When asked about polygamy, a common answer given by modern-day Mormons is that polygamy acted as a social welfare mechanism, providing financial and social security for otherwise single and poor women. I know that my own family’s lone polygamy story stresses this aspect. My great-great-grandmother was orphaned on the way to Utah, and wound up marrying my relatively well-off and already married great-great-grandfather because she had no other way to survive. If I remember correctly there was a significant age difference between the two. They wound up settling in a small community in Cache Valley. Her relationship with the first wife was quite rocky, and when my great-great-grandfather left town, this much younger second wife would clean out the chicken coop and move herself and her children into it until he returned.
I have a theory, but considering my lack of historical resources, no way to test it right now. So I invite your comments and evidence, anecdotal or otherwise. I think that the social welfare explanation of polygamy has grown over the last century as the church has officially distanced itself from the practice. I think that to our modern ears, it is the most palatable explanation of a practice that we find foreign and distasteful. I wonder how many other polygamy stories have evolved to include a social welfare explanation. I wonder if those accounts can be compared to primary sources. I wonder how often, if at all, primary sources included this particular apology. I imagine that primary sources (one account can be found on the Emmeline B. Wells thread below) more often stress the faith/salvation aspect of polygamy. I also imagine that neither primary nor evolved stories include much about love matches.
So, what are your thoughts? Do your families’ stories include economic excuses for polygamy? Do you have primary sources to compare these stories to? Do you have any evidence to refute or support my theory?