February 1906

EVENTS IN EMMELINE B. WELLS’S DIARY FOR 1906

4 February: During the monthly fast and testimony meeting held in the Salt Lake Temple, EBW noted that apostle Charles W. Penrose was commemorating his seventy-fourth birthday on this date. He “spoke lovely of blessings.”
4 February: EBW wrote “Prof Woolfe dreadful” in her notes in the temple fast and testimony meeting. She referred to Walter M. Wolfe, a former teacher at Brigham Young College in Logan, who testified as a witness at the Reed Smoot hearings in Washington, DC, about plural marriages after the Manifesto.
2 December: According to the notes made by EBW, the temple fast and testimony meeting this day focused on Joseph Smith, first prophet and president of the church.

SOURCE NOTE

Vol. 32, 1 Jan.–29 Dec. 1905; 4 Feb. and 2 Dec. 1906

Emmeline B. Wells, Diary, vol. 32, 1 Jan.‒29 Dec. 1905; 4 Feb. and 2 Dec. 1906, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (Vault MSS 510).

Pocket-size diary measuring 4⅛ × 2⅝ × ¼ inches. This Excelsior diary has a dark burgundy leather cover. The pages are edged in gold leaf and are preprinted for 1905, with three entries per page. The diary includes preprinted reference material in the front and formatted pages in the back for addresses, memoranda, and financial records.

In this diary, EBW made approximately forty entries for the year 1905 and two entries for the year 1906. Some of the entries for 1905 are for the same dates for which EBW also made entries in volume 31 of her diary. Evidently EBW carried this small notebook with her when she attended the monthly fast and testimony meetings conducted by the First Presidency of the church in the Salt Lake Temple.

For the presentation on this website, sections are broken out from the original diary and placed where they belong chronologically.

INTRODUCTION, 1906

Volume 32 of EBW’s diaries contains entries of a specialized sort from the years 1905 and 1906. Evidently EBW carried this small notebook with her when she attended the monthly fast and testimony meetings conducted by the First Presidency of the church in the Salt Lake Temple, a practice that was initiated under President Lorenzo Snow. She usually noted the conducting officer, those giving prayers, the hymns sung, and names of the speakers. In 1906, EBW briefly summarized testimonies given on 4 February and 2 December. Charles W. Penrose, who was commemorating his seventy-fourth birthday on 4 February, “spoke lovely of blessings.” In December, the month when members celebrated the birth of church founder Joseph Smith, Junius F. Wells described the monument erected in Vermont the previous year to commemorate the centennial of Joseph Smith’s birth. President Joseph F. Smith discussed the prophetic office. Elder B. H. Roberts added comments on ordinances in the church.

Although EBW’s full daily diary for 1906 does not survive, we know of events that affected her life from articles in the Woman’s Exponent. President Bathsheba W. Smith, general board members, and missionaries of the Relief Society honored EBW’s seventy-eighth birthday at the home of her daughter Annie Wells Cannon. A dear friend, Elizabeth J. DuFresne Stevenson, died in April in a remote central Utah town while fulfilling a teaching assignment for the Relief Society general board. EBW spoke at her funeral and also commemorated her life with a sketch in the Exponent.

Also in 1906, Susan B. Anthony, national suffrage leader and friend of many Utah women, died at her home in Rochester, New York, on 13 March. Utah women held a memorial service for the famed advocate in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall on Temple Square on 18 March. Tributes came from the Utah Woman’s Council, chaired by Emily S. Richards, and from a YLMIA committee headed by Susa Young Gates and Ann M. Cannon. In a meaningful personal tribute, Susan B. Anthony bequeathed EBW a gold ring. A note included with the ring read: “In recognition of her esteem and love for Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, Miss Anthony sent one of her gold rings on the day of her death to Mrs. Wells in Utah. The bond between these two women was very strong and the friendship had continued for nearly thirty years.”

4 February 1906 • Sunday

prayed Sisters [Priscilla Paul] Jennings Emma [Nield] Goddard in the opening prayer– 2 unknown sisters [John R.] Winder [Anthon H.] Lund [Charles W.] Penrose Br. Penrose spoke his birthday 74– years old today– spoke lovely of blessings {p. 6}

Feb. 4, 1906

In the Temple Glorious things are sung of Zion Enoch’s city seen of old. prayer by Seymour B. Young Duet Swett [Sweet] will of God, Br. Winder– Sister [Emilie Damke] Maeser Susa Y. [Young] Gates Lizzie [Elizabeth Ogden] Decker Meda [C. Armeda] Snow Young Sophia [Taylor] Nuttall Sister Annie T. [Taylor] Hyde L. L. [Louisa Lula] Greene Richards Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints {p. 7} Sister Buching Br. Bybee¹ H. [Henry] W. Naisbit spoke freely of the Temple William W. Woodley his daughter Ellis Shipp repeated part of a Revelation Hear O, God and give ear O. earth Br. Mc Donald [John T. McDonald] Dr. M. C. [Margaret Curtis] Roberts {p. 8}

Feb. 4, 1906

Congartulate Br. Penose [Penrose] by Br. Lund all of us– Prof Woolfe² dreadful³ Nearer my God to thee The Lord is on our side Br. Winder closing remarks {p. 9}