The Portland daily press., 1871-11-08
A ous Household.

AN INTERIOR VIEW OF MORMON LIFE.
The Salt Lake City correspondent Of the
Cincinnati Commercial, in long report Of
the trial of the Mormon Hawkins for polyga-
my, draws this picture of the polygamous
pair:
In chair sat Mrs. Hawkins, a 6ark-haired,
black-eyed woman from Birmingham, where
she was converted to Mormonism about thir-
ty years ago, and married to Hawkins, also a
Mormon at the time, In an English parish
church. Mrs, Hawkins wears a plain bonnet
a delaine dress, and drops her HIS all over the
floor. She refers to Hawkins as "my 'us-
band," and seems thoroughly aroused to the
necessity OF correcting him for the recrea-
tiOns of his maturer age. In snort, Mrs. Haw-
kins has two suits against Thomas. This one
is for adultery, and the next will be for di-
voce. Mrs. Hawkins is accomanpied BY her
daughter, Lizzie Hawkins, timid, embarrass-
ed girl OF about sixteen years, and while the
mother is prompt and rather bright witness,
the daughter is measurally dumb The
daughter never saw anything wrong; she
knew Elizabeth Mear's children were her ia
Tiers. because they called him father, but
she never saw anything in the Mears and Da-
Wis end OF the house, because she never went
bhClC CACcpI vi Nloll Ill udyIlme.
Thomas Hawkins looks like one who might
enjoy married lite and yet be a rather mean
husband. A square English head, bulging in
the big, high, dwarf's forehead, plastered
straight across from ear to ear with thin,
long, yellow hair, which permits half his pale
head to stand naked in front and still be no
baldhead; light blue, animal eye, which
would pick out a woman quickest In a land
scape; not an atheletic body, and that clad in
light, worn clothes ;.silent, attentive, and at
times uneasy, during the trial-such is the
meager hero of three marriages, brought up
seven years after date to answer the charge of
aduletry. have understood that Hawkins
stands in doubtful odor among his church
people for not equaizng himself more among
his families, both socially, and financially.
The common expression among the Nor
mons is:
'Thers's wrong on both sides in that fami-
ly;;" but the inevitable addenda is: 'just as in
plenty of homogeneous families"
Here is Mrs. Hawkins testimony, in part
showing that all is not tranquil in those
households, and that dissolution is proceeding
of itself more rapidly than interference can
promote it,:
A BIT OF TESTIMONY.
@. Did you ever bave any conversation
with Thomas Hawkins on the subject of his
living with these women in the house?
A. Yes sir.
@. What did he say about its
A. He said they were his wives.
Q. Did you ever have more than one con-
versation?
A. have had many thousand.
@. State their substance.
A. Well, In the first place. he allowed he
was doing his religious duties, and he allowed
that he had got tollive with some one else.
@. Did he give yeu any reason why he
had to live with some one else?
A. Well, no reason, only he allowed that
he had got to live with some one else! That
had had my day, and he had got to live with
some one else.
@. Did you say you could consent to that I?
A. No, sir, L did not.
@. What did you say to him?
A. l have told him that il was ID
bad trick, and that did not believe in any
such d---d doctrine. .sf
Q. Well, what did he say? What did he
A. Well, it didn't matter. If didn't like
it, could do the other thing. He appeared
to feel very Indifferent about ii, and l suppose
if had sanctioned what he wanted me to,
and would have cleared out, that would have
suited him.
Miner (Smallbones), the Mormon lawyer:
You need not state what you suppose. State
the lacts.
Witness-I am speaking the facts. l am
not to be insulted by you, Mr.. Miner!
At this point, when it appeared TO be COM
ing out exactly how the inside of heavenly
mansion was conducted, and how objecting
damsels were chastised, the lawyers made OBJ
jections, and we returned to the matter Of
the adultery.
One other witness was called, the brother
in-law of Hawkins, who flew off in high
dudseon at the idea that mans wife was
"anythink else" but his wife. He couldn't see
any difference in the order of wives he didn't
know whether Mears was the second or six
tieth wife; it was none of Us business, &c.
The audience laughed and applauded only
once when Mrs. Hawkins testified that her
husbands lawyer came 10 her to solicit a
compromise, and said to her that unless she
settled, the lawyers would get all the proper
ty. To this she replied that the lawyers
might as well have 1t as ais woman"