Show I hy It was ort oil April 20 1877 that Chief Ju Michael er o ot of the supreme court lc tp te creed cleed that the plural s be be- Brigham Young and Ann AnnEliza AnnEliza AnnEliza Eliza Yo YoUng ng was was void void and he di directed directed dl- dl that thit al orders ordez lor for tempo temporary t alimony which had not nt then been een complied with with with-be be revoked e 1 and annulled Tho The act ct of congress of 1862 pertaining to plural marriage was held hel i by the Church of Jesus I IChrIst Christ of Latter day Saints as not in accord wit withy with 1 the constitution of ot the States in that it de declared de- de dared th that thai congress shall make malte no law respecting an establishment cl Ct f religion or prohibiting the free ex exercise exercise ex- ex excise thereof They also held that celestial marriage including plurality of wives was was ws an establishment establishment of religion who looked upon it as a divine revelation The act therefore of 1862 was held by them to be an Infringement upon their religion and religious Ubert liberty and an invasion of a most sacred right which had had been guaranteed guaranteed guaranteed guar guar- to them then b by law AN ANXIOUS IOUS FOR TEST The church through its Its' l' l l-iad l a l rs 15 had long been anxious to malta make a aest test est case and have the matter passed upon by the United States court George Reynolds was s se selected selected se- se to make the fight light He had married Mary Iary Ann Tuddenham and Amelia Jane Schofield He de detailed detailed de- de tailed this to to toa a grand jur jury which had been selected by the Third distrIct district district dis dis- court which returned an in indictment Indictment In- In against him for bigamy Regarding the congressional act att of 1862 a report had been bee submitted submitted submitted sub sub- by General Babcock to lo the authorities in Washington in m which he said that the act of congress of 1862 1362 prohibiting plural plural plural plu plu- ral marriage had never been en enforced enforced enforced en- en forced in the territory that President President President dent Young told me Babcock that he wanted wanted- it brought before the courts and would place no obstacle In the he way and in tact fact would help to bring it st before the courts He said he believed belleve it was as unconstitutional as asit ast it t is against one of the foundations of their The attempt to enforce it had been a failure and I believe bellee it will willbe willbe be not because the people oppose he courts court but the fanatical views of af f the th-a people render such failure certain The Thea laws ws' ws make it Itt x t crime to take more than one wife Before the offender C can n be tried he must roust be indicted before a Jury of the land This jury is of ot necessity entirely or oi mostly Mormons and no Mormon can see a crime in tal taking ng two or three wives In accordance with Gods God's revelation to them The re- re Is Is on n one is indicted j. j t BEFORE The Gentiles in 1 the ter territory ter hought thought they would have a Gen- Gen le le settlement in in Inthe the territory in he lip ti mining ruining country a Gentile jury could be but the last congress cut his hs portion off and annexed it to Nevada evada so the Mormons are ate even stronger than before Reynolds had two trials the first one being heard su March farch 31 1875 1375 was tried before Justice Emison Em- Em ison wn presiding in the Third dis- dis court He lIe occupied the bench the time that Judge McKean a vas removed an and the arrival of his Justice Emerson was as a a. sound Jurist and andie andie ie ie had a way of ot disposing of business busi busi- ness fless of the court that was unusually unusually un un- un- un usually gratifying ing to all aU parties on S The Re Reynolds case was prose prose- presented by District Attorn Attorney y Carey vl Ue the firm of Sutherland Bates z t Snow defended Seven Mormons inC five Gentiles were in the jury box and among the first witnesses was Amelia Reynolds who vh told the court and ana jury that Uta t the he The had married Reynolds eYnolds in August Autust Au Au- gust 1874 The jur jury returned a verdict of guilty with a atSon uton for fOl mercy The judgment if rS the court was Imprisonment in he territorial prison for one year yeal I it tt hard labor plus a a. fine of |