The Women Of Mormondom - free ebook by Edward W. (Edward William) Tullidge

THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM.

— By EDWARD W. TULLIDGE. NEW YORK. 1877....

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PREFACE.

Long enough, O women of America, have your Mormon sisters been blasphemed! From the day that they, in the name and fear of the Lord their God, undertook to "build up Zion," they have been persecuted for righteousness sake: "A people scattered and peeled from the beginning." The record of their lives is now sent unto you, that you may have an opportunity to judge them in the spirit of righteousness. So shall you be judged by Him whom they have honored, whose glory they have sought, and whose name

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CHAPTER I.

A STRANGE RELIGIOUS EPIC—AN ISRAELITISH TYPE OF WOMAN IN THE AGE. AN epic of woman! Not in all the ages has there been one like unto it. Fuller of romance than works of fiction are the lives of the Mormon women. So strange and thrilling is their story,—so rare in its elements of experience,—that neither history nor fable affords a perfect example; yet is it a reality of our own times. Women with new types of character, antique rather than modern; themes ancient, but transposed to our latter-day

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CHAPTER II.

THE MOTHER OF THE PROPHET—THE GIFTS OF INSPIRATION AND WORKING OF MIRACLES INHERENT IN HER FAMILY—FRAGMENTS OF HER NARRATIVE. First among the chosen women of the latter-day dispensation comes the mother of the Prophet, to open this divine drama. It is one of our most beautiful and suggestive proverbs that "great men have great mothers." This cannot but be peculiarly true of a great prophet whose soul is conceptive of a new dispensation. Prophecy is of the woman. She endows her offspring with tha

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CHAPTER III.

THE OPENING OF A SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION TO AMERICA—WOMAN'S EXALTATION—THE LIGHT OF THE LATTER DAYS. Joseph Smith opened to America a great spiritual dispensation. It was such the Mormon sisterhood received. A latter-day prophet! A gospel of miracles! Angels visiting the earth again! Pentecosts in the nineteenth century! This was Mormonism. These themes were peculiarly fascinating to those earnest apostolic women whom we shall introduce to the reader. Ever must such themes be potent with woman. S

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CHAPTER IV.

BIRTH OF THE CHURCH—KIRTLAND AS THE BRIDE, IN THE CHAMBERS OF THE WILDERNESS—THE EARLY GATHERING—"MOTHER WHITNEY," AND ELIZA R. SNOW. The birth-place of Mormonism was in the State of New York. There the angels first administered to the youthful prophet; there in the "Hill Cumorah," near the village of Palmyra, the plates of the book of Mormon were revealed by Moroni; there, at Manchester, on the 6th of April, 1830, the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" was organized, with six members

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CHAPTER V.

THE VOICE, AND THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT. And there came one as a "voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord!" Thus ever! A coming to Israel with "a new and everlasting covenant;" this was the theme of the ancient prophets, now unfolded. There was the voice crying in the wilderness of Ohio, just before the advent of the latter-day prophet. The voice was Sidney Rigdon. He was to Joseph Smith as a John the Baptist. The forerunner made straight the way in the wilderness of

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CHAPTER VI.

AN ANGEL FROM THE CLOUD IS HEARD IN KIRTLAND—THE "DAUGHTER OF THE VOICE." Now there dwelt in Kirtland in those days disciples who feared the Lord. And they "spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." "We had been praying," says mother Whitney, "to know from the Lord how we could obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost." "My husband, Newel K. Whitney, and myself, were C

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CHAPTER VIII.

WAR OF THE INVISIBLE POWERS—THEIR MASTER—JEHOVAH'S MEDIUM. "You have prayed me here! Now what do you want of me?" The Master had come! But who was he? Whence came he? Good or evil? Whose prayers had been answered? — There was in Kirtland a controversy between the powers of good and evil, for the mastery. Powers good and evil it would seem to an ordinary discernment. Certainly powers representing two sources. This was the prime manifestation of the new dispensation. This contention of the invisib

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CHAPTER IX.

ELIZA R. SNOW'S EXPERIENCE—GLIMPSES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SMITH—GATHERING OF THE SAINTS. "In the autumn of 1829," says Eliza R. Snow, the high priestess, "the tidings reached my ears that God had spoken from the heavens; that he had raised up a prophet, and was about to restore the fullness of the gospel with all its gifts and powers. "During my brief association with the Campbellite church, I was deeply interested in the study of the ancient prophets, in which I was assisted by th

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CHAPTER X.

THE LATTER-DAY ILIAD—REPRODUCTION OF THE GREAT HEBRAIC DRAMA—THE MEANING OF THE MORMON MOVEMENT IN THE AGE. It was "a gathering dispensation." A strange religion indeed, that meant something more than faith and prayers and creeds. An empire-founding religion, as we have said,—this religion of a latter-day Israel. A religion, in fact, that meant all that the name of "Latter-day Israel" implies. The women who did their full half in founding Mormondom, comprehended, as much as did their prototypes

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CHAPTER XI.

THE LAND OF TEMPLES—AMERICA THE NEW JERUSALEM—DARING CONCEPTION OF THE MORMON PROPHET—FULFILLMENT OF THE ABRAHAMIC PROGRAMME—WOMAN TO BE AN ORACLE OF JEHOVAH. Two thousand years had nearly passed since the destruction of the temple of Solomon; three thousand years, nearly, since that temple of the old Jerusalem was built. Yet here in America in the nineteenth century, among the Gentiles , a modern Israel began to rear temples to the name of the God of Israel! Temples to be reared to his august n

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CHAPTER XII.

ELIZA R. SNOW'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE AND ITS DEDICATION—HOSANNAS TO GOD—HIS GLORY FILLS THE HOUSE. The erection of the Kirtland temple was a leading characteristic of the work of the last dispensation. It was commenced in June, 1833, under the immediate direction of the Almighty, through his servant, Joseph Smith, whom he had called in his boyhood, like Samuel of old, to introduce the fullness of the everlasting gospel. At that time the saints were few in number, and most of them ve

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CHAPTER XIII.

THE ANCIENT ORDER OF BLESSINGS—THE PROPHET'S FATHER—THE PATRIARCH'S MOTHER—HIS FATHER—KIRTLAND HIGH SCHOOL—APOSTASY AND PERSECUTION—EXODUS OF THE CHURCH. Concerning affairs at Kirtland subsequent to the dedication of the temple, and people and incidents of those times, Eliza R. Snow continues: With the restoration of the fullness of the gospel came also the ancient order of patriarchal blessings. Each father, holding the priesthood, stands as a patriarch, at the head of his family, with invested

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CHAPTER XIV.

AN ILLUSTRIOUS MORMON WOMAN—THE FIRST WIFE OF THE IMMORTAL HEBER C. KIMBALL—OPENING CHAPTER OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY—HER WONDERFUL VISION—AN ARMY OF ANGELS SEEN IN THE HEAVENS. One of the very queens of Mormondom, and a woman beloved by the whole church, during her long eventful lifetime, was the late Vilate Kimball. To-day she sleeps by the side of her great husband, for Heber C. Kimball was one of the world's remarkable men. He soon followed her to the grave; a beautiful example she of the true lo

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CHAPTER XV.

HAUN'S MILL—JOSEPH YOUNG'S STORY OF THE MASSACRE—SISTER AMANDA SMITH'S STORY OF THAT TERRIBLE TRAGEDY—HER WOUNDED BOY'S MIRACULOUS CURE—HER FINAL ESCAPE FROM MISSOURI. Towards the close of October, 1838, several small detachments of migrants from Ohio entered the State of Missouri. They were of the refugees from Kirtland. Their destinations were the counties of Caldwell and Davies, where the saints had located in that State. Haun's Mill, in Caldwell county, was soon to become the scene of one of

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CHAPTER XVI.

MOBS DRIVE THE SETTLERS INTO FAR WEST—HEROIC DEATH OF APOSTLE PATTEN—TREACHERY OF COL. HINKLE, AND FALL OF THE MORMON CAPITAL—FAMOUS SPEECH OF MAJOR-GENERAL CLARK. But the iliad of Mormondom was now in Far West. Haun's Mill massacre was merely a tragic episode; a huge tragedy in itself, it is true, such as civilized times scarcely ever present, yet merely an episode of this strange religious iliad of America and the nineteenth century. The capital of Mormondom was now the city of Far West, in Mi

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CHAPTER XVII.

EPISODES OF THE PERSECUTIONS—CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE—BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY—LOUISA F. WELLS INTRODUCED TO THE READER—EXPERIENCE OF ABIGAIL LEONARD—MARGARET FOUTZ. The prophet and his brother Hyrum were in prison and in chains in Missouri; Sidney Rigdon, Parley Pratt and others were also in prison and in chains, for the gospel's sake. The St. Peter of Mormondom was engaged in removing the saints from Missouri to Illinois. He had made a covenant with them that none of the fai

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CHAPTER XVIII.

JOSEPH SMITH'S DARING ANSWER TO THE LORD—WOMAN, THROUGH MORMONISM, RESTORED TO HER TRUE POSITION—THE THEMES OF MORMONISM. What potent faith had come into the world that a people should thus live and die by it? Show us this new temple of theology in which the sisters had worshipped. Open the book of themes which constitute the grand system of Mormonism. — The disciples of the prophet believed in the Book of Mormon; but nearly all their themes, and that vast system of theology which Joseph conceiv

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CHAPTER XIX.

ELIZA R. SNOW'S INVOCATION—THE ETERNAL FATHER AND MOTHER—ORIGIN OF THE SUBLIME THOUGHT POPULARLY ATTRIBUTED TO THEODORE PARKER—BASIC IDEA OF THE MORMON THEOLOGY. Joseph endowed the church with the genesis of a grand theology, and Brigham has reared the colossal fabric of a new civilization; but woman herself must sing of her celestial origin, and her relationship to the majesty of creation. Inspired by the mystic memories of the past, Eliza R. Snow has made popular in the worship of the saints a

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CHAPTER XX.

THE TRINITY OF MOTHERHOOD—EVE, SARAH, AND ZION—THE MORMON THEORY CONCERNING OUR FIRST PARENTS. A trinity of Mothers! The celestial Masonry of Womanhood! The other half of the grand patriarchal economy of the heavens and the earths! The book of patriarchal theology is full of new conceptions. Like the star-bespangled heavens—like the eternities which it mantles—is that wondrous theology! New to the world, but old as the universe. 'Tis the everlasting book of immortals, unsealed to mortal view, by

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CHAPTER XXI.

THE HUNTINGTONS—ZINA D. YOUNG, AND PRESCINDIA L. KIMBALL—THEIR TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE KIRTLAND MANIFESTATIONS—UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF JOSEPH SMITH—DEATH OF MOTHER HUNTINGTON. Who are these thus pursued as by the demons that ever haunt a great destiny? As observed in the opening chapter, they are the sons and daughters of the Pilgrim sires and mothers who founded this nation; sons and daughters of the patriots who fought the battles of independence and won for these United States a transcendent d

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CHAPTER XXII.

WOMAN'S WORK IN CANADA AND GREAT BRITAIN—HEBER C. KIMBALL'S PROPHESY—PARLEY P. PRATT'S SUCCESSFUL MISSION TO CANADA—A BLIND WOMAN MIRACULOUSLY HEALED—DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THAT PERIOD. By this time (1840, the period of the founding of Nauvoo), the Church has had a remarkable history in Canada and Great Britain. To these missions we must now go for some of our representative women, and also to extend our view of Mormonism throughout the world. Brigham Young was the first of the elders who took M

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CHAPTER XXIII.

A DISTINGUISHED CANADIAN CONVERT—MRS. M. I. HORNE—HER EARLY HISTORY—CONVERSION TO MORMONISM—SHE GATHERS WITH THE SAINTS AND SHARES THEIR PERSECUTIONS—INCIDENTS OF HER EARLY CONNECTION WITH THE CHURCH. Among the early fruits of the Canadian mission, perhaps the name of no other lady stands more conspicuous for good works and faithful ministrations, than that of Mrs. Mary I. Horne. It will, therefore, be eminently proper to introduce her at this time to the reader, and give a brief sketch of her e

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CHAPTER XXIV.

MORMONISM CARRIED TO GREAT BRITAIN—"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL"—THE REV. MR. FIELDING—FIRST BAPTISM IN ENGLAND—FIRST WOMAN BAPTIZED—STORY OF MISS JEANNETTA RICHARDS—FIRST BRANCH OF THE CHURCH IN FOREIGN LANDS ORGANIZED AT THE HOUSE OF ANN DAWSON—FIRST CHILD BORN INTO THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND—ROMANTIC SEQUEL—VILATE KIMBALL AGAIN. The voice of prophesy was no longer hushed; the heavens were no longer sealed; the Almighty really spoke to these prophets and apostles of the latter days; their words were strange

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CHAPTER XXV.

SKETCH OF THE SISTERS MARY AND MERCY R. FIELDING—THE FIELDINGS A SEMI-APOSTOLIC FAMILY—THEIR IMPORTANT INSTRUMENTALITY IN OPENING THE BRITISH MISSION—MARY FIELDING MARRIES HYRUM SMITH—HER TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS WHILE HER HUSBAND IS IN PRISON—TESTIMONY OF HER SISTER MERCY—MARY'S LETTER TO HER BROTHER IN ENGLAND. Already has the name of Mary Fielding become quite historical to the reader, but she is now to be introduced in her still more representative character as wife of the patriarch and martyr

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CHAPTER XXVI.

THE QUORUM OF THE APOSTLES GO ON MISSION TO ENGLAND—THEIR LANDING IN GREAT BRITAIN—THEY HOLD A CONFERENCE—A HOLIDAY FESTIVAL—MOTHER MOON AND FAMILY—SUMMARY OF A YEAR'S LABORS—CROWNING PERIOD OF THE BRITISH MISSION. Scarcely had the saints made their exodus from Missouri—while many of them were still domiciled in tents on the banks of the Mississippi, and Nauvoo could only boast of a few rude houses to prophesy the glory of a "second Zion"—ere nine of the quorum of the apostles were abroad, worki

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CHAPTER XXVII.

THE SISTERS AS MISSIONARIES—EVANGELICAL DIPLOMACY—WITHOUT PURSE OR SCRIP—PICTURE OF THE NATIVE ELDERS—A SPECIMEN MEETING—THE SECRET OF SUCCESS—MORMONISM A SPIRITUAL GOSPEL—THE SISTERS AS TRACT DISTRIBUTERS—WOMAN A POTENT EVANGELIST. And what the part of the sisterhood in this great work outlined in foreign lands? The sisters were side by side with the most potent missionaries the Latter-day Church found. They made nearly as many converts to Mormonism as the elders. They were, often times, the di

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

MORMONISM AND THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND—PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK OF MORMON TO THE QUEEN AND PRINCE ALBERT—ELIZA R. SNOW'S POEM ON THAT EVENT—"ZION'S NURSING MOTHER"—HEBER C. KIMBALL BLESSES VICTORIA. Here an interesting story is to be told of Mormonism and the Queen of England. It will be remembered that Victoria ascended the throne of Great Britain just three days before Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and Willard Richards arrived in her realm to preach the gospel of Messiah's coming. There was somethi

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CHAPTER XXIX.

LITERAL APPLICATION OF CHRIST'S COMMAND—THE SAINTS LEAVE FATHER AND MOTHER, HOME AND FRIENDS, TO GATHER TO ZION—MRS. WILLIAM STAINES—HER EARLY LIFE AND EXPERIENCE—A MIDNIGHT BAPTISM IN MIDWINTER—FAREWELL TO HOME AND EVERY FRIEND—INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY TO NAUVOO. How characteristic the following gospel passages! How well and literally have they been applied in the history and experience of the Latter-day Saints: "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that lov

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CHAPTER XXX.

RISE OF NAUVOO—INTRODUCTION OF POLYGAMY—MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH AND HYRUM—CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE—HER ACCEPTANCE OF POLYGAMY, AND MARRIAGE TO THE PROPHET—GOVERNOR CARLIN'S TREACHERY—HER SCATHING REVIEW OF THE MARTYRDOM—MOTHER LUCY'S STORY OF HER MURDERED SONS. Meanwhile, since the reader has been called to drop the historical thread of the saints in America for a view of the rise of Mormonism in foreign lands, Nauvoo, whose name signifies "the beautiful city," has grown into an imp

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CHAPTER XXXI.

THE EXODUS—TO YOUR TENTS, O ISRAEL—SETTING OUT FROM THE BORDERS OF CIVILIZATION—MOVEMENTS OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL—FIRST NIGHT AT SUGAR CREEK—PRAISING GOD IN THE SONG AND DANCE—DEATH BY THE WAYSIDE. The heroism of the Mormon women rose to more than tragic splendor in the exodus. Only two circumstances after the martyrdom connect them strongly with their beloved city. These attach to their consecrations in, and adieus to, the temple, and the defence of Nauvoo by the remnant of the saints in a three

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CHAPTER XXXII.

CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE—ADVENT OF A LITTLE STRANGER UNDER ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES—DORMITORY, SITTING-ROOM, OFFICE, ETC., IN A BUGGY—"THE CAMP"—INTERESTING EPISODES OF THE JOURNEY—GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD OF PROCEDURE—MOUNT PISGAH—WINTER QUARTERS. The subject and action of the exodus thus opened, we shall let the sisters chiefly tell their own stories of that extraordinary historic period. Eliza R. Snow, continuing her narrative, says: "We had been preceded by thousands,

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CHAPTER XXXIII.

BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY OF THE LAST DAYS OF NAUVOO—SHE RECEIVES CELESTIAL MARRIAGE AND GIVES HER HUSBAND FIVE "HONORABLE YOUNG WOMEN" AS WIVES—HER DESCRIPTION OF THE EXODUS AND JOURNEY TO WINTER QUARTERS—DEATH OF ONE OF THE WIVES—SISTER HORNE AGAIN. Sister Bathsheba W. Smith's story of the last days of Nauvoo, and the introduction of polygamy, and also her graphic detail of the exodus, will be of interest at this point. She says: "Immediately after my marriage, my husband, as one of the apost

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CHAPTER XXXIV.

THE STORY OF THE HUNTINGTON SISTERS CONTINUED—ZINA D. YOUNG'S PATHETIC PICTURE OF THE MARTYRDOM—JOSEPH'S MANTLE FALLS UPON BRIGHAM—THE EXODUS—A BIRTH ON THE BANKS OF THE CHARITON—DEATH OF FATHER HUNTINGTON. "It was June 27th, 1844," writes Zina D. Young (one of the Huntington sisters, with whom the reader is familiar), "and it was rumored that Joseph was expected in from Carthage. I did not know to the contrary until I saw the Governor and his guards descending the hill by the temple, a short di

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CHAPTER XXXV.

THE PIONEERS—THE PIONEER COMPANIES THAT FOLLOWED—METHOD OF THE MARCH—MRS. HORNE ON THE PLAINS—THE EMIGRANT'S POST-OFFICE—PENTECOSTS BY THE WAY—DEATH AS THEY JOURNEYED—A FEAST IN THE DESERT—"AUNT LOUISA" AGAIN. Very properly President Young and a chosen cohort of apostles and elders formed the band of pioneers who bore the standard of their people to the Rocky Mountains. On the 7th of April, 1847, that famous company left winter quarters in search of another Zion and gathering place. Three women

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CHAPTER XXXVI.

BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY CONTINUED—THE PIONEERS RETURN TO WINTER QUARTERS—A NEW PRESIDENCY CHOSEN—OLIVER COWDERY RETURNS TO THE CHURCH—GATHERING THE REMNANT FROM WINTER QUARTERS—DESCRIPTION OF HER HOUSE ON WHEELS. Continuing her narration of affairs at winter quarters, Sister Bathsheba W. Smith says: "As soon as the weather became warm, and the gardens began to produce early vegetables, the sick began to recover. We felt considerable anxiety for the safety of the pioneers, and for their succes

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CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE MARTYRED PATRIARCH'S WIDOW—A WOMAN'S STRENGTH AND INDEPENDENCE—THE CAPTAIN "LEAVES HER OUT IN THE COLD"—-HER PROPHESY AND CHALLENGE TO THE CAPTAIN—A PIONEER INDEED—SHE IS LED BY INSPIRATION—THE SEERIC GIFT OF THE SMITHS WITH HER—HER CATTLE—THE RACE—FATE AGAINST THE CAPTAIN—THE WIDOW'S PROPHESY FULFILLED. "I will beat you to the valley, and ask no help from you either!" — The exodus called out the women of Mormondom in all their Spartan strength of character. They showed themselves State-foun

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CHAPTER XXXVIII.

UTAH IN THE EARLY DAYS—PRESIDENT YOUNG'S PRIMITIVE HOME—RAISING THE STARS AND STRIPES ON MEXICAN SOIL—THE HISTORICAL THREAD UP TO THE PERIOD OF THE "UTAH WAR." The early days in the valley are thus described by Eliza R. Snow: "Our first winter in the mountains was delightful; the ground froze but little; our coldest weather was three or four days in November, after which the men plowed and sowed, built houses, etc. The weather seemed to have been particularly ordered to meet our very peculiar ci

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CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM IN THE PERIOD OF THE UTAH WAR—THEIR HEROIC RESOLVE TO DESOLATE THE LAND—THE SECOND EXODUS—MRS. CARRINGTON—GOVERNOR CUMMING'S WIFE—A NATION OF HEROES. For an example of the heroism of woman excelling all other examples of history—at least of modern times—let us turn to that of the Mormon women during the Utah war. In the expulsions from Missouri, first from county to county, and then en masse from the State, undoubtedly the Mormons yielded to the compulsion of a lawless mob

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CHAPTER XL.

MIRIAM WORKS AND MARY ANN ANGELL—SCENES OF THE PAST—DEATH-BED OF MIRIAM—EARLY DAYS OF MARY—HER MARRIAGE WITH BRIGHAM—THE GOOD STEP-MOTHER—SHE BEARS HER CROSS IN THE PERSECUTIONS—A BATTLE WITH DEATH—POLYGAMY—MARY IN THE EXODUS AND AT WINTER QUARTERS—THE HUT IN THE VALLEY—CLOSING A WORTHY LIFE. The death-bed of a latter-day saint! It was in the house of Heber C. Kimball, in the little town of Mendon, N. Y., on the 8th of September, 1832. Principal around that glorious death-bed were Brigham Young,

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CHAPTER XLI.

THE REVELATION ON POLYGAMY—BISHOP WHITNEY PRESERVES A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT—BELINDA M. PRATT'S FAMOUS LETTER. It was nearly twenty-three years after the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the revelation on celestial marriage was published to the world. On the 6th of April, 1830, the Church was founded on the 14th of September, 1852, the Deseret News published an extra, containing the said revelation, the origin thus dated: "Given to Joseph Smith, Nauvo

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CHAPTER XLII.

REVELATION SUPPORTED BY BIBLICAL EXAMPLES—THE ISRAELITISH GENIUS OF THE MORMONS SHOWN IN THE PATRIARCHAL NATURE OF THEIR INSTITUTIONS—THE ANTI-POLYGAMIC CRUSADE. Next after the revelation on celestial marriage, through Joseph the prophet, the Bible of the Hebrews, and not the sacred record of the ancients of this continent, must be charged with the authority, the examples, and, consequently, the practice of polygamy in the Latter-day Church. The examples of Abraham, Jacob, Solomon, and the ancie

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CHAPTER XLIII.

GRAND MASS MEETING OF THE WOMEN OF UTAH ON POLYGAMY AND THE CULLOM BILL—THEIR NOBLE REMONSTRANCE—SPEECHES OF APOSTOLIC WOMEN—THEIR RESOLUTIONS—WOMAN'S RIGHTS OR WOMAN'S REVOLUTION. Probably the most remarkable woman's rights demonstration of the age, was that of the women of Mormondom, in their grand mass-meetings, held throughout Utah, in all its principal cities and settlements, in January of 1870. And it was the more singular and complex, because Utah is the land of polygamy—the only land in

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CHAPTER XLIV.

WIVES OF THE APOSTLES—MRS. ORSON HYDE—INCIDENTS OF THE EARLY DAYS—THE PROPHET—MARY ANN PRATT'S LIFE STORY—WIFE OF GEN. CHARLES C. RICH—MRS. FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS—PHOEBE WOODRUFF—LEONORA TAYLOR—MARIAN ROSS PRATT—THE WIFE OF DELEGATE CANNON—VILATE KIMBALL AGAIN. The life of Mrs. Orson Hyde is replete with incidents of the early days, including the shameful occurrence of the tarring and feathering of the prophet, which took place while he was at her father's house. Her maiden name was Marinda M. Joh

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CHAPTER XLV.

MORMON WOMEN OF MARTHA WASHINGTON'S TIME—AUNT RHODA RICHARDS—WIFE OF THE FIRST MORMON BISHOP—HONORABLE WOMEN OF ZION. The heroic conduct of the Mormon women, in their eventful history, is not strange, nor their trained sentiments of religious liberty exaggerated in the action of their lives; for it must not be forgotten that many a sister among the Latter-day Saints had lived in the time of the Revolution, and had shown examples not unworthy of Martha Washington herself. Of course those women of

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CHAPTER XLVI.

MORMON WOMEN WHOSE ANCESTORS WERE ON BOARD THE "MAYFLOWER"—A BRADFORD, AND DESCENDANT OF THE SECOND GOVERNOR OF PLYMOUTH COLONY—A DESCENDANT OF ROGERS, THE MARTYR—THE THREE WOMEN WHO CAME WITH THE PIONEERS—THE FIRST WOMAN BORN IN UTAH—WOMEN OF THE CAMP OF ZION—WOMEN OF THE MORMON BATTALION. Harriet A., wife of Lorenzo Snow, was born in Aurora, Portage Co., Ohio, Sept. 13, 1819. Her honorable lineage is best established by reference to the fact that her parents were natives of New England, that o

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CHAPTER XLVII.

ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF CALIFORNIA—A WOMAN MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETY ISLANDS—HER LIFE AMONG THE NATIVES—THE ONLY MORMON WOMAN SENT ON MISSION WITHOUT HER HUSBAND—A MORMON WOMAN IN WASHINGTON—A SISTER FROM THE EAST INDIES—A SISTER FROM TEXAS. The Mormons were not only the founders of Utah, but they were also the first American emigrants to California. Fremont and his volunteers, and the American navy, had, it is true, effected the coup de main of taking possession of California, and the American f

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CHAPTER XLVIII.

A LEADER FROM ENGLAND—MRS HANNAH T. KING—A MACDONALD FROM SCOTLAND—THE "WELSH QUEEN"—A REPRESENTATIVE WOMAN FROM IRELAND—SISTER HOWARD—A GALAXY OF THE SISTERHOOD, FROM "MANY NATIONS AND TONGUES"—INCIDENTS AND TESTIMONIALS. Here the reader meets an illustration of women from many nations baptized into one spirit, and bearing the same testimony. Mrs. Hannah T. King, a leader from England, shall now speak. She says: "In 1849, while living in my home in Dernford Dale, Cambridgeshire, England, my att

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CHAPTER XLIX.

THE MESSAGE TO JERUSALEM—THE ANCIENT TONES OF MORMONISM—THE MORMON HIGH PRIESTESS IN THE HOLY LAND—ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES—OFFICIATING FOR THE ROYAL HOUSE OF JUDAH. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received double for all her sins. * * * O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem that bringest good tidings, li

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CHAPTER L.

WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE MORMON CHURCH—GRAND FEMALE ORGANIZATION OF MORMONDOM—THE RELIEF SOCIETY—ITS INCEPTION AT NAUVOO—ITS PRESENT STATUS, AIMS, AND METHODS—FIRST SOCIETY BUILDING—A WOMAN LAYS THE CORNER STONE—DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THE VARIOUS SOCIETIES. The Mormon women, as well as men, hold the priesthood. To all that man attains, in celestial exaltation and glory, woman attains. She is his partner in estate and office. John the Revelator thus tells the story of the Church of the First Born,

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CHAPTER LI.

THE SISTERS AND THE MARRIAGE QUESTION—THE WOMEN OF UTAH ENFRANCHISED—PASSAGE OF THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE BILL—A POLITICAL CONTEST—THE FIRST WOMAN THAT VOTED IN UTAH. The women of Mormondom, and the marriage question! Two of the greatest sensations of the age united! Here we meet the subject of woman, in two casts—not less Gentile than Mormon. Marriage is the great question of the age. It is the woman's special subject. Monogamic, or polygamic, it is essentially one problem. Either phase is good, or ba

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CHAPTER LII.

THE LIE OF THE ENEMY REFUTED—A VIEW OF THE WOMEN IN COUNCIL OVER FEMALE SUFFRAGE—THE SISTERS KNOW THEIR POLITICAL POWER. It was charged, however, by the anti-Mormons, that woman suffrage in Utah was only designed to further enslave the Mormon women; that they took no part in its passage, and have had no soul in its exercise. Nearly the reverse of this is the case, as the records, to follow, will show. In the expositions of the Mormon religion, priesthood and genius, which have been given, it has

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CHAPTER LIII.

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SEEK TO DISFRANCHISE THE WOMEN OF UTAH—CLAGGETT'S ASSAULT—THE WOMEN OF AMERICA COME TO THEIR AID—CHARLES SUMNER ABOUT TO ESPOUSE THEIR CAUSE—DEATH PREVENTS THE GREAT STATESMAN'S DESIGN. But the enemies of the Mormons, at home and abroad, who have sought to break up their religious institutions and turn their sacred relations into unholy covenants, have, from the very hour of the grant of woman's charter, also sought to take away from them female suffrage. And perhaps they wou

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CHAPTER LIV.

WOMAN EXPOUNDS HER OWN SUBJECT—THE FALL—HER REDEMPTION FROM THE CURSE—RETURNING INTO THE PRESENCE OF HER FATHER—HER EXALTATION. The high priestess thus expounds the subject of woman, from her Mormon standpoint: In the Garden of Eden, before the act of disobedience, through which Adam and Eve were shut out from the presence of God, it is reasonable to suppose that Eve's position was not inferior to, but equal with, that of Adam, and that the same law was applicable to both. Moses says, "God creat

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CHAPTER LV.

WOMAN'S VOICE IN THE PRESS OF UTAH—THE WOMAN'S EXPONENT—MRS. EMELINE WELLS—SHE SPEAKS FOR THE WOMEN OF UTAH—LITERARY AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. And the women of Zion have a press. More than up to their Gentile sisters are they in this respect. Few of the church organizations of Christendom can boast a woman's journal. There are but few of them in all the world, and they are mostly edited and supported by the heterodox rather than the orthodox element. The Woman's Exponent is one of th

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CHAPTER LVI.

RETROSPECTION—APOSTOLIC MISSION OF THE MORMON WOMEN—HOW THEY HAVE USED THE SUFFRAGE—THEIR PETITION TO MRS. GRANT—TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND MORMON WOMEN MEMORIALIZE CONGRESS. Ere this record be closed, let us review the later acts of these extraordinary women, who have fairly earned the position of apostles to the whole United States. They have pioneered the nation westward, where Providence was directing its course of empire, and now they are turning back upon the elder States of the Union as pionee

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CHAPTER LVII.

SARAH THE MOTHER OF THE COVENANT—IN HER THE EXPOUNDING OF THE POLYGAMIC RELATIONS OF THE MORMON WOMEN—FULFILMENT OF GOD'S PROMISE TO HER—THE MORMON PARALLEL—SARAH AND HAGAR DIVIDE THE RELIGIOUS DOMINATION OF THE WORLD. Meet we now Sarah the mother of the covenant. In her is incarnated the very soul of patriarchal marriage. In her is the expounding of the patriarchal relations of her Mormon daughters. Sarah, who gave to her husband another wife, that the covenant which the Lord made with him migh

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CHAPTER LVIII.

WOMANHOOD THE REGENERATING INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD—FROM EVE, THE FIRST, TO MARY, THE SECOND EVE—GOD AND WOMAN THE HOPE OF MAN—WOMAN'S APOSTLESHIP—JOSEPH VS. PAUL—THE WOMAN NATURE A PREDICATE OF THE WORLD'S FUTURE. In the beginning religion and nature dwelt together. The book of creation was gospel then. Creation was the only revelation. Motherhood is the first grace of God, manifested through woman. The very name of all things is in the mother: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she wa

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CHAPTER LIX.

ZION, A TYPE OF "THE WOMAN'S AGE"—THE CULMINATING THEME OF THE POETS OF ISRAEL—THE IDEAL PERSONIFICATION OF THE CHURCH—THE BRIDE—THE COMING EVE. Zion the joy of the whole earth! She who cometh down from heaven, with the anointing of salvation upon her head. The woman of the future, whom the Lord hath chosen! Her type is the church, with the divine nature of the race restored. Zion is coming down to be the spiritual mother of the earth. She shall bruise the serpent's head, in her seed and in her

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CHAPTER LX.

TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS—FIFTY THOUSAND WOMEN WITH THE BALLOT—THEIR GRAND MISSION TO THE NATION—A FORESHADOWING OF THE FUTURE OF THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM. "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" The Daughter of Zion! Fifty thousand daughters of Zion! Each with her banner! Her banner, female suffrage! It is the great battle of woman for woman's rights. The Lord of Hosts is with her. The rights of the women of

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