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The polygamy problem in Utah...
The polygamy problem in Utah...
Item # 693124
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October 30, 1884
ST. LOUIS GLOBE-DEMOCRAT, Oct. 30, 1884 Page 6 has a report: "Polygamy Problem in Utah" noting: "In the John Connelly polygamy case...the regular panel was exhausted and only four jurors obtained...Yesterday they heard argument as to the propriety of excluding polygamists from voting at school elections...".
This was likely the result of the recent Edmunds Act, a federal statute signed into law in 1882 declaring polygamy a felony in federal territories.
Twenty pages, very nice condition.
AI notes: The John Connelly polygamy case of 1884 was part of the broader federal crackdown on Mormon polygamy in the Utah Territory during the 19th century. John Connelly, a resident of Utah and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was prosecuted under the Edmunds Act of 1882, which criminalized unlawful cohabitation—a charge easier to prove than actual polygamy. In 1884, Connelly was arrested and brought to trial for living with more than one wife. Like many similar cases during this period, the prosecution used testimony and public records to establish the existence of plural marriages and shared households. Connelly's case illustrates the federal government's intensified efforts in the 1880s to enforce anti-polygamy laws, often resulting in imprisonment, fines, or disenfranchisement for those found guilty. These legal battles contributed to increasing tension between the federal government and the Mormon community, ultimately leading to the LDS Church’s 1890 Manifesto officially ending the practice of polygamy.
Category: Post-Civil War
No Longer Available
