The Mormon women, who first lived in the Salt Lake Valley, were persecuted for their devotion to polygamy. To us, polygamy is pretty distasteful, and we avoid the subject. But to them, it was their lifestyle, their belief, and their choice, and they wanted the world to just leave them alone.
In the Dec. 1, 1878 issue of the Women’s Exponent, a report is given of a Mass Meeting (one of many, but this one had a particularly large attendance). It was held in the Salt Lake Theater, which stood at the northwest corner of 100 South and State, downtown Salt Lake City. It was held on November 16th at 2:00pm, and almost 2,000 women were in attendance (the few men there were reporters). The speakers were the Relief Society Presidency, among other notable women. The reason for the meeting was “to protest against the interference of the Anti-Polygamy crusade with their rights and privileges as American citizens.”
The meeting opened with prayer (even the prayer was recorded) by Mrs. Prescendia Kimball. She prayed that God “would bless our Delegate to Congress, who was about to go to Washington; that He would pour out His Holy Spirit upon him, that He would uphold the principle of Celestial Marriage, that angels might guard [the women] in this hour of trial.”
Eliza R. Snow opened the meeting with these words, “I am proud to state before this large and honorable assembly that I believe in the principle of plural marriage just as sacredly as I believe in any other institution which God has revealed…Virtue is the foundation of the prosperity of any nation; and this sacred principle of plural marriage lends to virtue, purity and holiness…It is our duty, as far as we have the privilege, to plead our own cause, realizing fully, that it is better to represent ourselves than to be misrepresented, and leave vengeance unto God.”
Bathsheba W. Smith said, “It is somewhat surprising that we, who are the true representatives of the women of Utah, having, in connection with our husbands, assisted in redeeming these once desert valleys, should be called to assemble to vindicate ourselves against misrepresentations made by our Christian sisters, those who have arrived here at so late a date and for so different an object. As a legal citizen of this great republic, I enter my most fervent protest against this unlawful and unhallowed crusade founded on misrepresentations.”
The audience applauded several times during these words by Zina D. Young, “Would that the ladies of America, with the honorable Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes at their head; would that the Congress of the United States, the law-makers of our nation, could produce a balm for the many evils which exist in our land through the abuse of virtue, or could so legislate that virtue could be protected and cherished as the life which heaven has given us?…The principle of plural marriage is honorable, it is a principle of the Gods—it is heaven-born.”
Some speeches were prepared, others were impromptu, like these words from Margaret T. Smoot, “With regard to the principle of plural marriage, I wish to say that I have had experience in its practice for over thirty years. I am the wife of a polygamist, I believe in the principle and I know it to be pure and chaste, and I know that those who practice it in the spirit of the Gospel of which it is a part, are pure and virtuous.”
Other women spoke as well, but the meeting was concluded with these words from Emmeline B. Wells, “I feel that we are in earnest,; that the time has come when we can no longer be silent….We never thought that woman could rise up against woman.”
We do not live the law of polygamy anymore, so the subject matter is foreign to us today. But, these women were fighting for the freedom to live the laws they were commanded to live. They fought with their experience, their intelligence, and their testimonies. What are we fighting for today? Perhaps we aren’t threatened at the level they were (Polygamy and statehood were at stake for them), but our freedom, to live moral and virtuous lives, is being overcast by wicked nonchalance. Are we as direct in our meetings, getting women all “fired up” to fight against those who would make fun of our beliefs, steal away our children, or invite us to partake?
They spoke of virtue and honor. We speak of these characteristics as well. Virtue means courage to stand for what is right. These women were courageous in their fight for right. Maybe it’s time for more Mass Meetings where we can get riled up, fighting mad, and righteously indignant in the protection of our children, our morals, and our freedom.