More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840-1910

330 Pages·2001·11.46 MB·English

by  Kathryn M Daynes

MORE WIVES THAN ONE

KATHRYN M. DAYNES
More Wives
Than One
TRANSFORMATION OF THE MORMON
MARRIAGE SYSTEM, 184O -I9IO
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
URBANA AND CHICAGO
© 2001 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 5 4 3 2 i
©This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Daynes, Kathryn M.
More wives than one: transformation of the Mormon
marriage system, 1840-1910 / Kathryn M. Daynes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-252-02681-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Polygamy—United States—History. 2. Marriage—
Religious aspects—Mormon Church—History of
doctrines. 3. Church of fesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—
History. I. Title.
BX8641.D39 2001
3o6.84'23'o88283—dc2i 2001000826
For Bill,
who has made thirty-four years of monogamy
so ideal that it has made much more difficult
the task of understanding why my great-grandmother
and great-great grandmother entered plural marriage

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction i
PART i: GENESIS TO REVELATION! INTRODUCTION OF
PLURAL MARRIAGE TO THE MANIFESTO
1. Kirtland and Nauvoo: Beginnings of Plural Marriage 17
2. Plural Marriage under Mormon Control 36
PART 2! I LEVITICUS! LEGAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
FRAMEWORK FOR MARRIAGE
3. Nineteenth-Century Marriage Law in Utah 55
4. The Nature of Mormon Marriages 67
PART 3: NUMBERS! AN ANALYSIS OF THE MARRIAGE
PATTERNS OF MANTI WOMEN
5. The Marriage Market 91
6. Women Who Became Plural Wives 116
7. Economics and Plural Marriage 128
PART 4: II LEVITICUS! LEGAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
FRAMEWORK FOR DIVORCE
8. Civil and Ecclesiastical Divorce 141
9. Incidence of Divorce and Remarriage 160
PART 5: ACTS AND JUDGES: THE MORMON MARRIAGE
SYSTEM AND ITS DEMISE
10. The Decline of Plural Marriage 173
11. The Nineteenth-Century Mormon Marriage System 188
Appendix: Description of Demographic Data 213
Notes 223
Selected Bibliography 283
Index 297
Illustrations follow page 52
Acknowledgments
Along the way to completion of this study, I have incurred
many debts. Jeri Woodward first awakened my interest in Mormon his­
tory, and she, Clair Woodward, and Martha Taysom have all helped by
listening to and commenting on various ideas. Sheila Cooper provided
advice and encouragement that made the project easier.
The archivists, librarians, and staffs of Special Collections at the
Harold B. Lee Library of Brigham Young University, the LDS Church
Archives, the Manti City Library, and the Family History Library were
all helpful and accommodating. The Sanpete County Clerk's Office gave
me access to its Basement Archives. John Lunceford of the Terre Haute
Family History Center also provided important assistance by generous­
ly sharing his extensive knowledge about tracing families and the types
of sources available for LDS families. Without that knowledge, the Manti
data set would have been much less complete.
For help on legal matters, I turned to Christopher A. Newton, who
read portions of preliminary drafts and offered advice, and to George
Ryskamp. Thomas G. Alexander read an early draft and shared his exten­
sive knowledge of both Mormon and Utah history. Clayne Pope gave me
the names of Manti heads of households from his computerized list of
the 1850, i860, and 1870 Utah censuses, which aided me considerably
in the early phases of my research.
This book began as a dissertation, and a Graduate School Research
Grant from Indiana University facilitated this project, allowing me to
obtain microfilms and other sources of data needed to reconstruct the
families of Manti. My debt is especially large to those who served on my
X Acknowledgments
dissertation committee and read the early drafts. David Thelen and Ellen
Dwyer offered helpful suggestions. M. Jeanne Peterson not only made my
prose clearer but also, by making me think more deeply about various
issues, made the final draft a tighter, more complete work. But my debt
to her is much greater than this. The knowledge and skills I learned from
her through classes as well as from her comments on term and seminar
papers have informed the way I study history. Beyond that, her profes­
sional help and personal encouragement opened the way for me to com­
plete my graduate studies. George Alter's aid, from sharing his knowl­
edge of family history to helping me with the demographic methods used
in this study, was vital.
Jan Shipps offered invaluable advice from the conception of this
project to its conclusion. She helped refine ideas at their inception as well
as encouraged and advised me as the manuscript was considerably revised
and reorganized for publication. Her support as a teacher, adviser, and
friend has been indispensable.
Mark Grandstaff and Richard Bushman read and commented on por­
tions of the manuscript, and Mary Richards helped tighten my argument.
Dean May and Walter Nugent carefully read the manuscript and made
helpful suggestions. I also benefited from Joe Olsen's help preparing the
graphs and from the research assistance given by Megan McRae, Warren
Daynes, and Marie Burt, the last of whom also helped initially edit the
manuscript and index the book. Liz Dulany of the University of Illinois
Press has been particularly helpful in moving this work from manuscript
to published book, and Jane Mohraz improved it by her careful editing
and perceptive suggestions. I alone, however, am responsible for the
book's content and interpretation.
My children, Austen, Marie, and Warren, were patient and encour­
aging through the long gestation of this project. It, however, never would
have been begun, much less completed, without the untiring assistance
and support of Bill Daynes. To him my debt of gratitude is especially great.