Susan Fairchild Noble
Born 25 July 1832 in Sheldon, Genesee Co., New York.[1] Daughter of Charles Fairchild and Eunice Noble.[2] Adopted by her maternal grandparents, Ezekiel and Theodocia Bates Noble, by 1835; raised by Joseph and Mary Beman Noble, in Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio.[3] Accompanied the Nobles with the Kirtland Camp to Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri, Oct. 1838.[4] Moved to Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Illinois, by 1841.[5] Acted as a secret messenger for Joseph Smith, hiding his messages in the hem of her dress.[6] Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Abraham O. Smoot/George B. Wallace pioneer company, arriving by 29 Sept. 1847.[7] Married first Jedediah M. Grant, 1 Feb. 1849, in Salt Lake City; two children.[8] Husband died, 1 Dec. 1856; married second George Davidson Grant, 16 Feb. 1858; one son. [9] Divorced George Grant, 1860; moved to West Bountiful, Davis Co., Utah Territory.[10] President of the West Bountiful Relief Society, 1878–1885.[11] President of the Davis Stake Relief Society, beginning 8 Jan. 1886.[12] Served on the Relief Society general board with EBW, 1892–1914.[13] Witnessed the articles of incorporation of the National Woman’s Relief Society, 10 Oct. 1892.[14] Frequently visited EBW.[15] Died 9 Mar. 1914 in West Bountiful.[16]
[1] Record of Members Collection, 1836–1970, West Bountiful Ward, Ward Record of Members, Part 1, 1907–1940, p. 40, Susan Grant, CR 375 8, box 7534, folder 1, CHL. “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A, 1846–1957, p. 723, Jedediah Morgan Grant and Susan Noble, 11 Feb. 1849, microfilm 183374 (restricted access), FHL. Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 18. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 9 Jan. 2019), Susan Fairchild Noble Grant (KWJZ-ZVN).
[2] Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 19.
[3] Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 47–49. “Sealings and Adoptions of the Living, 1846–1857; Index, 1846–1857,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. A, pp. 427–428, Jos. Bates Noble and Mary A. Beman, 23 Jan. 1846, microfilm 183374 (restricted access), FHL.
[4] Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 74. Kirtland Camp, Kirtland Camp Constitution and Journal, Mar.–Oct. 1838, MS 4952, CHL.
[5] Susan Easton Black, Harvey Bischoff Black, and Brandon Plewe, Property Transactions in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois and Surrounding Communities (1839–1859), 7 vols. (Wilmington, DE: World Vital Records, 2006), 2890. General Church Recorder, Far West and Nauvoo Elder’s Certificates, 1837–1838, 1840–1846, CR 100 402, folder 1, CHL. Lyman De Platt, Nauvoo Early Mormon Records Series, 1839–1846, vol. 1 (Highland, UT: 1980), 82, 245.
[6] “Susan N. Grant, Pioneer of 1847, Called by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 10 Mar. 1914, 8. Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 118.
[7] “Susan Noble,” Pioneer Database (http://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravels, accessed 12 Dec. 2018). Spencer Clawson, comp., The Book of Pioneers Who Arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847 (Salt Lake City: Utah Semi-Centennial Commission, 1897), 1:280.
[8] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A, 1846–1957, p. 723, line 5094, Jedediah Morgan Grant and Susan Noble, 11 Feb. 1849, microfilm 183374 (restricted access), FHL. Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 247.
[9] “Utah Death Registers, 1847–1966,” Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/dbextra.aspx?dbid=6967, accessed 12 June 2020), Jedediah M. Grant. “A Mighty Man Has Gone to Rest,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 3 Dec. 1856, 5. “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. C, 1856–1861, p. 280, George Davidson Grant and Susan Grant, 16 Feb. 1858, microfilm 1149514 (restricted access), FHL. Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 273–274.
[10] Walter A. Norton, True to Her Trust: The Remarkable Life of Susan Fairchild Noble Grant, 1832–1914 (Santaquin, UT: Old Pioneer Press, 2013), 274.
[11] Relief Society: Names of Stake and Branch Presidents of the Relief Society of Latter-Day Saints, in the Valley of the Mountains ([Salt Lake City]: Relief Society, n.d.).
[12] Susan Fairchild Grant, Journal, 1886–Feb. 1896, MS 3369, CHL.
[13] History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1966), 51. 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.
[14] “Articles of Incorporation of the National Woman’s Relief Society,” Susa Young Gates, Papers, ca. 1870–1933, MS 7692, CHL.
[15] EBW, Diary, 4 Jan. 1897; 4 Oct. 1899; 20 Aug. 1900; 4 May 1903; 31 Oct. 1904.
[16] “Utah Death Certificates, 1904–1964,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZGC-ZL4, accessed 11 Sept. 2015), Susan Noble Grant, 1914. “Aunt Susan Grant Called by Death,” Davis County Clipper, 13 Mar. 1914, 1.