Eliza Roxcy Snow

Sis. Eliza, Eliza R. Snow, Eliza Roxcy Smith, Eliza Roxcy Snow Smith

21 January 1804—5 December 1887

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 21 Jan. 1804 in Becket, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts.1 Daughter of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Lenora Pettibone.2 Moved to Mantua, Portage Co., Ohio, with her family, 1806.3 First published one of her poems, Aug. 1825, in the Western Courier, followed by thirty-two more poems, from 1825–1835.4 Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5 Apr. 1835.5 Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, Dec. 1835, and was present for the dedication of the Kirtland temple.6 Settled in Commerce (later Nauvoo), Hancock Co., Illinois, 1839.7 Founding member of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, serving as secretary to President Emma Smith.8 Sealed to Joseph Smith as a plural wife, 29 June 1842.9 Sealed to Brigham Young as a plural wife, 3 Feb. 1846.10 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Jedediah M. Grant/Joseph B. Noble pioneer company, arriving 2 Oct. 1847.11 Appointed by Brigham Young to preside over the women at the Endowment House, May 1855.12 Directed by Brigham Young to lead the reorganized Relief Society, Dec. 1866.13 Participated in organizing the Young Ladies’ Retrenchment Society, 10 Feb. 1870, a precursor to the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association.14 Traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Palestine with Lorenzo Snow, George A. Smith, and others, Oct. 1872–July 1873.15 Appointed as general president of the Relief Society, June 1880.16 Traveled with EBW to visit various Relief Society units, 1880.17 Served as president of the Deseret Hospital board, 1882, with EBW serving as secretary.18 Died 5 Dec. 1887 in Salt Lake City.19

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

Born at Becket, Berkshire County, Massachusetts; daughter of Rosetta Leonora Pettibone and Oliver Snow. Moved to Mantua, Trumbull County, Ohio, circa 1806. Baptized in Ohio, 1835. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, 1837; to Adam-ondi-Ahman, Daviess County, Missouri, 1838; and to Commerce (later Nauvoo), Hancock County, Illinois, 1839. Founding member of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, March 17, 1842; served as the organization’s first secretary. Later identified herself as a plural wife of Joseph Smith, married on June 29, 1842. 20 Married second Brigham Young as a plural wife, 1844. Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, 1847. Oversaw the reestablishment and operation of Relief Societies throughout Utah, 1868–1880. 21 Participated in mass meetings protesting antipolygamy legislation. 22 Participated in the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Association. 23 Served a mission to Palestine to witness the rededication of the land for the return of the Jews, 1872–1873. Served as assistant president to Emmeline B. Wells on the Central Grain Committee, circa 1876. Served as the second general president of the Relief Society, 1880–1887. Adopted the surname Smith after 1879. 24 Died at Salt Lake City. 25 (See Document 1.2–1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 1.14, 2.2, 3.5–3.9, 3.12, 3.13, 3.15–3.17, 3.19–3.21, 3.23–3.25, 3.27–3.30, 4.1, 4.3–4.6, 4.9–4.12, 4.14–4.16, 4.18, 4.20, 4.24, 4.28, first mentioned here)

Footnotes

1 “Early Church Information File, 1830–1900,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family History Department, card 775, Eliza R. Snow, microfilm 1750715, FHL. Henry Ernest Woods, ed., Vital Records of Becket, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1903), 31. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 5 Mar. 2018), Eliza Roxy Snow (KWVC-BTV).
2 Early Church Information File, 1830–1900,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family History Department, card 775, Eliza R. Snow, microfilm 1750715, FHL. Henry Ernest Woods, ed., Vital Records of Becket, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1903), 79.
3 Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 6n2.
4 Karen Lynn Davidson and Jill Mulvay Derr, Eliza: The Life and Faith of Eliza R. Snow (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013), 6. Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 7–8.
5 Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 10.
6 Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 10n17.
7 Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 15. General Church Recorder, Far West and Nauvoo Elders’ Certificates, 1837–1838, 1840–1846, CR 100 402, image 25, CHL.
8 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 (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), xviii–xiv, 25–26, 28–30. History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1966), 18–19.
9 Jill Mulvay Derr, “The Significance of ‘O My Father’ in the Personal Journey of Eliza R. Snow,” BYU Studies 36, no.1 (1996–97): 89. History of the Relief Society: General Presidents of the Relief Society, p. 2, CHL.
10 “Sealings and Adoptions of the Living, 1846–1857; Index, 1846–1857,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nauvoo Temple, p. 513, Eliza R. Snow and Brigham Young, 3 Feb. 1846, microfilm 183374 (restricted access), FHL.
11 “Eliza Roxcy Snow,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel, accessed 20 Feb. 2018).
12 Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, vol. 4 (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 574–575.
13 Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833–1898 (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, 1984), 6:307. 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), 86–87.
14 “Minutes of Ladies Retrenchment Meeting,” Deseret Evening News, 16 Feb. 1870.
15 Edward William Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom (Salt Lake City: Star Printing, 1890), 481–486. Eliza R. Snow, Sketch of My Life (Salt Lake City: publisher unknown, 1995), 41–42.
16 History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1966), 51.
17 Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 184.
18 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 (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 499.
19 “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849–1949,” p. 355, 1887, Eliza R Smith Snow; Salt Lake County Management and Archives, Salt Lake City, UT.
20 Eliza Roxcy Snow, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, June 7, 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, CHL, 2:25.
21 “People of the Time,” database, The Joseph Smith Papers (https://josephsmithpapers.org/reference/people, accessed May 2023), Eliza Roxcy Snow.
22 “Minutes of a Ladies Mass Meeting,” Jan. 6, 1870, in Relief Society minutes and records, vol. 1, 1868–1873, Fifteenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, CHL (LR 2848 14). Minutes, Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 13, 1870, Deseret Evening News, Jan. 14, 1870, [2] and Jan. 15, 1870, [2].
23 “Minutes of Ladies’ Co-operative Retrenchment Meeting,” Feb. 10, 1870, in Deseret Evening News, Feb. 16, 1870, [2]. “Minutes of the 2nd Meeting of the Ladies Co-operative Retrenchment Society,” Feb. 19, 1870, Relief Society minutes and records, vol. 1, 1868–1873, Fifteenth Ward, Salt Lake [Riverside] Stake, CHL (LR 2848 14).
24 Snow was sealed to Joseph Smith in Nauvoo but did not adopt the use of his family name until after the death of Emma Hale Smith in 1879. Snow was formally identified as “Eliza R. Snow Smith” from 1880 until her death in 1887. (See Jill Mulvay Derr, Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington: Eliza R. Snow Smith’s Visit to Southern Utah, Juanita Brooks Lecture Series [St. George, UT: Dixie State College, 2004], 1–6; and Davis Stake, Davis Stake Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1878–1915, CHL, vol. 1, July 16, 1880.)
25 “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed Aug. 2018), Eliza Roxcy Snow KWVC-BTV.