page_title: Elizabeth Kane
section_title: Twelve Mormon Homes Visited in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona
hierarchical_section_title: Elizabeth Kane / Career / Twelve Mormon Homes Visited in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona
caption_attribution_description: English: Elizabeth Wood Kane as a young woman. Date of photograph is unknown, but was likely taken in around 1850.
context_page_description: Elizabeth Dennistoun Wood Kane was a British-American physician, writer, philanthropist, and women's rights activist. She was one of the first students to attend the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. Her writing supported the part her husband, Thomas Kane, played in the lobbying efforts to prevent the Poland Bill from persecuting members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were practicing plural marriage at the time.
  She wrote two travel accounts, Twelve Mormon Homes Visited in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona and A Gentile Account of Life in Utah's Dixie, published from her letters to home and her personal diaries that recounted the time she spent in Utah with Thomas Kane, associating with the Mormons. While these books may have influenced Congressional debate about the Poland Bill, more importantly, they represent a close, first-person account of Mormons in the mid-late 1880s, revealing their lifestyles and opinions about polygamous practices.
context_section_description: In the winter of 1872, Kane accompanied her husband on a twelve-day trip from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah, with her two younger sons Evan O'Neil and William Wood, as guests of Brigham Young in view of Thomas Kane's work in defending the Latter-day Saints in Utah. She was initially uninterested in going but changed her mind when she thought the change in weather could improve her husband's poor health.
  Kane hoped that issues with polygamy would be solved if Congress legitimized current polygamous marriages, but prohibited subsequent marriages. She used her time in Utah to converse with Mormon women and understand their opinions on polygamy. She was shocked to discover that they staunchly defended polygamy and appeared to be content in their plural marriages.
  Kane's book Twelve Mormon Homes Visited in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona, consisted of her letters home and her personal travel journal. This specific travel account described her time traveling through Salt Lake City to St. George. Each of the twelve homes she visited was a stop for food and lodging on the way. In writing, her objective was to inform rather than to persuade. This was neither an unusual approach nor a new topic, as at the time many writers wrote Mormon travel accounts similar to hers. According to Eric A. Eliason, the travel accounts had become their own style of literature, due to the interest and recording of the point of view of the subject matter. Kane followed this approach in writing her travel account, interviewing the Mormons and recording their opinions, while attempting to remain detached from the subject matter. In contrast to most of the Mormon travel accounts written at the time, her writing focused on rural Utah rather than urban locales, covering more than one visited settlement. She also added accounts of Mormon pioneering and their relationships with the Native Americans.
  During her time in Utah, Kane had the opportunity to attend some Mormon church meetings. While many other travelers were not impressed with Mormon meetings, she admitted to liking their informality and simplicity. She was particularly impressed by a sermon given by William C. Staines, recording her children's fondness, but regretted not taking notes from it. Having spent a good deal of time with the Mormons in Salt Lake City, she befriended Mormon women, better understanding the issues of polygamy, women's rights, and the general hardships that Mormon people faced. She appreciated the goodness of the people, despite not sharing their beliefs.
  Her husband encouraged her to publish her personal journals and letters to family in order to help lobby against the Poland Act. Kane used fictitious names to protect the Saints' anonymity. Twelve Mormon Homes Visited in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona, was published in New York by her father in 1874. Experiencing growing sympathy for the Mormons, particularly the women, Kane hoped the book would lessen the persecution of the Latter-day Saints. While her book failed to attain mainstream success, it was received well by many and mentioned in some newspaper articles.
caption: Elizabeth Kane as a young woman, likely taken in the mid-late 1850s
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