The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1900-02-02
Queer Mormon Proposals.
How a Mother Acts When Ask
ed For Daughter in
Marriage.

Mrs. Hudson describes graphically
what she saw and heard in a Mormon
household during a significant visit
from the elders OF the church. Below
Is an extract:
Three men were ushered into the
room. One was tall and of strong.
we'll marked features and digni6ed
presente. The other two were stout
and Aoiid and rather nervous In man.
ner, brothers apparently.
Without waiting Tor formal intro~
duction one of these motioned incous
sequentially toward me and said, as
she of the Lords people,
The woman offered them chairs
with slight inclination OF the head :.
that might have been taken either for
answer or for an invitation to be
seated.
Was she afraid ? / could not tell
The men paid no attention to this in =
vitation for the moment and ignored
my presence. They had come upon
urgent and important business. they
announced, and would state it at once.
1t was their duty to bear message to
her, one that especially concerned her.
YES" said the tall and solemn ell
der, sit is indeed nothing less than a
revelation received by the head of the
church last night. 1t concerns both
you and your daughter"
my daughterl" gasped the woman
In scarcely audible tones. and l saw
one hand grasp the back of chair
convulsively.
"Your daughter, who has now grown
to womanhood, continued the elder,
land owes her allegiance to the
church"
"Whst Is the revelation" the wo~
man forced her drawn lips to ask.
Through the grace OF the All Wise
Father 1t has been revealed to his dis.
ciple, Brigham Young, that your
daughter, Clarisse, should become the
third wife OF Elder W, here pres
ent with u.s."
An awful silence ensued and then a
convulsive movement in the woman's
throat, as if her voice refused to utter
a sound, attracted the attention of all,
and the men bowed their heads that
they might not see.
Ranged along the wall in a solemn
row sat the brother of the bridegroom,
his mother, his daughter and the mo-
Their of the bride. Clarisse's mother
was but The ghost of herself of yester-
day ; then strong and erect and con-
tent; now trembling In her chair as if
she would again fall to the floor, her
appealing eyes unheeded, for her
daughter had been placed SO that she
could not see her mother.
Almost as quickly as the company
was seated-no time being permitted
for scenes, that were disliked by the
head OF the church--the voice of Brig
ham Young rang out clear and conf
dent. Addressing the first wife, he
said: care you willing TO give this
woman to your husband to be his law.
full wife tor time ard for all eternity ?
If you are you will signify 1t by plac-
ing her right hand within the left
hand OF your husband"
The broken>hearted, wretched wife
reached across the altar, and lifting
the delicate hand of the girl with her
own work>stiffened fingers laid it In
the broad outstretched palm of her
husband. Thus was the plural mar
rage cousecrated and the holy institu-
ton of Christian wedlock desecrated-
In Christian America.
Long aiterward / knew that l had
witnessed one of the tragedies in what
was known among the Mormons as
the Reformation and among the Cen
tiles as the Reign of Terror. New