one of those natural giants who from age to age have left the impress of their individuality upon the history of the world. While I say this man's name and doings have ceased to interest any but persons of studious mind, Brigham Young, whose narrow soul could never look beyond the little circle in which he lived, whose selfishness and heartlessness have been only equaled by his cruelty and degrading avarice, has by the force of circumstances alone obtained a place in the recognition of the world to which by nature or by grace he had not the shadow of a claim. I have often heard intelligent Gentiles remark, well Brigham Young may be a wicked man and an impostor, but there must be a great deal of talent in him to manage those people for so many years. From this opinion I altogether dissent, and those who know Brigham best think with me, though many of them would not dare to say so. I do not think Brigham Young a wicked man, or an impostor in the sense in which those words are ordinarily used, and experience and a careful study of his life and doings have convinced me that he is certainly not a great man, or a man of genius in any sense of the word. There can be no doubt that he has been guilty of many and great crimes, but I believe that in the early part of his career he was so blinded by fanaticism that those crimes appeared to him actually virtues. The force of habit and the daily associations of his life have so completely taken from him all sense of right and wrong. While the devotion of his people has made the idea that he could possibly do the slightest wrong so utterly inconceivable to him and to them, that his perceptions of justice, truth, honor, honesty, and the upright dealing are as utterly stultified as they ever were in the mind of the wildest savage who prowled among the cliffs and canyons of the rocky mountains. People think that Brigham Young attained to his present position by the exercise of ability, such as has been displayed only on a greater scale, by all those men who not being born to power nor having it thrust upon them, have by the force of their genius seized it and held it, unlawfully it might be but nevertheless with talent and moral energy. Everything could be more untrue. The fact that he was of a certain age at a certain time and only that was the cause of Brother Brigham's first step up the ladder of ambition. Joseph Smith endeavored in organizing his newly invented religion to make it resemble as much as was possible both the old and new dispensations of Christianity. And among other institutions he appointed twelve apostles who were to assist in governing the church. He associated with himself his elder brother Hyrum and also Sidney Rigdon who had so greatly assisted in every way to establish the new faith and define its principles. This Rigdon is the same who has always been suspected of the authorship of the book of Mormon, though it must be admitted that nothing more than circumstantial evidence can be adduced in support of this statement. However that might be the two Smiths, Joseph and Hyrum and Sidney Rigdon formed what was called the first presidency. In other words they were the church. Next in order to them came the twelve apostles and after them the seventies and the other grades of the priesthood of which I shall say more presently. The twelve apostles were first appointed according to a plan of Joseph's own. Lyman Johnson was placed first, Brigham Young came next and the others followed. Not long after however Joseph made a new arrangement and placed the twelve according to their age and this plan was always followed subsequently. Thomas B. Marsh now stood first and next to him came David Patton and then Brigham Young. I am obliged to give these little details in order that the reader may understand Brigham's position after the death of Joseph Smith. When Joseph was murdered in Carthage jail with his brother Hyrum Sidney Rigdon alone remained of the first presidency. At that time Thomas B. Marsh, the first of the apostles, had apostatized. David Patton had been killed in a fight with the mob and consequently Brigham Young was now president of the twelve, he being the next in age. Thus it will be seen that even had he been, which he was not, the most stupid and least fitted of all the apostles to preside over the church, his years would nevertheless have given him the leadership. Up to this time there is no evidence that any idea of becoming head of the church had ever entered into Brigham's mind. Indeed it is reported that Joseph on one occasion, reproving him, said ironically that if ever the church had them as fortune to be led by brother Brigham he would lead it to, well, a place which is understood to be uncomfortably warm. But Joseph was now dead and Rigdon alone remained between the apostle Young and the headship of the church. Then it was that his eyes appear for the first time to have been fully opened to the advantages of his position. Now when the ancients took the fox as an emblem of craftiness it was because they had never known Brigham. Brigham worked cautiously and prudently for he probably is one of the greatest cowards in existence, both morally and physically, and like all cowards he was perfectly au fait in working in the dark. In accomplishing the removal of Rigdon, Rigdon himself was Brigham's best assistant. A man of prudence or even of common sense might have safely held his position against all the Brighams in the world, but prudence and common sense were qualities utterly unknown to Rigdon. He began to have wonderful visions and revelations, announced the immediate ending of the world, and stated that he would forthwith lead out the armies of the Lord to the battle of Armageddon in Palestine and then return in triumph calling by the way as he said to pull the nose of little Vic. Little Vic was the English queen, then a young woman, but how she incurred Rigdon's wrath I do not know. In addition to all this absurd nonsense he ordained some of his particular friends to be prophets, priests, and kings, and otherwise showed that he intended to carry matters with a high hand. Brigham watched his chance, and when he considered that matters were ripe for a change by dint of secret maneuvering he caused Rigdon to be tried before the High Council at Nauvoo. Rigdon sent word that he was sick and could not come, but the trial went on and of course it could have but one ending. The result was, as the Mormon papers at the time reported, that elder young arose and delivered Sidney Rigdon over to the Buffettings of Satan for a thousand years in the name of the Lord and all the people said Amen. Poor Sidney, he tried to set up a church for himself and a good many people followed him, but the attempt was a failure. He is now a very old man and cannot live long, but he still believes in the truth of Mormonism as established by Joseph Smith. Brigham's next step was to declare that the government of the church was now vested in the twelve, of whom he was the head. Later still he contrived by selecting a time when nearly all of the apostles would be promoted or in some way gratified by a change in the organization of the church to get himself elected president of the church in the place of Joseph with the two apostles next to him as his associates under the name of counselors and they together formed the first presidency. Thus Brigham became in name as well as, in fact, the head of the Mormon church. Every year Brother Brigham, in common with all the other officers of the church, is duly re-elected. I need hardly say that the re-election is a matter of course, an opposition candidate would stand but a poor chance of success. Brigham Young is an uneducated man. For that of course he is not deserving of blame, but his opposition to education in others and to all that is intellectual and elevating does him little credit. Only a very few years ago he with his two counselors, Heber C. Kimball and Jedediah M. Grant, who were both spoken of as model saints, held forth in the tabernacle in the most unmeasured language against schools and scholastic acquirements of every description. They were all three untaught men, and like all persons of small mind who have not themselves received any education, they hated and affected to despise those who had. Although they may never have enjoyed the advantages of literary culture, never fail to see the great power that it is, either for good or evil, and in most cases they try to secure for their children the blessing of which they themselves have been denied. But the Mormon leaders, while they ridiculed and affected to despise men of education, were shrewd enough to see that if schools were established and the children of the saints permitted to attend them, the bonds of superstition would certainly be shaken, and the fabric of Mormonism undermined. They consequently discouraged every attempt at self-improvement and taught the people to aspire to nothing higher for their children than the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic for the boys, and a knowledge of household, dairy, and farm work for the girls. Before the Reformation, a few young men anxious to improve their minds organized what they called the literary and musical society. They gave pleasant social entertainments to their friends, at which they gave recitations, read essays, poems, and other literary productions, varying the program with selections of music. The authorities looked upon the whole proceeding with disfavor, and soon broke up the society. Not content with this, and in order to show their contempt, they humiliated the members in every possible way, even publicly pointing them out to ridicule, and appointing a good many of them to be doorkeepers in the tabernacle. Brigham Young, who it is said never in his life read a book, could not understand that they could find any pleasure in intellectual amusements and accused them of pride, conceit, and even wickedness. Among the church leaders it is even now common to speak of anyone who has any literary acquirements as having the big head and being next door to apostasy. Recently greater efforts to obtain a good education for their children have been made by the more intelligent among the saints, and the Gentiles in Utah have established some very excellent schools. A library and reading room have also been opened, and the latter has been well attended by the young men, both Mormons and Gentiles. Brigham himself has, with his usual inconsistency, even gone so far as to give his own children those advantages which he selfishly denied to his poorer brethren. Of the prophet's moral character the less said the better. He has been remorseless and cruel in his emnities, and he has connived at and even suggested, if nothing more, some of the most atrocious crimes that have ever been perpetrated on the face of the earth. In business matters, in the payment of money, to use a popular phrase, his word is as good as his bond, but in the accumulation of wealth he has evinced an amount of dishonesty which can scarcely be credited. Brigham always meets his obligations, and pays his debts, and gets a lawful receipt, and the prophetic business could not otherwise be carried on, but the way in which he has obtained his wealth would put to the blush the most dishonest member of any ring in New York or elsewhere. When he attended his first conference he says he had to borrow certain masculine garments and a pair of boots before he could put in an appearance. Now it would be difficult to estimate the value of his property. He has taken up large tracts of land all over the territory. He has the uncontrolled and unquestioned command of all the tithing and contributions of the saints, and from gifts and confiscations and innumerable other sources his revenue pours in. It was once rumored that he had 18 or 20 million of dollars in the Bank of England, but Brigham said that the report was not true. The church, he added, had a little money invested abroad. The difference between the church and the individual Brigham young has yet to be determined. In the year 1852 the prophet of the Lord found that he had borrowed an inconveniently large sum from the funds of the church. He is trustee in trust and of course legally responsible, but he never renders an account of his stewardship and no one ever asks him for it. His sense of honesty was, however, so strong that he resolved to have his account balanced, and he went down to the tithing office for that purpose. There he found that his indebtedness amounted to two hundred thousand dollars, and he proceeded to pay it after his own fashion. The clerk was instructed to place to his credit the same amount for services rendered. In 1867 he owed very nearly one million dollars, which he had borrowed from the same fund, and he balanced his account in the same way. His contract for the Pacific Railroad is said to have yielded him a quarter of a million, and his other contracts and mining speculations, purchases and thefts of lands, houses, and so forth, have been very profitable. The expenses of such a family as Brother Brigham's must be something enormous, but the contributions by which honest and dishonest means he has levied have been so large that he must still be one of the wealthiest men in the States. Brigham is not a generous man. He has, given occasionally, as for instance at the time of the Chicago fire when he presented a thousand dollars for the sufferers, but even then his motive was evident. The affairs of Deseret were under discussion in Congress. Without the certainty of a profitable return, Brigham never gave assent. The story of his sordid avarice and his contemptible meanness in the accumulation of money would fill a volume. Morally and physically the profit is a great coward. When he and other church leaders were arrested a year or two ago, alleged with the very gravest crimes, the effect upon the profit was most distressing. He had solemnly sworn in the tabernacle that he would shoot the man who attempted to arrest him, but when Judge McKean opened court and placed him under arrest he swallowed his threats and played the coward's part. Before this the world has seen wretches who were notorious for their cruelty and tyranny and who were also remarkable for their cowardice. For many years he has imitated royalty and has had a strong bodyguard to keep watch and ward around his person every night. No man has less cause to apprehend personal violence than Brother Brigham, but the voice of conscience which as the poet says makes cowards of us all suggests his fears. No one probably ever possessed and lost greater opportunities of doing good and leaving behind him an enviable record than Brother Brigham. In him the saints from the smallest to the greatest placed implicit trust and it was in his power to mold them at his will. The spiritual and temporal welfare of the people was in his hands. The ability to elevate them socially, mentally and morally was his. A great trust was committed to his charge, but he has basely betrayed that sacred trust and has not only left undone what he should have performed, but he has been guilty of the most grievous wrongdoing. He has set at naught all morality with his horrible and debasing teachings respecting a blood atonement, in other words the duty of assassination. He has outraged decency and riven asunder the most sacred social and domestic ties by his shameless introduction of polygamy. He has sacrilegiously defiled the temple of God by teaching his followers to worship Adam as their divinity and has robbed Christ of his birthright by proclaiming that men are the only saviours of their wives and in that respect to women the sacrifice of our Lord was of no direct avail. In a word both by his preaching and his practice he has set an example so bad as to be utterly without parallel in this civilized age. Kings and emperors there are who hold in slavery the persons of men. Hierarchs there are who hold in bondage the souls of the deluded. But the despot meddles not with the eternal welfare of his subject nor does he pollute the sacred precincts of the hearth and home. And the false priest is not permitted to meddle with temporal affairs but the Mormon despot Brigham Young has played the tyrant in both spiritual and worldly matters has meddled with the person the property and the lives and the liberty of his dupes and has at the same time debased and enslaved their souls. But let it not be supposed that I write this hastily or without due consideration. People outside of Utah may be deceived as indeed they frequently are by representations made in ignorance of what Mormonism and the prophet really are. But the Gentiles long resident in Utah the apostates and even the Mormon people themselves if only they would tell the truth could testify to the truthfulness of the picture which I have drawn of brother Brigham. A better people aside from their religion than the believing Mormons when they emigrated to Utah it would be difficult to find their fault was in their faith. They were honest sober industrious and ready to sacrifice everything to what they considered religious duty. I cannot think of them and of the implicit confidence which they placed in Brigham without wondering at his folly in throwing away the noble opportunity which was once within his grasp of establishing a happy and contented people. Instead of this he has gathered wealth to himself and family. Out of the poverty of his followers he has amassed enormous riches and with the power to leave behind him a name as one of the benefactors of the human race he has set the worst example which despot or false prophet ever presented to the world. CHAPTER XXI The wives of Brigham Young their history and their daily life. The wives of Brigham Young have always been subjects of interest to Gentiles who visited Zion and having spoken of their husband I think it is only fair that I should say a few words about them. For many years I have known personally all the prophet's wives who reside in Salt Lake City and I wish to speak of them with kindness and respect. They are women whom anyone would esteem conscientious good earnest women faithful true hearted wives who have devoted their lives to the carrying out of what they believe is the revealed will of God. When I first knew Brother Brigham poor man he had only sixteen living with him in Salt Lake City and even now he has no more than nineteen. Perhaps I ought to say eighteen since Eliza Ann has run away from him and left the poor old gentleman desolate and forlorn. The three whom he took after I came to Utah were Amelia Falsam, Mary Van Cot Cobb, and Eliza Ann. But the reader will perhaps be interested in hearing about them all and so I will state the names and order of the ladies as they at present stand according to the date of their marriage making mention of the proxy wives last of all for the sake of convenience and without reference to date. Of course Brother Brigham has had many more than nineteen wives but the following are the living ladies others are dead or have straight away no one knew wither and perhaps as Brother Heber once said to me nobody cared allow me to introduce the Mrs. Young. First in order is Mrs. Mary Ann Angel Young but she is not the first wife that Brother Brigham ever had. Once upon a time Brother Brigham was a Methodist but after listening to the preaching of the Mormon missionaries he became a vile apostate as he loves to call those who leave his present faith and he forsook Methodism. In those days before he apostatized and long before he ever dreamed of polygamy he had but one wife one only. It must seem strange to the prophet to look back to that period of solitary existence. His second wife was Mrs. Angel Young and I call her his first wife because she is the first of those living now as she was married to him after the death of his first wife she is of course his legal wife and would be recognized as such in any civilized country. She is a very fine looking old lady and very much devoted to her unfaithful lord and master firmly believing in his divine mission. She lives by herself and is seldom troubled with a visit from her affectionate spouse. Once in a while Brigham brings her out to a party when he has invited any Gentiles just for appearance's sake. Quite a number of persons in Utah believe that she is dead so very little is seen and known of her. She lives in the White House Brigham's first residence in Salt Lake City and is much thought of by those who do know her. Her children are greatly attached to her and show her a great deal of attention making up in this way to a certain extent for her husband's neglect. Her three sons Joseph A. Brigham who it is expected will succeed his father as the president of the church and John W. as well as her two daughters Alice and Luna are all in polygamy. Each of the sons has three wives and each of the daughters has a half-sister as a partner in her husband's affections. Brigham has not the slightest objection to giving two of his daughters to the same husband. Lucy Decker Sealy Young Number Two Lucy Decker Sealy Young was his first wife in polygamy. Her former husband was a Mr. Sealy. She is short and stout, a very excellent mother and a devoted wife. Her son Brigham Heber is now one of the cadets at West Point. The sending of this young man to West Point to be educated when it was noticed in the public papers excited some little interest and the faith of many good Mormons was very much shaken by it. They had believed that Brigham really meant what he taught when he told the people not to allow their children to associate with the Gentiles as it would cause them to lose the spirit. But they were still further shocked when they learned that several other sons of Brigham were to go to the Eastern States to be educated. They have yet to learn that the Prophet does not intend them to do as he does, but rather as he tells them. My own opinion is that Brother Brigham has advocated one course of conduct for the people while he pursued another himself. Clara Decker Young is the third wife. She is a sister of Lucy Sealy, and like her is short and stout, but otherwise good-looking. She is more than twenty years younger than her Lord, with whom she was once quite a favorite. But, like many others, she has had her day to use Brigham's own expression, and is now, as a matter of course, neglected. Number four Harriet Cook Young is tall with light hair and blue eyes, and is an intelligent, but not at all a refined woman. She is said to have given a great deal of trouble to Brother Brigham, of whom she has frequently said very hard things. In times past she had the reputation of being a good deal more than a match for her husband when she had any cause of offense against him. But in her quiet moments she is a very sincere mormon. She has only one son, Oscar Young, now about twenty-five years of age. When he was born, Brigham kindly announced to her that because she was not obedient she should have no more children, and during more than a quarter of a century he has kept his word. Why she has remained with him so long is a mystery, for she makes no secret of her feelings towards him. Number five Lucy Bigelow Young is quite a fine-looking woman, tall and fair and still quite young. She has three pretty daughters. Brigham has recently sent her to live in southern Utah. Mrs. Twiss Young Mrs. Twiss Young has no children, but she is a very good housewife, and Brigham appreciates her accordingly, and has given her the position of housekeeper in the lion house. She can have two great privileges in the Mormon Church. They may ask a man to marry them if they chance to fancy him, and if they don't like him afterwards they are able to obtain a divorce for the moderate sum of ten dollars, which some the husband is expected to pay. Mrs. Twiss exercised the first privilege in reference to Brother Brigham, but has not yet availed herself of the last. There are other ladies who thought it would be a great honor to be called the wives of the Prophet, and they have requested him to allow them to be called by his name. This he has done, but he has never troubled them with his society. Number seven Martha Bowker Young is a quiet little body with piercing dark eyes and very retiring. Brother Brigham acts towards her as if he had quite forgotten that he had ever married her, and she lives in all the loneliness of married Spensterhood. Number eight Harriet Barney Seegers Young, the eighth wife, is a tall fine-looking woman. She was another man's wife when Brigham made love to her. It is not supposed to be the correct thing for a saint to court his neighbor's wife, but the Prophet did so in the case of Harriet Barney, and in several other cases, too. Harriet was married to a respectable young Mormon gentleman. But after she had lived with him some time and had borne three children to him, the Prophet persuaded her to join his ranks, and she did so believing that the word of the Prophet was the revelation of the Lord to her. But she has since had bitter cause to repent of her folly. To a gentile mind such an infatuation must appear very strange, but the Mormon people personally understand the powerful influence which their religion exercises over them, and to them there is nothing very singular in all this. Number nine Eliza Burgess Young is the only English wife that Brigham has. She fell in love with the Prophet, wanted him to marry her and even offered to wait, like Jacob, for seven years if she might be his at last. So she served in the family of her Lord for the appointed time, and he finally took her to wife as a recompense for her faithfulness. She has added one son to the Prophet's kingdom. The tenth wife on my list is Susan Snively Young. She is a German woman, smart, active, and industrious. She has no children, but has been quite a help-meat to her husband in making butter and cheese, in which she excels. Smart Mormons always had an eye to business, and while living up to their privileges have not invariably sought for wives who were only fair and pleasant to look upon, but have frequently taken them for their own intrinsic worth, one as a good dairymaid, another as a good cook, a third as a good laundress, and a fourth as a lady to grace the parlor. Perhaps even two or three of this last kind, if the saint were wealthy. There is a good deal of practical wisdom in this. Brother Brigham has gathered all sorts into his net, and has then sorted them out, placing each lady in the place where he considered she would be the most useful and profitable to himself. Margaret Pierce Young is very ladylike, tall, and genteel. She has the appearance of being very unhappy, and it is certain that she has been very much neglected, but not more so than many of the other wives. She has one son. Emmeline Free Young When I first went to Utah, Emmeline Free Young was the reigning favorite, and she was really the handsomest of Brigham's wives, tall and graceful with curling hair, beautiful eyes, and fair complexion. Brigham was as fond of her at the time as a man of his nature with such a low estimate of woman could be. But a younger, though not a handsomer, rival soon captivated his fickle heart, and he left poor Emmeline to mourn in sorrow. She has never been herself since then, and probably never will be. She is a broken-hearted woman. She is the mother of quite a numerous family, as she had been the favorite for so long a time, she had come to believe that her husband would never seek another love. But if this was so, she sadly miscalculated Brigham, for when his licentious fancy was attracted to another object of affection he cast off Emmeline as ruthlessly as he would an old garment. What decent person could refrain from loathing such a man! How often has my heart gone out in sympathy towards that poor wrecked woman whom he has forsaken! What a pity I deemed it that so much love should be wasted upon a creature who could never understand or appreciate it! And yet Emmeline's fate has been no worse than that of the But I was more with her, and saw how keenly she suffered, and I sympathized with her when her sorrows brought her nearly to the point of death. Number 13 Amelia Falsam Young is now the favorite, and it is supposed that she will continue to be so, for at last poor brother Brigham has found a woman of whom he stands in dread. It is doubtful whether he loves her, but nobody in Zion doubts that he fears her. It is said that the prophet has confided so many of his secrets to Amelia that he is obliged to submit to her tyranny for fear of her leaving him and exposing some of his little ways which would not bear the light. Be that as it may, it is generally believed that after all his matrimonial alliances he has found at last his master in the person of Amelia. Even good saints, friends of the prophet, secretly enjoy the idea of him being at last brought under petticoat government, for it is believed that Brigham used unfair means to obtain her, and that at last he only gained his object by deluding her into the belief that the Lord had revealed to him that it was her duty to become his wife. One thing is very certain, he was as crazy over her as a silly boy over his first love, much to the disgust of his more sober brethren who felt rather ashamed of the folly of their leader. At the theatre a seat was reserved for her at his side, and in the ballroom the same special attention was shown to her. He would open the ball and after dancing with each of his other wives, who might be present, simply for appearance's sake, the remainder of the evening was devoted to her. For all that his inconstant heart could not remain faithful to her, and old habits and feelings, to all appearance, have come over him again, and he has gone astray. Julia Dean, the actress, was the first to draw him from Amelia's side, and it would have been a sorry day for Amelia if Julia had favoured the Prophet's suit. Then the charms of Mary Van Cot touched his sensitive heart, to say nothing of Eliza Ann, his last, but yet not his best, beloved. With all this experience, and the constant evidences of the fickleness of Brother Brigham's heart before her eyes, there is no wonder that poor Amelia feels compelled to hold tight the reins now that they are in her own hands. For if it is not much to be known as Brigham's wife, it is a great deal to be known as his favourite. As for the future, it is whispered that Brother Brigham has lately been setting his house in order, and in the ordinary course of nature, Amelia is almost certain to outlive for many years her aged lord. She therefore can afford to wait for the good time coming. But Amelia knows that she would sink into oblivion if he were to cast her off for another before his death. Number 14 Mary Van Cot Cobb Young, who became Brigham's wife after his marriage to Amelia, is a very handsome woman about twenty-eight years of age. She is tall, slender and graceful, and has been married to the Prophet about six years. At first he appeared to be very devoted to her, but Amelia soon put a stop to that. Nevertheless she has, since her marriage, presented a little daughter to her lord, greatly to the annoyance of Amelia, who has no children, and who is reported to have said some naughty things about the matter which was very wrong of her, for Mary Van Cot is known by everyone to be beyond reproach or suspicion. She is said to be very unhappy, and though Brigham has provided her with a fine house and every comfort, yet she seldom sees him. Not perhaps more than once in three months or so, though it is generally believed that his spirit is willing, but Amelia won't allow it. Number 15 Eliza Ann Webb D. Young, whose separation from Brigham Young has attracted so much public attention, has told her own story in her own words, which, as it forms an interesting page in the biography of the Prophet, I shall now present, exactly as it was written, to the reader. I was living on my father's farm in Little Cottonwood, when in the summer of 1867 Brigham Young informed my father that he wanted me for a wife. Brigham, with a number of the apostles and elders from this city, was visiting Cottonwood on a Sunday and held two meetings for preaching. It was at the close of the four noon service, on that occasion, that he walked up to me and said, Had I not better accompany you home? I said, certainly, if you wish to. On the way to my father's house, Brigham asked me if I had had any proposals of marriage, since I had obtained a divorce from my first husband. I answered him, yes, that I had had several proposals. He then asked if there was any one of them that I wished to accept. I said no, on which he said that he would like to give me a little advice. He advised me not to wait to marry a person whom I loved, but to marry some good man whom I could respect and look up to and receive good counsel from. I thanked him for his counsel, and as my home was so near to the place of meeting, the conversation abruptly terminated. I thought nothing further of it. His brother Joseph and George Q. Cannon joined us at the dinner table, and while there Brigham and the others remarked how youthful I had grown since I had got out of my former troubles. As I had much improved in every way, I did not regard his observations as any intended compliment, or any indication of what afterwards I learned to be passing in his mind. At the close of the afternoon service, he went up to my father, looked him aside, and talked for at least two hours to him about me, and told him how he had watched me from my infancy, saw me grow up to womanhood, had always loved me and intended to marry me. But having taken Amelia just after the law was passed in Congress, prohibiting polygamy, he feared to take another wife soon after, lest it should make trouble, or he would have taken me then. My marriage with a young man was unlooked for to him, and when he was made acquainted with it he did not just like to stop it, he said, and so he let it go on, but always hoped that the time would come when he would have me. He wanted father and mother to use all their influence with me, and it would be the best thing I could do. He asked father if a good house well furnished and one thousand a year pocket money would be enough for me, and added that if it was not sufficient I should have more. Father answered that he thought it would be sufficient. Brigham stood two hours or more with father, and kept the whole of the carriages that conveyed the party standing, waiting till after sundown, and little did I think that I was the object of interest. When father came home he told mother by herself, and then they told me. I cannot describe my feelings. I was frightened. The thought of it was a perfect horror. I thought father had gone crazy and I would not believe his statement for hours. When I realized that it was a fact I could do nothing but cry. The idea of an old man, sixty-seven years of age, the husband of about twenty wives living, asking me at twenty-two to be added to the number filled me with the utmost abhorrence, and when I saw that my parents were under his influence and sustained his proposition I was ready to die in despair. O the horrible hours that I spend in crying and moaning, no tongue can picture. When father saw that I took it so badly he told me that I would not be forced into it, but if I could bring my feelings to it and accept Brigham it would be pleasing to him, and mother favored it in the same way. About a month after this I was in the city with an intimate lady friend, and as we were walking near to Brigham's house he came to the gate and waited for our arrival. When I saw him I thought that I would get up courage to tell him that I would not marry him, but I could not say it. That peculiar influence that he throws over everybody when he has a purpose to affect completely overcame me. He did not allude to the subject at all. I shook hands and passed on. He became very kind to my parents and saw father frequently. He sent for me to come to the city on several occasions, and met me at my father's city residence and talked to me about marriage. He told me how pure his feelings were, and that his only motive was to do me good, save me in the kingdom, and make me a queen. All that had no effect upon me. It only disgusted me the more, and the fear that I dared not resist him never left me. This continued for nearly a year. My eldest brother had had some business transactions with Brigham, and one of his sons, which resulted in trouble and ultimately in financial injury to my brother. Brigham had been very angry with him and threatened to cut him off from the church. I heard of those threats and, believing at that time in Mormonism, I heard them with deep sorrow, and confessed that in hopes of turning Brigham's anger away from my brother, I began to entertain the thought that I would yield to his request. I argued, as many inexperienced persons do, that as I had had a sorrowful life, and my heart was crushed, my future life was nothing, and if I could sacrifice myself for my brother's interest, and please my parents, I would at last submit. Finally, Brigham named the marriage-day and informed me, through my father, that what I required in preparation for my marriage he would furnish. But I would accept nothing. A day before my marriage he brought me three dress patterns, one silk and two merino, and handed to me a purse with a fifty-dollar bill. On the blank April, 1868, I was married to him in the endowment-house by Heber C. Kimball, his first counsellor. My father and mother were present with others, Brigham's brother Joseph also took to himself a wife at the same time. After the ceremony I walked over with him to the conference, and in the evening I returned to my father's house, and remained there for a month. For the first few months I had considerable of his attention, his visits were frequent. After that his business cares so occupied him, he said, that he could only call about once in three months. After that he came, just as it happened. When I was married he wanted my mother to live with me in the city, and a year from the marriage he sent us to take charge of his farm, where we remained till last August, and I removed again into the city. While I was at the farm he came very seldom to see me, and often times while he would visit and look round at the farm he never came into the house. I had caused him no trouble, indeed he had said I was the best wife he had, for I had never given him a cross word or look. But for that good temper I take no credit, for my silence was all through fear. I never loved him, and never said to him that I loved him. I looked upon him as a heartless despot. From the very beginning of my married association with Brigham Young his manner of providing for me was of the meanest character. I had to come up even from the farm, four miles distant, to the commissary of his family, and was glad when I could get five pounds of sugar, one quarter of a pound of tea, a bar of soap and a pound of candles. That I would get about once a month. About a year ago I complained to him that I had not sugar enough, and he allowed me what I required. When I returned to the city he furnished me a house in a very ordinary way, and I continued to live in the best manner I could. But it was the same stingy way. When a beef was killed I got some fresh meat, but I was frequently months without seeing it. Tired with this manner of existence I asked his permission to keep borders, with the view of aiding myself and procuring for one of my sons a musical instrument, as he was passionately fond of music. The permission was granted, and I kept borders from last March. My house was small and the business was not very lucrative. I consequently went to him six weeks ago, and asked him to aid me, to give me some assistance to make life tolerable. He seemed angry and complained that he had so many expenses and that he wanted me to keep myself, to take the money that I had saved to buy an organ for my son, and keep myself and family with it. I got a stove out of him, but that was all. During the last year I obtained from him two calico dresses. This interview made me sick and I was in bed for a week with heart sickness. One of the borders who was a lawyer and his wife asked what ailed me, and I told the story of my troubles and inquired if there was no redress. He said that he thought that there was, and he would consult with other lawyers and see what could be done. During all my sickness while I was his wife he showed the utmost indifference. He would hear what I had to say, but make almost no answer. Last fall I was attacked with pleurisy, and I managed to get to his office to see him, to tell him how ill I was, and that I needed some few things. He appeared to comprehend something and finally called John, the commissary for the family, and told him to get me two bits worth of fresh meat. He has not been inside my house for nearly a year. While I was feeling bad I read Mrs. Stenhouse's book, and that showed me things in a clearer light than I had seen them before. I knew every word was true from my own sad experience, and it encouraged me to leave the hateful polygamic life, and I am glad I have done it. About five weeks ago I got very weak. I don't know what was the matter with me, probably general debility from grief and mental suffering. My borders, seeing my condition, aided me freely, and were very kind to me. I resolved to leave his house, packed at my clothes, and instructed an auctioneer two weeks ago to take away the furniture and sell it, as a part of it was my own, and I thought it was entitled to the rest. The suit commenced has been instituted by my attorneys, who have every confidence that I can obtain alimony. But whether I do or not I think the world should know Brigham Young as he is, and my story is a page of his biography. This is the story of Eliza Ann told in her own words. She is the only wife whom Brigham has not supported. But she has been allowed to keep gentile borders. I suppose brother Young had some reason when he made this exception. Miss Eliza R. Snow, number sixteen. Miss Eliza R. Snow I mention here, as I have not followed the order of date. She and the three ladies whose names I shall presently give are the proxy wives of Brigham living with him. Eliza Ann, who has become notorious of late, is popularly known as his nineteenth wife. She is his nineteenth living wife, and the last wedded according to date. But if the deceased wives were taken into consideration, she might perhaps be about the thirtieth. In this list I have put all the living wives who are sealed to Brigham for eternity first, and thus I count Eliza Ann, number fifteen. But had I placed the proxy wives, who are only Brigham's for time, in the list she would of course be the nineteenth. The newspapers which have written her into notoriety know nothing of proxy and spiritual wives, all are alike to them. Eliza R. Snow is always spoken of among the saints as Miss Eliza R. Snow. I have already mentioned her, and need therefore only add that Eliza is the High Priestess and Poet General of the Church. She is highly thought of by the saints, and the year before last was one of a company of Mormon missionaries who visited the Holy Land for the purpose of consecrating it to the Lord. Last summer she traveled through the settlements in Utah, urging women to enter into the celestial order. She is only a proxy wife to Brigham, and will belong to Joseph Smith in the resurrection. Number seventeen. Zyna D. Huntington Jacobs Young is another proxy wife, and a widow of the Prophet Joseph. She too will have to be handed over in the day of reckoning. She has one grown-up daughter of whom I shall presently speak under rather interesting circumstances. Number eighteen. Emily Partridge Young is a tall, dark-eyed, handsome woman, and she also is a proxy wife, a relect of Joseph. When Joseph died, Brigham told his wives that they were at liberty to choose whom they would for husbands, and some of them showed their appreciation of his generosity by choosing him himself. Thus it was that Emily Partridge became Brigham's wife. The Prophet has dealt kindly to his brother Joseph Smith through her, for she has quite a family of children to be handed over with her. She was young and handsome when the Prophet died, but perhaps it would be wrong to suppose that that had anything to do with Brigham's generosity to his brother, for it is generally believed that he took all those wives of Joseph from pure principle. Number nineteen. Augusta Cobb Young is a very fine-looking woman, and must have been quite handsome in her youthful days. As I before stated, she formerly lived in Boston, but hearing Brigham preach, she fell in love with him, abandoned her home, children, and husband, and taking her youngest child with her went to Salt Lake City and was married to the Prophet. It was she who, when Brigham began to neglect her, wanted to be sealed to Christ, but was ultimately added to the kingdom of Joseph Smith. Now these are the Prophet's wives, his real living wives, nineteen in all. How many spiritual wives he has had, it would be impossible to say. Probably he himself does not know their number. Lately I believe he has been making his will, and if so I suppose he has taken count of all. He has, besides in various parts of Utah, many other wives, who are all more or less provided for, but they are of little account, and he seldom or never sees them. The nineteen, whom I have named, form his family at home, as I may say, are all under his own roof, or at least they live in Salt Lake City, and are known to everyone as his wives. The number of his children it would be very difficult to estimate. I can count up by name between forty and fifty, and I think the Prophet's living children are rather under the latter figure. His family has however been much diminished by death, though since I went to Utah this has not been the case so much as I believe it was formerly. One Mormon writer, a very reliable and trustworthy man, says that the children that the Prophet has lost would fill a fair-sized graveyard. This very probably may be true, as in the early days of the settlement in Utah, privation and the lack of proper medical attendance must have constantly proved fatal to the young children of the saints, but it was before my time, and therefore I cannot speak from personal experience. A Mormon gentleman one day told me a very funny story in reference to the Prophet and his little family. He said that he had just had occasion to call in at a store in Main Street to make some purchases, when Brigham himself came in and entered into conversation with him. A smart-looking clever little boy entered the store a few minutes after and handed a note to the proprietor. Brother Brigham seemed to be greatly interested in the child and asked him several questions in a playful way. Turning at length to my informant he said, That's a nice boy-brother, Blank. Whose child is it? This was a very awkward question, for the gentleman was aware that the child was one of Brigham's own. He did not like to tell him so, so he replied indirectly. Is one of Mrs. Young's children president? The Prophet looked somewhat amused, but did not utter a word in reply. I give this story only for what it is worth and no more. The gentleman who told it doubtless expected to be believed, but knowing the Prophet and his family as I do, I consider the statement exaggerated to say the least. It is a heavy responsibility to have five and forty children, most of them girls too, without being accused of forgetting their personality altogether. In his habits and mode of living Brigham Young is very simple, or at least was so until recently. When I first knew him he was dressed in plain homespun, homemade and every article about his person and his houses was as plain and un-austentatious as could possibly be. But the importation of Gentiles and Gentile goods, since the opening of the railway, has worked a great change. His wives who once carried simplicity of dress almost to the verge of dowdyism have now acquired a taste for eastern fashions. And I think if Brigham were a younger man and were likely to live another ten years he would find that wives were more expensive luxuries now than they were in the era of dugouts and sunbonnets. The Prophet's first home in Utah was a little cottage which is now known as the White House, the same house I believe, which was valued at sixty thousand dollars, and which Brother Tennant supposed he bought, a more scandalous and barefaced robbery never was perpetrated. This on the hillside, north of the Eagle Gate, and is now the residence of his first wife, Mrs. Angel Young. The Beehive House is the official residence of Brother Brigham. There he used to reign supreme as Governor Young, and then see now issues secular and ecclesiastical edicts to all who acknowledge his sway. There is one lady resident in this house, Mrs. Lucy Decker Young, and no one else is permitted to intrude upon its privacy. Here the Prophet has his own private bedroom, and here he breakfasts when he has been home overnight. The Lion House is what ought to be the home of the Prophet, for here nearly all his wives reside. He has, however, many other houses in the city, on the basement floor, the dining room, kitchen, pantry, and other general offices. The first floor is divided by a long passage with doors on each side. On the right hand about a half dozen wives with small families find accommodation. On the left at the entrance is the parlor, and the other rooms on that side are occupied by mothers with larger families and ladies who have a little more than ordinary attention. The upper floor is divided into 20 square bedrooms. There is no extravagance in the furniture or apparel of these wives, but they are comfortable and kept neat and clean. Again and again the Prophet has declared that the $10 fees which are obtained from the divorces provide his wives with pin-money. I do not believe a word of this, as the amount thus obtained is far more than the avaricious soul of the Prophet would allow to pass out of his hands for feminine vanities, but I know of another source of income which is open to the wives. They are allowed all the fruit, peaches especially, which they or their children can gather or dry. This in fact is pretty nearly their only pin-money. Their Lord is not a generous man, and they have to make the most of trifles. The Prophet usually dines in the lion-house at three in the afternoon. This twist young, as I mentioned before, acts the part of Housekeeper, and she acts it well. At three punctually the bell rings and the mothers with their children move down to the dining-room. They are all seated at a very long table which is lengthened by turning round at the end of the room. Each mother has her children around her. Brigham sits at the head of the table with his favorite, woman at home, vis-à-vis, or on his left, and if a visitor is present he sits at the Prophet's right hand. The repast is frugal but ample, for Brigham is a sober and exceedingly economical man. This is the first time he sees his family. In the evening at seven o'clock the bell again rings, and the mothers and the children again fill the sides and end of the parlor. When they are all seated the patriarch enters, takes his seat at the table, and chats quietly with those who chance to go in with him to prayers. When all the members of the family are assembled, the door is closed, all kneeled down, and the Prophet prays, invoking special blessings upon Zion and the kingdom. This is the last that his family will see of him for the day, unless they have occasion to seek him privately. With his family Brother Brigham is said to be kind, but it is supposed to be more the awe which his position as Prophet inspires than the love which they bear him as a man, which renders him successful in managing them. At the same time that sweet familiarity is destroyed, which should exist between husband and wife, father and children. With such a number of wives he cannot possibly wait upon them in visiting, and in the ballroom and other places of amusement, with the exception of his reigning favorite, whoever for the time she may happen to be, no one expects his attentions. At the theatre a full number of seats are reserved, and his wives attend or remain at home as they please. They sit in the body of the parquet among the rest of the people, but one of the two proscenium boxes is reserved for him and beside him is a chair for the favorite, Amelia. When he goes to the ball the same attention is shown. He dances first with the favorite, and if half dozen more of his wives have accompanied them he will dance with each of them once in the course of the evening. But with the favorite he dances as frequently as any youth in the ballroom, with his first maiden love. The apostles and leading men of the community, who dance attendance on him, and desire his favor, are sure to seek the pleasure of her hand and place her in the same cotillion with Brigham, who is thus able all the evening to enjoy her company. Some of the apostles and elders look with pain upon this boyishness of the prophet, and deplore it. Many of them are attached to their first wives and have shown them consideration and attention, which has not always pleased Brother Brigham. I have heard more than one of them express a wish that the prophet had been a little more attentive to his own first wife. It is only fair to Amelia, the reigning favorite, to state that she has always been kind and respectful to Mrs. Angel Young. Up to within the last few years the community heard nothing of the prophet's family but what was strictly decorous and creditable. If there was any wrongdoing it must have been very effectively hidden from the knowledge of outside observers. His wives are kind and faithful mothers, seeking to live their religion and ambitious to increase the glory of their Lord. I know them all personally, some of them intimately, and while I have heard from some with heavy hearts of their difficulties in bearing the cross which all Mormon women have to sustain, they have tried, I know, to be submissive, and I think it due to them that I should make this present recognition of their goodness of disposition and purity of soul. End of Chapter 20