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Articles 1 - 20 of 20
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Defending "The Principle": Orson Pratt And The Rhetoric Of Plural Marriage, Jake D. Simmonds
Defending "The Principle": Orson Pratt And The Rhetoric Of Plural Marriage, Jake D. Simmonds
Theses and Dissertations
In 1852, the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the pivotal decision to publicize the doctrine and practice of plural marriage—something they had worked to keep out of the public eye for years. This decision came in response to federal and social pressures. They quickly moved to announce and defend plural marriage among Church members as well as broader society, including those in the federal government. Orson Pratt was chosen by Brigham Young to be the face and the voice of the Church concerning plural marriage, both in Salt Lake City among members and in …
A New Policy In Church School Work: The Founding Of The Lds Supplementary Religious Education Movement, 1890-1930, Brett David Dowdle
A New Policy In Church School Work: The Founding Of The Lds Supplementary Religious Education Movement, 1890-1930, Brett David Dowdle
Theses and Dissertations
The following thesis is a study of the founding years of the Mormon supplementary religious education between 1890 and 1930. It examines Mormonism's shift away from private denominational education towards a system of supplementary religious education programs at the elementary, high school, and college levels. Further, this study examines the role that supplementary religious education played in the changes between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. During the 1870s and 1880s, Utah's territorial schools became an important part of the battles over polygamy and the control of Utah. As the Federal Government began to wrest control of the schools from …
Taking Mormons Seriously: Ethics Of Representing Latter-Day Saints In American Fiction, Terrol Roark Williams
Taking Mormons Seriously: Ethics Of Representing Latter-Day Saints In American Fiction, Terrol Roark Williams
Theses and Dissertations
My paper examines the ethics of representing Mormons in serious American fiction, viewed through two primary texts, Bayard Taylor's nineteenth-century dramatic poem The Prophet and Maureen Whipple's epic novel The Giant Joshua. I also briefly examine Walter Kirn's short stories “Planetarium” and “Whole Other Bodies.” Using Werner Sollors' and Matthew Frye Jacobson's writings on ethnicity as foundational, I argue in that Mormonism constitutes an ethnicity, which designation accentuates the ethical demands of those who represent the group. I also use W.J.T. Mitchell's theories of representation as the basis of my arguments of the ethics of representing ethnicity. As ethical theorists, …
A Peculiar Place For The Peculiar Institution: Slavery And Sovereignty In Early Territorial Utah, Nathaniel R. Ricks
A Peculiar Place For The Peculiar Institution: Slavery And Sovereignty In Early Territorial Utah, Nathaniel R. Ricks
Theses and Dissertations
Between 1830 and 1844, the Mormons slightly shifted their position on African-American slavery, but maintained the middle ground on the issue overall. When Mormons began gathering to Utah in 1847, Southern converts brought their black slaves with them to the Great Basin. In 1852 the first Utah Territorial legislature passed “An Act in Relation to Service" that legalized slavery in Utah. This action was prompted primarily by the need to regulate slavery and contextualize its practice within the Mormon belief system. Ironically, had Congress known of Utah's slave population, it may have never granted Utah the power to legislate on …
The Diaries Of Mary Lois Walker Morris, Melissa Lambert Milewski
The Diaries Of Mary Lois Walker Morris, Melissa Lambert Milewski
Theses and Dissertations
An edited transcription of the 1879 to 1887 diaries of Mary Lois Walker Morris (1835-1919). Mary Lois, a plural wife in 19th century Utah, went in and out of hiding between 1885 and 1887 to protect her husband Elias Morris from prosecution for illegal cohabitation. Her daily diaries culminate with the court trial of her husband for illegal cohabitation in September 1887. At the trial, she testified falsely, stating that she had been separated from her husband since the beginning of 1883, when in fact the couple did not separate until May of 1885. As a result, her husband was …
Epideictic Rhetoric And The Formation Of Collective Identity: Nineteenth-Century Mormon Women In Praise Of Polygamy, Robbyn Thompson Scribner
Epideictic Rhetoric And The Formation Of Collective Identity: Nineteenth-Century Mormon Women In Praise Of Polygamy, Robbyn Thompson Scribner
Theses and Dissertations
In this thesis, I will proceed as follows: my first chapter will be a general overview of epideictic rhetoric, focusing on the limitations of how it has traditionally been viewed and understood by theorists. At the end of that chapter I will establish a working definition of epideictic which extends traditional views about how epideictic can function in certain types of writings, focusing on the important role of the speaker in epideictic rhetoric and how it can work in enabling a community to create a collective identity. In the remainder of the thesis, I will analyze two texts in which …
From Babylon To Zion: The Life Of William Mclachlan, A British Convert To The Mormon Church, Winifred Morse Mclachlan
From Babylon To Zion: The Life Of William Mclachlan, A British Convert To The Mormon Church, Winifred Morse Mclachlan
Theses and Dissertations
William McLachlan, a Scotsman, was converted to the L. D. S. Church, in Braintree, Essex, England in 1859. The motivating factor in his life was his faith that Joseph Smith was a prophet to whom the Lord had restored the precepts of the original Christian church. His journals, his letters, his speeches, his life, were oriented toward one ultimate goal, to build the Kingdom of God and to gain a place for himself and his family in that kingdom.
This thesis is a biography of his life and examines his emigration to Zion, his settlement and adjustment to the frontier, …
Judicial Prosecution Of Prisoners For Lds Plural Marriage: Prison Sentences, 1884-1895, Rosa Mae Mcclellan Evans
Judicial Prosecution Of Prisoners For Lds Plural Marriage: Prison Sentences, 1884-1895, Rosa Mae Mcclellan Evans
Theses and Dissertations
The practice of polygamy among the Mormons during the nineteenth century was vigorously prosecuted by the federal government in response to the demands of those whose political and economic goals could best be served through exploitation of the national attitude toward polygamy. Hundreds of men served prison terms for practicing what they believed was their religious obligation. This study of the sentences from the prison admission records has focused on the comparative severity of the judges, examines age as an influencing factor in sentencing, and compares the sentences of the polygamists with those for crimes against person and property.
The …
Utah's Anti-Polygamy Society, 1878-1884, Barbara Hayward
Utah's Anti-Polygamy Society, 1878-1884, Barbara Hayward
Theses and Dissertations
The Anti-Polygamy Society was established in 1878 to try to encourage Congress to abolish the practice of plural marriage tn Utah Territory. In the brief time that it existed, the women of this Utah-based group sent petitions, circulars, and letters to Congress and many leaders of the country urging that laws be passed to end polygamy. Much of their work was also carried out in the society's newspaper, the Anti-polygamy Standard.
By the time that laws were passed that restricted polygamy, the Anti-polygamy Society no longer existed. Nonetheless, the society was important in the anti-polygamy crusade because it was …
Sex, Sickness And Statehood: The Influence Of Victorian Medical Opinion On Self-Government In Utah, E. Victoria Grover-Swank
Sex, Sickness And Statehood: The Influence Of Victorian Medical Opinion On Self-Government In Utah, E. Victoria Grover-Swank
Theses and Dissertations
In the struggle for self-government which occupied the Mormon population of Utah between their entry into the Great Basin in 1847 and statehood in 1896, the issue of polygamy dominated public discussion. The non-Mormon population of the United States generally objected to the practice of polygamy, in large part because of Victorian attitudes towards sexual activity and the presumed physical and mental results of violating Victorian sexual norms. It was assumed by most Americans that polygamy, by violating those norms, caused real physical damage to the Latter-day Saints in Utah; damage that disqualified them from holding full and equal political …
The Impact Of Polygamy Upon The Life Of James Yorgason: A Nineteenth-Century Mormon Bishop, Blaine M. Yorgason
The Impact Of Polygamy Upon The Life Of James Yorgason: A Nineteenth-Century Mormon Bishop, Blaine M. Yorgason
Theses and Dissertations
On August 2, 1875, James Yorgason, soon to be the Bishop of the Fountain Green Utah Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, took his first plural wife. In doing so he joined a rather elite group of Mormon men who were known as polygamists. Over the next thirteen years, as he built a financial empire to support them, he took five more plural wives, making him exceptional even among the elite.
But then in 1887 the Edmunds-Tucker law was passed and "The Raid" against Mormon polygamists began, the United States entered a time of monetary crisis …
Polygamy In Utah And Surrounding Area Since The Manifesto Of 1890, Jerold A. Hilton
Polygamy In Utah And Surrounding Area Since The Manifesto Of 1890, Jerold A. Hilton
Theses and Dissertations
I selected this topic in 1962 primarily from curiosity to discover the facts concerning present day polygamy in Utah, allegedly still abundant. Perhaps the motivation may be described as an amateur detective's zeal. Considerable material seemed to be available about polygamy in Utah before 1890, when the practice was mostly abandoned by the Mormon people, but, apparently, little has been written on this subject covering the period since that date. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to cover polygamy in Utah and close proximity from 1890 to the present (1965). Its scope includes: first, continued plural marriages for two …
The Life Of Amos Milton Musser, Karl Brooks
The Life Of Amos Milton Musser, Karl Brooks
Theses and Dissertations
For more than half a century Amos Milton Musser was a conspicuous figure in the social, religious, and business life of Utah.
Amos Milton Musser, the second son and fourth child of Samuel and Anna Barr Musser, was born in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, May 20, 1830. When he was four years old, his father died. after three years of widowhood, his mother remarried, but her husband, Abraham Bitner, soon died, leaving her with two additional children.
During her second widowhood, times were so hard that Mrs. Bitner had to ask for help in supporting her children. John Neff, …
The Pratt-Newman Debate, Robert Duane Hatch
The Pratt-Newman Debate, Robert Duane Hatch
Theses and Dissertations
The colorful history of Mormon polygamy has many interesting stories to tell, and one of the most interesting is that of Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman's debate with the Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt on "Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?" This debate was held at the New Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, on August 12, 13, and 14, 1870. Newman was the Chaplain of the United States Senate and one of the foremost preachers of Washington, D.C. His appearance in Salt Lake City to debate the question of polygamy was a national topic. Probably never before, nor since, has so …
Fred T. Dubois, Foe Of The Mormons: A Study Of The Role Of Fred T. Dubois In The Senate Investigation Of The Hon. Reed Smoot And The Mormon Church, 1903-1907, Jay R. Lowe
Theses and Dissertations
In the year of 1903, the right of Reed Smoot to take his seat in the United States Senate was challenged in a protest signed by nineteen prominent citizens from Utah. The protest was submitted to the Senate Committee of Privileges and Elections, a member of which was Fred T. Dubois, Senator from Idaho. The protest charged that the Mormon Church was still practicing polygamy and exercising political domination of its members and that therefore Reed Smoot, an Apostle and leader of this church, was unfit for senatorial obligations. Dubois, believing the worst concerning these charges, took it upon himself …
A Comparative Study And Evaluation Of The Latter-Day Saint And "Fundamentalist" Views Pertaining To The Practice Of Plural Marriage, Dean C. Jessee
A Comparative Study And Evaluation Of The Latter-Day Saint And "Fundamentalist" Views Pertaining To The Practice Of Plural Marriage, Dean C. Jessee
Theses and Dissertations
Since the issuance of the Manifesto by President Wilford Woodruff on September 25, 1890, discontinuing the practice of plural marriage by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, intensive efforts have been made by dissenters to show that authority to practice polygamy has secretly continued to the present day. Claiming that the Church departed from its original teachings when it discontinued the practice of plural marriage and that the Manifesto was adopted merely as an act of appeasement, "fundamentalists" have attempted to show that the doctrine of plural marriage was revealed to the Latter-day Saints as an irrevocable decree, …
Emma Hale: Wife Of The Prophet Joseph Smith, Raymond T. Bailey
Emma Hale: Wife Of The Prophet Joseph Smith, Raymond T. Bailey
Theses and Dissertations
The problem of this thesis concerns itself with the questions: Why did Emma Smith oppose the men who were in the leading council of the Church and who were the closest friends of her husband? What was her attitude towards the Church her husband founded? What kind of woman was she, and what effect did she have upon her husband and the Church he organized?
It will be the purpose of this thesis to point out some significant facts pertaining to these questions, garthered in the main, from primary sources such as the Journal History of the Church of Jesus …
The Affects Of Plural Marriage Upon The Present Membership Of The Church, Louis O. Turley
The Affects Of Plural Marriage Upon The Present Membership Of The Church, Louis O. Turley
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this thesis:
1. To indicate the variants between 160 descendant returned missionaries and two other groups consisting of eighty non-descendant, and 193 mixed returned missionaries and
2. To denote the implications and importance of the most significant variants introduced.
A History Of Federal Legislation Against Mormon Polygamy And Certain United States Supreme Court Decisions Supporting Such Legislation, Joseph Robert Meservy
A History Of Federal Legislation Against Mormon Polygamy And Certain United States Supreme Court Decisions Supporting Such Legislation, Joseph Robert Meservy
Theses and Dissertations
As indicated by the title, this study presents a history of Federal Legislation against Mormon polygamy prior to 1890 and of certain United States Supreme Court decisions supporting such legislation. Of necessity, the subject had to be limited, emphasis being placed upon three legislative acts and upon a few leading court decisions.
The Status Of Woman In The Philosophy Of Mormonism From 1830 To 1845, Ileen Ann Waspe Lecheminant
The Status Of Woman In The Philosophy Of Mormonism From 1830 To 1845, Ileen Ann Waspe Lecheminant
Theses and Dissertations
This work is presented for the purpose of contributing to a more accurate understanding of woman's place in the philosophy of Mormonism, and as a basis for further study on this problem.
The writer has not attempted to prove any particular hypothesis regarding Mormon women but has presented data which give an historical account of woman's status in the Church and among Mormon people during the first fifteen years of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The writer does not claim to have made any particularly new discoveries regarding Mormon women but rather to have …