LDS Restorationist movement, including the Mormon Churches

Polygyny during the later 19th century

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Relations between the LDS Church and the U.S. federal government after 1855:

The following is a timeline of events leading up to the suspension of new polygynous marriages by the LDS Church in 1890. It is important to realize that the other LDS Restorationist churches -- the ones left behind in the mid-West after Brigham Young and his followers moved to Utah by  -- never engaged in polygyny. During this interval, many attempts were made to achieve statehood for the territory of Utah. All were unsuccessful -- largely because of their marriage policies:

The "Great Accommodation" of 1890:

When the federal government announced that they would start to seize the temples, the LDS Church decided to obey the federal law. At that time, the Church announced that they had received a revelation from God that changed church beliefs and practices. The fourth president of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, issued a manifesto (called the "Great Accommodation") on 1890-SEP-24. It theoretically suspended the solemnization of new plural marriages for an indefinite interval.

Woodruff wrote, in part,

"And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land."

During the next thirteen and a half years,

"... members of the First Presidency individually or as a unit published twenty-four denials that any new plural marriages were being performed. The climax of that series of little manifestoes was the 'Second Manifesto' on plural marriage sustained by a vote of a general conference." ₄

According to Mormonism Research Ministry:

"Members who were intent on living the principle did so by having their marriages solemnized in Mexico and Canada as well as off shore on ships. Leaders encouraged such relationships. When the news of this duplicity began to enrage American sensibilities, the LDS Church was eventually compelled to issue another declaration of policy, the Manifesto of 1904, signed by then-president Joseph F. Smith, who was a practicing polygamist. From this point on, the LDS Church began to seriously punish, via excommunication, those who continued to live in polygamous relationships. ₅

President Joseph F. Smith issued a statement on 1904-APR-6 that stated, in part:

"Inasmuch as there are numerous reports in circulation that plural marriages have been entered into contrary to the official declaration of President Woodruff, of September 24, 1890, commonly called the Manifesto. ... I, Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hereby affirm and declare that no such marriages have been solemnized with the sanction, consent or knowledge of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." ₄

In spite of the denials, a few such marriages were apparently sealed outside the U.S. as late as 1910 for trusted leaders of the Church . _6,7

U.S. President Cleveland issued a statehood proclamation for Utah on 1896-JAN-04, six years after the manifesto was declared. Although no new polygamous marriages were conducted after the 1920's, existing plural marriages continued to receive strong support from the Church.

According to a letter published in the Salt Lake Tribune:

"... polygamous weddings (or sealings, as we call them) are still performed in Mormon temples around the world today. These sealings unite living members of the church to deceased members in a 'spiritual' polygyny that the church teaches will become actual in the next life. For faithful LDS, in a very real sense it [polygamous marriages] never left." ₅

Some Mormons rejected the "Great Accommodation." They felt that plural marriages were a fundamental part of the LDS Church's culture and were an important practice, ordered by God. Some small Mormon splinter groups formed at that time to preserve polygyny. All were excommunicated from the LDS Church. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is the largest of these. It is still in existence in the U.S. and Canada. Its members still practiced polygyny with minimal to no interference from state, provincial or federal governments until 2008, when the State of Texas raided their YFZ (Yearning For Zion) ranch near Eldorado TX and took 416 children into custody.

References:

1. Perry Porter, "A Chronology of Federal legislation on Polygamy," 1998-MAR-28, at: http://www.xmission.com/
2. "Backgrounder on the Morrill Act," infoUSA, U.S. Department of State, at: http://usinfo.state.gov/
3. "Society of Separationists v. Whitehead," American Atheists, at: http://home.att.net/
4. D.M. Quinn, "LDS Church authority and new plural marriages, 1890 - 1904," at: http://www.lds-mormon.com/
5. Bill McKeever, "A Look at Fundamentalist Mormonism," Mormonism Research Ministry, at: http://www.mrm.org/
6. Richard S. Van Wagoner, "Mormon polygamy: A history," Signature books, (1986) Read reviews or order this book
7. B. Carmon Hardy, "Solemn Covenant: The Mormon polygamous passage," University of Illinois Press, (1992). This book concentrates on the post-manifesto era from 1890 to 1910. Read reviews or order this book

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