Rebecca Ellen Mantle
Born 12 Aug. 1852 in Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory.[1] Daughter of Llewellyn Mantle and Catherine Watkins.[2] Baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Samuel Bennion, 1 Jan. 1859.[3] Friend of EBW’s daughter Louie Wells.[4] Educator; graduated from John R. Park’s normal school; began teaching school in the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward, 1881.[5] Married Feramorz Little, 3 July 1882, in Salt Lake City; two children.[6] Widowed 1887.[7] Founded the Author’s Club.[8] Secretary of the Utah Woman Suffrage Association.[9] Regent of the University of Deseret (later University of Utah), 1890–1909.[10] Elected as secretary of the Utah territorial Woman Suffrage Association, Mar. 1895; nominated as a delegate to the convention of the Woman Suffrage Association in Washington, DC, Dec. 1895.[11] Graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah, 1899.[12] Treasurer and director of the State Kindergarten Association.[13] Counselor of the Ensign Stake Relief Society; member of the Relief Society general board, 1904–1909.[14] Delegate to the National Council of Women on several occasions; addressed the Chicago convention of the National Council of Women, 1906.[15] Died 29 May 1909 in Salt Lake City.[16]
[1] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Sugar House Ward, Part 1, p. 11, Births, no. 3, CR 375 8, image 11/572, CHL. “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. G, 1868–1872, p. 81, line 10, Rebecca Ellen Mantle, 10 May 1869, microfilm 1239501 (restricted access), FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 25 Mar. 2019), Rebecca Ellen Mantle (KWVQ-51B).
[2] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Sugar House Ward, Part 1, p. 11, Births, no. 3, CR 375 8, image 11/572, CHL. “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. G, 1868–1872, p. 81, line 10, Rebecca Ellen Mantle, 10 May 1869, microfilm 1239501 (restricted access), FHL.
[3] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, West Jordan Ward, Part 1, 1907–1923, p. 14, Rebecca E. Mantle, CR 375 8, image 22/630, CHL.
[4] EBW, Diary, 19 Mar. 1881. Rebecca M. Little, Diary, 1852–1909, 11 July 1882, MS 7149 1, CHL.
[5] Rebecca M. Little, Diary, 1852–1909, 29 Aug. 1881, MS 7149 1, CHL. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1936), 4:191.
[6] Rebecca M. Little, Diary, 1852–1909, 3 July 1882, MS 7149 1, CHL. “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. L, 14 May 1878–8 Nov. 1883, p. 345, Feramoz Little and Rebecca Ellen Mantle, 3 July 1882, microfilm 183402, DGS 5270325 (restricted access), FHL. 1900 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City, 5th Precinct, Salt Lake Co., UT, ED 50, p. 5A, Nellie Little.
[7] “Death of Hon. F. Little,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 15 Aug. 1887, 3.
[8] Authors Club Records, 1893–2012, Annual Histories, History of Authors Club to 1962, p. 1, MS 0240, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.
[9] EBW, Diary, 9 Jan. 1893.
[10] EBW, Diary, 11 Mar. 1890. “Editorial Notes,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Aug. 1896, 28. Annual of the University of Utah Including the Utah State Normal School, Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1897), 4. University of Utah, Board of Regents Meeting Minutes, 1906–1909, p. 4, J. Willard Marriott Digital Library, University of Utah (https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=1189241, accessed 24 Apr. 2019).
[11] EBW, Diary, 25 Mar. 1895; 18 Dec. 1895. “Notable Utah Women,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 25 Nov. 1899, 2.
[12] Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History, 1914), 2:488.
[13] “Notable Utah Women,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 25 Nov. 1899, 12.
[14] Leone O. Jacobs, History of Ensign Stake Relief Society (Salt Lake City: n.p., 1945), 3. Relief Society General Board, Relief Society Officer and Employees of General Board, p. 3, CR 11 56, CHL.
[15] “Executive Session, National Council of Women, Toledo, Ohio,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 May 1906, 7.
[16] “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849–1949,” p. 181 (1909), Rebecca Ellen Little; Salt Lake County Management and Archives, Salt Lake City. “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov/research/indexes, 22 Apr. 2019); Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 836/340 (1909), Rebecca Ellen Little. “Mrs. Rebecca E. Little Is Called by Death,” Salt Lake Tribune, 30 May 1909, 20.