[George F. Gibbs]
Word has come to this office, from quite a reliable source, to the effect that your counselor, Brother Borkman, has the idea that plural marriages are still being solemnized by and with the sanction of the authorities of the Church, and that in this understanding he is paying his addresses to a young woman with a view to marriage, provided he can get a competent person to perform the marriage ceremony. It is also being told that you are encouraging Brother Borkman in the idea ... You are reported to have said other things as well along this line, going to convey the idea that you knew personally of such things, and could enumerate a very large number of such marriages since President [Wilford] Woodruff's Manifesto.
I am instructed to say to you that no plural marriage can be entered into by and with the sanction of Church authority, and that any person found doing so will be dealt with on his fellowship in the Church. This applies also to the party solemnizing a plural marriage, and you are requested by the presidency to so inform Brother Borkman, and his wife as well.
[George F. Gibbs, letter to Bishop Lorin A. Merrill, Kenney Papers, original in LDS Archives]
No comments:
Post a Comment