Sold – President Benjamin Harrison Appoints a Family Member to the Great Utah Commission, Charged With the Governance of Utah and the Enforcement of Anti-Polygamy Laws

The creation of the Utah territory, encompassing Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and Wyoming, was made possible by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after the Mexican War and the Compromise of 1850.  At the time of its creation, a sizable population of Mormons already lived there under the leadership of Brigham Young, who had led his people there from Illinois.  Over time, Utah Territory ceded some of its land to neighboring territories, which went on to receive status as states.  Discomfort and distrust over the perceived practices of the Mormon Church, however, slowed Utah's path to statehood.

In 1857, President Buchanan hatched a plan to remove Brigham Young as governor.  He sent a military expedition in what we know today as the Utah War, and nominally replaced Young with presidentially appointed governors.  Young, however, retained great power and the practice of polygamy continued.  The Civil War began, pulling U.S. troops out of the territory so they could be used in the east putting down the rebellion.  Then in 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act. This banned the Mormon practice of polygamy, but it had no enforcement mechanism or funding.  And to prevent Utah from sympathizing with the Confederates and even entering the war on their side, Lincoln turned his back on its implementation.  At the same time, telegraphs and railroads linked Utah with the rest of the country; yet they remained a territory and not a state. 

In 1875, two women, one of whom was the tenth wife to divorce Brigham Young, published books detailing life inside the polygamist Church.  These and other accounts caused Congress to act.  In 1882, Congress passed the Edmunds Act, declaring Polygamy a felony.  It prohibited not only bigamy but also "unlawful cohabitation," which made prosecution much easier.  It revoked polygamists' right to vote and prohibited them from serving in public office. All elected offices in Utah were vacated and a election board was formed to approve candidates and supervise new elections.  Although women were not prosecuted, more than 1300 men were convicted as a result of this law.

The election board / commission set up to enforce the Edmunds Act and reconstitute Utah without the influence of polygamy was called the "Board of Registration and Election in the Territory of Utah," or the Utah Commission.  It was composed of 5 members, appointed by the President.  These five people ran Utah and their power over the territory grew.  They controlled who could vote, who could run for office, administered all oaths, managed the courts and judges, had their own corps of marshals and militia, and worked to limit Mormon influence.  No Utah native served on the Commission until 1894.  Only 16 people ever served as Commissioner.

Alvin Saunders was a Senator from Nebraska and a delegate to the 1860 Republican Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln.  In 1861, he was appointed the Governor of the Nebraska Territory and served in that post until 1867.  Saunders' daughter married Russell Benjamin Harrison, the son of future President Benjamin Harrison, in 1884.  In 1889 the newly elected President set about putting in place a government in Utah with his hand-picked men.  And he turned to his family member, Alvin Saunders, the father of his new daughter-in-law.  This is Saunders' original appointment as Commissioner of Utah.

Document Signed, Washington, December 20, 1889, appointing "Alvin Saunders of Omaha, Nebraska… with the advice of consent of the Senate" to be a "Member of the Board of Registration and Election in the Territory of Utah."  Harrison requested that language limiting his term to four years be stricken, and it was.  The document is also signed by John Noble, Secretary of the Interior.  This is the only such appointment of a Utah Commissioner we can find ever offered for sale.

This document passed from Senator Saunders family to his daughter Mary Saunders Harrison and her husband, Russell Benjamin Harrison, from whose descendent we acquired it. It has never before been offered for sale.