Parties to a valid civil union before that date were able to have their marriages solemnized, provided they met the legal requirements of the state marriage laws.
A claim was made that the law violated the constitutional prohibition on "ex post facto" laws; that is, polygamists were charged for polygamist marriages solemnized before passage of the statute.
The result was a 510-word handwritten manuscript which stated his intentions to comply with the law and denied that the church continued to solemnize or condone plural marriages.
Two years later, in 1645, he was appointed one of the commissioners authorized to solemnize marriages, which at the time was a civil rather than religious duty.
