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Show 205 without, the church would inevitably have given up the practice of polygamy, perhaps even sooner than it did under pressure."' As we have glimpsed the B. H. Roberts family in their bearing on Maggie's later life, it might be well to view them in the context of plural marriage and to make a few simple comparisons of their life with that of the Milford Shipp family. The following acerbic comment is ascribed to one of Roberts' neighbors: "He didn't know how to be either a husband or father or a social being...just a writer and speaker of truth. Like Jesus he o made great enemies." If there were truth in his not knowing how to play these roles, we might look to his youth for an answer. Roberts grew up without a father's influence; therefore he lacked a model. But the tender solicitude of his mother was returned in kind by him throughout his life. Each year that he was in the vicinity on his mother's or his own birthday, he visited her and lay white roses in her lap in gratitude and reverence for the quality of her life. Whatever ineptitude Roberts may have displayed in his roles as husband and father, he was very tender and caring with his family. Roberts' wives were certain that he was prophet material (and time has verified their assessment). Perhaps the privilege of sharing the life of a great man sweetened their experience with him. Neither did his children take him for granted. They made a celebration of every homecoming. During his long periods of intense writing in his office in Salt Lake City, he went to Centerville "in |
