Beehive State
30”w x 40”h
Collage: acrylic, paper, photos, ink, charcoal, on cradled wood panel
Geneological research is an amazing thing. I’d always looked at my father’s father’s side of the family, the Windley name. But I hadn’t delved too deeply into my father’s mother’s side of the family. Imagine my surprise to find that Lorenzo Dow Young, Brigham Young’s youngest brother, was my Great Great Great Great Grandfather. Now, Lorenzo had 8 wives and 25 children, so I imagine there are many people who have him as an ancestor. I have to admit I’ve been fascinated by the polygamy aspect of my ancestors...delighted and repelled in equal measures.
I was not raised a Mormon, but my father’s family were Mormons, descendent from early pioneers that came by wagon train to help settle Utah Territory.
Utah is The Beehive State, the Mormons adopting the bees and beehives as an example of the kind of industry and cooperation needed to establish a new ‘paradise’ in the desert.
A busy bee my GGGG Grandfather certainly was. Leading companies of pioneers to ‘the land of milk and honey’. Forming a new society. Building temples. Farming the land.
And spreading his pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing future generations.
I was not raised a Mormon, but my father’s family were Mormons, descendent from early pioneers that came by wagon train to help settle Utah Territory.
Utah is The Beehive State, the Mormons adopting the bees and beehives as an example of the kind of industry and cooperation needed to establish a new ‘paradise’ in the desert.
A busy bee my GGGG Grandfather certainly was. Leading companies of pioneers to ‘the land of milk and honey’. Forming a new society. Building temples. Farming the land.
And spreading his pollen from flower to flower, fertilizing future generations.
︎gilding the lily
I loved piecing together these Flower Ladies. Bringing their state of dress and undress to the mechanics of the bloom. Fabric folding, and bodies unfolding.
I thought of the lives of these women in polygamous marriages. I’m sure many women embraced the practice, thankful to have ‘sister wives’ to share the neverending work of raising children and homesteading a difficult land.
And I’m postive many women didn’t.
Watching their husbands attention turn away. Bringing new wives into the relationship at shorter and shorter intervals. Marrying girls young enough to be their daughters, or even granddaughters.
There has been much written of these complicated pioneer women. Tough and resilient. Devoted and diligent. I hope these traits are part of a genetic memory that is available to me.
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I loved piecing together these Flower Ladies. Bringing their state of dress and undress to the mechanics of the bloom. Fabric folding, and bodies unfolding.
I thought of the lives of these women in polygamous marriages. I’m sure many women embraced the practice, thankful to have ‘sister wives’ to share the neverending work of raising children and homesteading a difficult land.
And I’m postive many women didn’t.
Watching their husbands attention turn away. Bringing new wives into the relationship at shorter and shorter intervals. Marrying girls young enough to be their daughters, or even granddaughters.
There has been much written of these complicated pioneer women. Tough and resilient. Devoted and diligent. I hope these traits are part of a genetic memory that is available to me.
︎ the sego lily
I used the Utah State Flower as the silhouette shape of my Flower Ladies ...representing Lorenzo’s wives.
The Sego Lily is native to the arid West, and its edible bulb fed many pioneers when their crops failed. Many saw the life-saving lily as a symbol of the pioneers themselves. It could survive in poor soil with little water. Hardy enough to thrive in tough conditions, yet still able to produce a beautiful flower.
︎ an apt motto
Utah’s state nickname is The Beehive State.
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The early Mormon settlers used the symbol of the honeybee to represent hard work and industriousness. They saw the beehive as a model for a properly run society, in which all of the workers cooperated in the construction of something much bigger than themselves.
Mormons as well as FreeMasons used the beehive as their symbol. There were many Masons in the leadership of the Mormon Church, including the founder Joseph Smith.
Utah’s state nickname is The Beehive State.
The early Mormon settlers used the symbol of the honeybee to represent hard work and industriousness. They saw the beehive as a model for a properly run society, in which all of the workers cooperated in the construction of something much bigger than themselves.
Mormons as well as FreeMasons used the beehive as their symbol. There were many Masons in the leadership of the Mormon Church, including the founder Joseph Smith.
︎ lorenzo dow young (1807-1895)
My GGGG Grandfather. He was Brigham Young’s younger brother, an ordained Patriarch of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and among the very first white settlers of Utah Territory and the Salt Lake Valley.
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Lorenzo had 8 wives, and his first wife, Persis Goodall Young, was my GGGG Grandmother. According to my research, Persis may not have gotten along with Lorenzo’s choice of second wife, and after a few years enduring this other woman in the house, she separated from Lorenzo and later became “sealed” as the second wife to a different man.
My GGGG Grandfather. He was Brigham Young’s younger brother, an ordained Patriarch of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and among the very first white settlers of Utah Territory and the Salt Lake Valley.
Lorenzo had 8 wives, and his first wife, Persis Goodall Young, was my GGGG Grandmother. According to my research, Persis may not have gotten along with Lorenzo’s choice of second wife, and after a few years enduring this other woman in the house, she separated from Lorenzo and later became “sealed” as the second wife to a different man.