The Church Historian's PressThe Church Historian's Press

Ellen Curtis Spencer

Ellen Spencer Clawson, Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson

21 November 1832—25 August 1896

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 21 Nov. 1832 in Saybrook, Middlesex Co., Connecticut.1 Daughter of Orson Spencer and Catherine Curtis.2 Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1842.3 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Brigham Young pioneer company, arriving by 24 Sept. 1848.4 Married Hiram Bradley Clawson, 18 Mar. 1850, in Salt Lake City; fourteen children.5 Served as president of the Salt Lake City Twelfth Ward Primary, beginning 1879, and as president of the Salt Lake County Stake Primary, beginning 19 June 1880.6 Founding member of the Reaper’s Club, 1892.7 Signatory of the Articles of Incorporation of the National Woman’s Relief Society, 10 Oct. 1892.8 Died 25 Aug. 1896 in Salt Lake City.9

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

10 Born at Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut; daughter of Catharine Cannon Curtis and Orson Spencer. 11 Married Hiram Bradley Clawson, 1850; fourteen children. 12 Appointed president of the Salt Lake City Twelfth Ward Primary, 1879, and as president of the Salt Lake Stake Primary, 1880. 13 Died at Salt Lake City. 14 (See Document 4.4)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Lorraine Cook White, ed., The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records, vol. 2 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2002), 11, 147. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 8 May 2018), Ellen Curtis Spencer (KWJC-7P1).

  2. 2Lorraine Cook White, ed., The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records, vol. 2 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2002), 2:11, 147. “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A-A1, p. 18, Ellen Curtis Clawson, 13 Dec. 1851, microfilm 1255545 (restricted access), FHL. Aurelia Spencer Rogers, Life Sketches of Orson Spencer and Others: History of Primary Work (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1898), 10.

  3. 3 “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 8 May 2018), Ellen Curtis Spencer (KWJC-7P1).

  4. 4 Aurelia Spencer Rogers, Life Sketches of Orson Spencer and Others: History of Primary Work (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1898), 76. “Ellen Curtis Spencer,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/, accessed 28 June 2018). 

  5. 5 “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. A, 1846–1857, p. 709, Hiram Bradley Clawson and Ellen Curtis Spencer, 18 Mar. 1850, microfilm 183374 (restricted access), FHL. “Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1896, 36. “A Noble Woman Passes Away,” Deseret Evening News, 25 Aug. 1896, [1].

  6. 6 Salt Lake Stake, Salt Lake Stake Manuscript History and Historical Reports, 19 June 1880, LR 604 18, CHL. Salt Lake Stake, Salt Lake Stake Primary Association Minutes and Records, 1878, pp. 3–4, LR 604 2, CHL. “Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1896, 36. “A Noble Woman Passes Away,” Deseret Evening News, 25 Aug. 1896, [1].  

  7. 7 Reaper’s Club Papers, Treasurer’s Book, 1892–1911, CHL. “Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1896, 36.

  8. 8 “Articles of Incorporation of the National Women’s Relief Society,” p. 6, Susa Young Gates Papers, ca. 1870–1933, MS 7692, CHL.

  9. 9 “Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1896, 36. “A Noble Woman Passes Away,” Deseret Evening News, 25 Aug. 1896, [1]. Utah Cemeteries and Burials, database, Utah Division of State History (http://heritage.utah.gov/history/cemeteries, accessed 27 Aug. 1896), Ellen C. Clawson.

  10. 10 Find a Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com, accessed Apr. 2014), memorial no. 23681267, Ellen Curtis Spencer Clawson; Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, UT.

  11. 11 “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org, accessed Aug. 2014), Ellen Curtis Spencer KWJC-7P1. Aurelia Spencer Rogers, Life Sketches of Orson Spencer and Others, and History of Primary Work (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1898), 10–11.

  12. 12 “Family Tree,” database, Ellen Curtis Spencer. Rogers, Life Sketches, 122. Augusta Joyce Crocheron, Representative Women of Deseret (Salt Lake City: J.C. Graham & Co., 1884), 60–61.

  13. 13 Rogers, Life Sketches, 285–286. Crocheron, Representative Women, 61.

  14. 14 Rogers, Life Sketches, 283–284. Utah Division of State History, “Utah Cemeteries and Burials,” database, Cemeteries and Burials (https://history.utah.gov/cemeteries, accessed Apr. 2014), Ellen C. Clawson.