Smoot Hearings - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Reed Smoot hearings were a series of Congressional hearings on whether the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

should seat U.S. Senator Reed Smoot

Reed Smoot (U. S. Senator)

Reed Owen Smoot was a native-born Utahn who was first elected to the United States Senate from Utah in 1903, and served as a Senator until 1933...

, who was elected by the Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

legislature in 1903. In addition to being a senator, Smoot was also an apostle

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy...

for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), one of the highest positions in that church. The hearings began in 1904 and continued until 1907, when the Senate voted to exclude him. The vote fell short of a two-thirds majority needed to expel a member and he retained his seat.

The premise of the controversy surrounding Smoot's seating in the Senate was claimed to be about the church's practice of polygamy

Polygamy

Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...

, which the church claimed to have officially abandoned

1890 Manifesto

The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

in 1890; as the hearings revealed, however, the practice continued well into the 20th century. For example, the President and Prophet of the LDS Church Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith

Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

cohabitated with his many wives and fathered eleven children after 1890. New plural marriages did end by 1909, but the practice continued until the polygamists died off.

The attorney who represented those protesting Smoot's admittance to the Senate, Robert W. Tayler, explained in his summation that polygamy was irrelevant and the real danger was Mormon belief in revelation. Although it has been claimed that polygamy was largely responsible for deep animosity between the LDS Church and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, in reality, it became a cause celebre to help unite Republicans against Democrats. Earlier, when it was well known that Brigham Young was a polygamist, the US President appointed him twice as territorial governor and the Senate ratified the appointment. Much of the American Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

establishment viewed the LDS Church with distrust. The establishment was also skeptical of Utah politics, which before gaining statehood in 1896 had at times been a theocracy

Theocracy

Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....

(theodemocracy

Theodemocracy

Theodemocracy is a political system that combines elements of theocracy and democracy.One concept of theodemocracy was theorized by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement...

) and in the early 20th century was still heavily dominated and influenced by the LDS Church.

Election

Prior to being called as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Smoot had run for a Senate position, but withdrew before the election. After becoming an apostle in 1900, he received the approval of church president Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith

Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

to run again in 1902 as a Republican. In January 1903, the Utah legislature chose him with 46 votes, compared to his Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

competitor, who won 16.

Controversy

Within days of his election, controversy brewed as he was charged with being "one of a self-perpetuating body of fifteen men who, constituting the ruling authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or 'Mormon' Church, claim, and by their followers are accorded the right to claim, supreme authority, divinely sanctioned, to shape the belief and control the conduct of those under them in all matters whatsoever, civil and religious, temporal and spiritual."

When Senator Smoot arrived in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, in late February 1903, he was met with protests and charges that he was a polygamist, charges he could easily disprove. Unlike B. H. Roberts, who upon election to the House of Representatives was not allowed to sit while hearings took place, Smoot was allowed to be seated.

Among the public, old charges of Danites, the Mountain Meadows massacre

Mountain Meadows massacre

The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...

, and Brigham Young

Brigham Young

Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...

's plural wives were discussed.

In January 1904, Senator Smoot prepared a rebuttal to these criticisms with the help of several non-Mormon lawyers. The actual hearings began in March. Mormon President Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith

Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

took the witness stand and was interrogated for three days. Apostles Matthias F. Cowley

Matthias F. Cowley

Matthias Foss Cowley , born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1897 until 1905. The town of Cowley in Wyoming is named after him. He was the father of Apostle Matthew Cowley by Abbie Hyde. ...

and John W. Taylor

John Whittaker Taylor

John Whittaker Taylor was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the son of John Taylor, the third president of the church...

did not show up after being subpoenaed. Apostle Marriner W. Merrill

Marriner W. Merrill

Marriner Wood Merrill born in Sackville, New Brunswick, was a pioneering settler of Cache Valley and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

ignored one subpoena and died soon after being subpoenaed a second time. Taylor fled to Canada. Other witnesses included James E. Talmage

James E. Talmage

James Edward Talmage born in Hungerford, Berkshire, England, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1911 until his death in 1933....

; Francis M. Lyman

Francis M. Lyman

Francis Marion Lyman was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He was the President of the Quorum from 1903 until his death....

, president of the Quorum of the Twelve at the time; Andrew Jensen, church historian; B. H. Roberts; and Moses Thatcher

Moses Thatcher

Moses Thatcher was an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

, who was dropped from the quorum in 1896.

According to historian Kathleen Flake:

The four-year Senate proceeding created a 3,500-page record of testimony by 100 witnesses on every peculiarity of Mormonism, especially its polygamous family structure, ritual worship practices, "secret oaths," open canon, economic communalism, and theocratic politics.[10] The public participated actively in the proceedings. In the Capitol, spectators lined the halls, waiting for limited seats in the committee room, and filled the galleries to hear floor debates. For those who could not see for themselves, journalists and cartoonists depicted each day's admission and outrage. At the height of the hearing, some senators were receiving a thousand letters a day from angry constituents. What remains of these public petitions fills 11 feet of shelf space, the largest such collection in the National Archives.

After years of hearings, the remaining charges of the opposition included:

That church leaders were still practicing plural marriage. Elder John W. Taylor and Elder Matthias F. Cowley
Matthias F. Cowley
Matthias Foss Cowley , born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1897 until 1905. The town of Cowley in Wyoming is named after him. He was the father of Apostle Matthew Cowley by Abbie Hyde. ...

were still performing plural marriages in Mexico and Canada, though John W. Taylor was later excommunicated for the practice.
That the church was exerting too much influence on Utah politics.
That members were required to take oaths in the temples to seek revenge on the United States. (See Oath of vengeance
Oath of vengeance
In Mormonism, the oath of vengeance was an oath that was made by participants in the Endowment ritual of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between about 1845 and the 1920s, in which participants vowed to pray that God would avenge the blood of the prophets Joseph Smith, Jr...

)
That members believed revelation was higher than the laws of the land.

The defense included:

"Reed Smoot possesses all the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution to make him eligible to a seat in the Senate, and the regularity of his election by the legislature of the State of Utah is not questioned in any manner."
"Aside from his connection with the Mormon Church, so far as his private character is concerned, it is, according to all witnesses, irreproachable, for all who testify on the subject agree or concede that he has led and is leading an upright life..."
"So far as mere belief and membership in the Mormon Church are concerned, he is fully within his rights and privileges under the guaranty of religious freedom given by the Constitution of the United States..."
In relation to the oath, the testimony is "thereby shown to be limited in amount, vague and indefinite in character, and utterly unreliable, because of the disreputable and untrustworthy character of the witnesses."

Of note, Senator Fred Dubois

Fred Dubois

Fred Thomas Dubois was a controversial American politician who served two terms in the United States Senate from Idaho. He was best-known for his opposition to the gold standard and his efforts to disenfranchise Mormon voters....

of Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

fought viciously against Smoot. His intensity caused some to believe that Smoot was as powerful as Dubois claimed. Dubois' ally, Senator Julius C. Burrows

Julius C. Burrows

Julius Caesar Burrows was a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan.-Early life and education:...

of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, made the following statement, speaking of the history of Mormon polygamy:

One supporter was Senator Boies Penrose

Boies Penrose

Boies Penrose was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1897 until his death in 1921.-Biography:...

of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Addressing the subject of polygamy, Penrose reportedly glared at one or more of his Senate colleagues who had a reputation for philandering and said, "As for me, I would rather have seated beside me in this chamber a polygamist who doesn't polyg than a monogamist who doesn't monag."

On February 20, 1907, the issue came to a conclusion as a vote was held in the senate. Smoot won, and he remained a senator for 26 more years.

Aftereffects

President Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith

Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

on April 6, 1904, issued a "Second Manifesto

Second Manifesto

The "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of the land and set down the principle that those entering into or...

," which reaffirmed the first regarding polygamy. He also declared any church officer who performed a plural marriage, as well as the offending couple, would be excommunicated. He clarified that the policy applied worldwide, not just in North America. Two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy...

, John W. Taylor

John Whittaker Taylor

John Whittaker Taylor was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the son of John Taylor, the third president of the church...

and Matthias F. Cowley

Matthias F. Cowley

, resigned in October 1905 following the manifesto. This change to the Twelve was made public in April 1906, when George F. Richards

George F. Richards

George Franklin Richards was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 9, 1906 until his death...

, Orson F. Whitney

Orson F. Whitney

Orson Ferguson Whitney born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 9, 1906 until his death.-Early life:...

, and David O. McKay

David O. McKay

David Oman McKay was the ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , serving from 1951 until his death. Ordained an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, McKay was a general authority for nearly 64 years, longer than anyone else in LDS Church...

were added to the quorum.

Election

Controversy

Aftereffects

See also