New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-12-02
"a MORMON WIFE.
Insanity Caused by. Hcr Husband'sPolys-
amous Marriage.

Ans6IAtyg O8U66O Dys dCr auSD800sSEOAyS.
amous Marriage.
Salt Lake Letter to n Y. Sun
: An honest-loo king Englishman nam
ed Mower arrived here q few years ago
with his wife and three small children,
and settled at Brigham. The man
was Industrious, but he appeared to
be something Of a fanatic in religion.
It was plain that the saints had got
pretty firm grip on him His wife was
a fair-haired, rosy-cheeked little WON
an, and their children were delicate
and attractive. The wife and mother
went through the ceremony OF joining
the Church after her arrival. The hus-
band had been received into the fold
before he left England. They got them
selves O little home, and appeared
happy enough until the husband, over
persuaded by an elder of the Church,
determined on taking another wife.
The woman selected was new arriv-
al from Denmark, who could speakno
English. And for whom it was the
especial desire of the Church to get q
husband that she might be anchored"
here. Mower was the man who was
expected to marry her, and marry her
he did. His wife held out strenuously
against the woman for some time and
refused to live under the same roof
with her, but at last, under the plead
ings and threats OF dignitaries Of the
Church and the representations of
her husband as to his own poverty and
inability to provide two homes, she
consented. After that she began to
appear like another woman. Her hair
became silvery, her form wasted, and
her eyes were bright and glittering.
She wandered over the country a great
deal with her little ones, and could be
seen day after day on the roadsides
caressing and weeping over them.
Sometimes in pleasant weather she did
not return to her home for DAYS, and
when she did she would have the
children dacked out in wreaths and
flowers gathered by her own hands in
the valleys. Her husband followed
her and tried to persuade her to re-
turn and be herself, but to no purpose.
Then he locked her up or took the
children away from her. She would
find them again, and together they
would return to the open country.
All were subdued and sorrowful, and
yet the childishness OF the mother
was as pronounced as that of her
children. She would run with them,
kiss them, build little dams for them
IN the brooks, construct play houses
Tor them ofstone, weave garlands, and
deck herself and them. If they cried
she gathered them to her, and wept
with them, and if they laughed she
chided them.
Finally her mood changed, and, in
stead of delighting in rambles with the
little ones, she became absorbed in a
desire for vengeance. She would steal
up stealthily to the house which was
hers no longer, and make assaults on
the woman who had usurped her
place. Once she set fire to the
premises and then fled. On another
occasion she took her children and was
absent SO long that search was made
for her. After three or four DAYS she
was found several miles from home.
almost dead from hunger, and the
children weak and emaciated from the
same cause, and all crying bitterly.
She had dug small holes in the ground,
which she called their graves, and the
little ones were waiting with her for
the last dread summons. Three men
found difficulty in overpowering her,
despite her weakened condition, and
the entire party were then conveyed
to town and cared for. The children
went to their father, and the woman
was placed in the asylum at Provo,
where she now is.