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Sarah Melissa Granger

Sarah Melissa Kimball, Mrs. S. M. Kimball, Sarah Melissa Granger Kimball

29 December 1818—1 December 1898

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 29 Dec. 1818 at Phelps, Ontario Co., New York.1 Daughter of Oliver Granger and Lydia Dibble.2 Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, with her family, 1833.3 Participated in the School of the Prophets.4 Married Hiram Kimball, 22 Sept. 1840, in Kirtland; three children.5 Moved to Nauvoo, 1840.6 Proposed the formation of a charitable society in Nauvoo, 1842.7 Founding member of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, organized 17 Mar. 1842.8 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving Sept. 1851.9 Taught school, 1851–1859.10 Served as president of the Salt Lake City Fifteenth Ward Relief Society, 1857–1898.11 Led a mass ladies’ meeting in the Fifteenth Ward to organize a response to the introduction of federal legislation to punish polygamists, 6 Jan. 1870.12 Presided at the Great Indignation Meeting, 13 Jan. 1870, in Salt Lake City.13 Visited Utah governor George Emery with EBW to garner his support for a petition for women’s voting rights, 1879.14 Appointed secretary to Eliza R. Snow, general president of the Relief Society, 19 June 1880; served on the Relief Society central board, 1880–1892.15 Chaired the finance committee of the Deseret Hospital Association, 1882.16 Represented the women of Utah in Washington DC and Chicago during suffrage conventions and on the National Council of Women.17 Elected president of the Territorial Woman Suffrage Association, 11 Jan. 1890.18 Compiled and edited World’s Fair Ecclesiastical History of Utah, 1893.19 Elected third vice president of the Relief Society upon its incorporation, 1892; served on the Relief Society general board, 1892–1898.20 Appointed honorary vice president of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association, by 1895.21 Died 1 Dec. 1898 at Salt Lake City.22

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

23 Born at Phelps, Ontario County, New York; daughter of Lydia Dibble and Oliver Granger. 24 Moved to Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, 1833. 25 Married Hiram Kimball, 1840; three children. 26 Settled at Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, 1840. 27 Proposed the formation of a charitable society in Nauvoo, 1842; joined the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo as a founding member, March 17, 1842. 28 Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley, 1851. 29 Settled at Salt Lake City. 30 Served as president of the Salt Lake City Fifteenth Ward Relief Society, 1857–1898. 31 Widowed, 1863. 32 Actively participated in leadership roles within the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Society, grain movement, political indignation meetings, and the woman suffrage movement. 33 Appointed secretary to Eliza R. Snow on the Relief Society general board, 1880. 34 Served on the finance committee of the Deseret Hospital Association. 35 Served as president of the Utah Woman Suffrage Association and honorary vice president of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association. 36 Elected third vice president of the Relief Society upon its incorporation, 1892. 37 Died at Salt Lake City. 38 (See Document 1.2, 3.9, 3.10, 3.12, 3.13, 3.15–3.17, 3.24, 3.25, 3.28, 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 4.10–4.12, 4.27, 4.28, first mentioned here)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Temple Records Index Bureau, Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846 (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1974), 150 (restricted access). Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 22 Feb. 2018), Sarah Melissa Granger (L7FX-FVJ). 

  2. 2 Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51. 

  3. 3 Joseph Smith, History, 1838–1856, vol. C-1, addenda, 11, CHL.

  4. 4 Fifteenth Ward Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1868–1968, vol. 5, 1874–1894, 11 Apr. 1894, LR 2848 14, image 157/274, CHL. Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1992), 784.

  5. 5 Lake County, OH, Probate Court, Marriage Records, 1840–2018, vol. A, 1840–1844, p. 8, Hiram Kimball and Sarah Granger, 22 Sept. 1840, microfilm 974915, DGS 4017424, image 6/311, FHL. Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51.

  6. 6 Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51.

  7. 7 Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51. Jill Mulvey Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 24.

  8. 8 Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51. Jill Mulvey Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 30.

  9. 9 Sarah Melissa Granger Kimball,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel, accessed 5 Mar. 2018). Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51.

  10. 10 Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51.   

  11. 11 Fifteenth Ward, Riverside Stake, Fifteenth Ward Manuscript History and Historical Reports, “Relief Society,” LR 2848 2, CHL. Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51. E. B. Wells, “A Grand and Noble Woman,” Deseret Evening News, 5 Dec. 1898, 8. 

  12. 12 Fifteenth Ward, Riverside Stake, Fifteenth Ward Relief Society Minutes and Records, 1868–1968, vol. 1, p. 139, 6 Jan. 1870, CHL. Jill Mulvey Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 305–308.

  13. 13 Jill Mulvey Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 311–332.

  14. 14 Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 186.

  15. 15 Relief Society, Relief Society Record, 1880–1892, pp. 7, 13, CR 11 175, CHL. History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of the Relief Society, 1966), 31–33, 51.

  16. 16 “The Deseret Hospital: Dedication Services,” Deseret Evening News, 26 July 1882, 14.

  17. 17 EBW, Diary, 11 Jan. and 8 Feb. 1890; 23 Jan. 1891; 16, 21–26 Feb. 1891; 2 Mar. 1891; 14 May 1893; 13 May 1895. E. B. Wells, “A Grand and Noble Woman,” Deseret News, 10 Dec. 1898, 13.

  18. 18 EBW, Diary, 11 Jan. 1890. Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 251–252. Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016), 579n452.

  19. 19 World’s Fair Ecclesiastical History of Utah, Compiled by Representatives of the Religious Denominations (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1893).

  20. 20 History of Relief Society, 1842–1966 (Salt Lake City: General Board of Relief Society, 1966), 36–37.

  21. 21 Jill C. Mulvay, “The Liberal Shall Be Blessed: Sarah M. Kimball,” Utah Historical Quarterly 44, no. 3 (Summer 1976): 214.

  22. 22 Salt Lake Co., UT, Management and Archives, Death Records, 1895–1908, Sarah M. Kimball, 1 Dec. 1898, microfilm 4139834, FHL.

  23. 23 Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” Woman’s Exponent 12, no. 7 (Sept. 1, 1883): 51. “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849–1949,” p. 86 (1898), Sarah M. Kimball; database and images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org, accessed Aug. 2014); citing Management and Archives, Salt Lake City, UT; FHL microfilm 4139834. E. B. Wells, “A Grand and Noble Woman,” Deseret News [weekly], Dec. 10, 1898, 13.
  24. 24 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51. “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849–1949,” Sarah M. Kimball.
  25. 25 Jill Mulvay Derr, Sarah M. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1976), 4. “President Sarah M. Kimball,” Woman’s Exponent 27, no. 14 (Dec. 15, 1898): 77.
  26. 26 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org, accessed Aug. 2014), Sarah Melissa Granger L7FX-FVJ and Hiram Kimball LH2J-2RC . In addition to her three sons with Hiram Kimball (Hiram, Oliver, and Franklin), Sarah also raised an American Indian foster daughter (Kate), adopted a daughter (Lizzie) in 1865, and adopted an infant son (Julius), who lived only a few months, in 1880. Find a Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com, accessed Apr. 2014), memorial no. 65739, Kate Kimball, Kimball-Whitney Cemetery, Salt Lake City, UT. “Utah Death Certificate Index, 1904–1961,” database and images, Utah State Archives (http://archives.utah.gov, accessed Oct. 2014); from Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, series 81448, file no. 1703/514(1931), Elizabeth Kimball. “Utah Death Registers, 1847–1966,” p. 98 (1880), Julius G. Kimball; database and images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed Oct. 2014); citing series 21866, from Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City, UT.
  27. 27 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51.
  28. 28 Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, 1841–1846, CHL, entry for Mar. 17, 1842. Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51. Sarah M. Kimball, “Early Relief Society reminiscence,” Mar. 17, 1882, in Relief Society record, 1880–1892, CHL. “President Sarah M. Kimball,” 77.
  29. 29 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51. “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 Nov. 2014), Sarah Melissa Granger Kimball.
  30. 30 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51. “President Sarah M. Kimball,” 77.
  31. 31 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51. Wells, “A Grand and Noble Woman,”13.
  32. 32 Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” 51.
  33. 33 See “Great Indignation Meeting,” Deseret Evening News, Jan. 14, 1870, [2], and Jan. 15, 1870, [2]. “Minutes of Ladies’ Co-operative Retrenchment Meeting,” 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. “General Meeting of Central and Ward Committees,” Woman’s Exponent 9, no. 13 (Dec. 1, 1876): 99.
  34. 34 “Salt Lake Stake Relief Society Conference,” Woman’s Exponent 9, no. 3 (July 1, 1880): 21–22. “President Sarah M. Kimball,” 77. “Relief Society Report, Seting Apart Officers, &c.,” July 17, 1880, in Relief Society record, 1880–1892, pp. 9–14, CHL. “R.S. Reports,” Woman’s Exponent 9, no. 7 (Sept. 1, 1880): [53]–54. Eliza R. Snow Smith and Sarah M. Kimball, “The Relief Society,” Woman’s Exponent 11, no. 9 (Mar. 1, 1883): 148–149.
  35. 35 “The Deseret Hospital. Dedication Services,” Deseret Evening News, July 17, 1882, 2.
  36. 36 “President Sarah M. Kimball,” 77. Derr, Sarah M. Kimball, 10, 13.
  37. 37 “A Grand and Noble Woman,” 13. “President Sarah M. Kimball,” 77.
  38. 38 “Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849–1949,” Sarah M. Kimball. Wells, “A Grand and Noble Woman,” 13.