Born 10 November 1839 in Whitewater, Franklin County, Indiana.[1] Daughter of John Beesley and Mary Miller.[2] Baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1853.[3] Migrated to Provo, Utah County, Utah Territory, driving an oxteam for her family, arriving 28 August 1862.[4] Married John Palmer Doolan, 29 August 1863; eight children.[5] Counselor and later president in the Provo Third Ward Primary.[6] Secretary of the Utah County Woman Suffrage Association, 1890–1894.[7] Teacher in the Provo Second Ward Relief Society, 1890–1891.[8] Active member of the Utah Woman’s Press Club, serving as vice president and treasurer, 1895–1905.[9] Member of the executive committee of the Utah State Council of Women, 1901.[10] Utah delegate to the national executive committee of the First International Woman Suffrage Conference, Washington, DC, 1902.[11] Died 27 March 1909 in Salt Lake City.[12]
[1] Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, vol. D, p. 236, 29 Aug. 1863, microfilm 183404, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL); Rebecca H. Doolan, “To the Children or Grandchildren of Rebecca H. Doolan,” 20 June 1892, 1, in “Rebecca Herron Beesley,” Memories, Individual Record, Family Tree database (Ancestor ID KWVC-CG6), FamilySearch, accessed 22 Mar. 2025, familysearch.org; Rebecca H. Beesley entry, Record of Members Provo Second Ward, Utah Stake, 1902–1926, p. 4, Provo 2nd Ward, Part 1, Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (Church History Library hereafter cited as CHL).
[2] Rebecca H. Beesley entry, Record of Members Provo Second Ward, Utah Stake, 1902–1926, p. 4, Provo 2nd Ward, Part 1, Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, CHL; Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, vol. D, p. 236, 29 Aug. 1863, microfilm 183404, FSL; Doolan, “To the Children or Grandchildren of Rebecca H. Doolan,” 1.
[3] Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, vol. D, p. 236, 29 Aug. 1863, microfilm 183404, FSL; Rebecca H. Beesley entry, Record of Members Provo Second Ward, Utah Stake, 1902–1926, p. 4, Provo 2nd Ward, Part 1, Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, CHL; Doolan, “To the Children or Grandchildren of Rebecca H. Doolan,” 2[B].
[4] “Noted Utah Woman Is Called by Death,” Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Mar. 1909, 14; Doolan, “To the Children or Grandchildren of Rebecca H. Doolan,” 2[B].
[5] Endowment House Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889, vol. D, p. 243, 29 Aug. 1863, microfilm 1149514, FSL; Doolan, “To the Children or Grandchildren of Rebecca H. Doolan,” 2[B]–3.
[6] Doolan, “To the Children or Grandchildren of Rebecca H. Doolan,” 3[B].
[7] “Woman’s Convention at Provo,” Woman’s Exponent (Salt Lake City), 1 Apr. 1890, 166; “Utah W. S. A. Convention,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Jan. 1894, 78.
[8] Rebecca B. Doolan, Notebook, 24 Nov. 1890, 5 Feb. 1891, CHL.
[9] “Utah Woman’s Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Jan. 1895, 227; Emmeline B. Wells, Diary, 30 Oct. 1897, Diaries of Emmeline B. Wells, Church Historian’s Press, churchhistorianspress.org/emmeline-b-wells; “U. W. P. C.,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Dec. 1897, 220; “Editorial Notes,” Woman’s Exponent, Dec. 1901, 53; Receipts, 22 Apr. 1903; 15 Sept. 1903; 21 and 21 Oct. 1903, Utah Women’s Press Club, Papers, ca. 1901–1928, CHL; Linda Thatcher and John R. Sillito, “‘Sisterhood and Sociability’: The Utah Women’s Press Club, 1891–1928,” Utah Historical Quarterly 53, no. 2 (Spring 1985): 152; Doolan, Notebook, 4 Nov. 1901; “Social and Personal,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 6 Nov. 1905, 12.
[10] “Social and Personal,” Deseret Evening News, 16 Nov. 1901, 8.
[11] First International Woman-Suffrage Conference and the 34th Annual Convention of the National-American-Woman-Suffrage Association (Washington, DC, 1902); “Work of the Women’s Clubs,” Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Dec. 1901, 17.
[12] “Doolan, Rebecca H.,” 27 Mar. 1909, file no. 465, Utah State Archives Name Indexes, Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, 1904–present, series 81448, Utah Division of Archives and Records Service, archives.utah.org; “Death of Mrs. Doolan,” Deseret Evening News, 29 Mar. 1909, 11.