Did the early Mormons abduct women or not?

[Katzpur]

@astro

I recall that many early Mormons were often attacked in the 1800’s because of the pervasive belief that they abducted local women and forcibly made them part of polygamous households. In seeking to get some info on this for a GD discussion about SSM and polygamous marriages I went googling for some historical proof of this assertion, but really could not find anything. Per the wiki link below it seems early Mormonism was actually female empowering (for the time).

Were these accusations entirely false or not? How did early Mormons get women to come on board?

Women and Mormonism

Presuming that you are referring to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not one of its many splinter groups (such as Warren Jeff’s group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), the answer to your question is that these accusations are entirely false. Mormon women entered into polygamous relationships of their own free will. Why? Well, as difficult as a polygamous lifestyle would have been, many of them saw life as a polygamous wife as preferable to life as a widow, for instance. Life in the Utah Territory back in the latter half of the nineteenth century was difficult. Most people have no idea how the early pioneers who settled Utah had to struggle to live in what, back then, were extremely harsh conditions. For a single woman to have survived would have been difficult. Most poeple today are also unaware that even at its height, only about 5% of all Mormon men had more than one wife. Does this information help?

[chacoguy]

Well, there is Elizabeth Smart.

[rat_avatar]

@Erdosain

Off hand, I can’t think of a single instance of Mormons being accused of women stealing. Perhaps the OP can be more specific about his recollections.

It is important to remember that before the Mormons emigrated to Utah, they didn’t practice polygamy openly. Thus, it is unlikely these accusations (if they ever did occur) happened before they moved to Utah. In Utah, they openly practiced polygamy in the new settlements they founded. Thus, how could they steal women when 90% of the settlers were Mormons? Sounds like this may have been some hyperbole. At one point the national Republican party was very anti-Mormon, labeling polygamy and slavery as the twin relics of barbarism. (In hindsight, they weren’t too wrong.)

Early Mormons (pre-Utah) were unpopular because they voted as a block, gave preferential business treatment to their co-religionists, and took over areas where they moved. Joseph Smith was eventually killed for his actions related to polygamy, but they didn’t involve stealing women.

ETA: Perhaps the OP is misremembering and conflating the movies Paint Your Wagon and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

This is not external but Brigham young did collect a few wives by marrying others members wives while they were away.

It may also be related to the Mountain Meadows massacre?

They did take in all the children that were too young to remember any evidence after killing a wagon train full of men and women.

[rat_avatar]

It looks like Augusta Adams, one of Young’s wives was married to a non-Mormon at the time she married Young as wife #4

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/af/individual_record.asp?recid=1025019&lds=0&frompage=0

It very well may have been her choice though.

[rat_avatar]

http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/massacre/meadows.html

here is a link about the Meadow Mountain massacre.

They did take 17 children to raise and executed the rest of the party of 140, I could see this causing that type of rumor, but I think they were trying to be compassionate in a weird way.

[Bartman]

@rat_avatar

It looks like Augusta Adams, one of Young’s wives was married to a non-Mormon at the time she married Young as wife #4

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/af/individual_record.asp?recid=1025019&lds=0&frompage=0

It very well may have been her choice though.

Yeah, I brought her up in post 9. There is no reason to suspect she was abducted. She always said she went willingly. She traveled back and forth alone from Illinois and Massachusetts in order to divorce her first husband, Henry Cobb.

[BMalion]

Anybody ever read A Study In Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

[rat_avatar]

In Scarlet was released in 1881 and Is commonly assumed to have been inspired by the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Mark Twain’s Roughing It from 1872:

http://www.classicreader.com/book/1407/82/
Seems to refrence this book from 1866:

http://books.google.com/books?id=QyJBAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

I wonder if that book was also read by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?