“A Childless Woman Like Myself”: Polygamy, Patriarchy, and Reproductive Medicine in Nineteenth-Century Mormon Women's Infertility

In early January 1880, at the age of twenty-nine, Elizabeth Pickett Tolman had reached her breaking point. Her husband's plural wife1 had just given birth to his first child, and Elizabeth saw the baby as a living bond between her husband and another woman, a token of love that she had, in nearly ten years of marriage, failed to give him. Louisa, the baby's mother, was Elizabeth's cousin and had become her husband's plural wife a little over a year earlier. Elizabeth's husband, Ammon, had decided to enter polygamy, or plural marriage, because he wanted what Elizabeth seemingly could not give him: children. Now, as Elizabeth faced the living embodiment of his success, she felt helpless.2In her diary, she wrote, “when the first cry of his infant child reached my ears I thought my body and soul would and must separate[.] that was the signal of the Carrier which has since severed us farther apart[.] Oh God help me I cannot dwell upon it even on paper.”3 In perhaps an attempt to endear Elizabeth to the new baby, Louisa and Ammon named her Mary Elizabeth, but Elizabeth wrote, “it was his and not mine which seemed to me a curse.”4 The baby, and the events that had led to her birth, caused Elizabeth to question her faith, writing, “Oh now I could not think of God or religion.”5But Elizabeth soon found something that lifted her somewhat from despair: the promise of medicine. She heard of a physician in Salt Lake City who had apparently successfully treated a woman who had been infertile for sixteen years of marriage. Vacillating between hope and despair, she wrote, Oh I could go through anything to obtain that blessing[.] Ammon was entirely wraped up in his child while I had neither him nor child[.] I used to make quite a bit of the baby as I found I either had to take to it or hate it but God only knows the hard struggle that it was and is[.] she takes to me as a matter of course which sometimes pleases me a little but does it satisfy my cravings for offspring[?] verily no and I shall not rest till I either obtain that blessing or else have it proved to me that such can never be and if it is the latter woe betide me for I don't see how I can ever live with my husband and be only as I have been and nothing more with my health and spirits broke and every finer feeling crushed to the earth[.] Oh where are all my hopes of goodness and greatness for myself and husband for the future; alass crushed6Historians of Mormonism have long been interested in the history of polygamy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.7 Polygamy, despite never having been practiced by a majority of Latter-day Saints even during the late nineteenth century, has been a disproportionate focus of historians and popular culture.8 Particularly in understanding Mormon women's history, both insider and outsider historians have striven to make sense of the practice of polygamy, which has created a “fractured picture of Mormon women,” as historian Catherine Brekus has noted.9 Despite this overemphasis on polygamy, little has been written on the intersection of polygamy and women's childlessness or infertility. This is even more surprising considering that the biblical precedents which Latter-day Saints used to justify the practice were often stories about women's childlessness.Reproductive medicine in America, the other half of this story, underwent vast changes during the nineteenth century. Many of these changes paralleled or were influenced by larger medical trends, particularly the professionalization of medicine, which pushed for the shift of medicine from an “art” to a “science.”10 In this process, reproductive medicine, which had historically been largely overseen by midwives and other female practitioners, was slowly taken over by this emerging professionalized medicine. Beginning in the eighteenth century, male doctors began encroaching into the realm of childbirth using their access to forceps and medication to justify the expansion of their practices to include birthing women.11 Obstetrics developed during the nineteenth century as a specialized medical field dealing with childbirth which, by the late nineteenth century, contributed to greater obstetrical medical interventions and encouraged women to give birth in hospitals.12 In the mid-nineteenth century, using the bodies of enslaved women in the American South as experimental subjects, gynecology began emerging as a field to treat “accidents of such as women's created of and for the of greater medical of the of contributed to greater obstetrical interventions the late nineteenth and early by or women during the nineteenth century had male their reproductive to these was by of and this process, which historians to as the of childbirth or the of began with medical for infertility. in had childlessness as an that was caused by the of in the nineteenth century began to see it as a medical to be and early often with childlessness through such as in a child to or in the of and as the of and the and as medicine greater over women's reproductive were largely with medical that in polygamy a to an infertile she the of child that Mormon women have found in their husband's plural a to their this was not the with Elizabeth, nor with the other women with she as a wife can about the of Mormonism and medicine in the late nineteenth Elizabeth, perhaps more women with what having a child the of Mormon polygamy, but what and to American more and how medicine was these I that Latter-day Saints in the late nineteenth century up to polygamy as a to infertility. Mormon women were that by to the practice of polygamy and their to other would be by God with children. this promise failed to the emerging field of gynecology in hopes of their of for of these medicine failed for Elizabeth, this seemed to in a with polygamy and to it is that Mormon women's more because I Elizabeth's story, I have my Elizabeth's this and largely intersection of and reproductive medicine in late the early nineteenth century, the that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was American The of the the in which the was was by of medical the medical of the medicine, that was the and and popular an of health that was in and of Mormon practices were during this and early Mormonism was influenced by this of medical encouraged the Saints to and to only on he the practices of In an to a wrote, would to a to of this by the new or changes in reproductive medicine that male to women's In he if he had sense would not to women in if a woman had sense she would not a to on such an was not the only American to be of these male In about on by male and and with no but and The of gynecology and seemed a of the of which that women about more male with women's and reproductive what it for women and for is a of female Mormon female upon a of Mormon women's over reproductive health only have a Latter-day Saints and into the century, but Mormon women practiced with and Mormon women and their was often a of medical and and their medical women's medical seemingly in the of the in which was overseen by the and female Latter-day the with Mormon female was largely by a to Latter-day Saints from having to go to for medical to and plural wife of to Mormon women the about for Church She have it a The first in Salt Lake City in by the Church and the other in by the of the another she have who have through all the as these are of faith, if were not I would have nothing to with Mormon women's medical in the nineteenth century was to both and that had about Elizabeth's to that these are by the of Latter-day Saints Mormon Despite Mormon of in the of reproductive Elizabeth from a male who was to her by another Mormon She had about to a male but she never about him not nor of her Latter-day Saints to have been influenced by of Elizabeth never for her from nor she from at that she She a Mormon female to the male but she was apparently as she never to to the was This that Mormon women's medical and reproductive health childbirth and perhaps little to Pickett Tolman began her on would not it from the first but she was that her was Elizabeth began her with a of all events in her up to that with her birth on in She her in their to and other In Elizabeth had her first with polygamy her a Elizabeth this using the for Mormon the of plural but She wrote, of is a from God but the could not have anything that could have been a to that year in Elizabeth Ammon Tolman as his She the first years of their marriage, which she as other her of she this of her early in Ammon had Ammon and Elizabeth had the of in their him to on the from in the Ammon began a woman named a Elizabeth wrote, had for a long that it was for him to have another wife as had no and I had to my to Elizabeth was not the only first wife to this wife of in her that he was his first wife her on a and have no I have been I of a and of all the I are my Elizabeth wrote, her I it was for him to have another wife and I would he had her else I Elizabeth to to but she wrote, such would be to the women to their to would be this from Ammon and were on she not this in her diary, Elizabeth have that by this marriage, God would her with the practice of polygamy, often to biblical or that were from because of their to their another these male that infertile Mormon women had a to their husband's to enter plural Mormon women were even more in the promise of polygamy for and Ammon were Elizabeth that she the with in the because had through the This was and The his first wife him with to to these she wanted to have her but to become In a by it and to the to while saw and she had been nearly years and had never been and had no was the woman in as of the Mormon women's the and plural wife of both and She was to are of must give husband another wife can have who soon but in by the her was with her first in the such as having been nearly years having are to be by and birth the in Elizabeth's the of the to would have been about with her child on the that Elizabeth with her with Elizabeth, with the promise of that had given her for to plural marriage. is no that and Elizabeth other or or this Elizabeth's a of women who these women that could her story, and this with is that Elizabeth that that her in Ammon to would she could have a the was having about the marriage. Ammon and would never Ammon to to even Elizabeth to her and the but Elizabeth a of in this but Ammon was and Elizabeth wrote, his wife he his about her husband's even more her Louisa to with Louisa had not been a Latter-day and her had been Her she was and her was Louisa was in her early Louisa was in the of a named and Louisa began to the and at age Louisa and to to her and give birth to a baby Elizabeth and as an her not her as a of Elizabeth wrote, was not a that could for Ammon, child was of her with for during which Ammon and Louisa began an and Elizabeth that she was She wrote, shall that it was as as anything that me what I in my as I about the and about her husband's Elizabeth to Louisa about and Louisa decided to be Louisa to with other and Elizabeth Ammon to her but Ammon Elizabeth an now he was to either or the other he was to her or her to live Elizabeth the she wrote, had never been to my husband what he me to be the to his Oh God what a to to think I was for a which knows I would have my to have the that I could and as she had child he of course that he was not another Ammon and Louisa were on the marriage, Elizabeth take of or as she while Louisa she would her with the child, but his as a of her as a Elizabeth Louisa was She wrote, “Oh God how I I can never Oh the that husband and wife had been me and was to I by the and to Elizabeth's of a child as that in with the of the began to think about as or as embodiment of a to a and used the to both to a child she to Louisa Elizabeth was to the embodiment of her husband's love for another woman while that she could not the of her love for him or his love for Elizabeth to Salt Lake about of her with her to a by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day she decided to medical from of the first Latter-day female who as in and of Elizabeth not that this was for her but she wrote, course I would with an mine go to a woman a The medical was with Elizabeth's was with as she both to and since in a was in her She and with at which a her and her a of and that was to women for In historian of American for this majority of were Elizabeth writing, of at that both to as as to me of my of for as every is that while the of a is the is in a of the are Elizabeth was for with Louisa, who was to Elizabeth wrote, how her in the she was in Elizabeth in her diary, from to to that I I don't think I have been She that seemed to all their to Louisa and her She felt baby was named her Mary had been by by and by through that if she her husband to another woman, she could be with of her her husband's first attempt at plural he he had an with her and now he was with the of their with a Elizabeth take of this she wrote, it satisfy my cravings for offspring[?] verily no and I shall not rest till I either obtain that blessing or else have it proved to me that such can never her over her child caused for Elizabeth that she felt she was to anything to become a that in the of 1880, the birth, heard of a of who had been about sixteen years medical at the of a of Salt Lake City and now the of her first child[.] Oh what could not I She to this of her on the as a physician living in Salt Lake City with his is that had no or which was even as medicine was to to practice a of medicine which of in the century, but in the nineteenth century, in the of it to a of the medical on a new medicine that the body as as the in which he her that she as as I could to see him as it would be more to both as could other Elizabeth course I was to go to go to a with my but I had that I would go through Elizabeth for Ammon to take She was with the of Ammon me to the City and that me I would see for not my hopes and I felt were the had on the which in which never be was a first wife of Elizabeth, had been for years her husband another Elizabeth, to medical the birth of her husband's child by his had given birth to a who named in Elizabeth, and decided to include the first in their Elizabeth's is began medical with during or early and that never had children. The are either that never her medical and Elizabeth only heard an or that but the would have about to her she have a late or a no of her medical or her it is to if she as The only stories have of are through the of her husband's children. of by his that and had a marriage, that the while was for polygamy, and that had no while had her in Elizabeth's into the of another Mormon wife and that Elizabeth was not the only to to medical from a physician for that my long to Salt Lake was and she and Ammon on She was to go but it was now or at Elizabeth wrote, found he had a in with him by the of a about years of while were he and of course began a of he has a as the latter is quite The decided to go with of found to be a that the female I had ever began medicine in Salt Lake City in the as was at the in the of and and the of was quite for American doctors to be in and that with which to be what was not a Latter-day is what both and to to practice medicine, but since first to and to it is that wanted to for the promise of greater but found medical in the a of of the was The to have been to and treat Mormon not as a in he was in the emerging Elizabeth her to he Elizabeth and Ammon he was the in my which was a of the of the on no from he was a of the or in the late nineteenth century that female was to the this by of experimental on enslaved of which or for the of the to the and his had no that the was to and women that he and on not the the and in the late nineteenth century, the was the at felt it was to his with an were a for women during this In The and of of the first medical in the in how and the first it is to the make her as she have in her the of her her have but little upon the but the physician must long to make her that it is The of to was to not for she had the physician to take of the having heard the I make it a that she shall only my This was the of medical by the field of reproductive medicine. In her diary, Elizabeth often at and it he not take this the used a by that a of the and were by the the In his this for that the only that an is in using he this is because if be in the of a is not to have a for with can it had an with the or Ammon in the while Elizabeth could have been on her in the popular or on her with her were by often on the of the was for She wrote, was to me but I thought of all I had and and that me the was just as he had he could not have of it that us to that he something from is that Elizabeth have of but it is more that was on medical what he saw in Elizabeth's of the medical of women with what he to a her that could nothing for me I could be in as I would have to go and be treated or a for Elizabeth was not to in Salt Lake City but to in a The of her and health she felt about the she would She wrote, my it I would go through to obtain my how I was that was a help to me my long and it was to go to Salt Lake City for her Elizabeth had to with Ammon, but it only to her had a where Ammon Ammon Elizabeth at her and she had to of her could take her up to Salt Lake In her and husband to take her to the In Salt Lake Elizabeth with a the of her first her and with both of but with in Elizabeth her which she not but and me it me Elizabeth to take and an to on to the for to began every to This began at the of and on Elizabeth never what this a would have been to is that used of to treat such as and were particularly for with that could have using an to or the who were to to for often used or to to the to the her Elizabeth had no to with and she wrote, the as but this as I had that be with a or not have the every of course I found myself in a but I would have no matter who had been I would have had to go through the and I had of to have in him as a her Elizabeth that she had go through the as of my medical I it at I think but my that I all the only ten I a is that this of her he the Elizabeth wrote, she not at the of her Elizabeth not it was the or the that was and it is if she used the she make such as to and cannot how I and only hope I and seemed as as myself at my The medical that she was from apparently with her as she wrote, can up in now with and on another and I seemed to with it was how I which was for my to the me all my and about the medicine of which he me a he if ever I felt or anything me just to a of my and he would me something to help Elizabeth was by the of the and wrote, has me a of and a of in my for which I because she had from her husband, Elizabeth felt and to have who not only her medical but with her to her as a would have been more to take Elizabeth's of her in the eighteenth and nineteenth the women's bodies could be and in the of and to their and over the of her was popular women in the nineteenth century, because of this on Elizabeth the for his which she not as I thought it would be only and I him I first that is only which I Elizabeth not have an of other perhaps from the which and on their Ammon would have given her the to for her medical it is that have been a in the that developed between Ammon and Elizabeth during this she never as an in their Elizabeth felt her health had her medical her with Ammon had her in Salt Lake she not from him. She wrote, I about cannot Ammon me a as I from him and She found from that Ammon had to to he was about Louisa to the and with Elizabeth, Elizabeth that Ammon had written to Louisa about his to their for a new in Elizabeth wrote, her all his and and I the is Oh how my it has for a long Ammon to have my for he but to my ever it to me is a of that I would have given him Elizabeth was crushed by this writing, my was all I had and it was a if not a I have now nothing and husband, from me to I don't see how I can to have Elizabeth's to to Elizabeth wrote, it be me or nothing but if I not to go the that I have no of my not make me She no more his or I must to in more in other of the during this and Elizabeth must have it was a to having the that a was a of of it is that Elizabeth never her the who their in during this an infertile woman who with health Elizabeth had no to and had of she Ammon, Elizabeth would have to on to for with Ammon have seemed the She to with the of him as her in Salt Lake City to an writing, more I the more I the I have no at all of in the She not to live with Ammon but she could see no these her husband's and her feeling of by Elizabeth to question her in the of her in Salt Lake Elizabeth about polygamy, “Oh is it to to that such a had never been if I hope that the God of me for such as these and often enter my the of the no is with I the and it is I in Mormonism seemed Elizabeth in her and not it up for she she was living in and she was the age of she wrote, is with my is how I She a to the events that had since she wrote, how Louisa had another child but was to go into to Ammon as was in the faced by Mormon Ammon and Louisa decided to Elizabeth “Oh had that not been a years health began to about I could not hard as in was years Ammon was from the for something Elizabeth never is he had an with a woman Ammon a year Elizabeth's of the for his Elizabeth was by her for by him. Elizabeth that she to thought I every but don't Her which had during the she medical in Salt Lake she faced from her Her childlessness and her with her husband to She wrote, that such love as mine has been crushed with a woman myself is little to live is just her Elizabeth at the age of on how and medicine, in hope for an to her The promise of polygamy to Mormon women with was that by to the God would with children. Elizabeth heard this promise from and from and she even had a from on the of this this promise and polygamy only her over she to medicine. Her that she was not in Elizabeth, and medical for and the emerging field of gynecology and to and of their reproductive this was to their hopes for interventions polygamy, and medicine. that were practices that have been for such as the child named the first that Latter-day Saints seemed to have little if with medical from the she about and her childlessness to with the of the American and the of that Latter-day Saints were not from these I Elizabeth's diary, I was by both her and the that I was the first to about are no of who the Elizabeth or how it up in the of a to the and at that was by the of Mary Elizabeth and of Elizabeth, was of and had a in Elizabeth was an and was her Mary Elizabeth Tolman that Elizabeth had of her and the She was a She could the and that had to be Elizabeth in about The that Elizabeth and Louisa were Mary Elizabeth Tolman that Elizabeth Pickett Tolman was a to This of Elizabeth, given years through the of is only does it never had a named but it that Mary Elizabeth, never the of her of the that from Mormon women hard to is that in a field by women have had no to their Latter-day and and have been by Latter-day Saints during the late nineteenth and early often of their and this are for Latter-day Saints who never had to their the that of a plural wife is through of another who had a in their in a the of infertile women often who was and what have had to a struggle with infertility. In Mormon history, is given to with Elizabeth's is not only because her us to a intersection of and medicine, but because she and is to the of a of women who have been or because of their