The Quilt of Many Colors: A Mormon Love Story That Stands the Test of Time

By McKenzie Smith

In nineteenth century New York City, Katryn Kline Wellington—or Princess as she is known to her absentee father, the Duke of Wellington, and also around the Bowery—walks a dangerous tightrope as she exists in the world of her mother’s secret past—one of brothels, champagne parties, passionate liaisons, and abortions. But when she is sent to the finest finishing school in Pennsylvania, Katryn’s destiny is altered forever.

After Katryn adjusts to her new life and transforms into a talented artist, she is introduced to the Mormon faith by her friend, Lizbeth Bozemon, who encourages her to join her in the primitive Utah Territory where she is embracing a wonderful life influenced by the pure, God-fearing religion. Soon Katryn, who has reunited with her father and is being pursued by many fine suitors whom she quickly rejects, cannot ignore the lure of the Mormon faith. After she decides to head west in pursuit of love, morals, and respect, her journey to a bold new world full of perilous surprises leads her to places she never imagined.

The Quilt of Many Colors is a riveting historical account of passion, intrigue, and love as a young New York City native embarks on a journey to new beginnings in the wild Utah Territory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Apr 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781480890725

McKenzie Smith

McKenzie Smith is a New York native who has worked as a teacher, realtor, rancher, and business owner. When she is not writing historical fiction, she enjoys raising horses, hiking among ancient Indian ruins, playing racquetball, and swimming in sparkling mountain lakes. McKenzie currently resides in Colorado where she is working on her second book.

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Copyright © 2020 McKenzie Smith.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-9071-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9072-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020907598

Archway Publishing rev. date: 4/30/2020

This book is dedicated to the

ones who encouraged me to try anything once; who nurtured my curiosity, faith, and courage; who taught me patience and perseverance until projects were completed; and who taught me never to give up on my dreams.

So, with great reverence, I honor my sweet mother, Maria; my brilliant brother, John; my dad, Al, who taught me the importance of self-discipline; and husband number three, Vaughn Bushman, who supported my writing. I also would like to give thanks to husband number one, Calvin Lowell Smith, who taught me that a thing done by oneself is a thing well cherished.

In addition, I would like to thank my grandmothers, Ninfa and Laura, and Aunt Julia, Aunt Jill, and Aunt Josie for their example to stand tough and never give up. I also thank my brilliant and colorful friends Lu and Seymore Edmund Martinson—former assistant attorney general of New York State under Nelson Rockefeller—who introduced me to the fine arts of Manhattan, Broadway shows, and New York politics—and, oh yes, the latest dance steps.

A special tribute to all the people who inspired me to succeed: Armond Deschamps, Betty Beidelschies, Carol Finkel, Carole LaBue Brunstad, Melissa Blackington, Barbara Glantz, Helen Mullins, Joyce Lillicotch, Jacque Stafford, Orval L. Krieger of 37 Lamont Dr., Mike Kline, Patti Barrett, Calvin Lowell Smith, Mary Montgomery, and Deb and Terrance Haley and Ann Yeck.

And a very special word of thanks to all my brilliant and encouraging writing professors from Stanford University. Bravo!

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Katryn

Chapter 2 Miss Hawthorne’s Academy

Chapter 3 The Durkheim Dairy Farm

Chapter 4 The Haunting Mormon Prophecy

Chapter 5 Thomas

Chapter 6 Utah Territory

Chapter 7 The Recovery / Leg of Lamb

Chapter 8 The Wedding of the Century

Chapter 9 The Big Night

Chapter 10 The Honeymoon

Chapter 11 The Palace Hotel

Chapter 12 Train to Utah Territory

Chapter 13 The Mormon Way

Chapter 14 The Twentieth Anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Chapter 15 The Women’s Relief Society

Chapter 16 Katryn’s Meltdown

Chapter 17 A Trip Back to New York

Chapter 18 The Great Women’s Debate of April 1875

Chapter 19 Hunting for Elk

Chapter 20 Giddy Madsen and the Freedom Trail

Chapter 21 The Underground Mormon Railroad

Chapter 22 The Train Leaves at Midnight

Chapter 23 Wranglers and Rustlers on the Arizona Strip

Chapter 24 Two Letters

Chapter 25 A Near-Death Experience

Appendix: Timeline of the Church of Latter-day Saints, 1805–1846—New York to Utah Territory, the Northern Arizona Strip, and Mexico

Glossary of Mormon Terms

Notes

Suggested Reading

About the Author

PREFACE

The scope of The Quilt of Many Colors spans between 1833 and 1890. The location includes many parts of the United States and Northern Mexico. My research included investigative trips to the Salt Lake Temple and St. George Temple; the Mountain Meadows Massacre site in Utah; Joseph City, Holbrook, Snowflake, Taylor, Tucson, and Colorado City, all of which are in Arizona; and Juárez, Mexico. I also interviewed several ancestors of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and early Mormon pioneers who settled in Utah and Arizona—Vaughn Bushman, Steve Bushman, John Kay Carmack, Richard Lyman Bushman, and Mrs. R. L. Bushman—during our 2018 Bushman family reunion in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. John Whiting of the Arizona Whiting gas stations introduced me to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This story begins in New York City and travels across many rivers, valleys, canyons, and mountains, heading west to California. Many charismatic and colorful characters emerge along the way. Their lives are woven with purpose and intrigue with US history such as the United States’ Westward Expansion to California, the building of the Transcontinental Railway, and the United States’ growth as a player in the world trade of manufacturing and agricultural exports.

The purpose of The Quilt of Many Colors is to seek answers to some of what I came to think were mysterious practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). I found answers through research and felt compelled to write this fictional story with what I believe to be some explanations of the biggest religious conundrums of intrigue, possible falsehoods, misunderstandings, and untold stories about an American homegrown religion, set in the eighteenth century of the United States of America. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) was founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York.

Some words of advice to the men and women who read The Quilt of Many Colors:

• Think outside the box!

• Open up your hearts to the different! Be tolerant!

• Feel the story from your head to your toes.

• Everyone matters and can contribute to each other’s lives!

• Brigham Young and the early Mormons were under a great deal of pressure from religious discrimination.

And remember, this book is pure fiction derived from my creative thoughts, entwined with US history and research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Behind every book is a team of people who put forth creative effort. The Quilt of Many Colors was crafted with the help of many talented individuals who assisted with my research.

I am thankful to Sandra Krieger; Ron Edwards; Beto Ferniza, his daughter Theresa, and her husband Brent Holmes; Joyce Ramsey; and Dennis Hufford.

Also, I am grateful to my brilliant team at Simon and Schuster’s hybrid publishing company Archway Publishing, located in Bloomington, Indiana, without whose efforts this book would never have been published, refined, or distributed.

Last but not least, I wish to express my gratitude to my great editing team. First is my talented friend Barbara Compton, who examined my manuscript with her investigative prowess and engendered spirit and helped me with some great constructive criticism. She also helped design my book cover with a quilt her grandmother Mitty Stevens Bradshaw made in the late nineteenth century.

Next is Darlene Gsell, whose grammatical training is outstanding. Her corrections were invaluable in the first chapter.

Deb Haley, Doug Neilsen, Patti Barrett, and Cyd Rattunde offered many encouraging insights that helped with the story’s clarity.

CHAPTER 1

KATRYN

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B ack in the mid- and late nineteenth century, I walked a dangerous tightrope to exist in the world of my mother’s secret past—one of brothels, champagne parties, sexual liaisons, and abortions. Was I a prostitute? Hell no! Was I a bastard? No again. The big question was this: How did I become Lady Katryn and then turn into a Mormon wife two thousand miles away from New York City, where I was born?

New York City, 1860

In a mystical land over thirty-six hundred miles from Paris, one can find a city of three hundred thirty-eight thousand immigrants hungering to fulfill their dreams of success: to build a better and more prosperous life for themselves and their families, speak freely, and live where they can practice the religion of their choice or practice no religion at all. In essence, New York was an emporium of immigrants where wishing and dreaming were infectious and where wealth wasn’t just for the elite but was attainable for all who had the courage to take risks, work hard, and harbor a relentless American spirit to persevere until their goals were achieved.

New York City was an ambitious hustle-and-bustle town in 1860 with red-and-white-striped hot dog stands on corners with lots of dripping yellow mustard and mouthwatering sauerkraut. The hot dogs sold for three cents apiece or two for five cents. Elegant horse-drawn carriages transported the Sacred Four Hundred—New York’s upper classes—to church, lunch, and parties; sloops and sailboats cruised on the Hudson River with the idle rich aboard; children played ball in Central Park with their nannies; merchants reached clients upriver by transporting their goods on Fulton’s steamboat; and women smiled and proudly walked tall with shoulders back and heads held high, having legally obtained their right to own property, sue in their own name, and handle their own business affairs. Everyone was going about their business like the sun would never set or the good times would never end as they effused an attitude of indifference to anything happening outside the prosperous and trendy city of New York—a magical land where dreams do come true.

Furthermore, 1860 was strategically a very important year for some. It was twelve months before the first large battle of the Civil War at Bull Run, Virginia—and believe me, New York’s inhabitants started paying attention to life outside their magnificent community of culture and wealth after a group of Confederate soldiers fired fatal shots at the Union troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, which started the Civil War on April 12, 1861, and bloody well lasted until the spring of 1881.

Also, in 1860, women were starting to come of age and become more assertive in running their own affairs. Some women ventured out of their comfort zone and owned mercantile businesses, like clothing factories, millinery shops, and greenhouses. The more studious young women went to college to teach, and some even embraced the law and medical professions. Some brave souls were even compelled to nurse the wounded soldiers after the Civil War ended.

In contrast, out in the Wild West, in a wilderness called Utah Territory, for example, some New York women were birthing many Mormon babies, shooting Blackhawks, tending to their gardens as their only source of fruits and vegetables, and sewing clothes at home on a foot-pedal Singer sewing machine, which was lucky to have made it on the treacherous trek westward in a Conestoga wagon. If these women didn’t have one, they mended and made clothes by hand or else ordered shirts, dresses, and hats from the Montgomery Ward catalog if they were rich.

Getting a college education in the early history of the Latter-day Saints was unheard of and not encouraged for Mormon women. Vocational training was espoused by Brigham Young, who saw the need for only male apprentices, journeymen, and master craftsmen. The need for academic scholars came later. It would be fair to mention at this point that Brigham Young came from a rural background in Vermont, where education was lacking, thus he was illiterate most of his life. How he was able to read the Book of Mormon is still a mystery. Perhaps his favorite wife, Amelia, read him a verse daily?

Back in New York City in 1860, a very different type of woman evolved: the entrepreneurial business executive called the madam, who owned brothels and managed a harem of beautiful, lusty women. Lower Manhattan was infested with over three thousand prostitutes pleasuring their johns 24-7. During the summers, more women plied their trade, coming from nearby towns and the state of New Jersey, which would drive the population of hookers up to ten thousand. Some husbands, desperate to put food on the table and pay rent, even encouraged their wives to just perform fellatio for extra money. The wives would rent a room just for the season and then return home with plenty of money to keep their family in brisket, beer, milk, and clothes for the rest of the year. The Irish and Italians had at least, on average, six to nine children to raise. But the Italian women were loaned out to no one. Their husbands were very proud and religious—not that the Irish weren’t—and occasionally when their wives were pregnant, they would visit a brothel for sexual healing. For them it was all about keeping their wives’ lips pure to kiss their angelic children.

At this point I would like to mention that Katryn’s mother had only been with one man before she met the duke, which was unusual behavior for a prostitute since promiscuity, not monogamy, was the norm in the brothels of New York.

The hookers, on the other hand, followed a strict code of ethics. It was taboo to steal another woman’s john, clothes, or makeup. Lipstick was always scented—that was how wives knew what their husbands were up to. It was like the women were sending a message home—We are taking good care of yours truly while you have your baby or frigid moment. It was an unwritten pact between women of the night and married women of a virtuous nature. And, of course, the men were totally unaware this code existed.

Also, it was interesting to discover what prostitutes carried in their purses. Julie carried a fork to heighten her johns’ senses during ejaculations; Sally had lemons with the pulp scooped out hidden in her vagina to prevent unwanted pregnancies; Darla carried a little piggy bank to keep her cash close during tricks; and Frenchie carried watered-down perfume to rinse off her john’s manhood and clean out her mouth. Each young woman carried a tiny white pearl-trimmed handgun and a small knife for protection from sadistic men who got pleasure out of torturing them—and a washcloth soaked with strong bourbon to kill germs.

The infamous prostitutes of New York City during the nineteenth century worked out of brothels, hotels, boardinghouses, theaters, alleyways, street corners, and fancy carriages.

An interesting fact about the brothels is that each of these emporiums of pleasure carried its own brand of distinction. Fannie’s boasted silk sheets and pillowcases donned with white fluffy down comforters, and paying johns were treated to a breakfast of champions—chocolate candies served with creamed tea and crumpets.

Stevens’s served cold beer, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and pretzels between tricks to their johns.

Zachary’s gave Swedish massages to gay couples looking for a hideaway to relax and enjoy the forbidden.

The Golden Circus had an all-naked female review standing in lesbian poses that changed every three minutes.

The Red Rose gave out complimentary feathered fans to help with tickling scrotums.

Kate Wood’s Hotel de Wood was lavishly furnished with expensive clocks and furniture and over $10,000 worth of famous oil paintings from the Renaissance period.

Frenchie’s gave out the obvious to each patron after he made fifteen paid visits. There was never a cover charge, but after visiting a brothel, a man would spend extra money on red roses, red velvet heart-shaped boxes of chocolate-covered candy cherries, and silver trinkets for his special delectable woman, which could be purchased at each emporium of pleasure for ten dollars.

Women of pleasure were passionately appreciated and loved by the johns. Wives could never compete with these amorously experienced women who came with a bag of exotic tricks that made men scream with endless joy. Our heroine, Katryn Kline Wellington, would later share these treasured secrets to save many Mormon marriages.

Fleur-de-lis—whatever one desires—was the prostitute’s motto. Occasionally, New York policemen would escort the johns to their women for discretion and a fee of five dollars. These johns came from all walks of life; they were sailors, waterfront dockworkers, desperate husbands, clergymen, gays, businessmen, politicians, and foreigners. The list of patrons was endless and growing daily, just like the prostitutes’ income.

The women of the night made $100,000 to $300,000 a year in today’s currency. They became rich and invested their money wisely, such as in real estate, church pews, cotton commodities, stocks, or government bonds. Some prostitutes even started their own brothels. Women were perceived as dumb and desperate and in need of a man to survive in the late nineteenth century, but actually these women were street-smart. They learned a great deal from their wealthy johns during their pillow talk and put this information to good use when negotiating their business deals.

God is great, God is good, God loves free-spirited women! sang Katryn Kline, or Princess as she was known around the New York City Bowery in the 1860s. She was slim, five feet, six inches tall, with colossal, creamy, well-developed breasts. Her curly hair was reddish blonde with piercing baby-blue eyes peeking from under her wispy bangs. Her personality matched her looks: warm, friendly, and vivacious. But it was her untouched fresh womanhood—perceived as perfectly intact and tight as a baby’s fist—that drove men to propose three or four times a week. Sad to say for her admirers, Princess was fifteen and a gorgeous virgin. None of the women held that little tidbit against her. They loved the way she always treated them with respect and the skillful way she fixed their ripped sexy lingerie.

Katryn also assisted with many early abortions with the infamous Ann Loman of the Tenderloin District in Lower Manhattan, saving many of the women’s careers and, in some instances, their lives. Abortions in those days consisted of taking powders or pills to immediately end the pregnancy or the use of a surgical instrument for late terminations. Katryn abhorred the latter unless it was to save the mother’s life. Furthermore, a late-term abortion could be substituted for an adoption if the fetus lived after delivery. But there were so many hungry and homeless children needing homes that sometimes this option was not chosen. Nevertheless, Ann Loman and her pretty young assistant tried to adopt out as many babies as possible to loving parents and a proper home, one where there was plenty of food to