Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1877-06-21
Wives by the Dozen and a
Regiment Of Children,
tiq p 4H5
New York Sun.
SALT LAKE, May 26


ers and forty-fiye brothers and
sisters. They were not all pre-
sent, for it would be impossible
for the Prophet to assemble his
entire family at one times-~ Hi
ram Clausen, Brigham'szdouble
son-in-law, was present with
two wives, several children, and
photographs of the rest,which
made up the number to twenty
seven. Daniel III. Wells, with
one or two OF his six wives, and
Mayor Little, a nephew Of the
Prophet, were also present. The
form Of introduction used by
the Prophet was very simple,
We were conducted all around
the room, and before each wife
he would say: -~a.s Sil0S
"My wife, Amelia or Mary,
or Cordelia, as the case may be.
1 suppose we said "Happy to
meet you, Mrs. Young" at least
a dozen times. 1t got to- be
very monotonous, and when We
began TO be presented to the
Prophets children and grand
children, We became so badly
mixed as to which was which
and who was who that we post
poned all memory and contin-
ued our salutations like a parrots
Brigham Young's wives have
generally a good old mother-in-
Israel look. His first wife,
whom he married in the States
in his early youth, is a very
venerable old lady. She lives
by herself in beautiful house,
and is highly respected by all
of the younger wives and their
children. She is the mother of
John w. and Brigham Young,
jr. All of his wives are re-
markable for good sense, though
they are old-fashioned and dress
very plainly. The Prophet says
Ann Eliza was the only weak
headed wife he ever had.
"I married Ann Eliza" he
said, "to please her parents, and
keep her from going to ruin.
But she played false to me, went
off with strange men, kept me
in constant hot water with my
other wives, and / was glad
when she ran away from me,
as she did her first husband.
Ann Eliza wouldn't work. She
was always light-headed and
frivolous" :" gar -r.
/ fiId that all Mormon wo-
men are accustomed to work, for
no Mormon family ever keep
any servants. When the work
becomes too heavy in a Nor
mon family for one wife, anoth-
er wife is added. Each of the
Prophets wives, we found, oc-
cupied separate apartments in
the Lion House, or small hous-
es by themselves outside. The
meals of all the families in the
Lion House are taken in the
same large room. In cases
where a Mormon marries sis
ters, which is a very frequent
occurrence, the sisters general
ly live together. 1t is thus with
two of Hiram Clausen's wives,
daughters Of Brigham Young.
Mr.. Clausen's third wife has a
house by herself. Brigham
Young's wife Amelia also has a
separate house by herself, and
exercises a great influence over
the Prophet. She is the favor
ite of the Prophet. She is the
fayorite of the Prophets young
er wives.
1t is considered a very fortu-
nate thing among Salt Lake
young ladies when two sisters
can marry the same husband. 1t
prevents any jealousy, and
such families seem to move on
very happily. In order to get
at the "true inwardness" of the
Mormon family relationships,
we questioned several of the
Prophets small children.
"Is that little girl over there
your sister?" l asked one of
the Prophets little boys.
"No, she's my half-sister," he
replied.
''Is not her mother your moth
er?" / continued.
"No, her mother is my aunt"
''Then you have only one
motherw
"That's all; all the rest are
aunts."
And still, at the hotel, when
VIC asked a little Mormon boy