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Eng^lsy Geo E Perine.NewT&rlc

A D ^WORTHINGTON Sc C°

ii

Tell It All":

THE STORY OF A LIFE'S EXPERIENCE

IN

OCT r, 1917

%«(t.(t l(^

MORMONISM.

Mrs. T. B. H. STENHOUSE,

OF SALT LAKE CITY, FOR MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS THE WIFE OF A MORMON MISSIONARY AND ELDER.

With Introductory Preface by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Full-page Illustrations, and steel-plate Portrait of the Author.

xry

[PUBLISHED BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY.]

HARTFORD, CONN.:

A. D. WORTHINGTON & C O., PUBLISHERS.

Queen City Publishing Co., Cincinnati. Excelsior Publishing Co., St. Louis.

Louis Lloyd & Co., Chicago. A. L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco.

1875-

lAU rights of translation reserved.\

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874,

By a. D. WORTHINGTON & CO.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

[Entered also at Stationers Hall, London, Eng.]

TO

MY CHILDRENj

WITH

ALL A MOTHER'S LOVE AND TENDERNESS, THIS VOLUME,

THE

STORY OF MY LIFE'S EXPERIENCE,

IS

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.

CHAS. SPIEGLE, of New York.

PAGE.

STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR, - - Frontispiece.

STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT OF BRIGHAM YOUNG, - - - To face, 265

PILLARS OF THE MORMON CHURCH, 63

GEORGE A. SMITH, THE NEW TRUSTEE-IN-TRUST, ... 63

"YOUNG BRIGGY," THE PROBABLE SUCCESSOR OF THE PROPHET, 63

"PRESIDENT" DANIEL H. WELLS, MAYOR OF SALT LAKE CITY, - 63

THE APOSTLE ORSON PRATT, "THE CHAMPION OF POLYGAMY," 63

ATTACKING THE SHOEMAKER, 114

TOO TRUE! 134

MOCKED WITH WORDS, 183

" GATHERING TO ZION"— LIFE BY THE WAY, 214

OVER AT LAST, 225

VIEW OF MAIN STREET, SALT LAKE CITY, [From a Photograph], - 249

THE LADIES' SIDE OF MORMONISM, 284

AMELIA FOLSOM YOUNG, BRIGHAM'S FAVORITE WIFE, - - 2S4

"ANN-ELIZA," BRIGHAM'S NINETEENTH WIFE, 284

MISS ELIZA R. SNOW, MORMON POETESS AND HIGH PRIESTESS, 2S4

MRS. JOHN W. YOUNG, WIFE OF BRIGHAM'S APOSTATE SON, - 2S4

BROTHER BRIGHAM'S LAST BABY, 2R4

SCENE OF THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS' MASSACRE, - ... 335

MY TALKATIVE FRIEND, 413

THE CRISIS OF A LIFE— ENTERING INTO POLYGAMY, ... 455

PUTTING HIMSELF IN HER PLACE, 473

"CHURCH" STORE— j)/6^5r BE RIGHT! 503

POLYGAMY IN LOW LIFE— THE POOR MAN'S FAMILY, - - - 5.5

POLYGAMY IN HIGH LIFE— THE PROPHET'S MANSION, - - - 5>5

DESPAIR! 525

FAC-SIMILE OF A MORMON " BILL OF DIVORCE," . - - - 557

LIGHT AT EVENTIDE, - - 569

PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.

By the merest accident, a few months ago, in New York City, the Publishers became personally acquainted with Mr. T. B. H. Stenhouse, of Salt Lake City, the husband of the Author of the present volume, and before they separated, preliminary steps were taken for its publication.

Almost a year before that time, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the talented author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," had addressed a kind note to Mrs. Stenhouse, congratulating her upon the appeal which she had made on behalf of the women of Utah, in a little work which she had then just published. Some correspondence subsequently ensued between the two ladies who had so successfully attacked "the twin relics of barbarism" — polygamy and slavery. They afterwards became personally acquainted ; and when Mrs. Stenhouse requested Mrs. Stowe to write the preface for her new work, that gifted author unhesitatingly replied : " I am happy to be able to do the least thing which can show how heartily I .sympathise with the effort you are making. May God bless both it and you, is the prayer of yours ever truly, — K B Stowe."

PREFACE

BY

Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe.

In these pages, a woman, a wife and mother, speaks the sorrows and oppressions of which she has been the witness and the victim.

It is because her sorrows and her oppressions are those of thousands, who, suffering hke her, cannot or dare not speak for themselves, that she thus gives this history to the pubUc.

It is no sensational story, but a plain, unvarnished tale of truth, stranger and sadder than fiction.

Our day has seen a glorious breaking of fetters. The slave-pens of the South have become a nightmare of the past ; the auction-block and whipping-post have given place to the church and school-house ; and the songs of emanci- pated millions are heard through our land.

Shall we not then hope that the hour is come to loose the bonds of a cruel slavery whose chains have cut into the very hearts of thousands of our sisters — a slavery which debases and degrades womanhood, motherhood, and the family.^

Let every happy wife and mother who reads these lines give her sympathy, prayers, and efforts to free her sisters from this degrading bondage. Let all the womanhood of the country stand united for them. There is a power in com- bined enlightened sentiment and s)Tnpathy before which every form of injustice and cruelty must finally go down.

May He who came to break every yoke hasten this deliver- ance.

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.

PREFACE.

In the fall of the year 1869, a few earnest, thinking men, members of the Mormon Church, and living in Salt Lake City, inaugurated what was regarded at the time as a grand schism. Those who had watched with anxiety the progress of Mormonism, hailed the " New Movement " as the harbinger of the work of disintegration so long anticipated by the thoughtful-minded Saints, and believed that the opposition to Theocracy then begun, would continue until the extraordi- nary assumptions of the Mormon priesthood were exploded, and Mormonism itself should lose its political status and find its place only among the singular sects of the day.

It was freely predicted that Woman, in her turn, would accept her part in the work of reformation, take up the marriage question among the Saints, and make an end of polygamy.

Little did I imagine at that period, that any such mission as that which I have since realised as mine, was in the Provi- dence of Time awaiting me, or that I should ever have the boldness, either with tongue or pen, to plead the cause of the Women of Utah. But, impelled by those unseen influences which shape our destinies, I took my stand with the " here- tics ;" and, as it happened, my own was the first woman's name enrolled in their cause.

The circumstances which wrought a change in my own life produced a corresponding revolution in the life of my husband.

In withdrawing from the Mormon Church, we laid our-

VUl PREFACE.

selves, our associations and the labors of over twenty years, upon the altar, and took up the burden of life anew. We had sacrificed everything in obedience to the "counsel" of Brigham Young ; and my husband, to give a new direction to his mind, and also to form some plan for our future life, thought it advisable that he should visit New York. He did so; and shortly after employed himself in writing a history of the Mormon Church, which has since been published.

In course of time, the burden of providing for a large family, and the an.xiety and care of conducting successfully a business among a people who make it a religious duty to sternly set their faces against those who dissent from their faith, exhausted my physical and mental strength. Consider- ing, therefore, that change might be beneficial to me, and my own personal affairs urgently calling me to New York City, I followed my husband thither.

On my way East, I met a highly-valued friend of my family, who, in the course of our journey together over the Pacific Railroad, enthusiastically urged me to tell the story of my life, and to give to the world what I knew about Polygamy. I had been repeatedly advised to do so by friends at home, but up to that time no plan had been arranged for carrying out the suggestion.

I had hardly arrived in New York, before the electric messenger announced that a severe snow-storm was raging on the vast plains between the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River, and for several weeks all traffic over the Union Pacific Railroad was interrupted, and I could not return to my home in the distant West.

That unlooked-for snow-blockade became seriously annoy- ing; for not only was I most anxious to return to my children, but also, never having known an idle hour, I could not live without something to do. At that moment of unsettled feeling, a lady-friend, with whom I was visiting, suggested again " tJic book ;" and she would not permit me to leave her house, until she had exacted from me a promise that it should be written.

PREFACE. ix

Next morning, I began my task in earnest. I faithfully kept my room and labored unremittingly ; and in three weeks the manuscript of my little work on "Polygamy in Utah," was completed.

It was issued in pamphlet form, and was very kindly welcomed by the press — both secular and religious — and for this I was sincerely grateful. I had not, up to that time, thought of much else than its effect upon the people of Utah ; but the voluminous notices which that little book received, showed the deep interest which the people of the United States had taken in " the Mormon question," and how ardently they desired to see the extinction of the polygamic institution among the Saints.

In- Salt Lake City, I was so situated that I was daily — I might almost say hourly — brought in contact with visitors to the Modern Zion ; for, during the summer, thousands of travellers pass over the Pacific Railroad. Not a few of these called to see me ; and I received from ladies and gentlemen — whose kind interest in my welfare I felt very deeply — many personal attentions, many words of sympathy and encourage- ment, and many intelligent and useful suggestions in respect to my future life. Indeed, I saw myself quite unexpectedly, and, I may truthfully say, without my own desire, become an object of interest.

By the earnest suggestions of friends and strangers, and by the widely published opinions of the press, I was made to feel that I had but begun my work — that I had but partly drawn aside the veil that covered the worst oppression and degrada- tion of woman ever known in a civilised country. Nearly all who spoke to me expressed their surprise that intelligent men and women should be found in communion with the Mormon Church, in which it was so clearly evident that the teachings of Christianity had been supplanted by an attempt to imitate the barbarism of Oriental nations in a long past age, and the sweet influences of the religion of Jesus were superseded by the most objectionable practices of the ancient Jews. How persons of education and refinement could ever

X PREFACE.

have embraced a faith that prostrated them at the feet of the Mormon Prophet, and his successor Brigham Young, was to the enquiring mind a perfect mystery.

The numerous questions which I had to answer, and the explanations which I had to give, shewed me that my httle book had only whetted the appetite of the intelligent investi- gator, and that there was a general call for a wovmiis book on Mormonism, a book that should reveal the inner life of the Saints, — exhibit the influences which had contributed to draw Christian people away from Christian Churches to the standard of the American Prophet, Joseph Smith, and subject them to the power of that organisation which has, since his death, subjugated the mass of the Mormon people in Utah to the will and wickedness of the Priesthood under the leader- ship of Brother Brigham.

There have from time to time appeared many works on Mormonism which professed to give an insight into the "inner life" of the Saints. Some of those books were written by women ; some by visitors to Utah, or persons who had resided for a longer or shorter period in the Territory ; and more than one at least was published under the name of women who claimed to be members of the Mormon Church. How un- trustworthy the accounts of visitors and Gentiles are, and the reason why such should be the case, I shall hereafter, in the course of this volume, have occasion to explain ; — and that the autobiographies of supposed Mormon women were equally unreliable, the following facts will clearly demonstrate.

A French Lady — a Countess and a woman of the world — Madame Olympe Odouard — came to see me in Salt Lake City. She was a woman of intelligence and quick perception, with whom to spend an hour was a perfect pleasure. After her return to France, she, of course, wrote a book, entitled Le Far West. And in that book, {page 335,) she said:

"II y a deux grands journaux si Salt Lake City: Ic New Dcscrct et le A'c-ii.> Telegraph. Mr. Stenhouse, le rcdacteur en chef du premier, est un homme eminemment instruit. Allemand d'origine, il parle le Francais tres purcment. Sa femme, nde Fran(;aise, est una femme du monde, bonne, charmante, trcs- instruite, bonne musicienne, et mere de treize beaux enfants. C'est une ex-Sosur

PREFACE. XI

de Charity et la seule femme Catholique et Fran9aise qufe soit parmi les Mor- mones."

Some of my readers may perhaps have forgotten their French lessons : I, therefore, translate :

There are two principal journals in Salt Lake City — the New Descret and the ' Neiv Telegraph. Mr. Stenhouse is editor-in-chief of the first. He is a well- taught man of German origin, and speaks the French language with the greatest purity. His wife, a French lady, is a woman of the world — good looking, charm- ing, well educated, a good musician, and the mother of thirteen fine children. She is an ex-Sister of Charity, and the only French Catholic who has joined the "Mormon Church."

Now here is an example in type. Let us judge of its truth- fulness. In the first place there never was such a paper as the New Descret or the Nezv Telegraph. The Deseret Nezvs has been in existence for some years. My husband assisted on its staff, but he was never editor-in-chief. The Daily Tel- egraph was my husband's own paper, but it never appeared under any other name. Little items may seem of small im- portance, but in a case where truthfulness is called in question, they are worth mentioning. Mr. Stenhouse is a Scotchman by birth,"and I am an Englishwoman. His acquaintance with the French tongue is, of course, limited ; while I, for my part, never was, or will be, either a Roman Catholic or a Sister of Charity. Ten, and not thirteen "fine" children are all who call me mother ; and at the time when Madame Olympe wrote there were only eight. Here I state the whole case briefly. Let the reader judge of the truthfulness of "travellers' stories."

That comprehensive and truthful works on this subject have appeared, I readily admit, but most of them are mere sketches : — such, for example, as that by Secretary Ferris — a Gentile, but a fair and impartial author ; — or else were pub- lished— as that, for instance, by John Hyde, a good man and a vigorous writer — so many years ago that they are now, to a great extent, out of date. Mrs. Waite is the best Gentile lady-writer; but for obvious reasons, although she was a woman of intelligence and penetration, her knowledge of the inner life of Mormonism was necessarily circumscribed.

Two books appeared, each claiming to be written by genu-

Xll PREFACE.

ine Mormon women. They were, however, originally pub- lished fifteen or twenty years ago ; and although they are still on sale, they are, as a matter of course, silent concerning recent events. The first of these two volumes was really written by a gentleman who was himself neither a Mormon nor had any intimate acquaintance with the system and doc- trines of that people. He obtained from the lady — the sup- posed author — all the information which she was capable cf imparting, and then worked it up in a startling and sensational manner, mingling facts and fiction in such a way that the Mormons have always declared that the whole volume was a scandalous libel.

The other volume was first published nearly twenty years ago. It was professedly written by the wife of a Mormon elder ; but it was really the production of an old lady in New Jersey, who had never even been out to Utah, and who drew entirely upon her own imagination for all that she could not adapt from other sensational writers on Mormonism. This book was first published by a New York firm, and being supposed by the innocent public to be genuine, it had an extraordinary circulation — forty or fifty thousand being sold. The publish- ers, however, failed, and the stereotype plates passed into other hands. Subsequently the work having come under the notice of a subscription firm at Hartford, they negotiated for the use of the plates. One word of the heading of each page was cut out, a new title was selected, some old illustrations and a few new ones were added, and an ancient steel-plate por- trait, which had once done duty in some book of poetry or illustrated volume of fashionable beauties of years ago, was vamped up, and the supposed signature of the fictitious author was engraved beneath it. This book, now re-christened, and apparently a new volume, was launched upon the market. It is at the present moment advertised in many local newspapers, and the confiding public cheerfully buy it under the impres- sion that it is the genuine production of a Mormon woman. Such is the history of some of the so-called autobiographies which have appeared.

PREFACE.

XIU

I mention these facts to show that ihe demand for a Ime history by a real Morvion zvonian has never yet been supplied. It was this knowledge which induced me to publish my former little work, and encourages me to hope that the present vol- ume may meet with acceptance.

A few months after the publication of my first book, I was invited to lecture upon " Polygamy in Utah," and wherever 1" spoke I observed the same spirit of enquiry and met with a

renewed demand for more of circumstance and narrative

which I had, from a sense of personal delicacy, withheld in my former work.

I saw no way of satisfying myself and others than by accepting the rather spiteful invitation of a certain Mormon paper to " Tell it all," and this, in a narrative of my own personal experience, which I now present to the reader, I have endeavored to do. Myself not in any sense a literary woman, or making any pretensions as a writer, I hope to escape severe criticism from the public and the press. I had a simple story to tell — the story of my life and of the wrongs of women in Utah. Startling and terrible facts have fallen under my observation. These also I have related ; but my constant effort has been to tell my story in the plainest, simplest way, and to avoid exaggeration, but never shrink from a straightforward statement of facts. I have disguised nothing, and palliated nothing ; and I feel assured that those who from their actual and intimate acquaintance with Mor- monism in Utah as it really is, are capable of passing a just and impartial judgment upon my story, will pronounce without hesitation that I have told " the truth, the zvhole .truth, and nothing but the truth!'

FANNY STENHOUSE. Salt Lake City, Utah.

c^oK'i's;^'!'^.

CHAPTER I.

MY EARLY LIFE.

The Memory of my Youthful Days — Early Religious Impressions — T become a Church-Member — My Pious Admirer — A brief Homily on Feminine Vanities — My first Start in Life — Faithful Counsels of a Friend — Life in a French School — The Maison-Martin — Preparing my Lessons — Ob- jecting to a Protestant — "Assisting" at Service — My Ghostly Adviser — The "instructions" of a Handsome Young Priest — Flirtation and Apos- tolic Succession — The Blind Leading the Blind — The Scene of Labor Changed — Domestic Life at St. Brieux — An indifferent Young Gentle- man— The Presence of an " Icicle" — Quiet Attentions to " Mademoiselle- Miss" — The Man who Waits Wins — My Affianced Lover — Reasons why a French Girl Marries — Views of Marriage among the French — Traces of Early Teachings — Mental Struggles and Doubts — I Resolve to Visit England — The Crisis of My Life. * * 3'

CHAPTER II.

MY FIRST INTRODUCTION TO MORMONISM.

Returning Home — " Au Revoir'^ — A Visit to Jersey — The Home of my Childhood — My First Introduction to Mormonism — An " Apostate's" View of the Saints — Revelation and Roguery — A Matter of Personal Interest — A. Lady's Logic — A Warning against the New Religion — First Visit to a Mormon Meeting — Catching the " Mormon Fever" — Snubbing an Elder— A Polite Saint — Fighting a Delusion — Among Dear Friends — " Full of the Spirit" — Religion in Practical Life — Preparing Comforts for the Missionary Elders — Emotional Religion — The Testimony of the Spirit— Sunday Service among the Saints— Contagious Enthusiasm— The Story of a too-confiding Convert— How He Went out to Zion— Terrible Fate of an Apostate— Killed by " the Indians" — Preaching under Diffi- culties— My First Introduction to my Future Husband — "The Other Daughter from France"— The Eloquence of Elder Stenhouse — Creating an Impression — A Memorable Era in My Life. 39

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER III.

THE LABOR OF MY LIFE BEGUN : — HOW THE MORMON MISSIONARIES MADE

CONVERTS.

A Confirmation Meeting — The Age for Baptism — How Sister Martha was Confirmed — How Mormon Saints are "Blessed" — The Spirit of Projihecy — A Lecture by Elder Stenhouse — The New Gospel Explained — A Vision of Latter-Day Glory — How I was Convinced — The Finger of Destiny Draws Me On — A Mormon Baptism — I Become a Member of the Church — I am Baptised, Confirmed, and Blessed — I begin a New Life — A Happy Dream of Missionary Usefulness — I begin Work with Enthusiasm — Methodism and Mormonism Compared — How Converts are Made — Re- ligious Revivals — The Anxious Seats — A Testimony Meeting — How Brig- ham Young has Damped the Ardor of the Saints — Magical Effects of an Elder's Speech — The Mormon Marsellaise — Effects of Song upon Reli- gious Feeling. 50

CHAPTER IV.

LIFE AMONG THE SAINTS — MY NEW ENGAGEMENTS.

Beginning Life as a Mormon — Breaking Way from the Past — My Friends in France — Placed in a Difficult Position — I Remember my Betrothed — Ex- clusivcness of my New Faith — An "Apostle" Lays Down the Law — How to Keep aloof from the Gentiles — Woman's Duty — " The Foundation of a Little Family Kingdom" — The " Gift of Tongues" in Modern Days — An Extraordinary Meeting — Sister Ellis exercises her " Gift" — Need of an Interpreter — Emotional Religion — How Brother Brigham once " Spake in Tongues" — A " High Time" at Kirtland in the days of Joseph— A Scene in the Lion House — One of the Prophet's Wives "Speaks" — Another Wife Interprets— I Receive a Blessing — Brother Young Discountenances ihe "Gift" — Only half Convinced— " To Doubt is Sin" — I Arrive at an Important Conclusion — I instruct Elder Stenhouse in the French language — An Interesting Pupil— Declining the verb 7'^""''— Studies in the 15ack Parlor— A Persevering Young Man— Why I listened to Elder Stenhouse's Suit — I am Engaged to Him — I become a Missionary's Wife — I Write to my Friends in France — A Free Confession — Pleasant Memories of the Past. 0,

CHAPTER V.

...ORMON WONDERS : — ANOINTINGS AND MIRACLES.

How a "Miracle" was Performed— The Evidence ot One's Senses— Suc- cessful use of Scripture Arguments— Mormon versus Local Preacher — A lively Discussion — A little " Personal" Matter— A Man who Never Saw a Miracle— Success Dependent upon Faith — "I Hardly know what to Think of It"— A New Convert— How Sister Armstrong was Healed— A Genuine Case— Five Years of Helplessness— Testing the Claims :— A

XVI CONTENTS.

fair Proposal— The Faithful Accept the Offer — The Magnetic Principle— A good Dose of Oil — How the Anointing was Performed :— Aaron Out- done— Making the Passes — An Exhausting Labor—" Give me your Hand, Brother" — " Have faith, Sister Armstrong !" — " We Thought that She was Dead" — My first Introduction to Mary Burton — A Wilful Lassie — We become Fast Friends — Seeing is Sometimes Believing — Polder Sten- house Works a Miracle: — Cures a man of the Cholera— How a "regular battle" was Fought — A Wife's unprofitable Faith — How the Miraculous Power was All Used Up — How my Husband made himself Useful again. 74

CHAPTER VI.

THE FIRST AVHtSPERINGS OF POLYGAMY.

Meeting a Living "Apostle" — The London Conference — What I Expected — Four Apostles at One Time — The Charms of a Priestly Life — Leading About a "Sister" — The " Mystery of Godliness" — Imitating Solomon — The Formation of a " Branch"— Doing the Work of the Lord — The Apostle Lorenzo Snow — An Argument by the Way — Silent Snow — The Apostle Snow Thaws at the Right Time — How a Convenient Revelation was Thrice Received — Unwilling Consent — A Cruel Wrong — He Would be Five Years Away — The Conference Organised — A Mission to Italy — A Pleasant Position for a Wife — The Vicissitudes of a Year — God's Mercy a Safe Trust — A Valedictory Picnic — Not P"ar from Netley Abbey — Bid- ding Good-bye to the Missionaries — My Ideas of My Husband's Work — Mary Suggests a New Idea — What She Said — " I'm Not a Little Girl" — "I Kissed Her, and Continued" — All, all False — Elder Stenhouse Departs for Italy — Italy is the End of Our Miserable Hopes — How the Missiona- ries Departed — I Bid Adieu to My Husband. 90

C H AFTER VII.

MY husband's mission : — I AM LEFT ALONE.

The Italian Mission — A Saint's Responsibility — Obliging a Friend — The Pains and Penalties of a Saintly Life— My Letters to my Husband— The Whisperings of the Coming Storm— Polygamy Denied— The Wretched Subterfuges of certain Elders — The Lying Basis of Polygamy — What Apostle Taylor said— My Personal Experience — How Polygamy was Intro- duced among the Saints — I want to find My own Groove — Suffering for Conscience Sake— Lonely Contemplation of a Weary Soul— The Ameri- can Apostles—" Without Purse or Scrip"— The Swiss Mission— My own Enthusiasm— My Darling Clara— Lighting the "load" of Love— Mary Burton's Love Affairs— The Apostle Lorenzo Snow— Missionary Work— I Bear my own Troubles Alone— The Difficulties of Missionary Work — A Shoemaker who respected his Soul— Work Indefatigable— Le Gover- neur do L' Hopital— Our New Convert— Days of Poverty— Practical Faith— How we Endured— The Darkness which Precedes the Dawn— The Suffering of all who Work to Win. -..•.... loi

CONTENTS. xvii

CHAPTERVIII. •

OUR MISSION IN SWITZERLAND .— MUITERINGS OF THE COMING STORM An Apostle Comes to Help Me— How the Wives of Missionaries we're Sup- ported-! Meet with Friends— My Attempts at Proselytizing— Madame lialiff Rejects the Revelation- Primitive Meetings of the Saints— Certain Bashful Men— A Lady Weak in the Faith— How My Faith was Tried — " If You Could Get that Child Healed"— Wanted: The Gift of Healing— WMiat Governor Stoudeman Did-The Fate of a Little Child— Madame Baliff Makes a Suggestion— An Effort of Faith— My Doubts and Fears— An Anxious Night— Mary Burton's Letter— Elder Shrewsbury Manifests Himself— A Girl's Opinion of Her Lover— Fears of Polygamy— Certain Imprudent Elders— The American Brethren— Learning a Business— Jeal- ous of Her Husband— "My Elder"-An Unsettled Mind— Obtaining Information— Nothing Determined.

121

CHAPTER IX.

THE REVELATION ON CELESTIAL "MARRIAGE." Waiting for the Revelation— The Millennial J/ar— The Revelation on the Order of " Celestial Marriage"—" My Servant Joseph"— The Keys of the Kingdom— Marrying for Eternity— The Unpardonable Sin— Being "As the Angels"— Sealed by the Holy Spirit— Shedding Innocent Blood— The Example of Abraham— The Power of the Priesthood—" Mine Handmaid, Emma Smith"— If He have Ten Virgins Given Unto Him"— Let this Suffice for the Present—An Astonishing Message from Heaven— Learning to Bear the Cross— Without Hope— Longing to Confide in Some One— My Indignant Reception of the " Re%'elation"— " I Dared Not even Kneel to God"— " There Was a Knock at My Chamber Door"— Not a Very Entertaining Party— " The Old Gentleman Stood the Test"— Monsieur Petitpierre " Thinks Prayerfully Over the ilatter." - - - - 134

CHAPTER X .

MISSIONARY WORK : — TEACHING POLYGAMY. Preaching Polygamy— A Phase of Missionary Life— An Embarrassing Posi- tion—Bearing the Cross— One Ever-Present Thought— The Haunting Spectre of My Life— My Little Daughter Clara— The Work of Repen- tance—Why Men are Sent on Mission— Working in the Dark—Days and Nights of Prayer and Fasting— Preparing for Work— Breaking the News— My First Convert— The Victim Chosen- The " Beauties" of " Celestial" Matrimony"— Introducing a Pleasant Subject—" Came Down Stairs Sing- ing"- A Cruel Task—" Docs My Serge Believe This ?"— " I Tried to Comfort Her"- Not Wisely, but Too Well- How the Swiss Women Re- ceived the Revelation- A Companion in Misery— A Letter from Mary Burton— Polygamy in England— Elder Shrewsbury in Difficulties- Love and Religion- How Polygamy Was Denied— Looking Most Miserable—

"He Kissed My Hand Sorrowfully." I42

2

XVUl CONTENTS.

A ClIAPTERXI.

MORMONISM IN ENGLAND :— PREPARING TO EMIGRATE.

A Blissful State ol Ignorance — The Opinions of Monsieur Petitpierre — Strong Arguments— How He Became an Apostate — " He Shall Rule over Her" — The Nobler Sex — How Women were Sufficiently Honored— Looking Anxiously for a Change — Establishing a Mormon Paper— Denouncing the Gentiles — Terrible Expectations — Hastening to Zion — A Journey of Many Days — The Swiss Pilgrhns — Death by the Way — Disobeying Counsel — The "Judgments" of the Lord — The Love of Many Waxes Cold — The Pi^esident of the London Conference — Distinguished Apostates — Strange Mews from Zion — An "Object of Literest" — Great Success of Mormon- ism in Britain — How Saints were Re-baptized — Poor Elder Marsden! — The Emigration Season — My Little Daughter Minnie — Saintly Treatment — A Visit from Mary Burton — How Love Affairs Progressed — Pacifying a Lover — The M^eaningot the Word " Patience." 154

CHAPTER XII.

EMIGRATION TO ZION: — WE ARRIVE IN NEW YORK.

Mary Burton Tells her Story — A Persevenng Lover — A Long Conversation — Some "Strong Points" of the Revelation — A Trifling Circumstance — Terrible Doings in Zion — How Orson Hyde became an Apostate — He Bears Witness Agamst Joseph Smith — "Danites" and "Avenging An- gels"— Murders Committed by "Indians!" — Emigration in the Old Times — A Journey of Nine Months — How the Mormon Emigration was Managed — A Favored Apostle — How the Profits were Pocketed — On Board Ship — We Suffer Loss — How we were Deceived — An Untruthful Apostle — How Poor Mr. Temiant was Robbed — Brigham Young Acts his Accustomed Part — Love and Marriage at Sea — Cooking Under Diffi- culties— " Harry and the Rats" — A Smart Lad — An Ancient Scotch Sis- ter— Working "for a Consideration" — Christmas on Board Ship — Cruel Treatment of Seamen — A New Year in the New World. ... 167

CHAPTER XIII.

LIFE IN NEW YORK: — CONDUCTING A MORMON PAPER,

An Introduction to a New World — The New York Saints — How Certain Elders Disappeared — An Uncomfortable Week — Left all Alone — Love Waxing Cold — Mental Slavery — The School-House at Williamsburgh — Miserable Condition of the Emigrants — Suffering for Their Eaith — The Apostle Taylor Lectures the Saints — Some Smart "Counsel" — Buying Shovels — An Unprofitable Speculation — The "Mean Yankee Gentiles" — Days and Nights of Trial — How the '■'■Mormon'''' was Edited — A Rather Small Salary — The Doings of High-Priests and "Seventies" — An Amiable Connecticut Girl — Half-a-Dozen Wives — Permission from Brigham Young — Certain Elders who had "Disease of the Heart" — The Course of True Love — A Young Widow Who Looked Well in Weeds — Arranging the Affairs of the Heart — The True Source of Modern Revelations. - - 179

CONTENTS.

XIX

CHAPTER XIV.

SAINTLY PILGRIMS ON THE WAY— THE " DIVINE" HAND-CART SCHEME. The Eastern Saints— Service in Williamsburgh— The "Prophet of the Lord" Tries an Experiment— The Pilgrims Cross the Plains— The Hand-Cart Scheme— 'I'he Poor Enr.igrants— A "Divine" Plan— The Great Gathering to Zion— An Interesting Letter from Mary Burton— How Elder Shrews- bury Won his Bride— A Solemn Oath Agamst Polygamy— Mary Burton's Marriage-Arrival of the Hand-Cart Emigrants-Scene at Castle Garden —Meeting with Mary Burton and her Husband— The Story of her Court- ship—Her Trustful Enthusiasm— Proposing to make Brigham Young a Aw^o—Anticipations ot War— How the Prophet Defrauded Brother Ten- nant of Sixty Thousand Dollars— The Pilgrims Leave for the West— The Story of a Truant Wife— Second Thoughts are Sometimes Best— The Mormon Paper Comes to Grief— A New Trial of Faith— Literary Work- Waiting for Permission to Journey Zionward. JQJ

CHAPTER XV.

A TERRIBLE STORY:— THE HAND-CART EMIGRANTS CROSSING THE PLAINS.

The Hand-Cart Emigration— Mary Burton's Story— Crossing the Plains— The Camp at Iowa City— Shameful Neglect of the Church Authorities- Making the Hand-Carts— The Outfit of the Emigrants— On the Way— "A Day's March Nearer Home"— Stout-hearted Pilgrims— Traveling through Iowa— Showing Kindness to the Emigrants— Need of Help and Sympathy— Perils and Privations of the Journey— How they Suffered Hunger, and Fainted by the Way— Very Scanty Rations— Distress of the Women and Children: the Weak and the Sickly— How the Church "took Care" of the Emigrants' Money— Suffering from the Heat— Arriving at Florence, near Omaha— How a Mass-meeting was Held— Taking Counsel —A Rash and Foolish Decision— Offering to Swallow a Snow-Storm— Brave Advice of Elder Levi Savage—" Weak in the Faith"— How they Continued their fatal Pilgrimage— The Camp at Eventide— False and Dangerous Security— The Carts Break Down— The Cattle Stampede- On Short Allowance— Visitors of Importance Arrive— Delusive Prophecy of the Apostles— How they took the Bread of the Starving— Selfish Con- duct of Saintly Leaders— Promises of Help. 206

CHAPTER XVI.

MARY BURTON'S STORY CONTINUED:— TERRIBLE ENDING OF THE HAND- CART SCHEME.

The Pilgrims Arrive at Laramie— Disappointed Hopes— A Message from the Apostle Richards— Help Again Promised— Fearful Sufferings and Privations of the Emigrants— The Frosts of Winter Come On— The Storm-Clouds are Gathering— Presentiments of Death— The Night-Air of the Wilderness— The Bitter End— A Wife's Unchanging Devotion- Death in the Camp— Falling by the Way— A Shocking Incident— Faithful Even in Death— The Good Deeds of Elder Chislett— How Faith Sustained

XX CONTENTS.

Them — Lo^t in the Snow-Storm — Brigham Young's Tardy Repentance — "Joseph A." Comes to the Rescue — In the Grasp of Death — Fearful Position of a Brave Woman — The Evil Day Comes at Last — A Night of Horrors — Waiting for Assistance — The Finger of Death — The Cry of the Wolves — A Scene too Terrible for Description — Who Died That Night — "God was Near Me Then " — A Change for the Better — Three Anxious Days — Light at Eventide — " Help Came Too Late for Them" — The Victims of Fanaticism — The Remnant that Arrived — The Conclusion of a Terrible Story. 221

C PI AFTER XVII.

WE FORSAKE ALL, AND SET OUT FOR ZION — OUR JOURNEY ACROSS THE

PLAINS.

Considering Our Position — Doubts and Fears— A Visit from the Apostle Geo. Q. Cannon — We are " Counselled" to Emigrate — Giving up All for the Church — Taking Charge of the Emigrants — The Insignificance of Women — Wives are Never to Follow their own Judgment—" Be Obedient" — We Begin our Pilgrimage — The Perpetual Emigration Fund — How Mormon Emigration is Managed — Settling the Debts of a Lady-Love — How Cer- tain Imprudent Englishmen Have Suffered — The " Emigration" of Miss Blank — An Ancient " Sister" who was Forced to Wait — Living Contra- dictions— First Glimpse of Salt Lake City — A Glorious Panorama — The Spectre of my Existence — The Prison-Walls of the Mountains — Without Hope — Life in the Wagons — Search for a House — " Roughing It" in Zion — First Impressions — A Cheerless Prospect for Winter — Daniel H. Wells Promises Assistance — A Woful Spectacle of Tallow Candles — Odorous Illumination — '■'■ U Eglise c'' est vioi'" — "An Ugly Man with a Cast in his Eve" — An Awkward Mistake— Beginning Life in Zion. - - - 237

CHAPTER XVIII.

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CITY OF THE SAINTS.

Some Personal Observations — An Innocent Prophet — Living Witnesses of the Truth— How Salt Lake City was Laid Out and Built— The Houses of Many-Wived Men— My First Sunday in the Tabernacle — Curious Millin- ery of Lady Saints— Two Remarkable Young Ladies— A Doubtful Exper- iment— How Service is Conducted in the Tabernacle — Extraordinary Sermons— Deceitful Dealings of the Original Prophet — Why Joseph, the "Seer," Married Miss Snow— Another of the Prophet's Wives— A Shameful Story— Aunty Shearer, and her Funny Ways — Spiritual Wives and Proxy Wives — How the Saints are Married for Time and for Eternity — Concerning Certain Generous Elders — How Wives are Secretly " Sealed"— Extraordinary Request of One of Brigham's Wives—" The Next Best Thing"— Mormon Ideas of the Marriage at Cana— The " Fix- ins" of a Mormon Husband— How "The Kingdom" is Built Up— Women Only to be Saved by Their Husbands— A Painful Story— A Very Cau-

CONTENTS. XXI

tious Woman— A Woman who wanted to be "Queen"— A Deceitful Lover— A Strange Home-Picture— "These Constitute my Kingdom"— Forebodings. • - - - ^46

CHAPTER XIX.

BRIGHAM YOUNG AT HOME:— \VF, VISIT THE PROPHET AND HIS WIVES.

Inside the Lion House— The Family-Circle of the Prophet— A Gracious Re- ception—A Woman's Description of Brigham Young— His Early Life and Strusrgles- Working for " Six Bits" a Day— How he "Ate Up all the Corn"— How he Worked as a Painter and Glazier— Born at the Right Time— Brigham Young's Character Summed Up — How he Obtained his Position— The Twelve Apostles of Mormonism — Intrigues for Place and Power— Pulling the Nose of a Queen— Delivered Over to " The Buffctings of Satan"— Poor Sidney!— The " First Presidency"— Yearly Elections— A Foe to Education— What Boys and Girls Should Learn— An Unfortu- nate Musical Society— Moral Delinquencies of the Prophet— Borrowing Clothes for a Conference— How a Million Dollars were Borrowed and /Vz/V//- Brigham's Avarice, Cowardice, and Thefts— A Terrible Despotism — Lost Opportunities. -^3

CHAPTER XX.

THE WIVES OF KRIGHAM YOUNG: — THEIR HISTORY AND THEIR DAILY I.IFE.

The Prophet at Home— His Own Little Family— Domestic Life of a Patri- arch—Wife the First— Two Sisters Married to the Same Man— Brigham's Son at West Point— She " Had her Day"-.-A Troublesome Wife— The Privileges of Mormon Women — Shocking Case of Infatuation — Emmeline The Forsaken Favorite— The Fickle Fancies of the Prophet :— Amelia. • " the Queen of the Harem"— The Follies of a Modern Prophet— The Charms of Julia Dean— The Spirit of the Prophet Subdued by Amelia's Will— Eliza Ann Tells her Own Story— How Brother Brigham Won his Last Wife— Fictions and Frauds— Brigham Names the Marriage Day- He Came "Just as it Happened"— Getting Groceries in a Small Way— "Two Bits' worth of Fresh Meat"— The Conclusion of Eliza-Ann's Story —A Patriarchal Family— The Father of Fifty Children— A Questionable Story— "Whose Child is He"— Inside the Prophet's Mansion— Pocket- Money and Divorce— Domestic Life of the Prophet— Entertaining a Vis- itor—How a Large Family is Managed— The Patriarch at Home. • - 275

CHAPTER XXI.

THE ORIGIN OF "THE REFORMATION": EXTRAORDINARY DOINGS OF THE

SAINTS.

Some Peculiar Mormon Doctrines- The Faith of the Saints— Extraordinary Ideas of Sacred Subjects— Polytheism Taught— Preexistence of the Soul- Assisting the Spirits to Emigrate—" The Body that Shall Be"— The Ori-

XXU CONTENTS.

gin of the Devil — Brigham's Adam Deity — "Kolob": — the Sun of Sun3 — Father Adam Descends to Eden — The Grades of the Priesthood — Place and Position in the Church — Obedience the Cardinal Virtue — Patriarchal Blessings — How an Ancient Dame Sold her Petticoats to Buy a Blessing — The Thin End of the Wedge — Terrible Doings in Missouri — Mormon Politics — The Avenging Angels — Origin of the "Danites" — Whisperings of Dark Deeds — The Bearded " Daughters" of Zion — Brigham's Threat — The "Death Society" — The Prophet Smith Murdered— "Milking the Gentiles" — " Whittling an Apostate" — Treasonable Speeches and Prac- tices— Brigham as Governor of Utah — Great Excitement in Salt Lake City — A Crisis. 295

CHAPTER XXII.

THE "reign of terror" IN UTAH: — THE REFORMATION OF THE SAINTS.

Days of Trouble in the Valley — Shedding Innocent Blood — What is Murder ? About Killing a Cat — Better than Their Faith — Cutting Throats for Love — The Deeds of the Apostle "Jeddy"