Born 2 Nov. 1848 in Salt Lake City.[1] Daughter of Newel Kimball Whitney and EBW.[2] At age fifteen, she sold silk-embroidered buckskin gloves to stage drivers and cowboys to help support her family.[3] Married Septimus Wagstaff Sears, 10 Apr. 1869, in Salt Lake City; eight children.[4] Served as president of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1909.[5] Actively participated in temple work.[6] Provided companionship and comfort to her mother.[7] Moved to Kentucky to live with her daughter and son, 1930.[8] Died 1 Dec. 1941 in Newport, Campbell Co., Kentucky.[9]
[1] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. D, p. 221, Isabel Whitney, 2 Nov. 1848, microfilm 1149525 (restricted access), FHL. Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1904), 4:588. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 13 Mar. 2018), Isabel Modalena Whitney (K2MH-G5V).
[2] “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. D, p. 221, Isabel Whitney, 2 Nov. 1848, microfilm 1149525, FHL.
[3] Kate B. Carter, comp., Heart Throbs of the West: A Unique Volume Treating Definite Subjects of Western History (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1949), 398.
[4] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. E, p. 273, Septimus Wagstaff Sears and Isabel Modalina Whitney, 10 Apr. 1869, microfilm 1149515 (restricted access), FHL. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 504–505.
[5] “Past Presidents,” Daughters of Utah Pioneers (http://www.dupinternational.org/subpage_Listofpresidents.php, accessed 6 Mar. 2018).
[6] Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 431.
[7] EBW, Diary, 8 Aug. 1892; 27 Feb. 1898; 15 Aug. 1900; 27 July 1901; 2 Nov. 1904.
[8] Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 498.
[9] “Commonwealth of Kentucky, Vital Statistics Original Death Certificates, 1911–1964,” Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Mrs. Isabel M. Sears, 1 Dec. 1941, found on Ancestry.com. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 498.