Mormon women protest the Cullom Bill...
Item # 712750
February 02, 1879
THE DESERET NEWS, Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 2, 1870
* Mormons - Mormonism
* Utah polygamy argument
This newspaper was published 26 years before Utah became a state.
Most of the front page is taken up with a report headed: "Indignation Meetings in the Settlements", beginning: "Determined not to be behind their sisters in this city in their loyalty to the cause of truth, the ladies in various settlements throughout the Territory have held mass meetings t protest against the infamous measures proposed by the Craign & Cullom bill against the people of this Territory...".
This concerns the notable Cullom's Bill which was the creation of Illinois Republican Shelby Cullom, chair of the House Committee on Territories. The Cullom Bill stipulated, among other things, that “...no one living in or practicing bigamy, polygamy, or concubinage, shall be admitted to citizenship of the United States; nor shall any such person hold any office of trust or profit in said Territory, vote at any election therein, or be entitled to the benefits of the homestead or pre-emption laws of the United States...". Great to have this content in a Salt Lake City newspaper.
Also within: "Polygomania" which begins: "Polygomania, or the mania against the patriarchal order of marriage as practiced by the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lattter-day Saints, is one of the latest forms of epidemic disease known in society...". Another page has: "Remarks by President Brigham Young Delivered in the Tabernacle...".
Twelve pages, 11 1/2 by 16 inches, never bound nor trimmed, light dirtiness to the back page only, nice condition.
background: The Cullom Bill, introduced in the 1870s by Illinois Senator Shelby Moore Cullom, was a proposed federal measure aimed at suppressing polygamy in the Utah Territory, where the practice was associated with the LDS Church. Building on earlier legislation like the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862, the bill sought to criminalize plural marriage more explicitly, impose penalties on practitioners, and strip political and civil rights from those engaged in polygamy. It also proposed increased federal oversight of Utah’s territorial government, including the power to dissolve local institutions that failed to enforce anti-polygamy laws. Though it generated heated debate in Congress and reflected widespread anti-Mormon sentiment in the United States, the Cullom Bill ultimately failed to pass. Nevertheless, it set the stage for more stringent measures in the 1880s, including the Edmunds Act and Edmunds-Tucker Act, which effectively curtailed polygamy and challenged the political influence of the Mormon Church, marking a significant episode in the federal government’s efforts to assert authority over the western territories.
* Mormons - Mormonism
* Utah polygamy argument
This newspaper was published 26 years before Utah became a state.
Most of the front page is taken up with a report headed: "Indignation Meetings in the Settlements", beginning: "Determined not to be behind their sisters in this city in their loyalty to the cause of truth, the ladies in various settlements throughout the Territory have held mass meetings t protest against the infamous measures proposed by the Craign & Cullom bill against the people of this Territory...".
This concerns the notable Cullom's Bill which was the creation of Illinois Republican Shelby Cullom, chair of the House Committee on Territories. The Cullom Bill stipulated, among other things, that “...no one living in or practicing bigamy, polygamy, or concubinage, shall be admitted to citizenship of the United States; nor shall any such person hold any office of trust or profit in said Territory, vote at any election therein, or be entitled to the benefits of the homestead or pre-emption laws of the United States...". Great to have this content in a Salt Lake City newspaper.
Also within: "Polygomania" which begins: "Polygomania, or the mania against the patriarchal order of marriage as practiced by the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lattter-day Saints, is one of the latest forms of epidemic disease known in society...". Another page has: "Remarks by President Brigham Young Delivered in the Tabernacle...".
Twelve pages, 11 1/2 by 16 inches, never bound nor trimmed, light dirtiness to the back page only, nice condition.
background: The Cullom Bill, introduced in the 1870s by Illinois Senator Shelby Moore Cullom, was a proposed federal measure aimed at suppressing polygamy in the Utah Territory, where the practice was associated with the LDS Church. Building on earlier legislation like the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862, the bill sought to criminalize plural marriage more explicitly, impose penalties on practitioners, and strip political and civil rights from those engaged in polygamy. It also proposed increased federal oversight of Utah’s territorial government, including the power to dissolve local institutions that failed to enforce anti-polygamy laws. Though it generated heated debate in Congress and reflected widespread anti-Mormon sentiment in the United States, the Cullom Bill ultimately failed to pass. Nevertheless, it set the stage for more stringent measures in the 1880s, including the Edmunds Act and Edmunds-Tucker Act, which effectively curtailed polygamy and challenged the political influence of the Mormon Church, marking a significant episode in the federal government’s efforts to assert authority over the western territories.
Category: The Old West
