The Mormon religion, founded by Joseph Smith, had polygamy as one of its tenets
until the guns of the U.S. Army forced a miraculous revelation that maybe it
wasn't such a good idea after all. In civil law, when someone forces you to
sign a contract with a gun at your head, the contract is not considered valid.
This is the principle of duress. Of course, when one nation or
group forces another nation or group to sign a contract at gunpoint, everyone
expects that it will be considered valid. Otherwise, what use would guns be?
anonymous, The Most Holy Principle, Murray, Utah : GEMS 1970-71
Three volumes covering the history of Mormon polygamy.
1. The law and the testimony, 5 Dec 1805 - 3 Mar 1887.
2. The horn made war with the saints and prevailed, 3 Mar 1887 - 2 Sep 1898
3. A history problem, 23 Dec 1805 - Jun 1970
anonymous,
"Monogamy, Polygamy, and Christianty,"
Millenial Star, v.15 #32?, August 6, 1853
J. Max Anderson,
The Polygamy Story: Fiction and Fact,
Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, 1979
Paul Bailey,
For Time and all Eternity,
Doubleday 1964
Novel about the anti-polygamy crusades of the 1880s.
Rebecca Cornwall Bartholemew,
Audacious Women: Early British Mormon Immigrants,
Salt Lake City, Elmsford 1995
If you want to know what Mormon women thought about "plural marriage", as
opposed to what non-Mormon's thought about it, this book is a must-read.
J. H. Beadle,
Life In Utah; or, the Mysteries and Crimes of Mormonism. Being an Expose
of the Secret Rites and Ceremonies of the Latter-Day Saints, with a Full
and Authentic History Of Polygamy and the Mormon Sect From Its Origin to
the Present Time,
Philadelphia, National Publishing Co. 1870
Heber Bennion,
Gospel Problems,
circa 1920
Heber Bennion,
Supplement to Gospel Problems
Martha Sonntag Bradley,
Kidnapped From that Land :
The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists
(Mormon Studies vol. 9),
U. Utah, 1993
In the early morning hours of July 26, 1953, several hundred Arizona
state officials and polica officers moved into the polygamist community
of Short Creek, Arizona, to serve warrants on 36 men and 86 women.
Officials staging the raid believed they were rescuing the community's
263 children from a life of bondage and immorality. This book is the
first to bring together the story of the 1953 raid and two previous raids
in 1935 and 1944. Martha Bradley tells the story with insight and
compassion for the families that were fragmented by the arrests.
Fawn M. Brodie,
No Man Knows My History,
Knopf, 1971 (2nd ed.)
This exceptionally well-written biography of Joseph Smith,
the founder of Mormonism, is not well thought of by Mormons,
but it gets to the heart of Smith and his tumultuous times
better than any sanctimonious church doctrine.
Brodie clearly admires Smith greatly -
how many people are capable of founding a religion? -
but also doesn't shrink from describing the less-holy sides of the man
and his followers, or their opponents and persecutors.
If there is a flaw in this book, it may be that she pretends to know
Smith's mind a bit better than any historian really could.
But this is a minor criticism of what is otherwise not only
a sterling piece of scholarship, but also an enthralling read.
Jennie Anderson Froiseth,
The Women of Mormonism : or The Story of Polygamy As Told by
the Victims Themselves,
C. G. G. Paine, 1882
Strongly negative view of polygamy. The author was editor of the
Anti-Polygamy Standard of Salt Lake City.
Horace Greeley,
interview with Brigham Young in Harper's Weekly, September 1859
Mary Ann Hafen,
Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860:
A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier,
U. Nebraska Press 1983 (reprint?)
B. Carmon Hardy,
Solemn Covenant : The Mormon Polygamous Passage,
Univ. of Illinois Press, 1992
Examines Mormon polygamy during the nineteenth and early twentieth
century, and demonstrates how the famous Manifesto of 1890 that banned
multiple marriages was in fact initally used to preserve the tradition
while keeping it a secret from the world. Hardy shows how the Manifesto
changed over time to become an explicit prohibition of polygamy, turning
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints into "one of America's
most vigilant champions of the monogamous way."
Gordon D. Hinckley,
Teaching of Gordon D. Hinckley,
Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah 1997
John Jaques,
"Polygamy, Is it Consistent with the Bible, the Book of Mormon,
and the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church ...",
Millenial Star, v.15 #11, March 12, 1853
Ardyth Kennelly,
The Peacable Kingdom,
Houghton, Mifflin, 1949
"Story of life and wifely jealousies in polygamous Salt Lake City
in the 1890s." - efoot@aol.com
Ogden Kraut & Anne Wilde,
Blessings And Ordinances (Including A Separate Handbook)
Ogden Kraut,
The Holy Priesthood Vol. II,
(Part 1: Blessings And Cursings)
(Part 2: The Official Declaration Of 1978)
Part 1 contains a chapter on "Patriarchal Order Of Marriage".
Ogden Kraut,
The Holy Priesthood Vol. IV,
(The History And Law Of Plural Marriage)
Ogden Kraut,
The Holy Priesthood Vol. VI,
(Keys Of The Priesthood)
Contains a chapter on "The Keys To Plural Marriage".
Ogden Kraut (ed.),
Sermons And Writings Of The Restoration Volume III Includes "Polygamy: Is It Consistent With The Bible,
The Book Of Mormon, And The D&C?" by John Jaques.
Ogden Kraut (ed.),
Sermons And Writings Of The Restoration Volume IV Includes "Monogamy, Polygamy and Christianity" and
"Luther On Polygamy" editorials from the Millennial Star of 1853,
and "Celestial Marriage In Deseret" by Orson Pratt.
Ogden Kraut,
The Polygamy Of David And Solomon: From Triumph To Tragedy,
Response To "The Grand Delusion"
Ogden Kraut (ed.),
The Marriage Covenant
Ogden Kraut (ed.),
The Story Of Louis Alma Kelsch
Kelsch (1905-1974) embraced polygamy after the Manifesto prohibiting it.
Jo Ann Mazoue,
Queen Of The Island,
Wilderness Adventure Books, Davisburg, Michigan 1993
A historical novel about the Mormon colony on Beaver Island, Michigan
founded in 1850 by James Strang.
Joseph F. Smith Jr. & Richard C. Evans,
Blood Atonement & the Origin of Plural Marriage - A Discussion
Mrs. T. B. H. Stenhouse,
"Expose of Polygamy in Utah: A Lady's Life among the Mormons.
A Record of Personal Experience as one of the Wives of a Mormon
Elder during a Period of more than Twenty Years.",
American News Co., New York, 1872 (2nd ed.)
Mrs. T. B. H. Stenhouse,
"Tell It All" : The Story Of A Life's Experience in Mormonism,
A.D. Worthington & Co., Hartford, Conn. /
Louis LLoyd & Co., Chicago /
A.L. Bancroft & Co., San Francisco, 1874
Autobiography.
"Covers everything from the pillars of the Mormon Church to Polygamy."
John J. Stewart,
Brigham Young And His Wives, And The True Story Of Plural Marriage,
1961
Mrs. C. V. Waite,
The Mormon Prophet and his Harem :
An Authentic history of Brigham Young,
His Numerous Wives and Children,
J. S. Goodman, Chicago 1867
Maria Ward,
Female Life Among the Mormons : Maria Ward's Disclosures.
A thrilling narrative of many years personal experiences with
Brigham Young and his followers by the wife of a Mormon elder
recently from Utah.,
United States Book and Bible Company, Cincinatti, 1866.
Maurine Whipple,
The Giant Joshua,
1941
A novel of Mormon history. Reprinted 1976.
Wilford Woodruff,
Wilford Woodruff's Journal,
A Reprint Consisting Of Entries From May 1834 Until August 28, 1898
The complete journal has also been published in 15 volumes,
of which this is just excerpts.
Lou Wylie,
"Mormon Polygamy: The Last Phase", in
The American Mercury, July 1933
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