3 May 1880


Anniversary Celebration; Lion House, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory

Large, white, two-story house with gabled roof and large front porch and balcony

Lion House, 1861, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. Photograph by Marsena Cannon.

BIRTHDAY WISH FOR MRS. B. [Bathsheba] W. SMITH.

My Dear Sister Bathsheba—

Long may you live,

And year by year blessings on blessings receive;

May prosperity’s genius most graciously smile,

And in crowning your efforts diminish your toil.

In the grand distribution of th’ good things of earth,

May you get your proportion, to cheer your home-hearth;

Ever here claim the gifts of the angel of health,

And secure for hereafter Eternity’s wealth.

May such choice Birthday socials, like Hermon’s bright dew,

With frequency shed their refreshings on you;

And that Comforter, beacon of heavenly light,

Be your constant companion, by day and night.

As the mighty designs of Jehovah roll on,

May you hold sweet communion with those who have gone;

And the vail, now between us, grow thin to your view,

And Eternity’s visions be opened to you.

Though you’ve sought to do much, may you do even more

In the great work of God than you’ve done heretofore—

Doing good here and there, and wherever you go.

Please accept this—a Wish from

Eliza R. Snow [Smith]

[. . .] [p. 185]

[. . .] [pp. 186–188] [. . .]

HOME AFFAIRS

[. . .]

On Monday afternoon May 3d, a select party of the friends of Mrs. Bathsheba W. Smith assembled at her residence in honor of the lady’s birthday. [. . .] Among the guests were Pres. John Taylor and a number of the Apostles [. . .] also Sisters Elizabeth Ann Whitney, Eliza R. Snow Smith, Hannah T. King, M. Isabelle [Mary Isabella] Horne and many other veteran and staunch sisters as well as brethren, rellatives and old time friends of the lady whom they had met to congratulate and happify.

Refreshments were served at six o’clock and while the guests were seated at table, “Sister Eliza” read an original poem dedicated to Sister Smith, which we publish in this number. [. . .] [p. 189]

Source Note

Eliza R. Snow Smith, “Birthday Wish for Mrs. B. W. Smith,” Woman’s Exponent 8, no. 24 (15 May 1880): 185; and “Home Affairs,” Woman’s Exponent 8, no. 24 (15 May 1880): 189.

Cite this page

3 May 1880, Anniversary Celebration; Lion House, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, The Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, accessed March 19, 2024 https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/eliza-r-snow/1880s/1880/05/1880-05-03