Mitt Romney's Polygamist Ancestors

In a recent Associated Press Article published on Yahoo, evidence is cited that polygamy has its roots in the family tree of Mormon 2008 Republican hopeful, Mitt Romney.

As it turns out, one of his great-grandfathers had five wives, and another had twelve.

Miles Pitt Romney, one of the great-grandfathers, married his fifth wife in 1897, which was over six years from the date that it became forbidden by Mormon leaders, and thirty years after it was outlawed by the federal government. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, which prohibited plural marriage; however at this time Utah, where the church is based, was still a territory. In later years, Congress also passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act, which disincorporated the church in 1887.

The Mormon President, Wilford Woodruff was the organization's president that, in 1890, issued "The Manifesto," which was a statement that the Mormon Church did not teach or condone plural marriage, any longer. Many Mormon families fled to Mexico in the 1800's, in order to continue the practice and escape persecution. It was in Mexico where Romney's father was born, before the family returned to the States in 1912. Romney's father, George Romney, is the former governor of Michigan.

The article continues with excerpts from the diary of Romney's great-grandmother, Hannah Hood Hill. She wrote of how she was saddened when her husband took additional wives, and that she prayed for strength to endure the trials.

In reading this article, one might have to wonder if this is an odd point to pick on. HBO currently airs a series called, "Big Love," in which a Utah business man has three wives. Are viewers sympathetic to the lifestyle in gaining an emotional interest in the characters, or perhaps some opposed to the "picking on" of Romney are just using their minds to decide what is a relevant reason to like or dislike a candidate?

Is family religious and lifestyle history really reason to frown upon Romney?

A better question - what's the big deal about polygamy?