Letter to S. A. Woolley, 22 May 1888
Bishop S. A. Woolley,
19th Ward, Salt Lake City,
Dear Brother:
You asked whether a person who has once been married in the Endowment House or
Temple, and is left a widow or a widower, commits adultery by marrying again
when the ceremony is performed by a justice of the peace or a civil officer.
There is a manifest inpropriety, which every Latter-day Saint who has had his
or her endowments should perceive, in such a person going to a civil officer to
have a ceremony of marriage performed. The fact that such a person does so is
in evidence that he or she is falling away, because if in good standing a
recomendation could be obtained for the temple, where the ceremony could be
performed, should be performed according to the order which God has instituted.
But a person marrying under such circumstances does not commit adultery.
You ask some other questions concerning how many living wives a man must have
to fulfill the law.
When a man, according to the revelation, marries a wife under the holy order
which God has reveals and then marries another in the same way, he enters into
the new and everlasting covenant, and so far as he has gone he has obeyed the
law. I know of no requirement which makes it necessary for a man to have three
living wives at a time . . .
With kind regards,
I remain,
Your Brother,
W. Woodruff.
