numbers, great good was accomplished in the relief of the poor and
afflicted, and means multiplied in the Treasury. A two story brick
building has been erected by the society, part of which is rented for
a store, and the upper story used for meetings. The society also own
a good granary and a quantity of wheat. Mrs. Horne's success as a
leader was so apparent and her course so consistent, President Young
had such confidence in her, he gave her a very important mission among
the sisters; this was called Retrenchment. In due time a meeting was
held in the Fifteenth Ward Schoolhouse, and from there adjourned to the
Fourteenth Ward Assembly Rooms, and from that time until the present,
Mrs. Horne has presided at these regular semi-monthly meetings of
the Ladies' General Retrenchment Associations. When President Young
instructed Sister Eliza to go through the Territory and organize the
young ladies into associations for mutual improvement, Mrs. Horne
was called to assist. She has organized many of the Young Ladies
Associations, also Primary Associations. At the time of the passage
of the Cullom Bill in January, 1876, a grand Mass Meeting was called
to convene in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City. Mrs. Horne took an
active part in the proceedings, being one of the committee to draft
resolutions. In February following, the bill was passed, granting
suffrage to the women of Utah. Mrs. Horne was one of a committee of
ladies who waited upon Governor S. A. Mann to express the gratitude of
Mormon women for his signing of the document. December 1877, Mrs. Horne
was chosen to preside over the Relief Societies of this stake of Zion.
She was elected a delegate from Salt Lake County, to the Territorial
Convention held in this city, commencing October 9th, and was called
upon to address them. Mrs. Horne was one of the committee appointed to
wait upon the delegate nominated at the Convention, and inform him of
the honor conferred upon him.
When Mrs. Horne was sixty years of age, upon the demise of her
daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lydia Weiler Horne, she took the babe six weeks
old to raise. This after rearing a family, and seeing each take honored
places in the world.
Mrs. Horne has been an officer and worker in the silk industry from the
beginning. At the organization of the board of officers for the Deseret
Hospital, May 1882, Mrs. Horne was elected Chairman of the Executive
Committee.
November 20th, 1882, was the forty-sixth anniversary of Mr. and Mrs.
Horne's wedding day. At the reception they held, an elegant photograph
album was presented from lady friends, each of whom was to contribute
her picture. Congratulations from children, Mayor Jennings and Judge
Miner, with loving and sincere good wishes from all, for the future,
made this a day long to be remembered."
I am indebted to the pen of Emmeline B. Wells, editor of the "Woman's
Exponent," for the points I have selected for this sketch, to whom
the original referred me as possessing all I would wish to obtain.
Perhaps, it would be no more than justice to the author, to quote
also from the same source, the record her family have so far, made,
thereby reflecting credit upon their noble parents. It will also give
to the world the history in brief of _one_ Mormon family, reared in the
teachings, examples and associations of Mormonism, not omitting the
system of celestial marriage.
"By their fruits ye shall know them."
"Henry, the eldest son, was for eleven years Bishop in Paris, Idaho, in
1880, moved to Arizona, to assist in colonizing there.
"Joseph, when about twenty years of age, was called on a mission to
Switzerland, where he obtained a thorough knowledge of the German
language. Returned, and was for ten years Bishop of Gunnison, Sanpete
Co., again called to Switzerland to preside over the Swiss and German
missions and edit the _Stern_. In 1878, he was called to the Bishopric
in Richfield, Sevier Co., is also mayor of that city.
"Richard is a teacher; was superintendent of Sunday-schools in Beaver,
and has filled several home missions.
"John, the youngest son, was the first President of the Young Men's
Mutual Improvement Association in the Fourteenth Ward. Her eldest
daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Webb, lives in Millard Co., a lady who might
grace any society.
"Nora married George, son of Orson Spencer, somewhat famous in Church
history for his valuable writings and great missionary work in America
and Europe.
"Julia married Wm. Burton, and died one year after marriage, leaving a
baby daughter. She was the first President of the Young Ladies Mutual
Improvement Association of the Fourteenth Ward.
"Cornelia was later made the President. Miss Cornelia was also for
three or four years business manager of the _Woman's Exponent_. She is
the wife of James Clayton.
"Minnie, her twin sister, was for several years Secretary of the Young
Ladies Mutual Improvement Association and the Sunday-school. Since her
marriage with Wm. James, she is President of the Seventh Ward Primary
Association.
"Mattie is a counselor to the President of all the Young Ladies Mutual
Improvement Associations of the Church. When the _Woman's Exponent_ was
first published, Miss Mattie was the first girl to go into the printing
office and learn type setting.
"Clara, the youngest, is accomplished, gifted spiritually, and an
active worker. As her mother is often called from home by public
duties, the charge of the home rests much of the time with her, a
position she fills with dignity and ability."
Three babes died in infancy. And the mother of these children now
honored among men and women, drove team hundreds of miles, not one
journey, but many, and nearly always with a babe in her arms.
Resting now in the afternoon of life with comforts, honors and love
surrounding her, Mrs. Horne must look back with satisfaction and
gratitude upon her life. A few years ago, when I, a timid Secretary of
the Fourteenth Ward Meetings, used to steal a look at her noble face,
I used mentally to compare it to that of Washington, and I think still
I was not mistaken; we, to-day, are struggling for "liberty to worship
God according to the dictates of our own consciences," and the spirit
of such as he and his co-laborers are with us and are ours, to counsel
and to lead, through difficulties unto victory.
SARAH M. KIMBALL,
SECRETARY OF THE L. D. S. WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS.
"I am the daughter of Oliver Granger and Lydia Dibble Granger, was born
December 29th, 1818, in the town of Phelps, Ontario Co., New York.
Of my parents, eight children, only myself and two younger brothers,
Lafayette and Farley, remain. My father, Oliver Granger, had an
interesting experience in connection with the coming forth of the Book
of Mormon. He obtained the book a few months after its publication,
and while in the city of New York, at Prof. Mott's Eye Infirmary he
had a 'heavenly vision.' My father was told of a personage who said
his name was Moroni, that the Book of Mormon, about which his mind was
exercised, was a true record of great worth, and Moroni instructed
him (my father) to testify of its truth and that he should hereafter
be ordained to preach the everlasting Gospel to the children of men.
Moroni instructed my father to kneel and pray; Moroni and another
personage knelt with him by the bedside. Moroni repeated words and
instructed my father to repeat them after him. Moroni then stepped
behind my father, who was still kneeling, and drew his finger over
the three back seams of my father's coat, (which my father felt very
perceptibly) and said, 'A time will come when the Saints will wear
garments made without seams.' Moroni told my father that he might
ask for what he most desired and it would be granted. He asked for
an evidence by which he might know when he was approved of God. The
evidence or sign was given, and remained with him until his dying hour,
being more particularly manifest when engaged in prayer and meditation.
I love the memory of my father. He died in Kirtland, Ohio, August 1843,
aged forty-seven.
I was married in Kirtland, Orange Co., Ohio, by Warren Cowdery, Esq.,
September 23rd, 1840, to Hiram Kimball, eldest son of Phineas and
Abigail Kimball, of West Fairley, Orange Co., Vermont. My parents had
previously spent a year in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Ill.; their present
stay in Ohio was considered only temporary; my father sickened and
died there the next year. I returned with my husband to his home in
Nauvoo, Ill., three weeks after my marriage. We boarded six months in
the family of Dr. Frederick Williams, then went to housekeeping. My
eldest son was born in Nauvoo, November 22nd, 1841; when the babe was
three days old a little incident occurred which I will mention. The
walls of the Nauvoo Temple were about three feet above the foundation.
The Church was in need of help to assist in raising the Temple walls.
I belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; my
husband did not belong to the Church at that time. I wished to help on
the Temple, but did not like to ask my husband (who owned considerable
property) to help for my sake. My husband came to my bedside, and as
he was admiring our three days' old darling, I said, "What is the
boy worth?" He replied, "O, I don't know, he is worth a great deal."
I said, "Is he worth a thousand dollars?" The reply was, "Yes, more
than that if he lives and does well." I said, "Half of him is mine,
is it not?" "Yes, I suppose so." "Then I have something to help on
the Temple." He said pleasantly, "You have?" "Yes, and I think of
turning my share right in as tithing." "Well, I'll see about that."
Soon after the above conversation Mr. Kimball met the Prophet Joseph
Smith, President of the Church, and said, "Sarah has got a little the
advantage of me this time, she proposes to turn out the boy as Church
property. "President Smith seemed pleased with the joke, and said,
"I accept all such donations, and from this day the boy shall stand
recorded, _Church property_." Then turning to Willard Richards, his
secretary, he said, "Make a record of this, and you are my witness."
Joseph Smith then said, "Major, (Mr. Kimball was major in the Nauvoo
Legion) you now have the privilege of paying $500 and retaining
possession, or receiving $500 and giving possession." Mr. Kimball asked
if city property was good currency, President Smith replied that it
was. Then said Mr. Kimball, "How will that reserve block north of the
Temple suit?" President Smith replied, "It is just what we want." The
deed was soon made out and transferred in due form. President Smith
said to me, "You have consecrated your first born son, for this you
are blessed of the Lord. I bless you in the name of the Lord God of
Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. And I seal upon you all the blessings
that pertain to the faithful. Your name shall be handed down in
honorable remembrance from generation to generation.
"Your son shall live and be a blessing to you in time, and an honor and
glory to you throughout the endless eternities (changes) to come. He
shall be girded about with righteousness and bear the helmet and the
breast-plate of war. You shall be a blessing to your companion, and the
honored mother of a noble posterity. You shall stand as a savior to
your father's house, and receive an everlasting salvation, which I seal
upon you by the gift of revelation and by virtue and authority of the
holy priesthood vested in me, in the name of Jesus Christ."
"Early in the year 1842, Joseph Smith taught me the principle of
marriage for eternity, and the doctrine of plural marriage. He said
that in teaching this he realized that he jeopardized his life; but God
had revealed it to him many years before as a privilege with blessings,
now God had revealed it again and instructed him to teach it with
commandment, as the Church could travel (progress) no further without
the introduction of this principle. I asked him to teach it to some
one else. He looked at me reprovingly, and said, 'Will you tell me who
to teach it to? God required me to teach it to you, and leave you with
the responsibility of believing or disbelieving.' He said, 'I will not
cease to pray for you, and if you will seek unto God in prayer you will
not be led into temptation.'"
"In the summer of 1843, a maiden lady (Miss Cook) was seamstress for
me, and the subject of combining our efforts for assisting the Temple
hands came up in conversation. She desired to be helpful but had no
means to furnish. I told her I would furnish material if she would
make some shirts for the workmen. It was then suggested that some of
our neighbors might wish to combine means and efforts with ours, and
we decided to invite a few to come and consult with us on the subject
of forming a Ladies' Society. The neighboring sisters met in my parlor
and decided to organize. I was delegated to call on Sister Eliza R.
Snow and ask her to write for us a constitution and by-laws, and submit
them to President Joseph Smith prior to our next Thursday's meeting.
She cheerfully responded, and when she read them to him he replied that
the constitution and by-laws were the best he had ever seen. 'But,'
he said, 'this is not what you want. Tell the sisters their offering
is accepted of the Lord, and He has something better for them than a
written constitution. I invite them all to meet me and a few of the
brethren in the Masonic Hall over my store next Thursday afternoon,
and I will organize the sisters under the priesthood after the pattern
of the priesthood.' He further said, 'The Church was never perfectly
organized until the women were thus organized.'" He wished to have
Sister Emma Smith elected to preside in fulfillment of the revelation
which called her an Elect Lady.
"In the wanderings and persecutions of the Church I have participated,
and in the blessings, endowments and holy anointings and precious
promises I have also received. To sorrow I have not been a stranger;
but I only write this short sketch to instruct and happify, so I will
skip to Salt Lake City, September, 1851, with my two sons, Hiram and
Oliver, my widowed mother, Lydia Dibble Granger, Anna Robbins, a girl
that lived with me nine years and married my youngest brother, and my
two brothers, Lafayette and Farley B. Granger. My husband was detained
in New York City, and had become financially much embarrassed. The next
year he came to me financially ruined and broken in health. I engaged
in school teaching in the Fourteenth Ward to sustain and educate my
family. My salary was only $25.00 per month, but that was much to us at
that time.
"April 1st, 1854, my youngest son was born. I discontinued school three
months, then opened school in my home. I taught eight years. I should
have stated that on arriving here I sold our fitout (team, etc.) for a
comfortable little home, this I have always considered providential.
The Indian agent gave me a nine-year-old wild Indian girl, whom I
educated and raised. She died at nineteen. I named her Kate.
"My mother who had lived with me twenty years, died in 1861, aged
seventy-three. My husband was drowned March 1st, 1863, in the Pacific
Ocean by the wreck of the steamer, _Ada Hancock_, off the coast of San
Pedro, on his way to the Sandwich Islands; aged sixty-two.
"I was elected President of the Fifteenth Ward Relief Society February
7th, 1857. In December, 1865, a little girl was brought to me whom I
adopted.
"November 13th, 1868, a silver trowel and mallet were furnished me and
assisted by a Master Mason, and surrounded by an assemblage of people,
I had the honor of laying the corner stone of the first Relief Society
building erected in this dispensation."
Sister Sarah M. Kimball possesses a tall, commanding figure, a face of
remarkable dignity and sincerity in expression. Her manner of speaking
is original in its strength of reason, rare in its eloquence, precise
and delicate in selection of words and tone of voice. A phrenologist
once said of her, that "if she were seated in a railway carriage with
parties on one hand discussing fashions, and politics to be heard on
the other, she would turn to the discussion on politics." A statesman,
a philanthropist, a missionary, in her very nature, she is none the
less the noble mother and true, fond friend, to those who have known
her longest and best.
PRESCENDIA L. KIMBALL.
In attempting a brief sketch of this noble woman's life, it is not
necessary for me to state in regard to her ancestry, more than to say
she is the elder sister of Mrs. Zina D. Young, the same genealogical
references will suffice for both.
"Prescendia Lathrop Huntington was the fourth child of her parents,
and was born in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York, September
10th, 1810. Mrs. Kimball is said to be the exact counterpart of the
Eliza Huntington whose likeness is in the book, the record of the
Huntingtons, as a type of the race. Sister Prescendia is a woman to
see once, is to remember always. She reminds one of the dames of olden
times, large, tall, grand and majestic in figure, dignified in manner,
yet withal so womanly and sympathetic that she seems the embodiment of
the motherly element to a degree that would embrace all who came under
her influence."
"Prescendia Huntington was married at the age of seventeen to Mr.
Norman Buell. Their first child, George, was born in Mannsville,
December 12th, 1823. Soon after they moved to Pinbury, Lewis County,
where they made a comfortable home. Here their second son was born,
December 25th, 1831, and in November 1833, by an accident was so
severely burned that he died. In 1835, her mother came to visit her,
and brought her the first intelligence of the Prophet Joseph and the
record from the hill Cumorah. They sold their property the following
winter and by spring reached Kirtland, Ohio. June 1st, 1836, Sister
Prescendia was baptized and confirmed by Oliver Cowdery, and on the
9th her husband received the same ordinance. April 24th, 1838, her
first daughter was born in a tumble-down dwelling on the Fishing River,
Clay County, Mo., but lived only four hours. Here on two occasions
she without protection, encountered an armed mob, but was saved from
their hatred; they left her. Her husband had by this time apostatized.
The Huntingtons were obliged to leave Far West at the time of the
driving of the Saints from Missouri in the spring of 1839, and Sister
Prescendia felt entirely alone and forsaken. She says, 'there was not
at this time, one Saint in Missouri, to my knowledge.' About this time
was born her son Oliver, just after the dreadful outrages perpetrated
against the Saints in Missouri. In the fall of 1840 Mrs. Buell moved
from Missouri and settled between Quincy and Nauvoo. During the ensuing
five or six years she made frequent visits to the Saints, among others
the families of Joseph and Hyrum, and Father and Mother Smith. Joseph
himself taught her the principle of plural marriage. The sisters who
had entered into these covenants were in one sense separate and apart
from all others. No tongue can describe, or pen portray the peculiar
situation of these noble, self-sacrificing women, who through the
providence of God helped to establish the principle of celestial
marriage. The crisis came when the Prophet and Patriarch were foully
murdered.
"The time came for the performances of the ordinances in the Temple
at Nauvoo. Sister Prescendia availed herself of the privilege to go
and receive her blessings. Hereafter we recognize her as the wife of
the Apostle, Heber C. Kimball. The next great event in the history of
this people was the exodus from Nauvoo. The Saints had nearly all left
for the West; Sister Prescendia felt as if she were at the mercy of
the mob, and indeed, plans were laid to destroy her. As if in answer
to her prayers, her brother, William, sent her a messenger telling
her to leave all and come. On the 2nd of May, 1846, she walked out
of her house leaving all behind her, taking her little boy who was
sick and not able to be up but she was flying for her life. With the
help of her son, George, she got away. She traveled all night, and
reached a friend, Dr. Spurgeon, by daybreak. Took some refreshment
and went into the woods with her little boy, staying all day, fasting
and praying for deliverance. She says: 'I picked flowers for him and
gave him water from the running stream. At night I went back to the
doctor's, sleeping with my sick boy on a little bed on the floor.
Next day I hid in a wagon. When we arrived at Nashville, I saw a man
whom I knew, looking for me. I learned afterward he intended taking
my child from me. My brother, Dimick, sent his sons to see me safely
out of Illinois. I stayed in a deep ravine while some things were
brought to me, and slept on a buffalo robe on the ground at night
with my little child. No tongue can tell my feelings in those days of
trial; but I had considered well, and felt I would rather suffer and
die with the Saints, than live in Babylon as I had lived before. We
arrived at Bonaparte. The excitement and exposure brought on fever and
I was very ill. We at last arrived at Mt. Pisgah; there I found my
father, my sister, Zina, and her children. They were in a log house
without chimney or floor; sickness prevailed. Very soon men were sent
by the Government to get volunteers to march to Mexico; to fight for
a Government that had suffered us to be driven out at the point of
the bayonet. * * I saw the five hundred men enrolled as volunteers to
take up the line of march to Mexico. My brother, Dimick, brave-hearted
and strong, with his family, among the number. His wife, Fanny, had a
daughter born under most trying and painful circumstances. I was left
behind at what was then called Cutler's Park. My father and Zina were
at Mt. Pisgah. My brother, Dimick, in Mexico, my brother, William,
in St. Louis, my brother, Oliver, on a mission in Europe; then came
the news that my father had died at Pisgah; my friend, my counselor,
my own dear parent, to whom I had looked for counsel for the future
that stretched out before me like a great, unknown desert, unrelieved
and barren. I had only my Heavenly Father left, and I reached out in
faith to the One above to open the heavens for me and aid me in my
loneliness. I was in a new, wild country without means. Joseph and
Henry Woodmansee wanted me to keep house for them. As soon as I was
settled their father wrote for them, and I was left in charge of their
house. I started a school which was a great blessing to the children.
The house was built of logs and covered with dirt and straw, with a
little straw upon the floor.'
"Here Sister Prescendia toiled with scanty fare, teaching the children,
and when school was closed for the night her voice would leave her,
from weakness, but she loved the children and gained their affection.
It was an ague country, provisions were scarce, lack of vegetables and
fruit caused sickness. After a painful and dangerous illness, Sister
Prescendia recovered her health. About this time three brethren who
went with the Mormon Battallion, came back to Winter Quarters, having
been sent on special business from Pueblo. Says Sister Prescendia,
'I never saw such a pitiful sight before as these poor, worn-out
travelers presented. Their clothing hung in rags, their faces burned,
and with sun and snow they were nearly blind. Their feet were wrapped
in rawhide from the buffalo. I sat and heard them tell how fearfully
they had suffered crossing the prairies in the dead of winter, and
all this in defence of a Government that had driven us defenceless
women and children into a strange wilderness. I could not refrain from
weeping when I looked upon these my brethren and realized how they had
suffered.'
"Early in the spring a few pioneers left to search out a haven of
refuge for the Saints. The sisters left almost alone, lived near to
God. They used often to meet together and pray. The gifts of tongues,
interpretation and prophecy were given them at this time for their
consolation. In May, 1846, Sister Prescendia and her little son,
Oliver, left Winter Quarters. She, like many others, had to drive team,
yoke cattle, &c., though in delicate health. She arrived in Salt Lake
Valley September 22nd, and moved into the old Fort. January 6th, 1848,
Sister Prescendia had born to her a daughter. The baby was a great
comfort to the lonely mother who had left her home and come thousands
of miles away. No daughter was ever more fondly loved than this little
one.
"She was named Prescendia Celestia, and was rightly named Celestia,
for she was more like a celestial being than a mortal one. President
Young once asked her name; quick as thought, he said, _'Celestial
Prescendia.'_ Coming here as the Saints did provided with only the
barest necessities, there was much privation to contend against. The
families of Brigham and Heber shared in these respects equally with
the others. When Sister Prescendia's babe was quite small, she had to
put up an umbrella over them in bed to protect them from the rain.
Sister Prescendia was patient and thanked her Father in heaven that he
had permitted her to gather to the Rocky Mountains, and also that she
had been permitted to become a mother under the new and everlasting
covenant of marriage." Nothing could be more affecting than her story
of the loss of this lovely child. She dressed her for a visit, and gave
her in charge of her brother, while she finished her preparations. He
took her to the family of President Young, and as they were seated at
table, each gave her a kiss, admiring her beauty, President Young last.
"Returning to the mother, he sat her down a moment to cut a willow from
the water's edge, and turning to her--she was gone. The sweet face,
that going out smiled such a tender good-bye, was brought in cold in
death. Vilate, the first wife of Heber, said, "The flower of the flock
is gone." Years have passed since then, but the beauty of that little
face is undimmed in her mother's memory."
Sister Prescendia was for fifteen years secretary of the Sixteenth Ward
Relief Society.