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Judicial Prosecution of Prisoners for LDS Plural Marriage: Prison Sentences, 1884-1895

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Judicial Prosecution of Prisoners for LDS Plural Marriage: Prison Sentences, 1884-1895 Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1986 Judicial Prosecution of Prisoners For LDS Plural Marriage: Prison Sentences, 1884-1895 Rosa Mae McClellan Evans Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Evans, Rosa Mae McClellan, "Judicial Prosecution of Prisoners For LDS Plural Marriage: Prison Sentences, 1884-1895" (1986). Theses and Dissertations. 4673. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4673 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. x13 JUDICIAL prosecution OF PRISONERS fyrMRFOR LDS PLURAL MARRIAGE PRISON SENTENCES 188418951884 1895 A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts rosa mae mcclellan evans 19861980 by rosa mae M evans december 1986 this thesis by rosa mae M evans is accepted in its present form by the department of history of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of arts D michael quinn committeeitteeattee chairman ronaldona esplmf1selirsplirsp lir committee member fo date jaijaljanye s B alienailendepartment chairman ii TABLE OF CONTENTS introduction 1 chapter I1 judicial prosecution for plural marriage 11 II11 age distribution of prisoners for plural marriage 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 ililiiIII111 the judges and the plural marriage sentences 45 IV the judges and crimes against person and property 0 9 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 80 V D 19 conclusion 9 0 9 9 0 0 9 0 0 9 97 appendices A act to further administration of justice 0 9 112 B act to lessen the terms of sentence of convicts for good behavior 6 0 0 0 0 0 115113 C Q application for amnesty 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 115 D prisoners for plural marriage 116 SELECTED bibliography 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 133153155135133.133 iii TABLES 1 age distribution on total prison sentences 31 2 age distribution unlawful cohabitation a 0 0 0 0 34 3 age distribution adultery sentences 0 0 0 0 37 4 age distribution sentences and time served on charge of polygamy 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 40 U 5 S judges in the courts of utah 0 50 6 the judges and the unlawful cohabitation cases 9 0 0 D 0 0 IN 9 9 0 Is 9 ID 9 76 7 prisoners for murder second degree Is 0 9 0 8383.83 8 sentences for assault 0 6 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ip 0 10 8989.89 gogo 991 sentences for robbery a 6 0 0 9090.90 10 sentences for grand larceny 0 0 gi9191.91 iv introduction A cursory perusal of any list of prisoners for plural marriage which shows their sentences and fines makes one wonder why there was such a difference in the pena- lties plural marriage would seem to be an offense which could command a more consistent penalty than the variety of sentences which ranged in prison time from five days to five years from no fine to fines of twelve hundred dol- lars what factors may have influenced the judges in the determination of penalty were they influenced by the age of the defendant were older men let off easier than young men was one judge more severe than another the pri- soners were convinced that was true eli azariah day convicted and sentenced in the first district court in provo wrote home in a letter from the penitentiary some men here have hopes of a speedy release others rest certaicertainn that they will stay a long time all that come from beavebeaverr court seem to get the full extent of the law while from the other courts there is much leniency many are here serving a second termmth1 were the sentences served by the mormon polygamists more severe than those served by men convicted of murder assault or robbery the prisoners were convinced that was also true in his article life behind prison bars 2 melvin L bashore expresses their sentiments clearly esp- ecially in regard to a judge who sat in the first district court most mormons were embittered at the discrimination and discrepancy in sentencing shown by the judges men arrested for hideous and blatantly immoral crimes were let off with light sentences or reprimands judge john W judd a former tennesseeanTenness eean assigned to the first district court in provo was prominent in these pro- ceedingsce edings he gave deliberate murderers light or sus- pended sentences but let the axe fall heavy on the cormonsMormormonsmons 2 there has been no list published for the benefit of researchers which will provide particular information on the imprisonment of individuals there are partial lists in special collections of libraries which preserve diaries or autobiographies of those who wrote about their imprison- ment A prisoner whose diary contains a list of his LDS brethren in the prison recorded as a rule the names of those whose sentences overlapped his own his list would not contain the names of those who completed their terms and left before his arrival nor of those who entered after his release assistant LDS church historian andrew jenson obtained permission from the warden to make a list of prisoners for the purpose of preservation of history this was meant to be a complete list but his scribes failed to record any admissions during a period of more than nine months in 1891 and there are none listed in his record after september 1892 even though new admissions continued to appear in the territorial record until 1895 3 I1 have 3 extracted from the microfilmed volumes of the utah prison admission record a list of men who served prison terms for plural marriages contracted because of their belief in the doctrine of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints this list included in the appendix of this paper served as a basis for the statistical studies the purpose of this study is to analyze the 940 sentences given to men convicted on charges relating to plural marriage as taught by the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints it will show that the age of the pri- soner influenced the decision of the judges and that the younger men usually received heavier sentences than the older men it will prove that the judges did differ in the severity of their sentences but that the time period in relation to the beginning and end of the antiantipolygamypolygamy crusade was a factor in regard to the severity of the sentences given and the time actually served by the palygapolyga mists compared to sentences and time served by those con- victed of murder assault or robbery the study indicates that the blame for such disparities has to be placed not only on the judges but on those who wrote the laws and on the governors of the territory who had the power to pardon all criminals except those convicted for polygamyrelatedpolygamy related crimes during the past decade there has been a phenomenal development of interest in researching personal genealogy 4 and writing famicamifamilyly history there are thousands of de- scendantsscendants of the mormon polygamist families and for many the specter of an ancestors prison term in territorial utah could easily threaten the image of respectability that the family historian would like to establish A better understanding of the circumstances of the times is a boon to such writers for decadedecadess probably for as long as they were alive who were affected by the crusade of the U S government against polygamy 1littlei ttleatle was written for publi- cation about personal experiences during those troubled times it may have been that those people were willing to put aside that part of their lives the present generation of grandchildren and greatgrandchildrengreat grandchildren has found investi-inveanve sti gations into the details of those personal experiences less painful so the publishing of scholarly studies diaries and autobiographies is increasing and is being received with interest this study and the data on the list of prisoners for plural marriage in the appendix should be of importance to such researchers this study of prison sentences fills a gap in the body of literature on mormon polygamy in particular and perhaps just as important in a broader sense to the li- teraturetera ture on civil rights and religious freedom in many parts of the presentdaypresent day world the struggle for personal freedom goes on as manifested by the sometimes violent civil disobedience in south africa the deadly guerrilla 5 action in central america or the outright war in afghani- stan the perspective gained from a study of past events helps to determine the attitudes as well as the actions taken in the present A review of the secondary literature on this topic does not bring to light a similar statistical study either in mormon polygamy or in other criminal studies much has been published on the subject of mormon polygamyanpolygamy an ava- lanche of books and articles in the last decade there are those scholars who have examined various legal aspects of the prosecution of polygamy prominent among which are orma linfords dissertation the mormons and the law the poly- gamy cases richard D polls thesis the twin relic A study of mormon polygamy and the campaign by the government of the united states for its abolition 185218921852 1892 and stewart L grows A study of the utah commission 1882- 1896 11 more recently joseph H grobergs article in BYU studies treats the mormon disfranchisements
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