WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE MORMON CHURCH--GRAND FEMALE ORGANIZATION OF
MORMONDOM--THE RELIEF SOCIETY--ITS INCEPTION AT NAUVOO--ITS PRESENT
STATUS, AIMS, AND METHODS--FIRST SOCIETY BUILDING--A WOMAN LAYS THE
CORNER STONE--DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THE VARIOUS SOCIETIES.
The Mormon women, as well as men, hold the priesthood. To all that man
attains, in celestial exaltation and glory, woman attains. She is his
partner in estate and office.
John the Revelator thus tells the story of the Church of the First
Born, in the New Jerusalem, which shall come down out of heaven:
"And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the
book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us unto God, by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue
and nation:
"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the earth."
Joseph the Revelator has given a grand supplement to this. He also saw
that vast assembly of the New Jerusalem, and heard that song. There was
the blessed woman-half of that redeemed throng. The sisters sang unto
the honor of the Lamb:
"And thou hast made us unto our God queens and priestesses: and we
shall reign on the earth!"
"But this is lowering the theme," says the Gentile Christian; "the
theme descends from man--the paragon of excellence--to woman. Enough
that she should be implied--her identity and glory absorbed in man's
august splendor! Enough, that, for man, woman was created.
Not so the grand economy of Mormonism. In the Mormon temple, woman is
not merely implied, but well defined and named. There the theme of the
song of the New Jerusalem is faithfully rendered in her personality.
If man is anointed priest unto God, woman is anointed priestess; if
symboled in his heavenly estate as king, she is also symboled as queen.
Gentile publishers, making a sensational convenience of apostate
sisters, have turned this to the popular amusement; but to the faithful
Mormon woman it is a very sacred and exalted subject.
But not presuming to more than cross the threshold of the temple,
return we now to the Mormon woman in her social sphere and dignity. The
grand organization of fifty thousand Mormon women, under the name of
"Relief Societies," will sufficiently illustrate woman in the Mormon
economy.
The Female Relief Society was organized by the prophet Joseph, at
Nauvoo. Here is a minute from his own history:
"Thursday, March 24.--I attended by request the Female Relief
Society, whose object is, the relief of the poor, the destitute,
the widow, and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent
purposes. Its organization was completed this day. Mrs. Emma Smith
takes the presidential chair; Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Whitney and
Mrs. Sarah M. Cleveland are her councilors; Miss Elvira Cole is
treasuress, and our well-known and talented poetess, Miss Eliza R.
Snow, secretary. * * * * Our ladies have always been signalized for
their acts of benevolence and kindness; but the cruel usage that
they have received from the barbarians of Missouri, has hitherto
prevented their extending the hand of charity in a conspicuous
manner."
On another occasion he says:
"I met the members of the Female Relief Society, and after
presiding at the admission of many new members, gave a lecture on
the priesthood, showing how the sisters would come in possession of
the privileges, blessings, and gifts of the priesthood, and that
the signs should follow them, such as healing the sick, casting out
devils, etc., and that they might attain unto these blessings by a
virtuous life, and conversation, and diligence in keeping all the
commandments."
But it is in Utah that we see the growth of this society to a vast
woman's organization: an organization which will greatly influence the
destiny of Utah, religiously, socially and politically, for the next
century, and, presumably, for all time.
From 1846, the time of the exodus from Nauvoo, the Relief Society was
inoperative until 1855, when it was re-organized in Salt Lake City.
It is a self-governing body, without a written constitution; but is
thoroughly organized, and parliamentary in its proceedings. Each branch
adopts measures, makes arrangements, appointments, etc., independently
of others. Because of these organizations, Utah has no "poor-houses."
Under the kind and sisterly policy of this society the worthy poor feel
much less humiliated, and are better supplied, than by any almshouse
system extant. By an admirable arrangement, under the form of visiting
committees, with well-defined duties, the deserving subjects of charity
are seldom, if ever, neglected or overlooked.
Since its revival in Salt Lake City, the society has extended, in
branches, from ward to ward of the cities, and from settlement to
settlement, in the country, until it numbers considerably over two
hundred branches; and, as new settlements are constantly being formed,
the number of branches is constantly increasing.
The funds of the society are mostly donations; but many branches have
started various industries, from which they realize moderate incomes.
Besides stated business meetings each branch has set days on which to
work for the benefit of the poor. When the society commenced its labors
in Salt Lake City, these industrial meetings would have reminded the
observer of the Israelites in Egypt, making "bricks without straw"--the
donations consisting of materials for patch-work quilts, rag-carpets,
uncarded wool for socks and stockings, etc. (In one well-authenticated
instance the hair from slaughtered beeves was gathered, carded--by
hand of course, as there were no carding machines in the city at
that time--spun, and knit into socks and mittens.) These industrial
meetings, to this day, are very interesting, from the varieties of work
thus brought into close fellowship.
As fast as may be, the various branches are building for themselves
places of meeting, workshops, etc. The first of these buildings was
erected by the ladies of the Fifteenth Ward of Salt Lake City. They
commenced their labors as above, their first capital stock being
donations of pieces for patch-work quilts, carpet-rags, etc. By energy
and perseverance, they have sustained their poor, and, in a few years,
purchased land and built on it a commodious house.
It should be recorded, as unique in history, that the laying of the
corner-stone of this building was performed by the ladies. This
ceremony, being unostentatiously performed, was followed by appropriate
speechmaking on the part of the presiding officer of the society, Mrs.
S. M. Kimball, Eliza R. Snow, and others; each in turn mounting the
corner-stone for a rostrum, and each winning deserved applause from the
assembled thousands.
No greater tribute could be paid to the ladies of this organization,
than the simple statement of the fact that, since its re-establishment,
in 1855, the Relief Society has gathered and disbursed over one hundred
thousand dollars!
--
Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball, who, as President of the Fifteenth Ward Society,
sustained the honors of the above occasion, belonged to the original
Relief Society in Nauvoo. As elsewhere recorded, she also presided at
the grand mass-meeting of the sisters, in Salt Lake City, in 1870,
and has repeatedly appeared as a speaker of talent, and as a leader
among the women of Utah. Her favorite theme is female suffrage; but
she abounds with other progressive ideas, and is a lady of decided
character. Her history as a Mormon dates from the earliest rise of the
church.
--
Mrs. Mary I. Horne, frequently mentioned elsewhere, is the President
of the "General Retrenchment Society" of Salt Lake City. (It should be
explained that these are auxiliary to the relief societies, and are
more especially designed for the organization of the young ladies of
Utah.) She is also President of the Fourteenth Ward Relief Society,
where frequently the sisters hold something like general conventions of
the societies of the city. She may be said to rank, as an organizer,
next to President Eliza R. Snow.
--
Among those who have earned honorable mention, as presidents of relief
societies, and leading officers in the more important movements of the
sisters, may be mentioned Sisters Rachel Grant, Agnes Taylor Swartz,
Maria Wilcox, Minerva, one of the wives of Erastus Snow, of Southern
Utah; Agatha Pratt, Julia Pack, Anna Ivins, Sarah Church, Sister
Barney, once a missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and now an active
woman at home; Elizabeth Goddard, Hannah Pierce, Rebecca Jones, Jane C.
Richardson, Elmira Taylor, Leonora Snow Morley, sister to Lorenzo and
Eliza R. Snow: she presided at Brigham City, until her recent death;
Mary Ferguson, Sisters Evans, of Lehi; Sister Ezra Benson, Rebecca
Wareham, Ruth Tyler, Sisters Hunter, Hardy, and Burton, wives of the
presiding bishops; Sister Chase, Sister Lever, Sarah Groo, Sister
Layton, wife of Bishop Layton of the battalion; Sister Reed, Mary Ann,
one of the wives of Apostle O. Hyde; Sarah Peterson, Ann Bringhurst,
Ann Bryant, Helena Madson, M. J. Atwood, Sister Wilde, Caroline
Callister, Emma Brown, wife of the man who did the first plowing in the
valley, Nancy Wall, founder of Wallsburg; Elizabeth Stickney, Margaret
McCullough, Amy Bigler, Elizabeth Brown, Ellen Whiton, P. S. Hart, Ann
Tate, Anna Brown, Martha Simons, Jane Simons, Margaret P. Young, M. A.
Hubbard, Agnes Douglas, Jane Cahoon, Mary McAllister, Sister Albertson,
Pres. in Bear River City; Mary Dewey, M. A. Hardy, Ann Goldsbrough,
Mrs. Sarah Williams, and Miss Emily Williams, of Canton, Ill.; Jane
Bailey, Jane Bradley, Elizabeth Boyes, Jane M. Howell, D. E. Dudley,
Mary Ann Hazon, Mahala Higgins, Jenet Sharp, Lulu Sharp, Jane Price,
Ann Daniels, Harriet Burnham, M. C. Morrison, Nellie Hartley, M. A.
P. Hyde, Elizabeth Park, Margaret Randall, Elizabeth Wadoup, M. A.
Pritchett, M. A. P. Marshall, Sarah S. Taylor, Mary Hutchins, Emily
Shirtluff, A. E. H. Hanson, M. J. Crosby, Cordelia Carter, Sarah B.
Gibson, Harriet Hardy, Isabella G. Martin, M. A. Boise, Louisa Croshaw,
Orissa A. Aldred, Julia Lindsay, C. Liljenquist, Harriet A. Shaw, Ann
Lowe, Emma Porter, Mary E. Hall, Lydia Remington, Ellen C. Fuller,
Harriet E. Laney, Rebecca Marcham, A. L. Cox, Louisa Taylor, Agnes S.
Armstrong, M. A. Hubbard, Mary A. Hunter, M. A. House, Mary Griffin,
Jane Godfrey, Lydia Rich, E. E. C. Francis, Lydia Ann Wells, E. M.
Merrill, Mary A. Bingham, Hannah Child, M. A. Hardy, Fannie Slaughter,
Mary Walker, Ann Hughes, Marian Petersom, Mary Hanson, Aurelia S.
Rogers, A. M. Frodsham, Sophronia Martin.
Among the presidents and officers of the Young Ladies' Retrenchment
Societies, should be mentioned Mary Freeze, Melissa Lee, Mary Pierce,
Clara Stenhouse Young, Sarah Howard, Mary Williams, Elizabeth Thomas,
Cornelia Clayton, Sarah Graham, Susannah E. Facer, Emily Richards,
Josephine West, Minnie Snow, May Wells, Emily Wells, Annie E. Wells,
Maggie J. Reese, Emily Maddison, Hattie Higginson, Mattie Paul, Sarah
Russell, Alice M. Rich, Mary E. Manghan, Margaret M. Spencer, Sarah
Jane Bullock, Alice M. Tucker, M. Josephine Mulet, M. J. Tanner, Sarah
Renshaw, Mary Ann Ward, Lizzie Hawkins, Mary Leaver, Amy Adams, Rebecca
Williams, Mary S. Burnham, Emmarett Brown, Mary A. P. Marshall.
--
Mrs. Bathsheba Smith, whose name has appeared elsewhere, is apostolic
in the movements of the sisterhood, and a priestess of the temple.
Mrs. Franklin D. Richards is the most prominent organizer outside of
the metropolis of Utah, having Ogden and Weber counties under her
direction. Sister Smoot leads at Provo. The silk industries are under
the direction of President Zina D. Young. Those sisters who have
been most energetic in promoting this important branch of industry,
which gives promise of becoming a financial success in Utah, have
already earned historic laurels. Of these are Sisters Dunyan, Robison,
Carter, Clark, Schettler, and Rockwood. Eliza R. Snow is president,
and Priscilla M. Staines vice-president, of the woman's co-operative
store, an enterprise designed to foster home manufactures. Thus are the
women of Mormondom putting the inchoate State of Deseret under the most
complete organization.