Ann Eliza Young (September 13, 1844 – December 7, 1917) also known as Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning
was one of
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
's
fifty-five wives and later a critic of
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
. Her autobiography, ''Wife No. 19,
'' was a recollection of her experiences in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...
(LDS Church). She grew up in a polygamous household which moved to Utah during the
Mormon migration. Ann Eliza was married and divorced three times: first to James Dee, then Young, and finally Moses Denning. Her divorce from Young reached a national audience when Ann Eliza sued with allegations of
neglect
In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...
, cruel treatment, and desertion. She was born a member of the LDS Church, but was
excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
shortly after her public divorce from Young.
Early life and first marriage
Ann Eliza Webb was born in
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...
, in 1844, to Chauncey Griswold Webb and his wife, Eliza Jane Churchill.
Chauncey G. Webb was a 32-year-old carriage-maker, and Eliza Jane a 29-year-old schoolteacher at the time of Ann Eliza's birth. Ann Eliza was the youngest of five children, four of which survived to adulthood. Her three older brothers were Chauncey Gilbert, Edward Milo, and Lorenzo Dow. Ann Eliza was about a year old when her father took a second wife, Elizabeth Taft, in accordance with the contemporary polygamous
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
practices of the LDS Church. In 1846, the Webb family moved to the Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...
with the Mormon pioneers
The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...
. As a teenager in Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, Webb and other Latter-day Saint youth participated in local theatricals and dancing.
First marriage and divorce
Ann Eliza married James Dee monogamously on April 10, 1863, in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...
. They had two sons together, Edward Wesley and Leonard "Louis" Lorenzo, but the couple later divorced.[Brigham Young's Wives and His Divorce From Ann Eliza Webb]
". Utah Lighthouse Ministry
Jerald Dee Tanner (June 1, 1938 – October 1, 2006) and Sandra McGee Tanner (born January 14, 1941) are American writers and researchers who publish archival and evidential materials about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...
. Accessed March 10, 2007. According to her biographer, Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace (March 19, 1916 – June 29, 1990) was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. He was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme.
Early life
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Bessie Liss a ...
, "for the rest of her days Ann Eliza would always refer to James Dee as the man who 'blighted' her life."[Wallace, Irving. ]
The Twenty-Seventh Wife
'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961).
Polygamous marriage to Brigham Young
On the advice of her family, Ann Eliza married Brigham Young, the second president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the LDS Church, when he was 67 years old and she was a 24-year-old divorcee
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
.[ They were married on April 7, 1869. The ceremony was presided over by LDS Church leader ]Heber C. Kimball
Heber Chase Kimball (June 14, 1801 – June 22, 1868) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Church of the Latter Day Saints, and as first counselor to Brigham Young ...
. At her request, Ann Eliza was set up in a separate home in Salt Lake City, on the condition that she visit the Lion House on occasion.
Although Ann Eliza later called herself Young's "wife number 19",'''' others have referred to her as his "27th wife". One researcher concluded that she was actually the 52nd woman to marry Young.[Johnson, Jeffrey Odgen]
"Determining and Defining 'Wife'—The Brigham Young Households"
'' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', vol. 20, no. 3 (Fall 1987) pp. 57–70. The discrepancies may be due, in part, to difficulties in defining what constitutes a "wife" in early Mormon polygamous practices. A book published in the 1890s and endorsed by church leaders entitled ''Pictures and Biographies of Brigham Young and His Wives'' provides brief descriptions of 26 wives, including Ann Eliza.
Divorce from Young
In 1873, Brigham Young allowed Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
to take on boarders who were not members of the faith. Methodist Reverend C. C. Stratton and his wife boarded with Ann Eliza. It is possible that the couple’s efforts may have aided in Ann Eliza’s decision to leave Young and the LDS Church. On Ann Eliza's legal counsel was Judge Hagan who also believed that Stratton was primarily to blame for Ann Eliza's separation from Young. In a statement, Stratton denied having any influence on Ann Eliza's decision, claiming instead that he had encouraged her to stay in her situation with Young. He indicated, however, that Ann Eliza was "a person of womanly instincts" whose "present position asexceedingly distasteful to her".
The Ann Eliza Young Case
” The Daily Bulletin, Portland, Oregon, August 27, 1873
BYU Special Collections.
/ref> Reverend Stratton was invited to be listed as Ann Eliza's "next friend" in the divorce case. Judge Hagan believed that Stratton's background as a Methodist minister would validate the indictments against Young and the LDS Church. Stratton refused, however, due to other high-profile legal circumstances, which had forced him to leave his previous ministry in Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. He did not want the additional publicity of Ann Eliza's court case.
Ann Eliza filed for divorce from Young in January 1873, an act that attracted much attention. Her bill for divorce alleged neglect, cruel treatment, and desertion, and claimed that her husband had property worth $8 million and an income exceeding $40,000 a month. Young countered that he owned less than $600,000 in property and that his income was less than $6,000 per month.
Excommunication
Ann Eliza was excommunicated from the LDS Church on October 10, 1874.[ The divorce was granted in January 1875, and Young was ordered to pay a $500 per month allowance as well as $3,000 in court fees.][ When Young initially refused, he was found in ]contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
and sentenced to a day in jail with an additional $25 fine.[ The ]alimony
Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial suppo ...
award was later set aside on the grounds that the marriage was polygamous and therefore legally invalid. The polygamous nature of the marriage also exposed them to potential indictments for unlawful cohabitation
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Human sexuality, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such a ...
.[
After her excommunication, Ann Eliza converted to the Methodist Episcopal faith.]
Advocacy
Ann Eliza subsequently traveled the United States and spoke out against polygamy, Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...
, and Brigham Young. She testified before the U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
on April 14, 1874. A couple months later, the Poland Act
The Poland Act (18 Stat. 253) of 1874 was an act of the US Congress that sought to facilitate prosecutions under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act by eliminating the control members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) exert ...
was signed into law, which reorganized the judicial system of the Utah Territory and facilitated the federal prosecution of LDS Church polygamists.[Cullen, Jack B]
"Ann Eliza Young: A Nineteenth Century Champion of Women's Rights."
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Speech Communication Association (Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, February, 1983). In a biographical entry on Brigham Young in ''American National Biography'', Leonard Arrington
Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his man ...
stated that Ann Eliza's lectures against Young were "influential in the federal antipolygamy legislation of 1882 and 1887".
''Wife No. 19''
In 1876, Ann Eliza published an autobiography titled ''Wife No. 19''. In it, she wrote that she had "a desire to impress upon the world what Mormonism really is; to show the pitiable condition of its women, held in a system of bondage that is more cruel than African slavery ever was, since it claims to hold body and soul alike".[ Her account of the "horrors of polygamy and masonry" is in the public domain.][(Warning: PDF is quite large.)] The autobiography was the basis for Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace (March 19, 1916 – June 29, 1990) was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. He was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme.
Early life
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Bessie Liss a ...
's 1961 biography ''The Twenty-Seventh Wife'' and for David Ebershoff
David Ebershoff is an American writer, editor, and teacher. His debut novel, ''The Danish Girl'', was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name in 2015, while his third novel, '' The 19th Wife'', was adapted into a television ...
's 2008 novel '' The 19th Wife''.
Third marriage
After her divorce from Brigham Young in 1875, Ann Eliza married 53-year-old Moses R. Denning of Manistee, Michigan
Manistee ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in southwestern Manistee County, Michigan, Manistee County, it is part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula. Manistee is the county seat of Manistee County ...
,[ a non-Mormon and wealthy logger known to have only one arm.][Wallace, Irving. ''The Twenty-Seventh Wife,'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961) p. 396.][Woodward, Helen B. ''The Bold Women'' (New York: Farrar, Straus and Young, 1953) p. 330.] Two years prior to her marriage to Denning, who was married with children at the time, Ann Eliza stayed at his home. Ann Eliza scaled back her crusade against Mormonism and polygamy and stopped delivering lectures the week she married Denning.[Nibley, Hugh W. ''Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young,'' (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Company, 1991) p. 441–42.]
Divorce from Denning
A 1907 article on the 30th anniversary of Brigham Young's death updated the public on his then-surviving widows and stated that Ann Eliza was divorced for the third time and living in Lansing, Michigan
Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...
. The 1900 U.S. census had reported her living in Breckenridge, Summit County, Colorado
Summit County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,055. The county seat and largest town is Breckenridge.
Summit County comprises the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...
. Ann Eliza eventually returned to Utah to claim a $2,000 legacy from her first husband, James Dee.[
]
Later years
In 1908, she published a revised version of ''Wife No. 19'' entitled ''Life in Mormon Bondage,'' a revision that excluded any mention of her first marriage to Dee or her third marriage to Denning. By 1910, she had moved to Sparks, Nevada
Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the fifth most populous city in ...
. She eventually became estranged from her family, including her children. One of her grandsons told Wallace that neither of her sons maintained contact with her after they reached early adulthood. In 1930, her older grandson told Wallace, "I hope to hell I never see her again." She died at her home in Sparks of pneumonia, related to old age, and was buried on December 9, 1917, in Mountain View Cemetery, Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...
, Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
.[''Nevada State Journal'', 9 December 1917, p. 4.]
Published works
*
See also
* Celestial marriage
Celestial marriage (also called the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage, Eternal Marriage, Temple Marriage) is a doctrine that marriage can last forever in heaven. This is a unique teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ...
* Current state of polygamy in the Latter Day Saint movement
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, privately taught and practiced polygamy. After Smith's death in 1844, the church he established splintered into several competing groups. Disagreement over Smith's doctrine of " plural ...
* History of civil marriage in the United States
Many laws in the history of the United States have addressed marriage and the rights of married people. Common themes addressed by these laws include polygamy, interracial marriage, divorce, and same-sex marriage.
1900–1999
* 1900 – All st ...
* Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late 19th century
* Polygamy in North America
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Ann Eliza
1844 births
1917 deaths
19th-century American women
20th-century American women
American autobiographers
American women's rights activists
Deaths from pneumonia in Nevada
Mormonism-related controversies
People excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
People from Nauvoo, Illinois
Richards–Young family
Mormon pioneers
Women autobiographers
Wives of Brigham Young
Harold B. Lee Library-related 19th century articles