Ann Eliza Young facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ann Eliza Young
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A lithograph of Ann Eliza Young, sometime between 1869 and 1875.
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Ann Eliza Webb
September 13, 1844 Nauvoo, Illinois, U.S.
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| Died | December 7, 1917 (aged 73) Sparks, Nevada, U.S.
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| Resting place | Mountain View Cemetery, Reno, Nevada |
| Other names | Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning |
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| Spouse(s) | James Dee (m. 1863) Brigham Young (m. 1869-1875) Moses Denning (div. c. 1907) |
| Children | 2 |
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Ann Eliza Young (born September 13, 1844 – died December 7, 1917) was also known as Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning. She was one of the many wives of Brigham Young, a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Later in her life, she became a well-known person who spoke out against polygamy, a practice where one person is married to multiple spouses.
Ann Eliza grew up in a family where polygamy was practiced. Her family moved to Utah during the time of the Mormon pioneers. She was married and divorced three times during her life. Her divorce from Brigham Young gained a lot of public attention. Ann Eliza was born into the LDS Church but was later excommunicated (removed from the church) after her public divorce.
Contents
Early Life and First Marriage
Ann Eliza Webb was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1844. Her parents were Chauncey Griswold Webb and Eliza Jane Churchill. Her father was a carriage-maker, and her mother was a schoolteacher. Ann Eliza was the youngest of five children.
When Ann Eliza was about one year old, her father took a second wife. This was part of the polygamous practices of the LDS Church at that time. In 1846, her family moved to the Salt Lake Valley with other Mormon pioneers. As a teenager in Utah, Ann Eliza enjoyed local plays and dancing.
First Marriage and Divorce
Ann Eliza married James Dee on April 10, 1863, in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. They had two sons together, Edward Wesley and Leonard "Louis" Lorenzo. However, the couple later divorced. Ann Eliza often said that this marriage made her very unhappy.
Marriage to Brigham Young
Ann Eliza married Brigham Young on April 7, 1869. He was the second president of the LDS Church. At the time, he was 67 years old, and she was 24 and had been divorced. An LDS Church leader named Heber C. Kimball performed the ceremony.
Ann Eliza asked to live in her own home in Salt Lake City. Brigham Young agreed, as long as she visited his main home, the Lion House, sometimes. Ann Eliza later called herself Young's "wife number 19." However, others have called her his "27th wife" or even his "52nd wife." The exact number can be confusing because of how polygamous marriages were counted back then.
Divorce from Young
In 1873, Brigham Young allowed people who were not members of the LDS Church to live in homes of Latter-day Saints. A Methodist minister, Reverend C. C. Stratton, and his wife stayed with Ann Eliza. It is thought that their influence might have helped Ann Eliza decide to leave Young and the LDS Church.
Ann Eliza filed for divorce from Young in January 1873. This action gained a lot of public attention. She said that Young had treated her badly and left her. Young disagreed with her claims about his wealth.
Excommunication and Aftermath
Ann Eliza was removed from the LDS Church on October 10, 1874. Her divorce was finalized in January 1875. The court ordered Young to pay her money each month and also pay her court fees. When Young first refused, he was briefly put in jail and fined. However, the order for him to pay money was later canceled. This was because the court decided that a polygamous marriage was not legally valid.
After being excommunicated, Ann Eliza joined the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Speaking Out Against Polygamy
Ann Eliza traveled across the United States and spoke out against polygamy, Mormonism, and Brigham Young. She even spoke before the U.S. Congress in April 1874. A few months later, a law called the Poland Act was passed. This law made it easier for the government to take legal action against polygamists in Utah. Many people believe Ann Eliza's speeches helped lead to new laws against polygamy in 1882 and 1887.
Wife No. 19
In 1876, Ann Eliza published her autobiography called Wife No. 19. In the book, she wrote that she wanted to show the world what Mormonism was really like. She wanted to highlight the difficult situation of women in polygamy. She described it as a system that held women in a kind of "bondage." Her book is now available for anyone to read. It was also the basis for other books, including The Twenty-Seventh Wife and The 19th Wife.
Third Marriage
After her divorce from Brigham Young in 1875, Ann Eliza married Moses R. Denning. He was a wealthy logger from Manistee, Michigan, and was not a Mormon. He was known to have only one arm. Ann Eliza stopped giving her lectures against Mormonism and polygamy the week she married Denning.
Divorce from Denning
Around 1907, it was reported that Ann Eliza had divorced for the third time. She was living in Lansing, Michigan. Later, she returned to Utah to claim some money left to her by her first husband, James Dee.
Later Years
In 1908, Ann Eliza published a new version of Wife No. 19. This revised book was called Life in Mormon Bondage. In this version, she did not mention her first marriage to James Dee or her third marriage to Moses Denning.
By 1910, she had moved to Sparks, Nevada. She eventually became distant from her family, including her children. Her grandsons later said that neither of her sons stayed in touch with her after they grew up. Ann Eliza died at her home in Sparks on December 7, 1917, from pneumonia. She was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Reno, Nevada.
See also
- Celestial marriage
- Current state of polygamy in the Latter Day Saint movement
- History of civil marriage in the United States
- Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late 19th century
- Polygamy in North America
