Page 91 - Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript Americana - Sale 2310 - April 16, 2013

“ I GAVE MY CONSENT FOR MR. JARMAN TO
TAKE EMILY AS HIS SECOND WIFE”
192 ● (MORMONS.) Archive of Maria Bidgood Jarman Ford, first wife of an
apostate Mormon polygamist. 47 items, including: 26 letters from son Albert while on
mission in England, 1894-95 * 4 letters and documents relating to her divorce from Albert
Jarman, 1883-87 * and 8 related family letters, 1895-1923; various sizes and conditions,
some worn. Vp, 1883-1923, bulk 1883-95 [1,500/2,500]
Maria Bidgood (1832-1924) lived an interesting life, emigrating from England and marrying
a scoundrel named William Jarman who converted to the Latter-Day Saints solely to justify
his polygamy. In 1869, she divorced Jarman, who then embarked on a public career of denounc-
ing the Mormon faith. Maria supported their three children as a milliner, later remarried to
another Mormon, and actively defended her religion.
Many of the letters and documents in this collection relate to the unhappy story of Maria’s first
marriage, which she recounted after the divorce. As a young couple, they headed west, accompa-
nied by a servant: “Emily Richards, who was my apprentice, was with child at the time of
being baptised. Mr. Jarman only embraced Mormonism to cover up his shame. . . . I told him if
she ask my forgiveness I would forgive her. She never asked my forgiveness, but I always treated
her as a sister” (letter to George C. Lambert, 1883). According to Maria’s deposition, “During
all this time, Mr. Jarman and Emily had been growing more intimate, and in the month of
December following our arrival in Salt Lake City I gave my consent for Mr. Jarman to take
Emily as his second wife. After this he treated me very badly.” Maria also saw the need to
deny a rumor that had apparently been circulating in Salt Lake City: “I positively deny that I
have ever been the wife of Brigham Young” (undated deposition). After their divorce, William
returned to England and did some public lectures against his former faith. In 1897, Maria
wrote a letter to an English newspaper, the Barnsley Independent, denouncing her ex-husband
for his “horrible lies regarding the Mormons,” adding that “he was put into a lunatic asylum in
Exminster, Devonshire through his drunkenness and whoredoms.”
Maria raised her son Albert Jarman (1863-1929) as a Mormon, and in 1894 he went to
England for mission work, sending a series of 26 long and informative letters describing his
efforts. Maria also remained close with other relatives in England, including a sister named
Lydia Cheney who had also joined the Mormons, and wrote in 1893 about her daughter: “I
also pray that the Lord will raise a friend to help to get her out to Zion where she can be one
with the Saints.”