How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

No place, January 13, 1874. Single sheet, 7 1/4 x 4 7/8 in. (184 x 124 mm). Autograph quote, signed by Ann Eliza Young: "God grant your sufferings may never / equal mine. / Ann Eliza Young. / January 13th 1874". Inscription in purple ink in another later hand at top. Scattered light spotting; faint erased pencil inscription at top; likely excised from an album.

An autograph quote from Ann Eliza Young (1844–1917), the nineteenth wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, signed during her divorce proceedings against him. Born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois, she married Young on April 7, 1869; at the time, he was 67 and she was a 24-year-old divorcee. In 1873, Ann Eliza filed for divorce, citing neglect, cruel treatment, and desertion. The divorce was granted in 1875. In the years that followed, she became a vocal critic of the Mormon Church, particularly its practice of polygamy. Her activism included testifying before Congress in April 1874 and lecturing in Washington, D.C. about her experiences. Her efforts contributed to the passage of the Poland Act in 1874, which reorganized the Utah Territory and transferred civil and criminal cases from Mormon probate courts to federal jurisdiction. In 1876, she published Wife No. 19, an autobiography detailing her life with Young and her broader critique of Mormonism. Her lectures on her marriage and religion captivated the American public for years and helped shape public opinion and legislation. Her pressure is considered to have influenced the church's 1890 Manifesto, which advised members to cease marriages forbidden by U.S. law. Polygamy itself was federally outlawed through the Edmunds Act of 1882 and the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887.