Lucy Meserve Smith

9 February 1817–5 October 1892

Born 9 Feb. 1817 at Newry, Oxford Co., Maine.[1] Daughter of Josiah Smith and Lucy Meserve Bean.[2] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by James C. Snow, Aug. 1837.[3] Earned her way to Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois, working in a cotton factory, 1843.[4] Spun wool and worked for Emma Hale Smith, 1844–1845.[5] Married George Albert Smith, 29 Nov. 1844, at Nauvoo; two sons who died in infancy.[6] Taught school in Kanesville, Pottawattamie Co., Iowa; taught for six months in the Pawnee Mission School, Jackson Co., Iowa, 1847.[7] Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the George A. Smith/Dan Jones pioneer company, arriving 27 Oct. 1849.[8] Taught school in the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward, 1849–1885.[9] Helped raise John Henry Smith after his mother died, 1851–1866.[10] Lived in Provo, Utah Co., Utah Territory, beginning 1852; served as president of the Provo Relief Society, 1856.[11] Expert in spinning, weaving, dying, sewing, quilting, and cutting.[12] Organized women to create relief quilts and blankets for migrating handcart companies, winter 1856.[13] Designed the award-winning silk flag for the Provo Brass Band, 1856.[14] Set apart by Brigham Young as a missionary to Massachusetts, 4 Aug. 1873.[15] Made an extended visit to close relatives in New England, Aug.–Nov. 1873.[16] EBW dined in her Provo home, 18 Oct. 1874.[17] Died 5 Oct. 1892 in Salt Lake City.[18]

 

[1] Newry, ME, Town Clerk, Town and Vital Records, 1805–1891, Tax List, 1817, p. 1817, Josiah Smith, microfilm 11589, DGS 7724794, image 87/375, FHL. Temple Records Index Bureau, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846 (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1974), 70 (restricted access). Lucy M. Smith, “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, 1 Aug. 1892, 470. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 12 Mar. 2020), Lucy Meserve Smith (K2HF-ZF7).

[2] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 11–12, MS 8270, images 22–23/78, CHL. “Lucy Messerve Smith,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary/, accessed 11 Mar. 2020).

[3] “Lucy Messerve Smith,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary/, accessed 11 Mar. 2020). Lucy M. Smith, “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, 1 Aug. 1892, 470. Zora Smith Jarvis, “Autobiography of Lucy Meserve Smith, Second Wife of George A. Smith,” in Ancestry, Biography, and Family of George A. Smith (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1962), 276.

[4] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, p. 13, MS 8270, image 27/78, CHL.

[5] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 14, 18, MS 8270, images 28–29/78, CHL.

[6] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, p. 18, MS 8270, image 29/78, CHL. Zora Smith Jarvis, “Autobiography of Lucy Meserve Smith, Second Wife of George A. Smith,” in Ancestry, Biography, and Family of George A. Smith (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1962), 277, 278, 280. Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, p. 4, MS 8270, image 13/78, CHL.

[7] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, p. 25, MS 8270, image 37/78, CHL. Joyce Kinkead, ed., A Schoolmarm All My Life: Personal Narratives from Frontier Utah (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996), 39–41.

[8] “Lucy Meserve Smith,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/, accessed 11 Mar. 2020). Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, p. 35, MS 8270, image 50/78, CHL.

[9] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 38, 43, MS 8270, images 51, 58/78, CHL. Zora Smith Jarvis, “Autobiography of Lucy Meserve Smith, Second Wife of George A. Smith,” in Ancestry, Biography, and Family of George A. Smith (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1962), 280.

[10] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, p. 58, MS 8270, image 71/78, CHL. Zora Smith Jarvis, “Autobiography of Lucy Meserve Smith, Second Wife of George A. Smith,” in Ancestry, Biography, and Family of George A. Smith (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1962), 282–283. Joyce Kinkead, ed., A Schoolmarm All My Life: Personal Narratives from Frontier Utah (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996), 41–42.

[11] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 38–39, 52, MS 8270, images 50–52, 65/78, CHL. Zora Smith Jarvis, “Autobiography of Lucy Meserve Smith, Second Wife of George A. Smith,” in Ancestry, Biography, and Family of George A. Smith (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1962), 280–282.

[12] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 60–61, MS 8270, images 73–74/78, CHL.

[13] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 53–54, MS 8270, images 66–67/78, CHL.

[14] Lucy Meserve Smith, Papers, 1848–1892, Family History and Autobiography, June 1889, pp. 55–56, MS 8270, images 68–69/78, CHL. “List of Prizes,” Deseret News, 20 Oct. 1858, 144.

[15] “Lucy Messerve Smith,” Go Ye into All the World (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/missionary/, accessed 11 Mar. 2020).

[16] Zora Smith Jarvis, “Autobiography of Lucy Meserve Smith, Second Wife of George A. Smith,” in Ancestry, Biography, and Family of George A. Smith (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1962), 283.

[17] EBW, Diary, 18 Oct. 1874.

[18] “Utah Death Registers, 1847–1966,” p. 136 (1892), Lucy M. Smith; citing series 21866, from Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City. “A Choice Spirit Called Home,” Deseret Evening News, 5 Oct. 1892, 5.