Twenty-three years her husband's junior, Martha Hughes Cannon was not the youngest wife of Angus M., a ranking church official. Nor was she a backwoods girl with few options. Mattie was a University of Michigan-trained physician, an outspoken suffragist, and the first female state senator in American history. However, rather than testify against her husband in federal court, she fled with her baby to England in 1886. The couple's correspondence is rich in detail regarding life in Utah on the underground just prior to ...
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Twenty-three years her husband's junior, Martha Hughes Cannon was not the youngest wife of Angus M., a ranking church official. Nor was she a backwoods girl with few options. Mattie was a University of Michigan-trained physician, an outspoken suffragist, and the first female state senator in American history. However, rather than testify against her husband in federal court, she fled with her baby to England in 1886. The couple's correspondence is rich in detail regarding life in Utah on the underground just prior to polygamy's abolition.Of the two, Mattie is especially intelligent, witty, and lusty -- playfully utilizing sensual double entendres in her letters to convey her longing for home -- and describes her travels and predicaments in spirited, entertaining ways. She is frank about her recurring mood swings, in particular her persistent melancholy over having to lie about her identity, to live in poverty, and to be away from her husband while other wives were still by his side. She wrote, The knowledge that it is God's plan is the only thing that saves me from despair -- almost madness I fear.
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Add this copy of Letters From Exile: the Correspondence of Martha Hughes to cart. $307.00, very good condition, Sold by Orrin Schwab - BOOKS rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Providence, UT, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Signature Books.
