I'm thinking about the old mormon bishop that castrated the young man to take his love. I dont remember the details but it sticks in my mind that love stories dont always have a happy ending.

http://forum.newordermormon.org/viewtopic.php?t=13952&sid=1ab5443da80ceced292e36565892e40d

Warren Snow was Bishop of the Church at Manti, San Pete County, Utah. He had several wives, but there was a fair, buxom young woman in the town that Snow wanted for a wife…She thanked him for the honor offered, but told him she was then engaged to a young man, a member of the Church, and consequently could not marry the old priest…He told her it was the will of God that she should marry him, and she must do so; that the young man could be got rid of, sent on a mission or dealt with in some way…that, in fact, a promise made to the young man was not binding, when she was informed that it was contrary to the wishes of the authorities.

"The girl continued obstinate…the authorities called on the young man and directed him to give up the young woman. This he steadfastly refused to do…He remained true to his intended, and said he would die before he would surrender his intended wife to the embraces of another…The young man was ordered to go on a mission to some distant locality…But the mission was refused…

"It was then determined that the rebellious young man must be forced by harsh treatment to respect the advice and orders of the Priesthood. His fate was left to Bishop Snow for his decision. He decided that the young man should be castrated; Snow saying, 'When that is done, he will not be liable to want the girl badly, and she will listen to reason when she knows that her lover is no longer a man.'

"It was then decided to call a meeting of the people who lived true to counsel, which was held in the school-house in Manti…The young man was there, and was again requested, ordered and threatened, to get him to surrender the young woman to Snow, but true to his plighted troth, he refused to consent to give up the girl. The lights were then put out. An attack was made on the young man. He was severely beaten, and then tied with his back down on a bench, when Bishop Snow took a bowie-knife, and performed the operation in a most brutal manner, and then took the portion severed from his victim and hung it up in the school-house on a nail, so that it could be seen by all who visited the house afterwards

I found reference to this on fairwiki and i want to put more research into their version of the story too. They are saying that Lewis had been convicted of a sex crime and that was the real reason for the castration.

"... Lewis was being transported to the penitentiary for a sexual crime. He was not an innocent who was attacked simply for desiring a marriage. "

are there any non-mormon references to this?

I don't mean to sound unfeeling,and if the guy committed a sex crime he certainly should have been held respnsible-but beaten and castrated??? Seems a tad over the top. Unless you are standing in the way of sme old fart who demands to marry the love of your life.

Ah another reson why so many mormons may be screwd up. I know I herd about that in passing but it was never a very publicised story. I think we were told the basics of it when someone wanted to give a lesson on obaying church leadership.

Odd things get out of the morridor sometimes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2010 10:29AM by blindmag.

If, indeed, he was being transported to the prison for a sex crime, how come he never made it to the prison? He died about 6 to 9 months later, after the incident made him the village idiot. Seems to me that he would've been taken to prison, if that was where he was headed. Besides, if he was going to prison, why castrate him? Nope, I don't buy that.

I dont buy the sex crime story either. Sounds like that was made up to try and get people to sympathize for the crime.