Plural Marriage: The 1890 and 1904 Transitions

The historical record shows a substantial change between the authorized marriage practice as revealed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and what the LDS Church enforces today. It also shows that this transition unfolded over time, rather than ending every plural marriage on one day.

The Earlier Practice and the Manifesto

Doctrine and Covenants 132 discusses plural marriage alongside eternal sealing and covenant obligations.1

Wilford Woodruff’s 1890 Manifesto advised members against entering into marriages forbidden by US law. The present historical summary of this topic, as published by the LDS Church, acknowledges that some new plural marriages still continued afterward, including marriages outside the United States.2

The same summary identifies Joseph F. Smith’s April 1904 statement, commonly called the Second Manifesto, as a further turning point: entering or solemnizing new plural marriages became subject to church discipline. Nevertheless, some new plural marriages still continued after 1904. The trials of John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley document the conflict over those marriages. Enforcement grew more stringent under Heber J. Grant, whose presidency began in 1918. Notwithstanding, this only describes the institutional prohibition, not the disappearance of plural marriage among dissident believers. A careful study of how this transition occurred therefore requires attention to both declarations, their actual implementation, and the lives of existing families throughout the Church.3

What Fred’s Documentary Collection Contributes

In The Political Platform of the Manifesto, Fred C. Collier brings together correspondence from 1887 involving John Taylor, Charles W. Penrose, and others. These letters contrast their differing responses to political and legal pressure. They help readers examine the arguments preceding the Manifesto, and what President John Taylor had to say on the matter.4

Wilford Woodruff’s revelation of November 24, 1889 is another important witness. In the setting of proposed concessions before the courts, it counsels the Presidency not to deny God’s word or law and not to bind itself to enemies by promises. Fred’s Unpublished Revelations, Vol. 1 prints the revelation together with journal accounts of its reception. Its date and circumstances deserve attention alongside the Manifesto issued the following year.5

The Point of Divergence

A practice established by revelation in the nineteenth-century Church thus ceased over time to be authorized for its members. That is the historical change. The LDS Church’s own account explains the beginning and ending of plural marriage as being directed by revelation. Brother Collier’s writings offer a different basis for evaluating the concessions surrounding its cessation.6

Whether this change came by divine guidance, or actually departed from former revelations, cannot be settled merely by observing that a change occurred. One must ask God in faith and humility.7

This matter concerns the continuity of Priesthood law and authority. It is not meant as a judgment about the sincerity of individuals or families who have sought to honor their covenants under their own circumstances.

Sources

  1. Doctrine and Covenants 132 and Wilford Woodruff, “Official Declaration,” Deseret Evening News, September 25, 1890, canonized as “Official Declaration 1” in modern editions of the Doctrine and Covenants as published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ↩
  2. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage, Gospel Topics Essays (2016), sections “After the Manifesto” and “The Second Manifesto.” ↩
  3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage, Gospel Topics Essays (2016), sections “The Manifesto,” “The Second Manifesto,” and “The End of Plural Marriage”. See also The Trials of Apostle John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley, proceedings of 1911. ↩
  4. Fred C. Collier, The Political Platform of the Manifesto, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 4 No. 2 (February 1987; August 2012 edition), pp. 4–15. ↩
  5. Fred C. Collier, ed., Unpublished Revelations, Vol. 1, third edition, Part 118, pp. 411–415, especially 413, verses 4–9. ↩
  6. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage, Gospel Topics Essays (2016), sections “The Manifesto,” “The Second Manifesto,” and “The End of Plural Marriage”. Fred C. Collier, The Political Platform of the Manifesto, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 4 No. 2 (February 1987; August 2012 edition), pp. 4–15. ↩
  7. James 1:5–6; Moroni 10:4–5; Doctrine and Covenants 9:8–9; 46:7–8; 50:17–24. These passages call for asking God, spiritual discernment, and rejection of deception. ↩

Read the related studies in Faithfulness to the Restored Gospel: Continuity, Change, and Apostasy.