Annie Clark Tanner

Annie Clark Tanner was born on September 24, 1864, in Farmington, Utah and died in 1941. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a plural wife, a mother, and an author. Tanner was an author of A Mormon Mother, an autobiography that explains her decision to engage in polygamy and her development from that experience.

Polygamy in Utah and the "underground"

The practice of polygamy was first instituted secretly in the early 1840s by early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was not publicly practiced until 1852 when it was announced over the pulpit. This led to a backlash from the United States Federal government with several pieces of legislation designed to target polygamy. Among these were the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882 and the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887. Both laws followed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862, which first made polygamy illegal. Each piece of legislation progressively increased the federal government's ability to prosecute polygamists by targeting cohabitation and the seizure of church property. Everyday problems such as disciplining children, visits from husbands, plural wife interactions, family finances, and housing arrangements were not set in place. No polygamous family looked identical because they adapted according to their individual needs. Their religious beliefs allowed them to accept polygamy but did not determine a set pattern of living. Her father often gave special consideration to his first wife, and Annie's mother disliked the unequal distribution of attention. On trips, the second wife would often sit in the back seat, and the first wife would never let Annie's father go anywhere without her. Despite these tensions, none of the mothers said anything harsh about the other. Annie remembered when Church members raised their right hands and promised not to trade with outsiders or indulge in tea, coffee, or tobacco. The thought, “Well, this is my wedding supper” came to her and she thought of the elaborate celebrations others in her family had had. She, like other women on the underground, had to rely on their skills to get by. The underground experience differed between situations, but there was always consistent stress for everyone.

Her marriage began with the underground and her perception of marriage changed over time. Annie sometimes described her husband as a “dictator” who expected her to submit to his will. In this case, late-nineteenth-century or early-twentieth-century Mormon women such as Annie Clark Tanner have written of the doctrine and history of polygamy and their explanations for their decisions to participate in plural marriage.

In the last year of her life, Annie Clark Tanner finished writing her autobiography: A Mormon Mother. Tanner also wrote other books, such as a biography on her father, Ezra T. Clark, and Sketch of the Life of Susan Leggett Clark, a book about her mother.