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Extolling the virtues of Santa Barbara... Mormon leader defends polygamy...

Item # 699901

February 11, 1879

THE MISSOURI REPUBLICAN, St. Louis, Feb. 11, 1879

* Future Mormon president John Taylor
* Defender of Polygamy - multiple wives

Page 2 has most of a column taken up with: "SANTA BARBARA" "A Place Bountifully Endowed by Generous Nature" "A Lovely City by a Sunny Sea, With a Rich Tributary Back Country - California Dolce Far Niente.
A great article extolling the beauty and resources of this now-famous city on the Pacific Coast.
Page 3 has a quite lengthy (more than a column) interview with John Taylor, head of the Mormon church: "IN BEHALF OF POLYGAMY" The Head of the Mormon Church Discusses the Recent Supreme Court Decision" "Is Polygamy a Religious Ordinance?--Joe Smith's Revelation".
Also on page 3 is an article on the: "Sale of the Alamo".
Eight pages, nice condition.

AI notes: John Taylor, third president of the LDS Church from 1880 to 1887, was a resolute defender of polygamy, which he regarded as a divinely mandated principle revealed through Joseph Smith. He himself practiced plural marriage and consistently taught that it was essential to the spiritual and social framework of the church, framing it as both a test of faith and a sacred duty. During his presidency, Taylor faced increasing federal opposition, including the 1882 Edmunds Act and the 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act, which criminalized plural marriage and allowed the government to seize church property. Despite the legal threats and the arrests of many church leaders, Taylor urged Mormons to obey God rather than secular authorities, maintaining that divine law took precedence over civil law. He also emphasized that polygamy was a key to eternal progression and the establishment of Zion, insisting that the practice could not be abandoned without divine instruction. Taylor’s staunch defense of plural marriage set the stage for the eventual church-wide reevaluation of the practice after his death, which culminated in the 1890 Manifesto officially ending new plural marriages.