A broken promise: Jacob, Rose and Turner's marriage plans

Jacob stared at the older woman, angry. Lines creased his forehead as he weighed his whether-to's. Finally, he stood and walked into the tent. When he emerged, Rose trailed along behind petulantly, her arm looking to be a permanent attachment to his hand.

"Siddown Rose and hear me out. I ain't comfortable with head-on talkin like this where I have to rein in my temper. Usually fer me, I only talk head-on when I'm bein challenged. But you got to know this thing I already know.  If what yer Ma explains is true, you got to know at least this one thing and I'm damned fer tellin ya and damned if I don't."
"Jacob, you don't have to -"
"Shut up, Rose! You tole yer Ma to shut it and now I'm a tellin you the same. Shut yer mouth and jes listen! Unnerstand?"

He was angry ...and afraid...and Rose saw both. She had to laugh.
"Please continue Jacob. You're quite interesting when you're angry."


Blushing, he saw Abigail squelch a giggle, felt his blush and blustered on without fanfare or preamble; just straight to the point.
"Rose, afore he left, Turner Cole tole me he'd marry you with no holdin back at all and made me promise never to tell anybody.
I ain't...til now."


"Then why didn't he say so?"
"Would'na been proper on his part. And how'd he know you would'na joint up with the Church just to egg im on?"


"He thought I would do something like that? Just to catch him?"
And before her own temper pushed out words of disgust, she caught her mother's silent rebuke.
You did do something like that when you got baptized anyway. Don't get righteous about it now.


Abigail was right and Rose could only stare into Jacob's eyes, not sensing the man's pain in discussing her affections concerning another man.


Jacob still had that same feeling in his gut.
Every damn time he thought about her anymore...
"Jacob Hannah, are you telling me Turner Cole went home with the idea he'd ask me to marry him when I came to Utah?"


Sighing, shaking his head and shrugging in a way only a big man does, Jacob looked into the fire.
"That's about the size of it. I think he meant he'd have no problem takin you to wife after you got baptized. He was willin to take the Lord at His word and if your sins was no more rememberd by the Lord, why should Turner Cole remember them?"


"Then why on earth did he get married?"
"Don't for sure know. Me'n Turner've always been close but not so close that he'd share his love life with me.
By the time we got to the age of interest, I spent more time with my Pa bein a woodsman and he stayed closer to the city and the religious stuff. Maybe he was commanded."


"But you both said there weren't arranged marriages in Zion."
"There ain't like that, but maybe he was commanded to start takin wives, but I doubt that too. Turner is still too young to start actin apostle-like."
"Meaning that he still might have marriage with me in mind - as a plural wife?
My God, Jacob!"


Abigail gestured, upset. "I certainly agree there Rose! Jacob, how could Turner or any good man be that casual about this?"


"Whaddaya mean casual? Far as I can see there wasn't nothin casual about thinkin about Rose and whether or not marryin her was somethin real in his heart.
Sharin it with me warn't casual. He never spected I'd ever tell you afore he could do somethin about it hisself.

And if he decided to do nothin, then I'm the only one he'd have to splain it to since you'd never a known. I'm the casual blabbermouth here."


"But Jacob," responded Abigail, “it sounds like he thought we would go dragging a handcart into Utah, ready to accept his proposal just because he wanted it that way. I mean, would Turner just walk up to us, maybe give a hug and tell my daughter,
'Welcome to Zion, Rose. By the way will you marry me?'
No courtship? No wondering if Rose cares in return, assuming he cares in the right way?"


"Hell, I don't know Sister! I ain't been involved with women and don't know how it's done, specially with plurals. I don't think I'll ever be commanded to take more'n one wife."
Oh? And why not, Jacob?", Rose wanted to know.
"Cause I'm not able to do it, maybe not even manage one wife. I don't have the temper to manage women in that way and everybody who knows me knows that too.


Old Brigham'd never be that blind as to call me to take more'n one woman."
"But Jacob, you have just as much right."
"Right?
Right hell!  No I don't.
I ain't the man of the spirit like Turner. If the Prophet tole Turner to get hisself a wife or two, Turner'd have the spirit enough to know it was right.

I ain't that way. If Brigham tole me that, I'd have to take it on faith cause no spirit would ever prompt my soul to know it was right.


My gut feelin would be to tell Brother Brigham right where he could go hang his hat. And since I ain't likely to be some Church big shot any time, I wouldn't have no obligedness to show a public example by acceptin the difficult callin like Heber Kimball did.


My only wife'd never have to pray to God about me stayin awake at night tryin to decide whether or not to refuse that commandment from the Prophet."

Rose embraces a truth

"My dear daughter, this is a traveling group of Children of Israel. We're leaving our 'Egypt' to go to the Promised Land and the Lord and the P.E.F. have made it possible. It's a miracle like unto the parting of the Red Sea.
Rose, my Rose, I hope you find a new life out there!"
Rose sighed,
"I've already found a new life Mama, whether I like it or not. This is my new life.
But everyone here is so SERIOUS!
The men never smile. At least the men around the docks at Insley and the women smiled at each other."
"Yes, they probably did. And probably screamed and profaned at each other, Rose, and beat each other didn't they?
These are a new kind of man and woman you're seeing.
These who are also poor are betting their all on one more turn of the card. Some of them have been so foolish as to quit their jobs as soon as emigration with the cheaper handcart method was proposed. They didn't need to save up as much money as they thought, but took no thought for how far down the road they'd have to wait before ships could be chartered.
Some of these people were living on charity when they left, barely keeping back enough money to pay their way through. If they need anything on the journey they'll be out of luck."
"Mama, we'll all be out of luck if Utah turns out to be  something other than Zion."
"Rose, please don't tell me you -"
"Don't get me wrong. I'm glad we're going; more glad that I'm leaving Insley. I'm just hoping it won't be too hard there where we're going."
"Well child, you had faith to be baptized. Surely you can find enough to trust the Lord to get us there safely."
"Mama, Mama. I got baptized to make sure there wouldn't be any trouble with both of us going with the help from the P.E.F.”
"Then you still don't believe it's true?"
"I guess I believe part of it is true, but until I see for myself that these Elders are really what they say they are and that in Zion women are happy, I won't be able to do more than what I've already done.

"You mean to say that God gave that woman a revelation? What about your living prophet?" - Turner explains polygamy to Abigail

Furthermore, my father was four wives only after my mother, his first wife whom he loves very deeply, gave her consent and helped him choose the other three."

                This brought Abigail clear out of her chair, startling Rose.

                "You mean she agreed?

                His foolish first wife agreed to let him -"

                "Yes! Yes, Sister Blake, she agreed and I don't believe she was foolish. Neither she nor my father wanted to do it, but you see, when you have been blessed so much and given sufficient testimony of the divinity of this work, it's possible to possess a faith so powerful, one can conclude the rightfulness of a commandment and obey it, even if one is not inclined to favor it.

                In other words, knowing the gospel and knowing we have it in its entirety, including the plan of salvation, we must be a faithful people.

                `We accept the principle of revelation completely and honor a living prophet chosen by the Lord as His mouthpiece on earth. If the Lord tells his prophet to tell me to take more than one wife, it is as if He has told me Himself, just as He called me through His prophet to leave my home and come preach to you here."

                "But your mother! Your father's first wife," Abigail argued, "How ... oh, how could she agree to something so monstrous?"

                "Let me tell you about the wife of one of our current apostles, Heber C. Kimball, the one Reverend Charles talked about last night who first opened England to the gospel.

                Heber's wife's name is Vilate and after Joseph Smith made known the commandment and told Heber he must comply, Brother Kimball very nearly went crazy with worry and confusion. You see, his relationship with Vilate goes clear back into their childhood and their romance and affection for each other is legend in the church.

                Many's the time I've heard brethren exhort husband to love their wives and continue the courtship long after the wedding, just as Brother Kimball does with Vilate. How he feels about Vilate has always been obvious, even now when he's taken more than twenty five additional wives."

                It was Rose's turn to shout,

                "Twenty Five???

                My God!!"