On the invitation of President Nephi L. Morris, Elder David P. Felt made this statement regarding his present situation:'While performing missionary service abroad in the interest of the Church, he became converted to the rightfulness of plural marriage and decided that when an opportunity should be presented he would marry a plural wife. Before he could gratify his wish, the manifesto of President Wilford Woodruff forbidding plural marriages between members of the Church was issued and became binding upon its adherents. He had come to the conclusion that he could not attain the highest exaltation in eternity without having a plurality of wives. This is as essential to the highest advancement in the next world as baptism is to man's salvation.
... He had spoken to his Bishop, George R. Jones, regarding this matter, and the latter had told him that it would be possible to achieve the desired result in this way:'Let him enter into an agreement with the woman whom he desired, that on the death of either the other would go into the Temple and be sealed to the deceased party. In this way the privileges of marriage could be enjoyed during the lifetime of both, and at the death of either, the union could be consummated by the performance of a marriage ceremony.
This plan was laid before Sister Applegreen, and, after several months of consideration, she accepted it, and a covenant was entered into, written in duplicate, signed and sealed, to be opened on the dea[t]h of eith[e]r party by the Bishop of his or her ward. Thus he might freely enter into plural marriage and yet not be amendable to the laws of the land which had been enacted against that system of marriage, inasmuch as no ceremony had been performed, and the Church could not be held responsible, as it had not sanctioned the union and none of its officials had joined the parties in wedlock. Continuing, he said that while his motives were pure and he believed that he had divine approval of his act, he expected that he would be stripped of his offices in the Church, in order that the latter might make it appear to the world that it condemned what he had done and that it was attempting to suppress polygamy but he did not think he should be deprived of his Priesthood. ...
Elder George R. Jones had never seen the contracts, but he had known of their existence for two or three months.
Elder Felt said that he had indulged in sexual intercourse with Annie Applegreen, but not previous to the making of the agreement. About two years ago he had asked President Francis M. Lyman, of the Quorum of Apostles, whether it was possible to enter into plural marriage. The latter replied that there was not opportunity for new plural marriages, but that if there should be in the future, he would let him know. ...
Elder Felt said that he had heard that plural marriages had been performed since the Woodruff manifesto. The Church had declared that none such had been celebrated with its knowledge or sanction. Yet men who were reputed to have married in polygamy since 1890, were retained in membership and office in the Church. If the Church repudiated the marriages but not the men, it seemed that there was some way by which one could evade the manifesto without coming into conflict with the discipline of the Church.
[Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015, Appendix 7: The Salt Lake Stake High Council and Post-1904 Plural Marriage: Minutes of Meetings, 1909-1914]
No comments:
Post a Comment