Happy 169th Birthday (sort of), Relief Society (1842)!

The women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is known as the Relief Society.  It was started in Nauvoo in 1842, but the group ceased meeting in 1844.  A quarter century later in Utah, Brigham Young called for the reorganization of the Relief Society in every ward of the church.  (This was in 1867, so when we celebrate all these years of Relief Society, perhaps we should subtract 25 from the official tally.)

Red Brick Store in Nauvoo where RS was organized

Our only ancestor who seems to have belonged to the first Relief Society in Nauvoo was Elizabeth Thompson, although since two Elizabeth Thompsons lived in Nauvoo, we cannot even be certain it is the right ancestor.  Our pioneer women were very involved in the early Relief Society efforts in Utah.  They raised silkworms, grew and stored wheat, and took care of community and burial needs.  Our ancestors who served as Relief Society presidents, counselors, and teachers for decades include Elizabeth Fox, Hannah Grover, Maggie Hatch, Sylvia Hatch, Mary Hegsted, Jane Muir, Emma Shaw, Sarah Jensen, Mary Sorensen, Maria Hatch, Ann Welch, Eliza Welch, and Laura Woodland.  Annie Hatch was a Relief Society secretary and treasurer, and her son remembered the intriguing divided box in which she stored the funds.  Maria Hatch was also active in the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Utah and served as the vice president of the National Relief Society (a part of the church organization at the time).

Relief Society building at This is the Place

Elizabeth Fox's jubilee speech

Elizabeth Fox was especially involved with the Relief Society in Idaho, serving as a ward president for many years and then stake Relief Society president for sixteen years, during the time of the Relief Society’s 50th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration.  Under her direction, the Franklin Relief Society stored hundreds of bushels of wheat and built their own building.  Eliza R. Snow made a number of official visits during Elizabeth’s tenure.  Elizabeth regularly went down to General Conference in Salt Lake City. She was a good public speaker and had a message printed in the Women’s Exponent April 1, 1878, encouraging the power of women.  She visited the stake’s thirty wards annually, traveling by horse and buggy over mud-filled roads.

These women continue to inspire me today, as I serve in our ward Relief Society presidency.