The Lincoln Myth(30)

“I didn’t know you knew of that.”

“Oh, yes. I even donated funds to the effort, anonymously.”

“I had no idea.”

He’d always admired her. She was smart, with degrees in engineering and medieval history. She’d inherited full ownership of her father’s business concerns, a conglomerate currently worth several billion euros. He knew of her competent stewardship, and of her Dutch foundation that worked closely with the United Nations on world health and famine. Her personal life was not a matter of record, nor had he pried, confining his inquiries to what could be learned from the public record.

But he knew enough to know that he never should have allowed her to leave all those years ago.

“And she won’t. Ever again,” the angel said inside his head.

“I meant what I told you at dinner,” she told him. “I made a mistake with both my faith and you.”

He’d been alone a long time.

No one had been able to take his late wife’s place.

Then one day he’d found a photograph of him and Cassiopeia, from back when they were together. The simple sight of it brought him joy, so he’d kept it out, on display, where he could see it every day.

Now that image was here.

In the flesh.

Again.

And he was glad.





EIGHTEEN





SALT LAKE CITY


ROWAN LISTENED AS SNOW SPOKE, WAITING TO LEARN THE significance of the wooden box.

“Brigham Young challenged several American presidents, asserting our religious and political independence. He ignored Congress and all laws he disagreed with, and thumbed his nose at local military commanders. Finally, in 1857, James Buchanan had had enough and took the extraordinary measure of sending troops to subdue us.” Snow paused. “Plural marriage was a mistake both Smith and Young made.”

Prophets from the Old Testament, like Abraham, had routinely taken many wives. Solomon himself had 700, along with 300 concubines. In 1831 Joseph Smith prayed to the Lord about such practices and was answered with a revelation that plural marriage was indeed part of the true covenant, though the church did not publicly acknowledge the practice until 1852.

Only about 2 percent of members ever participated, and all had to be spiritually selected by the prophet. Most times it was older women incapable of taking care of themselves brought into the nonsexual roles of a plural marriage, and always with the consent of the first wife. But child propagation also lay at its roots, since God had commanded that all raise up a seed unto him.

He knew that plural marriage enraged and offended American society. The 1862 Morrill Act allowed the canceling of citizenship for anyone who practiced it. Then the 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act criminalized it.

“Smith and Young misjudged the effect of plural marriage on both Saints and gentiles,” Snow said. “But instead of wisely walking away from something that had clearly become counterproductive, they continued the practice and demanded political autonomy.”

Which Rowan admired.

Saints had migrated to Salt Lake to find a refuge. They’d occupied barren land no one had wanted and forged a society where church and state seamlessly meshed together. A provisional government was established in 1849 and statehood applied for. They called it Deseret, a word from the Book of Mormon that referred to a beehive, a symbol of industry and cooperation. Its boundaries would have included present-day Utah and Nevada, most of California, a third of Arizona, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Statehood was denied. Congress did, though, accept the new land as a territory, shrinking its boundaries and renaming it Utah. Young was appointed its first governor, and did a masterful job keeping the meld of church and state intact.

“On the one hand,” Snow said, “we wanted to be part of the greater society. Contribute to the national welfare. Be good citizens. On the other, we demanded the right to do as we please.”

“It was a matter of religious belief. A matter of freedom. Plural marriage was part of our religion.”

“Come now, Thaddeus. If our religion compelled the murdering of other human beings, would we have the freedom to enjoy that? That argument is weak and indefensible. Plural marriage, in a physical sense, was wrong. We should have recognized that long before 1890, when we finally did the smart thing and abolished it forever.”

He did not agree.

“Brigham Young made many wise decisions,” Snow said. “He was an effective administrator, a true visionary. We owe him a great deal. But he also made mistakes. Ones he failed to openly acknowledge during his life, but mistakes nonetheless.”

He decided against any further argument or rebuttal. He needed information and conflict was not the way to encourage its flow.