Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Olive Ann Jones Farr's Testimony during her Husband Lorin's Trial, November 1886

Olive Ann Jones Farr was a plural wife of Lorin Farr. They married in February 1852. In November 1886, Lorin was indicated under the third section of the Edmunds Law. When Olive Ann was called as a witness, she proved herself to be a “difficult witness,” and often revealed her wit:

 

Do you claim Mr. Farr to be your husband?

 

I do not know whether I do nor not, it has been so long since he has lived with me.

 

As a result of the marriage with Mr. Farr were there any children?

 

Yes, sir.

 

How many?

 

Seven.

 

What is the age of your oldest child?

 

Twenty-five years.

 

Did you at any period of your life live with Mr. Farr in the same house?

 

No sir.

 

Where do you now live, Mrs. Farr?

 

On the farm.

 

How many times has Mr. Farr been up to the farm during the past year?

 

I don’t know; it has been only a few times.

 

What brings him up there?

 

To see his business.

 

Has he ever remained there overnight?

 

No, sir.

 

Have you not been at the table when he dined there sometimes?

 

Sometimes he sits down with the boys and I also sit down with him.

 

What position does he take at the table?

 

Just where he happens to stop.

 

Do you recognize the marriage relation between you and Mr. Farr as existing?

 

Yes, sir.

 

Can you state the age of the youngest children in the family?

 

I think she is almost 18 years old.

 

Have you been away from hour home during the past three years prior to the 24th of June last?

 

I have been back east.

 

When di you go east?

 

Early in the Spring of ’83.

 

Who went with you?

 

Mr. Farr and his daughter.

 

Did Mr. Farr go with you?

 

He went in the same train.

 

After a recess Olive Ann Jones Farr was cross examined by Mr. Kimball.

 

You say you visited the east in the spring of 1883?

 

Yes, sir.

 

How long were you gone?

 

I think about five weeks.

 

How did you come to go together on your trip east?

 

Mr. Farr and his daughter were going east and I concluded I would go with them.

 

Where was Mr. Farr doing?

 

To Vermont.

 

What was the object of his visit?

 

He went to see his friend.

 

Were you going to Vermont?

 

No, sir; I was going to Connecticut to visit my friends.

 

Did Mr. Farr, about the time of the passage of the Edmunds Law, have any conversation with you respecting the passage of that law, or make any statement to you with respect to how he would have to live with you or any of his wives?

 

Yes, sir.

 

What did Mr. Farr say?

 

The prosecution objected to this question, and the objection was sustained.

 

Was there any change at the passage of the Edmunds Law as to defendant’s living with you?

 

He never made any change because he never lived with me for a long time before that.

 

Do you know what the repute has been as to Mr. Farr’s living with more than one since the passage of the Edmunds Law?

 

Yes, sir.

 

What is that repute?

 

That he has lived within the law; that he has only lived with his first wife.

 

The prosecution then began to question Ann Farr.

 

When you went east who bought you ticket?

 

I gave Mr. Farr the money and he bought it.

 

Who gave you the money in the first place?

 

I came honestly by it sir.

 

But who furnished it? Did not Mr. Farr?

 

I furnished some, and my son helped me some.

 

Did Mr. Farr furnish you any money?

 

No, he did not furnish me any money.

 

You say that the reputation is that Mr. Farr has lived with the law?

 

Yes, sir.

 

Can you tell what his reputation is in the community as to his having more than one wife, living and undivorced?

 

It is reputed that he has, but that he does not live with them.

 

Is it reputed that he has more than one wife?

 

It is reputed that he has had but that he does not now acknowledge them or hold them out as his wives.

 

Is it reputed that you are his wife by the community?

 

I suppose it is reputed so.

 

Are not Sarah and Mary and Nicoline reputed to be his wives?

 

I guess they are all reputed to be the same.

 

Defense then asked:

 

This reputation is simply founded on the marriage ceremony is it not?

 

Yes, sir.

 

Did he tell you at the passage of the Edmunds Law that he would not recognize you as a wife?

 

Yes, sir, he has never acknowledged me as a wife since that time.

 

The prosecution then resumed their questioning:

 

Are you, then his wife now?

 

I don’t know; he has never given me a divorce.

 

What form of declaration did he make to you after the passage of the Edmunds Law as to his intention or determination?

 

He said that he has going to obey the Edmunds Law; that he did not any more speak to me as his wife.

 

The defense then asked:

 

Did not Mr. Farr say that the law meant business; and that if he had anything to do with you that meant penitentiary?

 

Yes, sir. (U.S. v. Lorin Farr, Case No. 901 [4th District Court, Utah Territory, 1886]. Copies of transcript available in Lorin Farr Collection, BYU Special Collections, In Amy Oaks Long, David J. Farr, and Susan Easton Black, Lorin Farr; Mormon Statesman [Winslow Farr Sr. Family Organization, Inc., 2007], 137-40)

 

Lorin’s and Olive Ann’s granddaughter, Jennie F. Budge, recalled that:

 

Grandmother was very witty.

 

During the days before the manifesto, Grandfather Farr was arrested and cited into court for polygamy. Grandmother was summoned into court as a witness. When the judge asked her who served papers on her, she replied “Mr Grindstone”.

 

The judge said, “You don’t mean Mr. Grindstone, you mean Mr. Whetshone.”

 

Grandmother replied, “They both look alike to me”. The people in the court room caused a disturbance from laughing.

 

When Grandfather was found not guilty, some of the men clapped their hands and shouted for joy. This made the judge angry and he fined those making the noise ten dollars each. Some of the men said it was worth ten dollars.

 

Father got excused from school to attend the trial. (T. Earl Pardoe, Lorin Farr, Pioneer [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1953], 349)