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Show MORMON ELDER, INVOLVED IN SGWDAL "1 BELIEVE IN ' POLYGAMY AND PREACH IT" Elder Acord of Provo, Accused by Denver Woman of Causing Caus-ing Separation of Husband and Wife; In 1 90S, She Says, He Wrote a Sensational Letter Urging Them to Embrace Doctrine of Plural Marriages. "Of coorne, I believe In polygamy. I have always preached it and still do. I am not a polygamlst mywlf but my mother was a polygamist wife and I believe such a life is proper and right." This frank statement waa made to a representative of THE TELEGBAM last evening by Abram A. Acord. an elder in the Mormon church. Elder Acord is a leading business man of Provo. He is high in the councils of his church and frequently attends meetings meet-ings of church officials in this city. Elder Acord's statement, made freely and without reserve, is a drrect denial to the insistent claim advanced by many Mormon leaders in recent years more particularly since the beginning of the Smoot investigation, that neither the church as an organization, through Its presidents, apostles, or elders, coun tenances polygamy. Elder A .'or. I is the ern'ral figure in a scandal which is shaking the "fiil and business cire'.-s of lner iust at present. Mrs. Ida Krdmar., divorced wife ..f W. H Frdman. head "f the YV. H. Frdman Sugar Grinding . ..mpa-iv. directly accuses the Mormon official with a large measure of x i onsibilit v in the breaking up of her homo. She declares that, verhaliv. and bv letter, he urged bo'h her and her husband t" submit to the doctrine of polygamy. j "Adapted to Polygamy." j The eldr, according to documentrv evidence which is now a part of court , records in Perver. declared that phv- I sical laws adapt man to p.dygamv. i while the " pr.icrr.it ivo activity of w.- man is limited. ' ' By such arguments as this, Erdman. J according to his former wife's allega- i tions. waf converted to the Mormon be- lief. He told her, she says, "that he could love six women as wives as well as one." Because, r.s she as-crts. -he refused to subscribe to -his do, trine. Krdrnnn divorced his wife a v.ar ago. In her suit to have the de.r.e of Mivorce so aside. Mrs Krdman tells of Klder Acord's aetivitv in their famnv affairs and declares that her husband and Mrs t. F. Charleston, a' one time h"r hchf friend. h;i r,..vv Mrs, Krdmai: No. I. conspire.i to get rid of her that th-v might wed. Elder Acord's Letter. In this .o r. uec! ion she pro.ru r a portion "f a letter writ'.-n to her and her husband by Klder Acord as rrceti'lv as April i 1. l'.".i, in win. h the . l l. r said : "I eii r Brother Frdman 1 kr.ow v..: are sincere, and that in time the truth will he unfolded to v,.iir perfect under standing. The more vou know the work the better v. mi will like it. Rut don't get . 1 is.ouragc H if v..;i can't grasp it all a" once, for r is a g-.nt:i and ilk" all other things takes time We all felt that vni were .lung r- markablv well up. mi th" g 1 work, arid ;.,-! w ill h. ss vou "Say, Sister Erdman. are you con verted to polygamy yet? If not. you just look the matter fairly and squarely in the face, and lay off that spirit of jealousy which retards all spiritual growth, and you will know that the principle 'is God given. Just think of tho natural endowments of man and woman The procreative activity of one is limited of the other unlimited. I Now I will ask you to look the matter j over from all sides and tell me why God so ordained this, if he expects his children to be monogamists? "I shall await your answer n these quest'ons. The principle . f polvgamv is i either rignt or wrong If it is wrong. I then the Latter Pav Saints arc n j.cr nicious people and without power to i save souls. ruf if tight and Co.! given, I then we. of ad people, are t;.,'s j chosen. The nations of the carta will i vet demand that the principle be re stored and pidiciouslv practiced. It is the onlv means whereby the evils of the dav mav be adjudicated " Mrs. Erdman reiterated her charge against Finer Aoord in an interview m Penver It this she said: "Polvgamv was the bark up-n which the matrimonial bark of Krdman and mvself was stranded, and I now pro poe to be justified before the world. When 1 refused to adopt a belief jn Mormonism and polvgamv at Frdman's solicitation, he said it was 'all jeal oiibv' on mv part, and that he could love a hall1 dozen women as wives. Mv refusal. I suppose, and the 'cruel ty'' to which he referred was mv ' fierv temper,' of which he complained in his divorce suit. "The letter was written to him and proves ronelusivelv that he openlv pS pouse.i1 the Mormon belief. Why, he used to make me receive these people in our home and allow them to hold meetings everv Thursday evening Tha' is what Acord refers to when he sas, (Continued on pae I.) , MORMON ELDER IS INVOLVED IN SCANDAL (Continued from page 1.) 'I seem to be getting ready for your flace. ' I have not the slightest doubt hat if I had been won over to the belief, be-lief, as Erdman wished, his divorce suit would never .have ben filed. He would have been very well content to have had me for a wife, and perhaps have persuaded Mrs. G. E. Charleston to live with him at the same time." "But," continued Mrs. Erdman, with her eyes flashing, "I was not that sort of a woman. I may have been unfortunately unfor-tunately married before, but Just the same, I believe in fidelity when one is married, and my unfortunate experience was not my fault in any way. Erdman knew it, too, Just as well as anything. Moreover, since he was given a decree of divorce on the ground of my cruelty and temper, I'd like to know what Woman Wo-man would not lose patience when she had polygamy preached to her day in and day oot?" The former wife declares that she once broached the subject of her husband's hus-band's inclination toward Mprmoniim to her friend, Mrs. Charleston, and asked what she thought of it. "She declared that she thought it all right if one reallv believes in it," said Mrs. Erdman. "but I doubt if she would give the same answer since she claims Erdman for her husband." Elder Acord Affirms. The extract from the letter to Mr. and Mrs. Erdman was read bv THE TELEGRAM to Elder Arord. who is in Provo. "I am not sure whether I wrote it or not," said the eldr, when asked regarding its authorship. "I should have to (c the entire letter before 1 could answer. "I may have written it. "I am acquainted with Mr. Erdman and his former wife and have railed upon them at their home." "Did you urge Mrs. Erdman to em- brace belief in polygamy?" was aaked. "I think I did," said the elder. "I believed in polygamy and have argued in favor of it." "Do you Btill believe in polygamy?" "I do." "Do you still preach it?" "Why, yen, I do. I believe it is right and proper." May Excommunicate Him. According to J. A. McRae. a Mormon Mor-mon (Mer in Denver, Elder Acord is t.ow in danger of excommunication. McRae is rjuoted as saving "Acord came to Denver to relieve some of the traveling missionaries and to assist me in handling my mail. I doubt verv much that he wrote a letter Fuch as Mrs. Erdman offers to the press, as he knows the Mormon religion too well for that. We do not tolerate po lvgamv. and his ideas as expressed in that letter lead me to believe that it was not written by him. "If he wrote that letter, he will be excommunicated by our church. "She Can Baise Hell." "That woman could arid can cause more hell in one minute than any woman wo-man I ever saw." says Frank A. Erdman, Erd-man, partner of his brother, W. II. Erdman. Erd-man. "My brother married Mrs. Charleston quite a long time after the divorce from Mrs. Ida Erdman, and there was no conspiracy- between them." |