Cornelia Paddock

Cornelia Paddock (1840–1898, aged 57) was a leader of the anti-polygamy movement in Utah. She was a founding member of the Utah Ladies' Anti-Polygamy Society.

Life

Paddock was born in New York City in 1840^[1] and moved to the Utah Territory with her husband Alonzo^[2] in 1870, at which point she became involved in political movements that opposed plural marriage.^[1]

Involvement in the anti-polygamist movement

In 1878, Paddock formed the Ladies Anti-Polygamy Society, along with Sarah Ann Cooke and Jennie Anderson Froseith.^[3]

Paddock's writing frequently appeared in the Anti-Polygamy Standard from 1880 to 1883.^[2] She also published two novels with anti-Mormon themes, titled The Fate of Madame La Tour and In the Toils; or, Martyrs of the Latter Days (1879).^[2][4]

In 1884, Paddock signed a petition against women's suffrage, in conjunction with Angie Newman and the Women's Christian Temperance Union.^[2]

Some historians theorize that Paddock may have influenced the strict anti-polygamist policies of Nebraska politician Algernon Paddock, who was her husband's cousin.^[2]

Woman's Home Association

In October 1894, she was elected president of the Woman's Home Association of Salt Lake City (WHA),^[2] an organization formed with the mission of providing employment training for sex workers. The WHA was disbanded in 1901, three years after Paddock's death.^[4] In 1884, Paddock signed a petition against women's suffrage, in conjunction with Angie Newman and the Women's Christian Temperance Union.^[2]