The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-23
COURT DECISION
CAUSES A STIR
Declared That Mormonism Is in No
Way Affected.
THE ORDINANCE 0F"SEALIRe'
HOW 1T CONCERNS THOSE UNIT
ED UNDER SUCH CHURCH LAW.

>
Wv mon church declare that it has
no effect upon any of the teach
ings OF Mormorism, the decision by the
supreme court in the Hilton-Park case
has caused considerable of a stir in
church circles. High officials are in
cIined to deplore the notoriety attend
ing the famous suit, but ar the same
time concede the correctness of the
courts stand that Anne Armitage and
DR.. Park became man and wife, for
time and eternity, no matter what the
intentions of the contracting parties
might have been.
The case has led up to a discussion of
the ordinance OF sealing" and some
interesting facts have been learned
from a high authority with regard to
the status of persons united under that
law. As it is stated by officials, there
may be sealing for time ian ordinary
marriage ceremony, sealing for time
and eternity Cthe adopted Mormon mar
riage), and sealing for eternity only.
Sealing for time only is the form pre-
scribed for the remarriage of widow
who has already been sealed to her first
husband for time and eternity. 1t Is
an interesting fact, not generally
known that Mormon widows have diff
BCQlhy III mari gAhE a SCNphd NAliANf e-iiN
only a small per cent of them succeed
in doing so. The reason is that, accord
ing to the Mormon tenet, she is still the
wife of her first misunderstanding
that she was sealed to him for eternity
and in the next world she Will go to
him.. Her second husband, unless it
happens that he was sealed to another
woman, viii be wifelesS in the next
world.
Children For First Wife.
Not only that, but the wifes children,
whether begotten by the first or the
second husband, will go with the moth
er 20 her first husband and be called
his children. Mormons who are faith
full in this belief hesitate long before
contracting with woman who has al
ready been sealed for eternity. Each
man, naturally, wants wife OF his
own, and is backward about marrying
one whom he regards as another's wife
A woman can be sealed only to one
man, of course, and, therefore, in cases
where the sealed widow remarries, the
marriage is for time only.
There was a prominent example of
this phase of the case about one year
ago. A man of Mormon family, but
not extremely religious, married the
widow of a prominent young Mormon.
A brother of the first husband ap-
preached the new husband with this
remark, which explains the belief ex-
actly:
Il am glad to see you taking care of
my brothers wife in this world. I am
sure he will take care of and cherish
your children in the next
This ordinance came into Mormon
ism through the Bible, Mormons claim.
In the days of Moses, they point out
that it was the duty of a man to mar
~ his deceased brothers widow and
raise for him family. This has been
done, literally. in several instances in
the Mormon church. Elias Morris, who
was influential in the church, married
his brothers widow with the under
standing that she was still his brothers
wife, and that the children by their
marriage belonged to the first husband.
The second marriage was for time only.
Married For Time Only.
Such men as Brigham Young and
Heber G. Kimban were more than once
married for time only. The late Zina
ID. H. Young was sealed to the prophet
Joseph Smith, for time and eternity
but after the prophets death married
Brigham Young. The latter marriag e
was only for this earth and in the next
world. according to the faith, she and
her children. by Brigham Young will
join Joseph Smith.
A similar case is that of Lucy Kim
ball. She was sealed to the prophet
Joseph Smith, and lived with him as
his wife until he was killed. when she
was married for time to Heber c. Kim.
ball. Instances of this kind are numer-
Gus.
Marriage, or sealing, for time and
eternity is the common form of union
among Mormon people, and ceremonS
Is rarely, if ever, performed in the
temple unless it is of this nature Tt IS
a ma OH rob,
that it carries with it the hereafter
and certain rites OF an uncommon ma
ture are included in the ceremony.
Sealing for eternity only between liv-
ing persons is not often performed. less
often today than formerly. 1t is usual
~ IN cases where, for example, an old
person who has never been married de-
sires to enter the holy kingdom in a
marital state. believing in a greater
glorificatiOn under those circumstances
Possibly. he or she desires the union Il
take place with certain person and
If the consent Of that person can be OBJ
tanned. the sealing takes place for the
next world.
Stopped by the Law.
Until the law prohibited plural mar.
riage, it was possible for such union:
TO be made between a single woman
and married man, in which case thu
NNAtA4tAAN was AOL llluE anu GferQlTK
but after plural marriages were penal
lied 1t would, of course. have beer
bigamy for married man to enter int
SUCH a marriage with another woman
and these unions were for eternity only
a certain high official of the church
still living, once was sealed to woman
for eternity only. She afterward
claimed the right to live with him il
this world, but the church denied tn,
right. After few experiences of thi
Kind, marriages for eternity only be
tween living persons were PRACTICAL,
discontinued.
Brigham Young once sealed two o
his wives to other men for eternity
only under peculiar circumstances. II,
had married two widows who ha,
never been sealed 70 their first hus
bands They came to Utah from Nan
VOC as wives OF President Young Whe,
the st. George temple was finished
that being the first structure of tn
kind in the state--he sent for the two
and taking them to the temple hal
them sealed 10 their original husband
for the next world. The president. o
course. took the same position as Othe
officials before mentioned-that ne wa
raising families for the deceased hus
bands
Sealing Between Dead Persons
As this instance proves, Sealings ar
not necessarily confined 10 living per
In more SealfreS harx,-a,-