A Mormon Man and His Wives
The practice of polygamy split the Mormon community and, because it deviated from Christian religious principles, enraged Protestant denominations. This Mormon household, pictured in the late 1840s, was unusually prosperous, partly because of the labor of the husband’s multiple wives. Although the cabin provides cramped quarters for a large polygamous family, it boasts a brick chimney and — a luxury for any pioneer home — a glass window. Library of Congress.