Ina Coolbrith, Correspondence, 1857

File — Box: 1, Folder: 21

Identifier: I

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Josephine Smith, letter to Cousin Joseph [JSF], 19 March 1857, 3 pp.
Josephine Smith, letter to Cousin Joe [JFS], 22 July 1857, 5 pp., says: "Is polygamy not spoken of as a crime there [in the Book of Mormon]? Did not Uncle Joseph himself say that 'it was not commanded him, but was permitted him? ... Does that bring happiness or peace? No, Cousin [JFS], you know as well as I that it does not. You have not lived at Salt Lake, in the very mid'st of it, and not have known how unhappy were those who were connected with it, and if you were asked before the bar of God if that brought happiness, you could not with truth say it did. This you know. Is it right for a girl of 15 and even 12 [or 16, bracket by Kenney] to marry a man of 50 or 60. Can there be any love there? ... I think I see myself, vowing to love and honor, some old driveling idiot of 60, to be taken into his harem and enjoy the pleasure of being his favorite Sultana for an hour, and then thrown aside, whil'st my Godly husband, is out sparking another girl, in hopes of getting another victim to his despotic power."
Aunt Agnes [Smith], letter to Joseph Smith [JFS], appended to previous letter, 2 pp.
Agnes Smith, letter to Cousin [JFS], 22 August 1857 or 1859; and Ina, letter to Cousin [JFS], in same letter
JFS, letter to Josephine Smith, 1 September 1857, transcript, 13 pp., saying: "I wish to state here, before you, that I am ready to bear my Testimony before any Tribunal on Earth or in Heaven, that tho' I have lived in the midst of polygamy for years, I have seen nothing of it, which is not calculated to promote 'happiness' and peace among the honest and Good! Your assertion to the contrary notwithstanding! Believe me, for I say just what I mean and believe and mean just what I say--I know that it's none of my business, whether a 'girl of 12 or 15' has married a man of 20 or 30, in Salt Lake or not! or elsewhere; and what has it to do with you? No man is compelled--save by principle--to marry, neither is any girl, not in Utah nor in the United States. Therefore if a girl of 10 is fool enough to marry her step-dad, or Grand-Sire, it is her look out, not mine! I am sorry to say, you evince a spirit, in your letter, which would believe every slanderous report circulated about the Mormons, as well as believe there was not an honest Mormon in the Church, because some Black-leg Burglar, or Cut-Throat, disguised in formal friendship, had said so! It is simply ridiculous, Josephine that you should condescend to such littleness."

Dates

1857

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