Polygamy

An old man labeled “Mormon Hierarchy”, wearing a coat of stitched together fragments of cloth labeled “Polygamy, Mormon Rebellion, Resistance to Federal Authority, Blood Atonement, Murder of Apostates, [and] Mountain Meadow Massacre,” stands outside the door to the “U.S. Senate” and places a puppet labeled “R. Smoot” inside the Senate chamber.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon was drawn at the commencement of the first trial in the United States Senate of Reed Smoot of Utah, elected the previous year but challenged over his status as a prominent “Apostle” in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As a Mormon he was scrutinized over policies and controversies surrounding the denomination. Polygamy supposedly had been outlawed — a major concern of Americans — but Smoot himself had a mother who was the sixth of his father’s simultaneous (“plural”) marriages. Smoot was seated by the Senate, but trials continued for four years.

Two Mormon elders discuss another Mormon who has been found guilty of bigamy. Caption: Elder Heaperholmes–He has been tried by the church and found guilty of bigamy. / Elder Holikuss–Guilty of bigamy? / Elder Heaperholmes–That’s the judgment. He’s been married only twice.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at the time of this cartoon, bigamy was more common than it is today. Mormons were heavily criticized outside of Utah and other areas where the sect dominated, and there were many laws proposed to restrict polygamy. Ehrhart’s cartoon — with the Temple and a horde of children surrounding one father in the background — jokingly suggested that Mormons disfavored those with merely two spouses.

President Roosevelt explains to Hannah Kent Schoff that the reason he has not “settled the Mormon question,” as many people have asked her, is that such a question is essentially meaningless. While Roosevelt would like to see a constitutional amendment against polygamy adopted, he does not think such an amendment is needed, as there have been fewer polygamous Mormon marriages in recent years than there have been bigamous marriages among other Christian sects. Mormons have as much a right to practice their religion as any other faith, and there does not seem to him to be anything that needs to be “settled.” Attacks on Mormons in Idaho have driven them to act more like a unified group, whereas before the attacks they were beginning to divide and act more independently.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-07

President Roosevelt agrees with Bishop Tuttle’s thoughts on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The president believes the government has no right to discriminate against a Mormon due to his religious belief if he does not practice polygamy and has not performed any illegal act. Roosevelt believes a law-abiding Mormon citizen should be treated just like the government treats individuals of other religious beliefs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-09

Edward Wingate Hatch’s correspondent describes the situation in Utah and supports the information Theodore Roosevelt has already heard. Roosevelt believes that the Mormon polygamy issues are really about “pure faction fighting.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-01

Horace G. Whitney sends Theodore Roosevelt an editorial from the Desert News responding to Roosevelt’s letter to I. K. Russell. Whitney assures Roosevelt that “plural marriages are absolutely things of the past in the Mormon Church.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-25

I. K. Russell certifies “that you can’t beat it,” sharing how the newspapers assert that by denying “collusion with the Mormons,” Theodore Roosevelt proves the veracity of such claims. Following advice that Roosevelt’s letter appear in Eastern magazines, Russell contacted Colliers, who agreed to publish it. Fellow “muck-rake” magazines McClure’s and Everybody’s then turned on Colliers for going against them. Russell explains how Harvey Jerrold O’Higgins deliberately misquoted and doctored the comments of Joseph F. Smith, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to appear he approved the continued practice of plural marriage. Russell sincerely thanks Roosevelt for writing the letter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-22

Cecil G. Rhodes greatly appreciates Theodore Roosevelt’s article “Race Decadence.” He believes willful sterility is criminal and shows a perversion of natural instincts. He requests Roosevelt write a follow-up article discussing “right living in nature-up through the animal kingdom till man.” As an aside, Rhodes supports women’s suffrage and believes it has a role in the issue of right living since the home is the foundation of the nation. However, reproduction is vital to the world.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-11

Edward L. Morse suggests to Lyman Abbott that an authority presents the other side of the race suicide question. While he agrees that some people with resources to support families are “criminally negligent,” he is concerned about overpopulation. He discusses how social systems of marriage adapt to the environmental circumstances and proposes that limited families may be part of the “increasing complexity of modern life.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-10

I. K. Russell follows up on an earlier letter he sent discussing charges regarding Theodore Roosevelt’s attitude with Senator Reed Smoot retaining his seat after he was charged with polygamy. Further charges have been made regarding this and Russell would like a statement from Roosevelt about it. Russell provides information about his journalism background and strong support of Roosevelt’s policies.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-08

I. K. Russell sends Theodore Roosevelt various clippings alleging his involvement in a suspected corrupt bargain involving Senator Reed Smoot. Russell believes that anti-Mormon sentiments are behind stories in Pearson’s, McClure’s, and Everybody’s about Utah politics. He points out that much of the reporting in the pieces is incorrect. While Russell knows that Roosevelt cannot address various reporting mistakes, he asks about the charges that Roosevelt was involved.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-02

Secretary of War Taft updates President Roosevelt on his progress through Idaho, where he has been speaking on behalf of Republican candidates. The longer he is in Idaho, the more he believes that the Western Federation of Miners has been working to defeat Senator Frank Robert Gooding. He describes Gooding’s involvement related to the lawsuit against Charles Moyer and William Dudley “Big Bill” Haywood. Taft feels somewhat doubtful about Gooding’s election. Another issue of note in Idaho relates to the Mormons and their stance regarding polygamy. He also comments on elections in other areas of the country, and reiterates what he has previously said regarding the importance of Roosevelt’s influence in this election.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-04

Secretary of War Taft informs President Roosevelt of the political situation in Idaho where he was sent to campaign for the reelection of Governor Gooding. Gooding is confident that he will win the gubernatorial race, but he faces significant opposition in response to the arrest of Charles Moyer and William Dudley Haywood and the efforts of the Western Federation of Miners to defeat him. Senator Dubois has been trying to make Mormonism another central issue in the campaign and to portray Taft in a negative light by associating him with the religious group. Taft concludes by stating his admiration for Secretary of State Root’s speech on William Randolph Hearst.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-04

General James Sullivan Clarkson, surveyor of the Port of New York, reports to William Loeb on the progress of the Republican political campaign in the Western states. In his meetings with prominent figures in Colorado, Wyoming, Iowa, and Indiana, he found Republicans to be very enthusiastic about President Roosevelt and the efforts of Republican Chairman George B. Cortelyou. He has heard many reports of Democratic voters who will vote for the Republican national ticket and he believes that through the influence of a few prominent Republicans the success of the campaign will be ensured. Clarkson ranks Roosevelt’s letter of acceptance among the finest political writings of all time.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-15

Theodore Roosevelt’s letter to I. K. Russell completely refutes the “ludicrous” charge that Roosevelt bargained with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the organization would receive certain considerations in exchange for delivering votes. Roosevelt advises the “Mormon[s]” that any attempt to reintroduce polygamy would mean the Church’s destruction, advice that aligns with Church leaders’ views.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-18

Page from McClure’s Magazine showing the pictures and names of seven members of the Mormon Church’s apostle’s quorum. These members performed plural marriages following the manifesto forbidding it in 1890, and began taking steps to restore polygamy in the Mormon Church, which has not excommunicated them.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02

In a four panel cartoon, four Puck cartoonists each take a panel in an effort to solve the issue of Mormonism. Clockwise from bottom left, captioned, “I imagine it must be a perfect paradise–Keppler,” Joseph Keppler places himself at the center of a harem, smoking a hookah signed “J.K.” and surrounded by beautiful women, one bringing a bottle of “G.H. Mumm” champagne. At top left, captioned, “I think one wife is enough–Gillam,” Bernhard Gillam shows a domestic scene at his home where he, labeled “Small Income,” his coattails in the clutches of his wife, attempts to avoid being struck by her with a fireplace scoop, while “My Wife’s Relations” stand behind her. At top right, captioned, “How long will this destructive monster be allowed to live?–Opper,” Frederick Opper is shown gesturing toward a large octopus labeled “Mormonism” that has caught in its tentacles “S.J.T., Uncle Sam, Public Opinion, Y.M.C.A., Public School System, Justice, Independent New Party, W.H.V., Field, Gould, Kelly, [a] New York Dive, [and the] Catholic Church,” as well as Benjamin Butler, the U.S. Capitol, and reaching all the way to “Ireland.” On the bottom right, captioned, “What is the use of Mormonism, when a man can change his wife whenever he likes?–Graetz,” Friedrich Graetz stands in the foreground gesturing toward hordes of men rushing to get divorced on “Saturday. Divorce day in Chicago,” and at places advertising “Divorces without publicity, Divorces procured without delay. Liberal charges, [and] Divorces obtained for $5.00.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-02-13

Grover Cleveland, as Hercules carrying a large club labeled “Honest Legislation,” encounters a group of troublemakers along the “Administration Road” to “Success” seen in the distant background. Among the problems to be dealt with are a “Rotten Navy” represented by a two-headed hydra labeled “Robeson” and “Roach” holding a club labeled “Lobby,” an old man labeled “Mormonism” with many wives dangling from his belt, Jay Gould labeled “Land Grabber” holding a club labeled “Monopoly” and carrying a sack with papers labeled “R. R. Land Grab, U. Pacific Land Grab, [and] Land Grab,” a stereotypical Jewish man wearing a top hat labeled “Bankrupt” and holding papers labeled “List of Preferred Creditors,” a vulture labeled “High Tariff” and “Over-Production” sitting next to the prostrate body of a man whose hat, labeled “Labor,” has fallen on a nearby rock, and two men, one labeled “Cuba” holding a paper that states “Please Help a Poor Man with a Treaty” and the other labeled “Mexico” holding a paper that states “Please Help Poor Mexico with a Treaty,” a snake labeled “Silver Swindle” among the rocks, and a man in the background labeled “To the Victor Belong the Spoils” holding a club.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-02-18

Attorney General Knox says nothing can be done by federal authorities in the polygamy case of Heber J. Grant, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Knox encloses newspaper clippings indicating that state authorities are taking steps to capture and prosecute Grant.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-17

Charles M. Harvey believes that President Roosevelt will win the 1904 Republican nomination but questions Roosevelt’s southern policy regarding African Americans. Harvey thinks that the tendency for African Americans to identify with one party is a mistake and damages their political clout. Harvey also defends Reed Smoot against charges of polygamy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02-08