Editing 1890 Manifesto (section)

==New plural marriages vs. existing plural marriages==
The Manifesto was the end of official church authorization for the creation of new plural marriages that violated local laws. It had no effect on the status of already existing plural marriages, and plural marriages continued to be performed in locations where it was believed to be legal. As Woodruff explained at the general conference where the Manifesto was accepted by the church, "[t]his Manifesto only refers to future marriages, and does not affect past conditions. I did not, I could not, and would not promise that you would desert your wives and children. This you cannot do in honor."<ref>Diary entry of [[Marriner W. Merrill]], 1890-10-06 (LDS Church archives), as cited in: {{harvnb|Hardy|1992|p=141}}.</ref> Despite Woodruff's explanation, some church leaders and members who were polygamous did begin to live with only one wife.<ref>[[Lorenzo Snow]], who would succeed Woodruff as president of the church, was one such leader.</ref> However, the majority of Mormon polygamists continued to cohabit with their plural wives in violation of the [[Edmunds Act]].<ref>{{citation |first= Kenneth L. II |last= Cannon |title= Beyond the Manifesto: Polygamous Cohabitation among LDS General Authorities after 1890 |journal= [[Utah Historical Quarterly]] |volume= 46 |issue= 1 |year= 1978 |pages= 24–36 |doi= 10.2307/45060569 |jstor= 45060569 |s2cid= 254447400 |url= http://utahhistory.sdlhost.com/#/item/000000031000612/view/26 |access-date= 2014-01-16 |archive-date= 2013-10-21 |archive-url= https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20131021165803/http://utahhistory.sdlhost.com/#/item/000000031000612/view/26 |url-status= dead |url-access= subscription }}</ref>