back in the #mormonhistory #sororalpolygamy trenches in preparation for the fall semester and thesis writing (gag)...currently researching sisters Mary Ann and Adelaide Cooper Savage, who were both married to Levi Savage. He was also their stepfather and had married their mother when the sisters were young children, which is obviously rancid. This is unfortunately not the only case of Mormon polygamists marrying their stepdaughters I've seen, but it is the only family I've encountered that has both a sororal marriage and marriage to both a mother and at least one daughter.
On a happier note, there are some lovely photos of Mary Ann and Adelaide in old age that I would like to share. They continued living together in Toquerville, Utah after their mother and husband died in 1907 and 1910 respectively, and in the 1930s they were photographed by Dorothea Lange (who did the famous Migrant Mother photo during the Great Depression). Lange took several photographs of the two women under the title "The Savage Girls," which I'll post here.
the top left photo from this set, which features Mary Ann alone, was the only one that saw formal publication, under the title "Mary Ann Savage, a faithful Mormon all her life, Toquerville, Utah." Dorothea Lange also returned to Toquerville in the 1950s and photographed Mary Ann's grave as well as her son Riley and his descendants. Adelaide didn't have biological children but seems to have had a very close relationship with Mary Ann's children and grandchildren. I found this very sweet albeit low quality photograph on FamilySearch of Mary Ann's grandson Ellis McAllister picking up his grandmother and great-aunt.
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