“Father [George Q. Cannon] now spoke of the unfortunate condition of the people at present in regard to marriage… ‘I believe in concubinage, or some plan whereby men and women can live together under sacred ordinances and vows until they can be married… such a condition would have to be kept secret, until the laws of our government change to permit the holy order of wedlock which God has revealed, which will undoubtedly occur at no distant day, in order to correct the social evil…’

“[Lorenzo Snow spoke] ‘I have no doubt but concubinage will yet be practiced in this church, but I had not thought of it in this connection. When the nations are troubled good women will come here for safety and blessing, and men will accept them as concubines.’

“[Wilford Woodruff spoke] ‘If men enter into some practice of this character to raise a righteous posterity, they will be justified in it.’”

Abraham H. Cannon, Candid Insights of a Mormon Apostle: The Diaries of Abraham H. Cannon, 1889-1895 (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2010, 15 April 1894 entry), 491-492.