1 Born at Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England; daughter of Hannah Smart and Thomas Ells. 2 Immigrated to the United States aboard the ship Pocahontas, 1836; lived at Philadelphia. 3 Moved to Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, circa 1840–1841; worked as a milliner and dressmaker. 4 Joined the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, 1842. 5 Identified in some sources as a plural wife of Joseph Smith, married 1843 or 1844. 6 Appointed secretary of the Relief Society, 1844. 7 Died at Nauvoo. 8 (See Document 1.2, 1.10, first mentioned here)
Hannah M Ells
4 March 1808 — 1845
Footnotes
Footnotes
[1] “Hannah Ells,” Patriarchal Blessings, 1833–2011 (closed to research), CHL. “England, Northumberland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, St. Nicholas’ Church, bishop’s transcripts, 1762–1855,” register of baptisms in the parish of St. Nicholas, Hannah Ells (chr. Mar. 27, 1808); database and images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org, accessed Oct. 2014); citing England, Durham Diocese Bishop's Transcripts, 1639–1919, Church of England, Record Office, Matlock, Derbyshire, England; FHL microfilm 1068902. Ells recorded her middle initial while serving as secretary of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. (See Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 1841–1846, CHL, entry for Mar. 16, 1844. For her death date, see Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997], 542, 755.)
[2] “Hannah Ells,” Patriarchal Blessings. “England, Northumberland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, St. Nicholas’ Church, bishop’s transcripts, 1762–1855,” database and images, Hannah Ells.
[3] “Philadelphia, Passenger and Immigration lists, 1800–150,” database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed Oct. 2014); citing Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800–1882, NARA microfilm publication M425, film no. 51, list no. 23. “Millinery and Dress Making,” Times and Seasons 2, no. 23 (Oct. 1, 1841): 566.
[4] “Millinery and Dress Making,” 566; the middle initial S in this source is probably a typographical error. Hannah’s brother, Josiah Ells, lived at Nauvoo by April 1840. (See “People of the Time,” database, The Joseph Smith Papers http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/reference/people, accessed Oct. 2014], Josiah Ells.)
[5] Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 1841–1846, CHL, entry for June 9, 1842.
[6] John Benbow, Affidavit, in “Plural Marriage,” The Historical Record 6, nos. 3–5 (May 1887): 222–223.
[7] Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 1841–1846, CHL, entry for Mar. 9, 1844.
[8] Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 542, 755. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed Dec. 30, 2015), Hannah Ells LK54-R49.