What do you make of this??

[Silvana Siddali]

Now here's a fascinating if slightly disturbing image. This is a portrait of Mormon Bishop Ira Eldredge and his three wives. According to the LDS Church Archives in Salt Lake City, the photo is dated roughly 1864.

What do you make of the fact that none of the ladies are wearing collars or cuffs? The two younger wives are dressed in very similar outfits, with nearly identical jewelry (e.g., large hoop earrings.) The two outer wives both have watch chains; as far as I can tell the middle one doesn't.

I've been looking for images of trans-Mississippi ladies, so I was interested to come across this one (and would be really grateful to see any others.)

[CC sewing]

Re: What do you make of this??

Also, what is the significance of the black ribbons around their necks? Is it some type of jewelry or a religious item?

[KathyBradford]

Re: What do you make of this??

Is it possible that the photo was mislabeled? The middle one looks so much like him that she could easily be his daughter.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: What do you make of this??

Kathy, one nice thing about the LDS affinity for geneology is that most of these early photos are usually very well ID'd, and can be cross-referenced with complete church and municipal records. Early Mormons were more into paperwork and clear lines of family relations than any accountant or blue-blood I've ever met. :)

I don't know of any religious significance to the ribbons at the neckline--I think that may just be a "family thing", and the lack of collars/cuffs I'd chalk up to either family preference (or poverty), or else a regional variation, though many of the images I've seen of other Utah settlers from this era use collars/cuffs, etc, so I wouldn't put it into a "strong regional variation" category. I've seen a few images of women (from all over, not just the western territories) that skipped white accessories--certainly far, far more that use white accessories than not, however.

Silvana, if you're wanting more images specifically of Utah settlement, check your library for some of these books:

The Gathering of Zion, by Wallace Stegner
I Walked to Zion, by Susan Arrington Madsen (Also, I Sailed To Zion)
Trail of Hope, by William Slaughter

Those are four off the top of my head... The Gathering one and Trail of Hope are the most photo-rich concerning adults; the Madsen books cover emigrating children, and are all journal and memoir accounts... very nifty.

If you're wanting LDS-specific sources, I can look for some others. If it's just "the West," I'll keep my eye out there, too.

[Spinster]

Re: What do you make of this??

It would be worthwhile to explore the ethnic background of these ladies.

I'm currently reading Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of the 1860s, Mary Ann Hafen, Univeristy of Nebraska Press.

One image in this book shows a similar neck treatment on a dress-on a much older woman, and taken 2 decades post war. While those around her exhibit updated, though conservative fashions, she still steadfastly clings to the severe hairstyle of the 1860's, as well as the drop shoulder dress---and a ribbon around her neck with no collar.

The family immigrated in 1860, the image was taken in Switzerland in 1885, when the family returned on mission.

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And Kathy, in looking at 'family' resemblance between husbands and wives, realize that these were small communities , and many of these marriages were made of economic necessity after horrific pogroms ( that's the Jewish word--I don't know the proper word for the religious murders that took place against the LDS) that left many women widowed and without support.

The LDS branch of my own family in the mid-19th century was a rather prosperous one, until one of those 'incidents' ---and when the smoke cleared, the man who gathered up the remaining widows, married them and moved west, was the great uncle to at least two of them, and an in-law to several others.

[Carolann Schmitt]

Re: What do you make of this??

I also have a number of mid-Atlantic (PA, NY, NJ, MD, DE) images of women without collars and cuffs. They're a much smaller percentage than those with collars and cuffs, but they're not uncommon. The fabrics in the dresses, especially the second from the left, are quite nice as is the jewelry, so I don't think poverty is an issue here.

The neck ribbon with a small pin or brooch is also fairly common, and even more so in many of the English/Scottish images I've seen. It was also popular with Queen Victoria and her daughters.

In addition to the small brooch on the ribbon, all three are wearing brooches at the neckline of their dresses. And the woman in the center is wearing a watch chain; you can see a portion of it close to the center front of her dress (squiggly lighter colored line) and where it is fashioned to her watch. The way it lies against her body makes me think it is finely-braided hair. All three women also have lovely belt buckles.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: What do you make of this??

Good point on the accessories and jewelry, Carolann. They don't look poor. It's a very "unifying" look for them--if it wasn't an everyday fashion, it definitely looks planned. Hey, this way they get to show off twice as many brooches.

Terre, pograms is as good a word as any. Mobocracy might also apply. :)

Regarding the fairly broad age differences between the wives: looking at the issue (or non-issue) of various polygamous unions, it's possible to speculate that some marriages involved physical relations, and others were purely economic or political--giving a woman the "protection" of a household and a husband, but without any physical expectations on either part. Oddly enough, territorial Utah society allowed a great deal of female independence, even for unmarried women, though marriage was still an expected norm. It's estimated only something like 10% to 15% or so of Mormon men were in polygamous marriages--monogamy was very prevalent, as those polygamous families were an expensive proposition... but many hands make light work, and the arrangements had their positive aspects for settlement society.

In this particular picture, and given the date, I'd say the older woman is the wife of his youth, and the other two are much more recent additions, more likely for spiritual/religious politics reasons than for economic necessity. Though the persecution continued right into the Utah Territory (including a brief war with the Federal government in the late 50s), the wholesale slaughter decreased abruptly in the late 1840s, with the push and move to Utah--and with it, fewer "necessity" marriages. The younger wives look to be under 30--making them among the first generation of girls to reach maturity with polygamy as part of the religious culture. While many of that generation would become "first wives" themselves, quite a few would marry older gentlemen, well-respected in the religion and the community, and come to their husband's household as second, third, or fourth wives.

The downside--the Homestead acts did not allow a man to claim additional acreage for additional wives. :)

[MickCole]

Re: What do you make of this??

Is it possible that the photo was mislabeled? The middle one looks so much like him that she could easily be his daughter.

One of my Woolsey cousins (several times removed) Aggatha Ann Woolsey was the first wife of John Doyle Lee, one of the earliest practitioners of polygamy. Shortly after polygamy was introduced, John married both one of Aggatha's sisters, Rachel, and Aggatha and Rachel's widowed mother Abigail, who was a wife only in the sense that John was a provider and protector. So, the notion that of multiple relationships within early Mormon multiple marriages may not be as far-fetched as one might think. For more on Aggatha, see, for example, http://www.wadhome.org/lee/chapter_02.html.
Mick Cole
SCV, SUVCW

[Hargis, G. 5 A-1]

Re: What do you make of this??

More into paperwork? You betctcha.
Looking at the rolls of the Winter Quarters 5th Ward (1846-48) and the list of trekkers in the Daniel Spencer/Ira Elsredredge Company of emigrants that came to Utah in 1847, we see Ira Eldredge (b. 1810 Vermont) Nancy Black Eldredge (b. 1812 Maryland) and two daughters* — Diana and Ester Ann (b. 1837 and 1839 – respectively – Indiana)
Looking at the image posted, it seems that the older woman would be Nancy B. (she’d be 52 in 1864) As for the two younger looking women – the might be wives** as per the caption (bishops were encouraged to do that sort of thing to set a good example) but they look a lot like Ira and Nancy and look like 27- and 25-year olds to me.


* There were sons, but they clearly weren’t in the image under discussion. There is mention of another daughter who was born and died in 1834.

** I’ve yet to find other wives of Ira Eldredge in Mormon lists … but that isn’t the same as there not being any.

[Silvana Siddali]

Re: What do you make of this??

Thanks for this fascinating background information. I really appreciate your taking the time to do the research and report it here. Makes me feel much better about those two young ladies.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: What do you make of this??

Very nifty addition! Thanks, Mr. Hargis.

[Linda Humphries]

Re: What do you make of this??

I love this picture!

I do not see any wedding bands on the younger women's hands. Could they not be the older couple's daughters? The woman in the middle favors the old man a great deal.

[Hargis, G. 5 A-1]

Re: What do you make of this??

I love this picture!

I do not see any wedding bands on the younger women's hands. Could they not be the older couple's daughters? The woman in the middle favors the old man a great deal.

I'm with you in that "picture loving."
To me, the woman on the end looks like a younger version of the woman next to the Bishop.
Looks like Mendelian Inheritance played a hand in the distribution of facial traits.