12 November 1868


Salt Lake City Fifteenth Ward Relief Society; Fifteenth Ward Meetinghouse, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory

Interior of chapel decorated for a funeral service, Salt Lake City.

Interior of the Salt Lake City Fifteenth Ward meetinghouse. (Courtesy Church History Library.)

[. . .]

The Society then formed into procession and repaired to the place where the corner stone of the storehouse was to be laid. The Councillors of Pres [Sarah M.] Kimball, the Treas’ and Sec’, proceeded to her residence and accompanied her and sisters, [Eliza R.] Snow [Bathsheba W.] Smith and Haywood [Serepta M. Heywood], to the place of ceremonies.

[. . .]

The cornerstone of the building was then laid by Pres Kimball; that work being pronounced finished an address was delivered by her.

Sister Snow was then called upon to speak.

She congratulated the Society upon the encouragement they received from their Bp. [Bishop Robert Burton] and the brethren of the ward, and remarked that he sustained the same relationship to them that Joseph Smith did to the original R. S. [Relief Society] Said that our success depended upon our union of effort. Spoke of the good results of our past labors, and promised more abundant success in the future.

Bp Burton said that we had already accomplished a good work, and that we should not allow our efforts to slacken until the house was completed and filled.

Said that he realized that the duties and cares of the Sisters were very great, but that practice and energy strengthened and increased the abilities.

[. . .] [p. 69]

[. . .]

The sisters then returned to the hall and proceeded with the business of the Society.

[. . .]

Sister Snow encouraged the Society in their efforts said that the blessings of God and Angels were upon the labors of this day spoke of the blessings and strength of union and of the necessity of women cultivating and developing her intellectual abilities, of the necessity of her being able to transact business properly.

Said that in as much as we had taken part in this great cause not to falter, but to persevere until the object was accomplished. spoke of the duties and labor of the sisters but that if they worked with energy and union there was nothing they could not accomplish, said that our troubles should be laid aside, that we should live above them, and keep in view the object of our being, that if we did this and were faithful to the end, instead of going forth to lay the foundation for a store we would go as Adam and Eve west to lay the foundation of worlds. blessed the society and their future efforts. [. . .]

Bene’ [Benediction] by E R Snow. [p. 70]

Source Note

Fifteenth Ward, Riverside Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records (1868–1968), vol. 1 (1868–1873), pp. 69–70, CHL (LR 2848 14).

See also R. C. Atwood, “Sketch of the F. R. Society,” Woman’s Exponent 14, no. 2 (15 June 1885): 13.

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12 November 1868, Salt Lake City Fifteenth Ward Relief Society; Fifteenth Ward Meetinghouse, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, accessed March 19, 2024 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/eliza-r-snow/1860s/1868/11/1868-11-12