The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-06-12

an end to the practice II has been
shown by the testimony so clearly as to
as 1886, one Lillian Hamln became the
/ plural wife Of Abraham II. Cannon, who
/ was then an apostle of the Mormon
church This IS shown by the proof of
/ these facts.
/ Down to the year 1895 Lillian Hamlin
was a single woman In 1896 she received
attentions from Abraham H. Cannon,
/ these attentions being Of a character to
/ indicate that there was more than a
/ friendly relation existing between the
two. In June 1886. Abraham H Cannon
/ informed his plural wife that he was go
/ ing to California with Joseph F. Smith
and Lillian Hamlin to be married to Lii
/ liam Hamlin at some place outside the
United States. While in California JO-
| seph F. Smith went with Abraham H.
| Cannon and Lillian Hamlin from Los An
geles to Catalina Island After the re-
turn of the party to Los Angeles, AbTa-
1 ham II. Cannon and Lillian Hamlin lived
/ together as husband and wife Return
ing to Salt Lake City. Abraham II. Can
non told his plural wife that he had been
married to Lillian Hdmlin. From that
! time il was generally reputed in the COM
munlty and understood by the 1amltleS
/ of both Abraham H Cannon and Lii
liam Hamlin that marriage had taken
! place between them; that they had been
married on the high seas by Joseph r
4 Smith. Lillian Hamlin assumed the name
/ of Cannon. and child to which she al
/ terward gave birth bears the name OF
/ Cannon and inherited a share OF the eS-
! tate of Abraham II. Cannon The prom
/ inence of Abraham H. Cannon in the
/ church. the publicity given TO the tacI
| of his taking Lillian Hamlin as a plural
/ wife, render it practically impossible that
\ this should have been done without the
/ knowledge, the consent and the coIiH-
/ vance of the headShlp of that churcn.
/ George TeasdaIe another apostle of the
! Mormon church, contracted plural mar
/ rage with Marion SchOles since the man
ifesto Of 1890. The president OF the Nor.
mon church endeavOrs to excuse this act
/ upon the preteXt that the nrSt marriage
/ of George Teasdale was not a legal mar
| r1,4ge. but the testimony taken from the
divorce proceedings which separated
/ George Teasdale from his lawful wlfe,
/ wholly controverts this assertion on the
part of President Smith.
/ 1t is also in evidence that water Steeu;
! a prominent Mormon contracted a plural
\ marriage after the manifesto OF 1881
/ Charles +. Merrill, a bishop OF the Nor
mon church, took a plural wife IN 1871
more than a year after the issuing OF the
manifesto. The ceremony uniting SAID
/ Merrill to his plural wife was performed
[ by his father, who was then and until
/ the time of his death an apostle in the
Mormon church 1t is also shown that
| John w. Taylor. another apostle of the
! Mormon church. has been married 70 two
EIuraI wives since the issuing of the So
/ called manifesto
! Matthias F CowIey. another of the
! twelve aDostIeS has also taken one or
more plural wives since the manifesto.
/ While the proof that Apostles Taylor and
! COwIey have married plural wives since
!
/ all possible doubt as IS the proof IN the
/ case of Abra ham Cannon, the fact that
/ the proofs presented to the committee
/ showing such marriages by Taylor and
/ Cannon stand wholly UncOnt~Overted, and
the further fact that Apostles Taylor and
| COwley, instead of appearing before the
committee and denying the allegation,
/ eVadC service of process ISSUED by the
| committee for their appearance and re
/ fuse to appear after being requested TO do
/ so. warrant the conclusion that the ale
col IL fr-rrn md hat
! COwley have taken plural wives since
| the manifesto
While the fact does not appear from any
sworn testimony in the case. II IS d mat
ter of common report that Taylor and
! COwley have recently been dropped from
I the list Of apostles. But this fact in no
way counteracts the influence of the Nor
mon leaders III their encouragement of
pOlygamy. When Taylor and COwley took
1 their more recent plural wives they were
numbered among the apostles IN good
/ standing The fact that they had taken
plural wives since the manifesto was well
I known to their associates for months and
Years. But they were continued as apOS-
I ties. and no action was taken in the case
1 of either until the facts were revealed to
I the world by this investigation. And it is
( worthy of note that these apostles have
not been complained of or brought to trial
/ before the church courts for diSObeying
| the manifesto. nor have they been de-
! prived of their offices or hOnCrS in the
| church las was done in the case of Moses
1 Thatcher for a political CftenSeb. but they
are still members of the church in good
standing. a-h still holds the office of an
! elder in the church. and each is still
member of the high priesthood of the
/ church
The dropping of Taylor and Cowley from
| the quorum of the twelve apostles was 50
/ evidently done for popular effect that the
act merits no consideration whatever, eN
/ cept as an admission by the first presi-
| CenCy and twelve apostles that Apostles
/ Taylor and COwley have each taken one or
more plural wives since the manifesto.
/ It IS also proved that about the year
/ 1896 James Francis Johnson was married
/ to a plural wife, Clara Mabel Barber, the
/ ceremony in this Instance being per-
| formed by an apostle of the Mormon
! church. To these cases must be added
! that of Mariner W. Merrill. another
| apostle; J. NJ Tanner superintendent of
/ church schools; Benjamin Cuff, jr., pTesi-
/ dent Of Brigham Young university. Thorn
| as Chamberlain, counselor to the preSi-
/ dent of a stake; Bishop Rathall- Holm Sill
yer, WinslOw Farr, Heber BeniOn- Samuel
/ S Newton, a man named Okey, who con-
tracted a plural marriage with Ovena JOr-
genSen in the year 1897. and Morris Michel
son about the year 1902 In the case of
Benjamin Cluff. jT-. before referred to, the
pOlygamOuS marriage was tacitly sane
/ toned by President Joseph r. Smith when
/ he referred to Sister Cuff and the work
she had been doing among the children
/ in COlOnia Diaz, Mex
! 1t is morally impossible that all these
violations Of the laws of the state of
| Utah by the contracting of plural mar
out the knowledge of the first presidency
and the twelve apostles of the Mormon
church In two of the above cases. that
| Of George TeasdaIe and that of Benjamin
/ Cuff, jr, the fact of the plural marriage
was directly communicated to the presi-
dent of the church, Joseph F. Smith, and
/ in the other cases, with the possible eX-
CeptiOn of James Francis Johnson. the
/ fact of plural marriage having been Gel
ebrated was so well known throughout the
community that 1t is not conceivable that
such marriages would not have been called
/ to the attention of the leaders of the
church. Indeed. tn ere was no denial on
the part of the first president or any one
/ of the twelve apostles that they learned of
| the fact that plural marriages were being
| contracted by officials of the Mormon
church and that no attention was paid to
the matter The excuse given by them
vas that it was not their duty to inter
/ fere in such matters: that the law fur
nished a remedy. Furthermore. it was
shown by the testimony of one of the
twelve apostles and of other witnesses
that under the established Jaw of the
church no person could secure a plural
/ wife except by consent Of the president
I of the church -