Show BLACK SATURDAY AT bilack BLACK 9 FOOT for the following account of the proceedings in the district court at Blac blackfoot kloot idaho on the ath last the occasion on which eight of our brethren were arraigned before judge hays and received their sentences we are indebted to the southern idaho independent which paper is deserving of credit for its enterprise in obtaining a stenographic report of wha what was said on saturday the last day of the district court at blackfoot the united states cases were again called f for sor or the of passing sentence upon uron the defendants elend ants judge nays hays mr joseph M phelps you on have been indicted by the grand grand larmand jury and convicted by a tri trl triai trial al jury of unlawful cohabitation have you anything to bay say why the sentence of the court sho should saz sag d not now be pronounced upon you mr bir fphelps I 1 dont know that I 1 have I 1 am a little sorry that I 1 am ar reigned here for a practice that I 1 believe to be a divine doctrine ItI it is spart part of my rell reil religion and while I 1 am amenable flon rion to the lawa laws aws a of f the land I 1 hold there is a higher law I 1 wish your honor to take this viem I 1 have endeavored all my life to live according to the laws of the land I 1 tried a good while to find that mormonism was wrong I 1 am convinced that it Is divine I J would not give a cent for lor a reli rell religion gloa that does not go f further urther than the bonds of this world my blood thin as any mans when I 1 see the flag of my country I 1 love my country count try and I 1 have always ende endeavored avOre to instill a patriotic spirit in my children I 1 do not wish to weary the court I 1 could say more judge hays hayse geo you have been found guilty of resisting an officer of this court of obstructing justice by securing a fugitive from an officer of this court what have you to say why the sentence of the court should not be pronounced upon you mr air parkinson nothing more than to repeat what I 1 have said I 1 am not guilty of the crime with which I 1 am charged that is ail all ju judge ge haysi caysi have been informed that you have been advising since this trial others who have been convicted to make no promise of obedience to the law Is that mor Wor formation mation matlon correct or have I 1 been misinformed Mr air Parkinson have given no direct know of in general conversation expressed my views as to how I 1 would feel it brought up here charged with an offense under the law which is a part of my religion f r judge hayse hays I 1 desire that you make no evasive answer I 1 have been informed ha have eAd advised some of the gentlemen rent zent lemen who have been co evicted of illegal illegal cohabitation and who now stand with you before the court to make no promise of future suture f obedience to the law but on the other hand band you have advised them to state that they would not ob eythe obey the law have you so 80 advised them counseled or in any manner sought to persuade them to do so mr parkinson tark Park fason iason no sir judge hays I 1 am glad giad iad lad to learn that I 1 have been beem misinformed Mr Alex aiex li Le eatham allam have you anything tosa to why the judgment of the court should d ner net now be pronounced against you you have been found guilty of illegal cohabitation mr air leatham please your honor I 1 took an oath of allegiance to the government in the year 1863 1 I have never repented repeated it I 1 took that oath a lozen dozen times crossing the plains I 1 was willing to take that oath and tand stand by it a dozen times every levery morning before breakfast soldiers were there I 1 guess about ayery ten mile sand we had to be corralled and asked if we were willing to take the oath of allegiance I 1 said yes 19 down south about sanpete San pete I 1 did military service three months and was every day in active service from sunup sun up until sun down I 1 still uphold this government but I 1 must for lor conscience cong cons clence sake preserve that heaven born right that god has given me tae I 1 have never illegally cohabited with any woman not my wife I 1 have had two wives I 1 had them because of my thorough h conviction convict fin lin that it is the divine will of the alm aim almighty lity it is part of my religion I 1 hoid hoff hold myself pure and undefiled dented un would to god that all men were just lust so I 1 have a wife now and ten children nine of them under ten years bears of ag age e all I 1 ask is the privilege of taking care of them of supporting them of providing for their wants honorably and of living ong my religion as I 1 understand it judge hays you have only one wife li living viny ving A no sir Q what have you to say diance to tb the laws of your country in the future A I 1 have to gay gar sav sat this I 1 have a heaven beaven born right that god has given me which I 1 desire not to relinquish either to man or the government Q ln in other words do you yon claim the ra right ht to marry another woman in the f future suture if you f feel eel so disposed A cihat chhat that is part of my ray religion to have more wives than one I 1 am fifty years old and I 1 may never undertake such auch a thing but I 1 hold bold this doctrine to be revealed from god jq A you have no promise or assurance of future f goo good d conduct or obedience to the law of your country A no man knows what he will do in the future I 1 have nothing to say about that judge hays mr A L blackburn an fn you have been convicted oc co habitation what hav have e you to say bay why the judgment of the law sl st ouid not now noi be pronounced upon you arr mr blackburn Bick burn I 1 have haves say like these other gentlemen gent leme a I 1 consider it ta part parl r t of my religion I 1 have two w wives ve s living and have hase nothing to retract rew row I 1 have endeavor endeavored ei to support them and protect them honorably I 1 do not know that they lack for anything I 1 cannot can not deny any part of my religion that I 1 am satisfied is of god if I 1 did not have an inwald inward conviction I 1 that it is the will of the almighty I 1 would not be in that order of marriage i I 1 have no desire to be in opposition 0 t this government or any ot of its laws but I 1 must conform to what I 1 am satisfied is the will of god I 1 hold that I 1 am in duty bound to obey ills his laws in ail all it due respect to the law under which I 1 have been tried Q I 1 conclude from your lan ian language that you are not a native of this country A no I 1 was born in england and have been in this country 11 12 1 years Q are you a citizen of bf tue united states A yes sir judge ha hays mr ur biorn bjorn what hav have e you to say w why the judgment of th the e court should not now be pronounced upon you bishop bjorn I 1 have only this to say that I 1 have made sacred covenants with those two women while there was no law against it those covenants arethas are that we would love one another I 1 have promised to support them and care for them and the children and I 1 wish no ot other herway way than to do so lam iam I 1 am sorry for my situation I 1 am sorry to be in opposition to this country of which I 1 am a citizen on the other hand I 1 will obey the of the everlasting gospel I 1 can not refuse todo to do that I 1 can bear to go goto to prison for or years rather than do that 2 Q how many wives have youa you A two judge hays you have spoken of ra your u r wives wises sAIr mr blackburn how many have ve you A two judge hayser hays mr phelps how many have you A 1 I have three judge hays mr nahum porter you have been convicted of illegal cohabitation what have you to say why the sentence ef of the court should not now be pronounced renounced upon you bishop porter nothing at allair all ail sir I 1 would like to ask a que question judge haysi caysi will hear you bp porter I 1 watched the evidence in my case very closely but I 1 could not riot find any that proved that I 1 had bad co habited with more than one wp nian since the passage of the edmunds law judge hays I 1 would say this you failed to observe the evidence closely I 1 am afraid that you ou are not a good lawyer or you would have discovered a ample ampie evidence oa on which the jury might nind find a verdict I 1 will ask you if you von have more than one wife A yes sir judge hays then the jury have not convicted an innocent man bp porter what is unlawful cohabitation judge hays have you more inore than one wife A 1 I have Q have H aveytu you cohabited with be second d or plural wife since the pat pas sage sae a of f the act A I 1 have not judge hays I 1 shall be pleased to hear from you I 1 wish to know whether you haye have been violating the provisions of the united states law in the past three years bishop porter that is the reason I 1 ask the question to know whether I 1 have or not judge hays I 1 think you ought to know have you lived with more than one woman as a wife during the past three years bishop porter that is just what I 1 said a while ago that I 1 have not judge hays the jury have found that you ou have been guilty of unlawful coha cohabitation citation in order to constitute this crime it is not necessary i that you should hold sexual rela relations eions with them it is sufficient and a violation of the law if you hold them out to the world as your wives the jaw does not require that you hhall tile the children upon the otner bandit han dilt is your duty as a good citizen lo 10 support those children though they were born to you out of legitimate wedlock and as a good citizen it would be your d duty u ty to support art the woman that has trusted you you can support her as a brother would support his sister as a gentleman would support his friend you may visit her for proper purposes but f for or no immoral purpose as understood by the law I 1 will ask if in it that view it is your purpose to obey the laws of your country tr as they exist at present ishop bishop porter I 1 do 10 not wih wiil to in make a ke a any promise I 1 have lne ine ineil i i to obe obey the baws laws yet I 1 am here ti lilay tf tay lay I 1 do not know how far I 1 ma may max go judge hays are the crill ehll ehli aeji rey of your second or plural wife sotir your children A she has ne no children she had llad one that died Q was that your child A yes sir I 1 claim PO so but it vas was begotten before the ekmunda law jaw took I 1 effect Q state if in the future vo you will vill live within the provisions 0 at ih eti efi 1 munds law the law of tile united states A I 1 have made up my mind with tile the krestof these gentlemen it is pretty retty hard to make promises and keepman keep Min uin them I 1 know what I 1 have done in the past i am berf i willing jo I 1 0 take the pen altif the law if I 1 break it J judge hays mr garrison been convicted of tion what have you to say why the judgment of the be pronounced upon you mr air garrison an apostate I 1 would say a great deal if you give ove me the privilege I 1 hav have I 1 but oge oue one wife I 1 think tue ane court was satisfied of that though I 1 was found guilty I 1 did not consider that I 1 was concerning the edmunds law I 1 thought it was made for polygamous marria marriages es I 1 never saw the law until after I 1 came to blackfoot I 1 wish to say that I 1 have always been a loyal citizen I 1 lam iam am a native of the south and was there during the rebellion I 1 have three scars made by rebel bullets I 1 trying to kill me roe because I 1 was doin doln doing secret service bervice for the government ern ment 1 I should have tried to put this woman away hut but she had no home and all I 1 could do would be to turn her out of doors since I 1 went away I 1 have settled up with this lady and have said she must go aw ay I 1 dont donl minu think this court or any other will have occasion te to pass sentence upon me again Q do I 1 understand loulu you in the presence of this court and people here assembled sem bled to promise that you will in the future obey the laws of your country A that is my Intent intention ion lon Q you promise to abstain from legal cobaL cohabitation with more than one om oman an A that ls is is 19 my feel seel feeling in and zene generally rally raily when wehen I 1 take a bostion I 1 stick pretty close to it Q 1 have been informed it has come to the ears of the court that gentlemen who are standing beside you and upon whom it is expected the law will be pronounced have advised you not to promise to obey thalah have I 1 been correctly informed A I 1 dont know if it hus his been done in that shape the strongest conversation was by other individuals who are not concerned in this matter at all some of these men have said you may as well go goon on with us ane one individual urged me to come back bark into the church and marry this woman loa ida I 1 do not belong to the church and I 1 do not expect to any more two or three of at them may have heen been gassing they sald said you h had bad a d 0 etter oetter come and stay your I 1 ful fui ul time tm ef lf you go ica away before beto re we do we shall feel bad about it I 1 told them them 1 I should go away the first time I 1 could Q you y do not belong to their church ano aa N sir si r t i Q you i did when your went to 0 bishop bh bis hop porter and asked a permit to marry this woman A yes sir Q athe the church denied it to you A yes sir Q and then you left the church A that was not the only came causse I 1 had a son in inlaw labaw law judge hays we do not care for that judge hays flays mr arthur peck you yuu have been convicted of illegal cobabe citation what have you to say why the judgment ui tow co court urt should not adt be pronounced against you A I 1 nothing only I 1 would like to ak awk 0 one I 1 1 e question which of my wives shall shail 1 I 1 1 live ive with judge hays live with your first your lawful wife you may support anid arid take care of both of them but liv jiro with your le legitimates 1 wife I 1 dont believe intro in two the liw law does not recognize two As a good citizen it is your duty duly i to support the woman who has bor borne ne you children but not to main tain with her the relation rela reia tiou tion of husband hus bandi baudi what have 3 to say yay as to promises promised for the f future will you obey the laws of your country A I 1 dont know what the future will bring forth I 1 have no promises te to make makr judge hays ur air isaac isaa nash bash you have been convicted of illegal cohabitation ationo have you anything to sa say Y why the sentence ot tile the law should not now be pronounced upon you A I 1 dave nave been beed in this country 36 years Q from what country iid lid ild did you come A from wales As one of the gentlemen said I 1 have helped to make this country helped to build bridges kill snakes and tight fight the indians I 1 brought a wife with me an invalid she had bad no children and I 1 love children y your our honor I 1 I 1 loved her and tried to do the best I 1 could to honor the lassof laws of my adopted country I 1 came here young and I 1 lam iam am now pretty old 63 62 years old although I 1 dont look that that in the year believing belleci n g that I 1 had knowledg know knowledge led e within myself that celest celestial idi idl marriage was waa a divine law and one of the ordinances of our church I 1 took the opportunity and embraced it I 1 married another wife I 1 made a cov enama with her and with my god that I 1 would uphold and cherish her through time and through all eternity god has blessed me with children that woman lis its is the mother of eight two I 1 have buried my aly first wife had no children through disease she took to my little children and has acted as a mother to them viem I 1 have been a moral wan nian I 1 hate blasphemy I 1 have been found guilty of unlawful cohabitation that i is true if the term means to hold the them out as mv my wives they are my and I 1 love |