Desdemona Catlin Wadsworth Fullmer Benson McLane

6 October 1809 — 9 February 1886

1 Born at Huntington, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; daughter of Susannah Zerfass and Peter Fullmer. 2 Baptized, 1836. 3 Moved to Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, by 1837; to Missouri, by 1838; and to Commerce (later Nauvoo), Hancock County, Illinois, circa 1839. 4 Joined the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo at its first meeting, March 17, 1842. 5 Later identified herself as a plural wife of Joseph Smith, married in July 1843. 6 Married second Ezra Taft Benson as a plural wife, 1846; divorced, 1852. 7 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, 1848. 8 Married third Harrison Parker McLane, 1853; divorced, 1864; one child. 9 Lived at Salt Lake City and Ogden, Weber County, Utah Territory. 10 Died at Salt Lake City. 11 (See Document 1.2, 4.28, first mentioned here)

Footnotes

  1. [1] Utah Division of State History, “Utah Cemeteries and Burials,” database, Cemeteries and Burials (http://heritage.utah.gov/history/cemeteries, accessed Apr. 2014), Desdimona W. Fulmer Smith. Todd Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997), 577–585.

  2. [2] “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org, accessed Aug. 2014), Desdemona Wadsworth Fullmer K2XP-QVN . Lyndon W. Cook, Nauvoo Marriages Proxy Sealings, 1843–1846 (Provo, UT: Grandin, 2004), 132, n.2. Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 577–578.

  3. [3] Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 579.

  4. [4] Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 579–580.

  5. [5] Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 1841–1846, CHL, entry for Mar. 17, 1842.

  6. [6] Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915, CHL, Desdemona Fullmer Smith, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, June 17, 1869, 1:32. Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 580–581. Cook, Nauvoo Marriages Proxy Sealings, 131–132.

  7. [7] Ibid.

  8. [8] “Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel,” database, 1847–1868, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel (http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels, accessed Apr. 2014), Desdemona Wadsworth Fullmer.

  9. [9] Cook, Nauvoo Marriages Proxy Sealings, 132, n.2. Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 583–584.

  10. [10] 1850 U.S. census, Great Salt Lake, Utah Territory, p. 30B, Desdemona C. Fullmer in household of Ezra T. Benson; from NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 919. “Utah, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1850–1890,” p. 495 (1856), Desdemony McLane; citing Utah 1856 Statehood Census Index, comp. Ron V. Jackson, Accelerated Indexing Systems, Provo, UT; from U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses and/or census substitutes. 1860 U.S. census, Ogden, Weber Co., Utah Territory, p. 487, Testimony Lane; from NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1313. Census databases and images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed Aug. 2014).

  11. [11] 1880 U.S. census, Salt Lake City , Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, p. 47B, Desdemona F. Smith; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed Aug. 2014); from NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1337. “Utah Cemeteries and Burials,” database, Desdimona W. Fulmer Smith.