John Henry William Miles kept two families.
My great-grandfather George Edmond Miles was born in 1866 in
a London slum, the son of an unmarried woman named Jane Mary Wyatt.
His natural
father, John Henry William Miles, was the proprietor of a pub called the Red
Lion. The pub now carries some fame; it is thought to have been in the Miles
family pub that eleven-year-old Charles Dickens asked for his first pint of ale
and with it received a kiss from the proprietress, an incident he would
immortalize in David Copperfield.
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| John Henry William Miles, proprietor of the Red Lion Pub |
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| Eliza Horne Miles, his unhappy wife |
Managing a successful pub located between 10 Downing Street and the Houses of
Parliament allowed John to maintain two families, and ensured that his
legitimate children were well educated and his illegitimate ones housed and
clothed. George Edmond was one of a set of twins who, along with elder siblings
Henry and Edith, made up the illegitimate side of John's family. Their
existence was kept completely secret to the businessman's legal family, but his
wife Eliza suspected his double life. Their arguments were fierce, and she left
her husband when their eldest was fifteen years old.
The eldest legitimate Miles son was named John Horne Miles. John
was a headstrong boy with little respect for either authority or family; from
an early age the boy had plagued his mother and defied his father, and was
blamed in part for his mother’s discontent. John Horne had his own ideas about
how his life would proceed.
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| John Horne Miles, fiercely independent |
At the age of twelve young John had fallen in love with his
second cousin, a beautiful thirteen-year-old girl named Caroline Horne Maile
Owen. Caroline, who had been born to parents named Maile but raised by relatives
named Owen, was a beautiful girl with fair hair and a round, sweet face. Though
they were both neighbors and cousins, the difference in social station between
John, a tavern-owner's son, and Caroline, the only adopted daughter of a High
Constable, was great. Nevertheless as the years went on she came to eagerly
return his youthful affection and the two became secretly engaged. Certain that
neither his parents nor hers would have approved the match, they were forced to
hide their promise to one another until John gained his independence.
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| Caroline Horne Maile Owen, beloved of John Horne Miles |
John, along with one of his best friends, Ebenezer DeFriez,
set out to sea in 1870. Early in the voyage John was forced to admit what those
around him already likely knew, which was that John Horne Miles and hard work were
a poor match. He used his first shore leave to return home and beg his father
to pay off the indenture early -- he would become a teacher, a writer, an
intellectual, anything but a sailor! The older man, however, could not be moved,
and his refusal to aid John in this only deepened the chasm between them.
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| Ebenezer DeFriez, friend of John Horne Miles |
After nearly three years at sea John and Ebenezer arrived in
Sydney, Australia, when their ship, the SS England,
put into port long enough for the two to explore the bustling city. While
wandering the streets together a strong, pleasing voice reached their ears and they
found themselves listening with fascination to a young man preaching a new and
strange gospel. They left the scene with a Book of Mormon in their possession
and the lingering notes of the missionary's words in their ears. Back aboard
ship John sat down to read it while Ebenezer took his shift at guard duty; by
the time Ebenezer returned, John was persuaded by the new gospel. Less than a
month later both had been baptized by missionaries of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Sydney.
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| The SS England, aboard which John and Ebenezer were indentured |
From Sydney the England
went on to Japan and from there to Portland, Oregon. John Horne had been
counting the days until the expiry of his indenture; the moment they put into port
he gave his notice and left the ship behind, while Ebenezer followed the next
day. Together they made their way to Utah to join their new Mormon brethren,
full of hope for the future and giddy with excitement about what lay ahead.
Optimistically, the nineteen-year-old John wrote to Caroline Owen to tell her
he would soon be a wealthy man and to ask her formally to be his bride.
On arriving in Salt Lake City John Horne and Ebenezer were
welcomed as new converts and their skills assessed. The two were called into
Brigham Young's office in the center of the shining new city and interviewed by
the leader of the church himself. Young saw use for their seaman's knot-tying skills
in the construction of a new temple being raised in St George, and bid them go down
to the `Cotton Mission' being established in the southwestern corner of the
state.
St George was an early outpost of Mormondom in Utah's South,
founded as part of Brigham Young's ambitious scheme to form a self-reliant
community of Mormons who could exist outside the reach of the rest of the
United States. Salt Lake City was green and pleasant despite its salty plains,
but the area lacked essentials that would bind them forever through trade to
non-Mormon `gentiles'.
In the late 1850s Young had visited the Mormons' sparse Indian
Mission in Santa Clara on the Virgin River and tucked away in his mind the
possibilities of loamy soil and arid heat in the area. Some years later he
hatched a plan to grow cotton in Utah's `Dixie' when initial efforts to mine
iron from the southern Utah hills failed. In 1861 he called together 309 Mormon
families, all of hardy stock and loyal disposition, and sent them south to
scrape a city into the inhospitable desert landscape along the Virgin. In order
for the colony to survive Young knew they would need a powerful symbol of their
faith to cling to; St George, he decreed, would boast the first Mormon temple
to be completed in the new Zion of Utah.
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| Utah's "Dixie," near Santa Clara on the Virgin River |
It took three years after the St George temple was begun for
the foundation alone to be completed. The swampy valley ground and crumbling
sandstone hills made setting the foundation a near-impossible task which only
extraordinary amounts of sheer willpower and back-breaking labor could
overcome. As it happened John and Ebenezer arrived in Utah as the walls were finally
beginning to rise, and just as the complex knots and pulleys they'd used aboard
ship would be most critical. Their expertise would prove invaluable in
completing the temple's construction.
Not long after their arrival in St George John and Ebenezer
made the acquaintance of a fellow seaman, a wind-beaten, bearded Saint by the name of George Jarvis. George and his wife, Ann Prior
Jarvis, had converted in England in 1848 and they and their young children had
traveled across the ocean to join their brethren. The Jarvises were among those
Saints who had made the difficult trek from New England to Salt Lake City almost
entirely on foot. In 1861 George and Ann had answered a new call, this time to Utah’s
Dixie.
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| George Jarvis, an old sailor |
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| Ann Prior Jarvis, his much-loved wife |
When Ann was fifteen her mother Catherine took her aside and
entreated her to stop speaking so openly about her admiration for Queen
Victoria, remarking mysteriously that they were more closely related than
anyone could know. Catherine then confessed that her husband had learned in his
mother's dying breath that he was the son of Edward Augustus Hanover, Duke of
Kent and father of the queen, in whose household his young mother Elizabeth
McDonald had been employed for a time before being sent away in disgrace after
falling with child. William had died years before, as had the duke, so no proof
of the connection could be obtained. Ann's mother spoke regretfully of being
treated ``very ill" by the current queen, who was determined to erase all
memory of her father's numerous indiscretions. Ann, however, was so enamored by
the idea of the queen's being her half-aunt that she clung delightedly to the
idea and tried even harder to emulate her. Years later she named her second
daughter Victoria Josephine and informed the young girl that royalty was in her
blood, if only she would live up to it.
John Horne Miles’ first meeting with the Jarvis family is
recorded in Mary Miles Kleinman's record of the Jarvis family history, titled The Essence of Faith. In it she writes, ``Ebenezer
DeFriez and John Horne Miles became regular guests at the Jarvis home, joining
in with the others who frequently gathered there to visit and sing."
When Ann Prior Jarvis enquired whether John was searching
for a wife among the local girls he spoke feelingly of his ```fine beauty’"
Caroline in London, proclaiming that he ``was not free." But as time went
on and no word from Caroline arrived, he began to change his tune. In language
typical of his famed grandiosity he declared to the Jarvises: ```I submit that
Caroline has probably become espoused to some wealthy ass, probably a lord; no
miserable chimney sweep for someone with Caroline's pulchritude. Though I'll
wager that if she is lucky enough to see me again, she'll rue the day she
married that opulent greenhorn.’”
While working on the temple John boarded with a widow and
her two teenaged daughters, Emily and Julia Spencer. The girls exuded youth and
health, and perhaps most importantly possessed the advantage of bearing little
resemblance to Caroline. Where Caroline was delicate and prim, the sisters were
ruddy and kindly-faced; where Caroline was fair they were dark. Caroline's hair
was frequently styled into a curling blond halo around her head, whileas Emily
and Julia pulled theirs back into simple chignons more suited to hard work and
a desert climate. Time passed, and he was charmed by the girls' innocent faith
and dedication to the new Church as well as intrigued by their openness to the
gospel of plural marriage, which had been officially sanctioned by Church
leaders in 1852. Not long after abandoning hope of a reply from Caroline he persuaded
both the Spencer sisters to be his brides.
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| Emily Spencer |
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| Julia Spencer |
As the temple neared completion another obstacle arose when
the beautiful baptismal font arrived at last from Salt Lake City. It consisted
of an enormous iron bowl that was to be seated on the backs of twelve cast-iron
oxen, a room-sized full-body spiritual bath. The bowl alone was shipped in six
pieces and on arrival was found to weigh no less than nine tons. How to lift
the massive vessel onto the backs of the iron oxen was a puzzle indeed, and
concerned citizens sent to Salt Lake City for extra manpower.
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| St George's baptismal font on the backs of iron oxen |
In the meantime the
old sailor George Jarvis felt that the task was a manageable one; he had lifted
just as much weight with fewer men over docks in China and London. He submitted
a proposal to the city leaders and enlisted John Horne Miles, Ebenezer DeFriez,
Ebenezer's brother Charles, and a fourth sailor named Thomas Crane to man the
system of pulleys he devised. Most of the town showed up to witness the feat,
their eager chatter for a time drowning out Jarvis' instructions. At last the
townspeople were silenced and watched in awe as Jarvis directed the four men
using precise maritime language to lift the nine-ton bowl effortlessly onto the
backs of the waiting oxen. Applause erupted the minute the font settled onto
the oxen, the accomplishment considered a minor miracle by those who saw it.
The sailors were hailed as heroes, and for years afterward the five men would
puff up their chests with pride whenever the majestic baptismal font was
mentioned.
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| St George temple under construction |
John’s idyllic life with the Saints would be interrupted,
however, by his call to serve a mission to England once the temple was
completed in 1876. He finished his long circuit around the globe as a
missionary of the new faith, at last arriving on his aged father's doorstep only
to find the older man near death. In anticipation of the Red Lion passing out
of family hands, John H.W. Miles had sold it and purchased a pub in Surrey
called the George. As a final gesture of reconciliation he left all his money
and property -- a large inheritance -- to his eldest son. On his deathbed he
revealed to the young man the existence of his second family, and entreated his
heir to assist both his legitimate and illegitimate families with the funds.
John Horne was stunned to learn of his four half-siblings.
After his father's funeral he made his way to the center of London where he met
with Jane Mary Wyatt and the four Wyatt children. He moved them to better
lodgings at once and endeared himself to all of them, assuring them that they
would receive the protection of their father's name and family. He also preached
to them of the Mormon faith and found little resistance to their conversion. In
a letter to his mission headquarters in London he reported: ``Yesterday I had
the inestimable blessing and privilege of baptizing my three youngest brothers
and sister, together with their mother; they will be only too glad to gather
with me to the Zion of our God when I return. I am happy to say that the
disposal of my father's estate nears completion.”
John also visited Caroline Owen and was astonished to hear
that she had written to him of her acceptance of his offer of marriage but that
the letter had never arrived. In what must have been a painful conversation he
was forced to admit to her that he had become engaged to not one, but two other
ladies during their estrangement.
Shocked but still in love, Caroline agreed to
convert to Mormonism and follow him to Utah under the condition that he sever
his engagements to Emily and Julia. He refused to break his promise to the
young ladies. Forced to concede, Caroline capitulated on that point but
insisted on being his first wife, with the Spencer sisters to come second to
her in rank. He agreed to her condition and they, along with Jane Mary Wyatt
and her four children, began the long journey to Utah.
So it was with the grandiose, self-assured John Horne Miles
that 12-year-old George Edmond Miles and his family placed their trust. They
arrived in Utah in 1878, making the trip across the sea and the eastern states
in relative comfort but finishing with a rough 318 mile, 14-day journey from
Salt Lake City to St George by mule-drawn wagon.
As soon as they arrived John set about planning his weddings,
but to his dismay found that the Church would not allow him to marry a younger
woman as his first wife; Emily, as the eldest, must come first. When Caroline
learned of the church president's decision she protested against the position
into which she was being ensnared. Faced with the unpleasant alternatives
before her: to return to England alone, make her way in the States as an
unmarried woman or marry the man she still loved, she crumbled. ``I will marry
you," she snarled at John in the church president's office, ``but I will
either poison or kill you afterwards.”
John's solution to Caroline's jealousy was to marry Emily in
the morning and Caroline in the afternoon, only revealing that he had married
Emily that morning by bringing her to Caroline's wedding reception and
introducing her there as his wife. It was at the reception, then, that Caroline's
frustration with John reached its breaking point; enraged, she commanded Emily
to vacate the piano stool where she sat only to have John come to his first
wife's defense. In answer Caroline walked straight over to Emily and slapped
her across the face. When John moved to chastise her, she spat: ``If you don't
shut up I'll slap you too" and left the reception forthwith.
A dramatic scene ensued, ostensibly involving John Horne
chasing poor Caroline around her bedroom. At last she escaped, broken-hearted
and spitting mad, to plead with authorities to save her from her husband. The
state court convicted John of bigamy with scarcely-contained glee, but he appealed
the verdict at once. So began the federal case of the United States vs John H.
Miles, a well-publicized trial of outlandish and sensational Mormon practices.
Throughout the ordeal John begged Caroline to drop charges
against him. Multiple accounts testify to the fact that Caroline was ever the
first lady of his heart even if he had married Emily before her; in the court
records it is noted that ``after the arrest, but before indictment, he promised
to give up the other woman and make Miss Owen his first and only wife, if only
she would come back to him," but she refused under any circumstance to
return to his side.
The trial was a sensation across the country, its sordid
facts revisited in each appellate court. One transcript hedged around the issue
of consummation, with Caroline questioned as a witness about the extent of her
relations with John on the night of their wedding. She stated that she was in
her bed when he came to her room, and that he stayed there all night despite
her objections.
``How much did you object?" the judge enquired.
``I wish you could have been there to have seen how much,"
Carrie answered.
To this the judge drolly replied: ``I wish I had too."
Ultimately John Horne was found not guilty by virtue of the
fact that his first bride, Emily Spencer Miles, could not be located to testify
to her marriage -- this
was the standard evasion used by Saints cornered in polygamy cases.
Julia refused to marry John after the debacle, but Emily
bore him eleven children. Years later their granddaughter lamented the outcome,
stating that ``[Grandma Emily] knew [Grandpa] John had never stopped loving
Caroline; all his life he loved Caroline. After she'd borne him all those
children, Grandma awoke one night and John was talking to Caroline in his
sleep. Next day he was mean as hell with Grandma. He didn't love Grandma and
she knew it.”
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| Emily Spencer in later life |
As for Caroline, she returned to the East Coast and settled
into life as a single woman in Washington D.C. She passionately fought against
Mormon interests, speaking before crowds of the horror of her experience and
the unjustness of the Mormon way of life when it came to the rights of women.
In her mid thirties she married a divorced man fifteen years her senior. She
bore Thomas Widdecombe two sons but died two weeks after the second was born,
likely of childbed fever.
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| John Horne Miles in his teaching years |
Despite the upset of his younger years, John settled into life in southern Utah and managed to install himself as a respected citizen of the county. He also succeeded in avoiding manual labor for the rest of his life, working and advertising himself as a teacher who had attended ``Eaton" college -- his claim was one final dastardly move, as few of his countrified pupils would have realized he did not attend the homonymous Eton. He lived a long but thenceforth unremarkable life, and died in 1925 at the age of 71.
Coming soon - "Is that your own hair, or do you wear a switch?" - or, the courtship of George Edmond Miles
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