Two Wives (Part 2)

OK - an article on Wikipedia confirms my suspicion. The Mormon's practiced polygamous marriages back in the 1800's.

The Mormon practice of plural marriage began in 1843, and was introduced by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church. It was then practiced privately until 1852, when it was publicly announced as a principle of Mormon doctrine. At this time, the Mormon-dominated legislature wanted to keep this practice under legal protection, so they framed laws that favored the practice without actually using the word “polygamy” in order to keep it from coming to the attention of the U.S. Congress.

Polygamy was able to continue for the next while without being noticed. With the Compromise of 1850, Utah was officially deemed a territory, and therefore became subject to a federally appointed governor and judiciary. Brigham Young [also in my tree], the president of the church at the time, was elected the first governor, along with an all-Mormon legislature. One of the first acts of this legislature was in 1851, when they awarded their probate courts extended jurisdiction. Thus, “probate courts possessed concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts and offered an alternative to the federally appointed, non-Mormon officers of the district courts”. Because bigamy was prohibited at common law, the territorial legislature rejected the common law in 1854. Therefore, the legal protection of the Mormons who chose to practice polygamy were relatively free from federal intervention until Congress passed the Morrill Act in 1862, which was the first federal law that specifically prohibited bigamy. On the whole, the Mormons who practiced polygamy avoided the federal court systems all together. Rather, they settled disputes with an ecclesiastical court system established by the church. Thus, the practice of polygamy in the Mormon communities continued.

At its height, at least 25 percent of adults in these communities were members of polygamous households. In 1890, however, Wilford Woodruff (the president of the church at the time) issued a “manifesto” forbidding the practice. Currently, some breakaway groups still follow polygamist lifestyles, but the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon church) now opposes the practice.

So there we go - he married sisters and had kids with them at the same time. The data appears correct.

The Two Wives of William Dresser Huntington

Rooting through the Ancestral File on familysearch.org, there is some conflicting data for the family of William Dresser Huntington.

There are a number of marriage records for both Caroline Clark and for Harriett Clark, both with a number of children from those marriages - but they occur during the same time period. Combined with the appearance that Harriett and Caroline are sisters, it's a total mess.

Descendants of William Dresser Huntington

1 William Dresser Huntington 1818 - 1881
+Harriet Clark 1825 -
2 Don Carlos HUNTINGTON 1845 -
+Melinda SINGLETON 1845 - 1876
2 Chauncy HUNTINGTON 1847 - 1847
2 Julias Adeline HUNTINGTON 1848 - 1851
2 Harriet Adelaide HUNTINGTON 1852 - 1922
+Martin William BIRD 1849 - 1890
2 Anna Jane HUNTINGTON 1853 -
+Solomon Drake CHASE 1850 - 1919
2 George Volney HUNTINGTON 1858 -
+Julia Hannah SNELSON 1858 - 1935
2 Lottie HUNTINGTON 1870 - 1962
+Albert Edwin LAMBSON 1863 - 1933
*2nd Wife of William Dresser Huntington:
+Caroline CLARK 1819 - 1901
2 Hyrum Fenno HUNTINGTON 1847 - 1936
+Polly Berthina CHILDS 1849 - 1938
2 Lucia Presendia HUNTINGTON 1850 - 1938
2 John Albert HUNTINGTON 1853 - 1896
2 George Volney HUNTINGTON 1958 - 1905


George Volney is even listed as the son of both mother's in different records.

A little Googling reveals further mismatches in the data:

William married Caroline Clark in September 1839, and by the fall of 1843 they had three children. William concludes his sketch by stating, “I came to Nauvoo with the first family of aints and remained until the present. Nauvoo, December 4, 1844. [Source]

So there are three children missing from these records already.

Caroline's death is recorded as 1901.

In the 1880 US Census, William is living with wife Harriett and George (21) and Lottie (10). So where's Caroline?

In Nauvoo, William's records record a high death rate from Malaria. Perhaps Caroline died from Malaria and Willaim married Harriett then, the remaining children being incorrectly recorded as those of William and Caroline? The problem with this theory is that part of William's job was to record deaths - his own mother was the first on his list - surely he wouldn't have forgotten to record his own wife's death?

I also located a marriage record for William to a Harriet Partridge in 1840 in Hancock, Illinois. This doesn't make sense either - there are plenty of records for a marriage to Harriet Clark, not least this:

CLARK, Harriet; 27 May 1842; Harriet CLARK; b. 2 Aug 1825, Antwerp, Jefferson, New York; parents Hyrum CLARK and Mary FENNO; m. 5 Feb 1843, Nauvoo, Hancock, Illlinois, to William Dresser HUNTINGTON; d. Springville, Utah, Utah. [Source]

And also that, if Harriet was Harriet Partridge and they did marry in 1840, why would their child born in 1847 carry the middle name Fenno, maiden surname of Caroline's mother?

Of the missing children, one William Dresser Huntington (29 March, 1862 San Bernardino) is the son of Heber Huntington, son of William Dresser Huntington and Caroline Clark. He lists as much in his biography [extract]:

Grandfather W. D. Huntington died a few years ago at the age of sixty-five; grandmother Caroline (Clark) Huntington, born about 1825, is living San Bernardino county.

It's possible, but unlikely, that Harriet and Caroline are one and the same person, their birth dates are just far too far apart.

So, essentially it's a big mess with no real reason to it at all. Two hours is more than enough to spend trying to find the truth. Maybe some other time.