Defense of Plural Marriage, 1875

OVER 2,000 “MORMON” LADIES UNITE WITH THEIR SISTERS OF SALT LAKE CITY, IN PROTESTING AGAINST THE MISREPRESENTATIONS OF THE LADIES ENGAGED IN THE ANTI-POLYGAMY CRUSADE, AND EXPRESS THEIR FIRM AND UNALTERABLE FAITH IN PLURAL MARRIAGE AS A DIVINE ORDINANCE.
Upwards of five hundred ladies of Provo and vicinity met in the Meeting House on Saturday morning, December 11th, 1878, “to express their true sentiments with regard to the principles of their religious and political rights as American citizens.”

Defense of Plural Marriage 1875

The women of Utah County submitted this petition in support of plural marriage. The Mormon Church officially rejected polygamy in 1890. However, existing marriages were not dissolved, and others continued the practice despite the ban.

National Archives, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior