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Utah And The Civil War Press, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

A discussion of how Mormons were treated in the national press during the American Civil War with an emphasis on polygamy, statehood requests, loyalty, and Brigham Young.

This chapter was originally published (and reprinted in "Civil War Saints" with permission):

Kenneth L. Alford, “Utah and the Civil War Press.” Utah Historical Quarterly 80, no. 1 (Winter 2012): 75–92.

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

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 …

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 …

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 …

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

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.