Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-03-15
RedGeId Among the MOrmons.

succeeded in this way:
| expressed desire to q Mormon ac
quaintance, last evening, to go and see the
lion in his den, with his sixteen lionesses
and siXty-eight young lambs-no, young
lions. My Mormon friend said all right,
he would fix it. So he went to see Brig
ham, but returned presently, saying, the
President" " was at prayers and we must
delay our call until 4 o'clock in the even
ing.
"At prayers? ?" l said, not fully catching
the idea
3" Yes, at prayers; the President spends
a stated portion of each day at devotional
exercises. 1t is as regular with him as his
meals"
had been reading the confession Of
" Brigham's Destroying Angel" Bill
Hickman, and from that entertaining vol
ume was led to suppose that so much of
| BTigham's time was taken up in laying
plans to murder Gentiles, "sending them
| to hell across lots" that he would have lit
! tie opportunity to pray.
But at the stated hour we went up to the
! Mormon Mansion, or the " Presidents resi-
dence," as they callit
He says of Brigham's domiciIe:
will stake my reputation as trust
worthy and altogether reliable cOTTespOn-
dent, that Brigham's house is the strang-
est built and arranged affair with a roof on
it in the United States. Approaching it
from the west, you see q long tWo-stOry
frame house, with its end to the street full
Of small windows, with green blinds. The
roof of this house has twenty dOrmer Win
dOws i'll it, in rows, and each, no doubt,
| affording light to separate room. Ad-
| Joining this house is another house, but
smaller, with a porch in front, and further
along is another, joined to the second, also
two stories, and still further along is anOth-
er, large square building, higher than all
the rest, with veTandas running all around,
and surmOunted by an observatory. On
top of the observatory is a representation
of beehive, which is an appropriate EN-
bIem to "tOp off, with. The whole COM
pleX house is huge beehive, though not
devoted to the manufacture of honey.
Piercing the roof of this house, or series
of houses, are sixteen chimneys, just one
for each wife. Sixteen wives is all that
Brigham lives with upon the intimate
terms of husband and wife, but all over
the territory there are others to whom he
is married I" for the world TO cOme.O
These are called spiritual marriages, be-
ing marriages expressly arranged for life
in the next world, of which | shall have
more to say further along.
The house is in q ten acre lOt,SuTrOunded
or all sides by a concrete wall ten or
twelve feet high, and two OF three feet
thick. Every twenty-five feet a round
tower rises through the wall from the
ground, and some three feet above it. The
whole closely resembles pictures of the
Chinese wall, of which it is q smaller pat
tern. Gates lead through it, but they are
closely jOinted twO-inch plank, and Sc
cured to their places by heavy iron hinges
and bars and locks. The walls and gates
remind one strongly of the surroundings
of penitentiary, and they would be about
as hard to break or scale. Whether this
wall is to keep people in or out [ do not
know, but surmise it is for both.
lie writes up the wives thus:
All of Brigham's sixteen wives wit
whom he lives have borne him children
except one, called Amelia. Amelia is his
most noted wife, spirited, pleasant, and of
American birth. She is only thirty-twO,
lacking some years of being half as old as
her husband. His wives are of all ages,
his last two being quite young, mere girls
in fact when they married him. | asked
a Gentle gentleman Of their acquaintance
why they should be such fools as to want
to marry an old man with over dozen
wives already. Was it for love? "NO, in
deed, y said he, for l know they did not
love him.
"Were they compelled to marry him?'
ooh, no, they did it of their own free
will, asthey thOughtit a certain way to get
to heaven"
And his numerous progeny thus:
BRIGHAM's CHILDREN.
Brigham has siXty-eight children, about
forty of whom are female. They are of all
ages, from three years to thirty. Several
of his oldest sons are young men of
promise and position. He is the
father of good deal Of talent, and some
of his children will be heard of in the
world hereafter. Last night, at the thea
ter, | was particularly struck with the
good, [ might say superb acting of a young
lady, and quite handsome withal. made
inquiry, and learned that she was daugh-
ter of Brigham, and one of the five wives
of II. B. CIawsOn. ClawsOn being a man
of wealth and standing, and a devOut
Mormon. has married two of Brigham's
daughters, in addition to his other three
wives Isn't that curious way to do .?
1t certainly is to us Gentiles; but to the
MormOns it is all perfectly correct and
proper. In several of the States man Is
prohibited from marrying his dead wlte'S
sister, but here in Utah it is much the
stvle to marry two sisters at once, besides
having several other wives. But as long
as it is necessary to have two or more
wives, I think he is wise man who would
marry sisters.
Many of Brigham's children are hand
some and Iovable. Those by one OF his
wives, Mrs. Decker, are particularly SO.
| He provides we'll for his numerous sons
in-Iaw, and takes great pleasure in seeing
! his children we'll married off and happy, II
| there can be any happiness IN the Mormon
married state, which [ doubt. A mar
riage takes place i'll his family now very Of
/ ten as his numerous flock are rapidly ma
| turing. One of his daughters married last
| Sunday. [ hear of one who had to run
away to marry, Brigham being opposed 10
loved his daughter also loved lager beer;
Brigham tried to break off the match, and
keep his daughter at home, but his home
has so many doors to it that he could not
watch them all at once, and she got away.
Ii this teaches any moral at all, 1t is either
to have fewer daughters or fewer doors
He finally ad access to Brigham, but
rlr-,A IL. III N n