I apologize to all my blog readers for diverting to the subject of polygamy so often these past few posts. It has been on my mind. Today I finished reading “Saints” by Orson Scott Card and decided I wanted to discover just exactly how many of my ancestors were polygamists. To do this, I went to familysearch.org and explored the family tree portion of it.
Well, in any competition about LDS-ness of ancestors, my husband wins! I mean, all of his lines converted to the LDS church. So, it’s not surprising that I had far fewer instances of polygamy in my own direct lines.
I tried hard to not count the instances of posthumous sealings. After all, if we are counting numbers of ancestors who were ever married to more than one person, the number would be astronomical. There would be instances in almost every family line, especially the farther back in time, with increased rates of mortality. No, here I tried to list the names of the people in my family and my husband’s family who were married to more than one woman at the same time. I listed the husband at the top and his wives below. Because I am relying on others’ research, I can’t assure that this is error-free. It might be.
Mary Ann Jones
So yeah, as you can see, my husband wins by a lot.
Kate: 3
Danny: 15
The other interesting thing is that of my ancestors that practiced polygamy, none of them had more than 2 wives. Of Danny’s family, 10 had more than 2 wives, with a maximum of 7.
My Texas Czech (and very Catholic) ancestors read the newspaper. They heard of polygamy. They probably thought it was a scandal, an outrage, a confusing and odd practice akin to adultery. Just see for yourself! Search (no fee!) for “polygamy” or “Mormon” on the Nesbitt Memorial Library Newspaper Archive site!
For example, a quote from the Colorado Citizen, October 4, 1877:
“The Mormon Church cultivates a feeling of hostility to our Government and its institutions, which is instilled in the rising generation. Polygamy has such a deep-seated hold upon its people that its suppression in which its advocates will fight to the last extremity. Clearly, it ought to be abolished, and that Territory placed subject to the laws of the United States.”
I think one reason this topic has become so fascinating to me just now is because of the current hot political and legal debate over Gay Marriage in this country. It would be so interesting to hear what my ancestors think of this! Both the Texas Czech Catholics and the Mormon Polygamists!