Mormon demographic history I. Nuptiality and fertility of once-married couples

Abstract The Mormons of Utah have long intrigued demographic historians because of their pioneering experience in settling in Utah, their practice of polygamy 1 To be technically correct, the term should be polygyny. Throughout the history of the Mormon Church the practice was described as polygamy and we have adopted that term for purposes of historical consistency. in the last century, and the long-term pro-natalist policies of the Church which have resulted in notably high fertility. 2 For a summary of the theological basis of high fertility among the Mormons. see Lester Bush. 'Fertility Control Among the Mormons: Introduction to an Insistent Question'. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, b10,2(1976), pp. 12-44; and Donald W. Hastings, Charles H. Reynolds and Ray R. Canning, 'Mormonism and Birth Planning: The Discrepancy Between Church Authorities' Teachings and Lay Attitudes'. Population Studies 26, I (1972), pp. 19-28. While high levels of fertility among this population have been recognized for some time the evidence on the exact characteristics of Mormon fertility behaviour has been weak. 3 Most of the studies of Mormon fertility have been limited to rather small samples of college students or college graduates. For a summary of many of these studies see Hastings et al., lac. cit., in footnote 2. Subsequent studies have extended the analysis of Mormon fertility historically and to more representative samples of Mormons. See, for example, Brian Pitcher, Phillip R. Kunz and Evan T. Peterson, Residency Differentials in Mormon Fertility, Population Studies 28, I (1974), pp. 143~151; James E. Smith and Phillip R. Kunz, 'Polygyny and Fertility in Nineteenth-century America', Population Studies, 30, 3 (1976), pp. 465-480; and Judith C. Spicer and Susan O. Gustavus, 'Mormon Fertility Through Half a Century: Another Test of the Americanization Hypothesis', Social Biology 21, I (1974), pp. 70-76. In the United States neither the census nor the vital statistics contain information on fertility by religion, while in the Canadian census fertility data are provided which treat the Mormons as a separate religious group only for 1931, 1941, 1951 and 1961. 4 Jacques Henripin, Trends and Factors of Fertility in Canada (Ottawa: Statistics Canada (Dominion Bureau of Statistics), 1972). The LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon) Church does collect and report mortality and fertility data relating to its membership, but the fertility reports are limited to the crude birth rate for the entire Church membership and cover for the most part only the last half century. 5 Spicer et al., lac. cit., in footnote 3. In recent years, however, LDS records have become available which provide the opportunity to examine the demographic behaviour of the Mormon population in detail and over a much longer period than was possible earlier. 6 The major source of records are maintained by the Genealogical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The records are not, of course, limited to Mormons, as indicated later in this article.