Emma Smith
Born 1 Mar. 1838 in Adam-ondi-Ahman (later Spring Hill), Daviess Co., Missouri.[1] Daughter of Samuel Smith and Martisha (Martishia) S. Smoot.[2] Family settled in Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois, after the Latter-day Saints were expelled from Missouri, by Apr. 1840.[3] Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Wilford Woodruff pioneer company, arriving 14 Oct. 1850.[4] Married Wilford Woodruff, 13 Mar. 1853, in Salt Lake City; eight children.[5] Member of the Salt Lake City Fourteenth Ward Relief Society, by 1857.[6] Served as president of the Farmer’s Ward Relief Society, 1877–1893.[7] Served as president of the Granite Stake Relief Society, Jan. 1900–1912.[8] Served on the Relief Society general board, 1892–1910.[9] Served in the Salt Lake temple, Oct. 1893.[10] Often socialized with EBW.[11] Died 4 Mar. 1912 in Salt Lake City.[12]
[1] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A&A1, p. 70, Emma Smith Woodruff, 17 Mar. 1854, microfilm 1255545, DGS 7455862 (restricted access), FHL. Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Farmer’s Ward, Record of Members, part 1, 1877–1924, image 32/342, Emma Smith Woodruff, CR 375 8, reel 4049, folder 1, CHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 5 Mar. 2018), Emma Smith (KWN1-2NY).
[2] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A&A1, p. 70, Emma Smith Woodruff, 17 Mar. 1854, microfilm 1255545, DGS 7455862 (restricted access), FHL. Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Farmer’s Ward, Record of Members, part 1, 1877–1924, image 32/342, Emma Smith Woodruff, CR 375 8, reel 4049, folder 1, CHL.
[3] Seventies Quorum Records, Samuel Smith, p. 162, MS 270 S497, CHL.
[4] “Emma Smith,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel, accessed 6 Mar. 2018).
[5] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A&A1, 1092, Wilford Woodruff and Emma Smith, 13 Mar. 1853, microfilm 183393, DGS 5270317 (restricted access), FHL. Archibald F. Bennett, “The Lineage of Wilford Woodruff,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 22 (Apr. 1931): 61.
[6] Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 210–212.
[7] Farmers Ward, Grant Stake, Farmers Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, LR 5381 2, CHL.
[8] Granite Stake, Granite Stake Manuscript History and Historical Reports, LR 3379 2, CHL. Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Granite Stake, Record of Members, Part 1, Segment 1, 1900–1955, image 5/400, Emma S. Woodruff, CR 375 8, reel 2590, folder 1, CHL. Granite Stake Relief Society, Minutes and Records, vol. 2, pp. 36–39, LR 3379 14, CHL.
[9] Jill Mulvay Derr, Janath Russell Cannon, and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1992), 437. History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1967), 52.
[10] Farmers Ward, Grant Stake, Farmers Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, LR 5381 2, CHL.
[11] EBW, Diary, 28 Feb. 1898; 4 Oct. 1898; 24 June 1903.
[12] “Utah Death Certificate Index, 1904–1961,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 12 Mar. 2018); from Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, series 81448, file no. 280/361 (1912), Emma Smith Woodruff. “Passing Events,” Improvement Era, May 1912, 665.