Eliza Roxcy Snow Smith

21 January 1804 — 5 December 1887

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. 1 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. 2 Participated in mass meetings protesting antipolygamy legislation. 3 Participated in the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Association. 4 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. 5 Died at Salt Lake City. 6 (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. [1] Eliza Roxcy Snow, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, June 7, 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, CHL, 2:25.

  2. [2] “People of the Time,” database, The Joseph Smith Papers (https://josephsmithpapers.org/reference/people, accessed May 2023), Eliza Roxcy Snow.

  3. [3] “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].

  4. [4] “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).

  5. [5] 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.)

  6. [6] “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed Aug. 2018), Eliza Roxcy Snow KWVC-BTV.