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Lydia Dunford

Lydia Alder

2 July 1846—1 March 1923

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 2 July 1846 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England.1 Daughter of George Dunford and Sarah Jones.2 Sailed from Liverpool, Lancashire, England, to New Orleans on the Argo, 10 January–11 March 1850; returned to Liverpool, 1850; and emigrated from Liverpool on the Jersey, arriving in New Orleans 22 March 1853.3 Married George Alfred Alder, 8 April 1864, in St. Louis; ten children.4 Baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 13 April 1867.5 Migrated to Salt Lake City with the George Dunford pioneer company, arriving 26 September 1867.6 Served as secretary of the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward Relief Society, 1868–1886, and on the stake Relief Society board, 1898.7 Served as secretary of a mass meeting held in Salt Lake City, 13 January 1870, to protest federal antipolygamy legislation.8 Contributing writer to the Woman’s Exponent.9 Served as secretary and vice president of the Utah Woman Suffrage Association, 1889.10 Member (1893–1910), president (1901–1903), and historian (1906–1908) of the Utah Woman’s Press Club, an organization founded by Emmeline B. Wells.11 Author of Mormon Tabernacle Choir in California, 1896, and The Holy Land, 1912.12 Husband died, 4 January 1898.13 Attended the International Council of Women meetings with Emmeline B. Wells in London, June 1899.14 One of the first single Latter-day Saint women to serve a full-time mission; served in Great Britain, 1899–1901.15 Speaker at the International Council of Women conference held in Berlin, 13 June 1904; in Rome, 1914.16 Died 1 March 1923 in Salt Lake City.17

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

 

Born 2 July 1846 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England.18 Daughter of George Dunford and Sarah Jones.19 Sailed from Liverpool, Lancashire, England, to New Orleans on the Argo, 10 January–11 March 1850; returned to Liverpool, 1850; and emigrated from Liverpool on the Jersey, arriving in New Orleans 22 March 1853.20 Married George Alfred Alder, 8 April 1864, in St. Louis; ten children.21 Baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 13 April 1867.22 Migrated to Salt Lake City with the George Dunford pioneer company, arriving 26 September 1867.23 Served as secretary of the Salt Lake City Seventeenth Ward Relief Society, 1868–1886, and on the stake Relief Society board, 1898.24 Served as secretary of a mass meeting held in Salt Lake City, 13 January 1870, to protest federal antipolygamy legislation.25 Contributing writer to the Woman’s Exponent.26 Served as secretary and vice president of the Utah Woman Suffrage Association, 1889.27 Member (1893–1910), president (1901–1903), and historian (1906–1908) of the Utah Woman’s Press Club, an organization founded by Emmeline B. Wells.28 Author of Mormon Tabernacle Choir in California, 1896, and The Holy Land, 1912.29 Husband died, 4 January 1898.30 Attended the International Council of Women meetings with Emmeline B. Wells in London, June 1899.31 One of the first single Latter-day Saint women to serve a full-time mission; served in Great Britain, 1899–1901.32 Speaker at the International Council of Women conference held in Berlin, 13 June 1904; in Rome, 1914.33 Died 1 March 1923 in Salt Lake City.34

Footnotes

  1. 1 “Lydia Dunford,” Melksham District, 1846, England and Wales, 1837–2006, Find My Past database, findmypast.com; England and Wales Census, 1851, DGS 101795883, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, p. 16, familysearch.org; “Funeral for Prominent Church Worker Sunday,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 2 Mar. 1923, 7.

  2. 2 England and Wales Census, 1851, DGS 101795883, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, p. 16, familysearch.org; Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, microfilm 183405, vol. F, p. 280, 18 Jan. 1868, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL). 

  3. 3 “Lydia Dunford,” Argo Passenger List, Liverpool to New Orleans, 10 Jan.–11 Mar. 1850, Saints by Sea database, saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu; George Dunford, Reminiscences and Journal, 1879–1890, 26–27, 33–34, 37, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (Church History Library hereafter cited as CHL); “Lydia Dunford,” Jersey Passenger List, Liverpool to New Orleans, 5 Feb.–22 Mar. 1853, Saints by Sea database, saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu.

  4. 4 Dunford, Reminiscences and Journal, 1879, 63; “George D. Alder,” in Utah since Statehood: Historical and Biographical (S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1919), 3:502–505; “Obituary Notes,” Deseret Weekly (Salt Lake City), 22 Jan. 1898, 192.

  5. 5 Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, microfilm 183405, vol. F, p. 280, 18 Jan. 1868, FSL.

  6. 6 Lydia Dunford Alder, Reminiscence, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 26 Sept. 1867, CHL.

  7. 7 Seventeenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records, vol. 5, 6 Feb. 1868; vol. 9, 1 and 15 Dec. 1886, CHL; “R. S., Y. L. M. I. A. & P. A. Reports,” Woman’s Exponent (Salt Lake City), 15 Jan. 1885, 126; “Relief Society Conference,” Deseret Weekly, 26 Mar. 1898, 461.

  8. 8 “Great Indignation Meeting,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 14 Jan. 1870, 2; Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 311–332.

  9. 9 See, for example, “In Memoriam,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Aug. 1886, 46; “To My Dear Friend, Camilla C. Cobb,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 May 1893, 166; “The Day of Peace,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 May 1899, 1; “Thirteen Today,” Woman’s Exponent, May 1903, 91; and “Bingen on the Rhine,” Woman’s Exponent, Jan. 1914, 95.

  10. 10 “Woman Suffragists,” Utah Enquirer (Provo, Utah Territory), 15 Jan. 1889, 1; Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Brigham Young University Press; Deseret Book, 2006), 248–249; “Ladies, Attention,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, 7 Feb. 1889, 8; “The Ladies’ Meet,” Sunday Herald (Salt Lake City), 13 Oct. 1889, 1.

  11. 11 “Utah Woman’s Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, [25] Dec. 1901, 63–64; “History of the U. W. Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, [1] Jan. 1908, 48; “History of the U. W. Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, Apr. 1908, 64; “History of the U. W. Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, May 1908, 71; “Annual Meeting of the Utah State Federation of Women’s Clubs Will Be Held at Provo with More Interest than Ever Before,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 9 Oct. 1910, Third section, 1.

  12. 12 Lydia Dunford Alder, Mormon Tabernacle Choir in California (Cannon Publishing House, [1896]); Lydia Dunford Alder, The Holy Land (Deseret News, 1912).

  13. 13 Utah, Salt Lake Co., Death Records, 1849–1966, DGS 4139834, p. 65, no. 2448, 4 Jan. 1898, familysearch.org.

  14. 14 “An Important Gathering of Women,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 June 1899, 4; “Utah Ladies in London,” Deseret Evening News, 23 Aug. 1899, 5; Elizabeth V. Burt, ed., Women’s Press Organizations, 1881–1999 (Greenwood Press, 2000), 219.

  15. 15 Lydia Dunford Alder entry, no. 434, Missionary Department, Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, book C, 99, CHL; “Three Lady Missionaries,” Salt Lake Tribune, 24 May 1899, 7; Lydia D. Alder, “Thoughts on Missionary Work,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Aug. 1901, 21–22.

  16. 16 “Utah Woman Was a Speaker Today,” Deseret Evening News, 13 June 1904, 1; “Funeral for Prominent Church Worker Sunday,” 7; Madsen, Advocate for Women, 464; Lydia D. Alder, “Utahns See Famous Play of William Tell at Interlaken,” Deseret Evening News, 25 July 1914, Second section, 5.

  17. 17 “Alder, Lydia,” 1 Mar. 1923, file no. 323, 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.gov; “Funeral for Prominent Church Worker Sunday,” 7.

  18. 18 “Lydia Dunford,” Melksham District, 1846, England and Wales, 1837–2006, Find My Past database, findmypast.com; England and Wales Census, 1851, DGS 101795883, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, p. 16, familysearch.org; “Funeral for Prominent Church Worker Sunday,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 2 Mar. 1923, 7.

  19. 19 England and Wales Census, 1851, DGS 101795883, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, p. 16, familysearch.org; Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, microfilm 183405, vol. F, p. 280, 18 Jan. 1868, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL). 

  20. 20 “Lydia Dunford,” Argo Passenger List, Liverpool to New Orleans, 10 Jan.–11 Mar. 1850, Saints by Sea database, saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu; George Dunford, Reminiscences and Journal, 1879–1890, 26–27, 33–34, 37, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (Church History Library hereafter cited as CHL); “Lydia Dunford,” Jersey Passenger List, Liverpool to New Orleans, 5 Feb.–22 Mar. 1853, Saints by Sea database, saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu.

  21. 21 Dunford, Reminiscences and Journal, 1879, 63; “George D. Alder,” in Utah since Statehood: Historical and Biographical (S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1919), 3:502–505; “Obituary Notes,” Deseret Weekly (Salt Lake City), 22 Jan. 1898, 192.

  22. 22 Endowment House Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884, microfilm 183405, vol. F, p. 280, 18 Jan. 1868, FSL.

  23. 23 Lydia Dunford Alder, Reminiscence, in Historical Department, Journal History of the Church, 26 Sept. 1867, CHL.

  24. 24 Seventeenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, Relief Society Minutes and Records, vol. 5, 6 Feb. 1868; vol. 9, 1 and 15 Dec. 1886, CHL; “R. S., Y. L. M. I. A. & P. A. Reports,” Woman’s Exponent (Salt Lake City), 15 Jan. 1885, 126; “Relief Society Conference,” Deseret Weekly, 26 Mar. 1898, 461.

  25. 25 “Great Indignation Meeting,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 14 Jan. 1870, 2; Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 311–332.

  26. 26 See, for example, “In Memoriam,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Aug. 1886, 46; “To My Dear Friend, Camilla C. Cobb,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 May 1893, 166; “The Day of Peace,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 May 1899, 1; “Thirteen Today,” Woman’s Exponent, May 1903, 91; and “Bingen on the Rhine,” Woman’s Exponent, Jan. 1914, 95.

  27. 27 “Woman Suffragists,” Utah Enquirer (Provo, Utah Territory), 15 Jan. 1889, 1; Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Brigham Young University Press; Deseret Book, 2006), 248–249; “Ladies, Attention,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, 7 Feb. 1889, 8; “The Ladies’ Meet,” Sunday Herald (Salt Lake City), 13 Oct. 1889, 1.

  28. 28 “Utah Woman’s Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, [25] Dec. 1901, 63–64; “History of the U. W. Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, [1] Jan. 1908, 48; “History of the U. W. Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, Apr. 1908, 64; “History of the U. W. Press Club,” Woman’s Exponent, May 1908, 71; “Annual Meeting of the Utah State Federation of Women’s Clubs Will Be Held at Provo with More Interest than Ever Before,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 9 Oct. 1910, Third section, 1.

  29. 29 Lydia Dunford Alder, Mormon Tabernacle Choir in California (Cannon Publishing House, [1896]); Lydia Dunford Alder, The Holy Land (Deseret News, 1912).

  30. 30 Utah, Salt Lake Co., Death Records, 1849–1966, DGS 4139834, p. 65, no. 2448, 4 Jan. 1898, familysearch.org.

  31. 31 “An Important Gathering of Women,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 June 1899, 4; “Utah Ladies in London,” Deseret Evening News, 23 Aug. 1899, 5; Elizabeth V. Burt, ed., Women’s Press Organizations, 1881–1999 (Greenwood Press, 2000), 219.

  32. 32 Lydia Dunford Alder entry, no. 434, Missionary Department, Missionary Registers, 1860–1959, book C, 99, CHL; “Three Lady Missionaries,” Salt Lake Tribune, 24 May 1899, 7; Lydia D. Alder, “Thoughts on Missionary Work,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Aug. 1901, 21–22.

  33. 33 “Utah Woman Was a Speaker Today,” Deseret Evening News, 13 June 1904, 1; “Funeral for Prominent Church Worker Sunday,” 7; Madsen, Advocate for Women, 464; Lydia D. Alder, “Utahns See Famous Play of William Tell at Interlaken,” Deseret Evening News, 25 July 1914, Second section, 5.

  34. 34 “Alder, Lydia,” 1 Mar. 1923, file no. 323, 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.gov; “Funeral for Prominent Church Worker Sunday,” 7.