1 Introduction

In accordance with the laws of New York State, the Church of Christ was organized in April of 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr. and five others. From thence grew what became The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which the New York Morning Courier and Enquirer called a “singularly new religious sect” that was uniquely American.¹ The Church introduced a message of the heavens reopened, a new word from God, a new American prophet—Smith; Christ’s primitive church restored—with the authority and organization that Christ established in the first century; and a newly published scriptural record of ancient people in the Americas and their dealings with God—the Book of Mormon.

Today the membership of the Church stands at over eleven million with meetinghouses and temples around the world.² The LDS Church today is a very distinct ^[1] entity compared with that of its first decade. In the first ten years of the Church the numbers were few. There were no local meetinghouses.³ The organization of the Church was not extensive: there were no multiple books of new canonized scripture or a multiplicity of church periodicals and publications.⁴ Much of the doctrine that is considered to define Mormonism today was not yet in place.⁵

Lacking much of the consistent structure common to Mormonism today, the early Church and its members were in a period of transition: the spiritual transformation of individuals from an old lifestyle to a new, theological development, and actual physical movement from one location to another. During the first ten years of the Church, the main body of Saints moved from New York to Ohio and Missouri, and then to Illinois. Essentially the main body of the Saints lived in one location until persecution drove them out, and then gathered to a new location where they thought they could exist in peace.⁶

The theological history of the Church and the history of Church leadership during this first decade are well chronicled, though the familiar narratives leave out many integral parts of the story. The manner in which the history of The Church of Jesus ^[2] Christ of Latter-day Saints has been written is characteristic of the changing historiography of United States religious history in general. Women have consistently flocked to churches in America since the 1750s. Religious historian Ann Braude maintained that women in church is “one of most consistent features of American religion, and it is one of the least explained.”⁷ Only since the late 1960s have historians made strides to include women and others previously glossed over in the historical tapestry. Some argue that this glossing over is representative of Mormon antipathy towards women, though the documents of the women themselves do not support such assumptions.

Women composed a significant portion of those who were convinced of Joseph Smith’s prophetic role and would follow him over hundreds of miles and through fires of persecution. Recent historical scholarship has flowered, and the study of Mormon women has received much attention, though this attention has been primarily focused on the study of women primarily after Smith established a Church women’s organization in 1842. There remains a chasm encompassing contemporary accounts of women in the first decade of the LDS Church.⁸ Though female biographical works have consistently expanded, no comprehensive attempt has been made to bring light to the lives and contributions of the women residing in this historical hollow.⁹ The intent of this study is ^[3] to illuminate the early Mormon female religious experience as they understood it while they experienced it. For the purposes of this research, the term early Mormon women designates those converted in the first decade of the Church, 1830–1840.

Joseph Smith said that the Church was never perfectly organized until the women were organized in their own society.¹⁰ If so, then what was there for women in the imperfect Church organization? What was the motivation for women to unite with the Mormons without any specific focus towards them? Why would they associate themselves with an undeveloped and persecuted religion rather than one of the many well-established churches? Were early Mormon women merely followers of their husbands? Did Mormonism follow “the usual female preponderance in religious movements”?¹¹ Or, were men by majority those who were initially attracted to Mormonism? What was the female conversion experience? Was it distinct from their nineteenth-century female counterparts? Were all women repulsed by Mormonism and its return to the Old Testament patriarchs?¹² Or, were women real historical players who had their own conversion experiences and tell of their own spiritual transformation? ^[4]

In order to answer the preceding questions as to the quality of the religious experience of the earliest Mormon women, this project examines a collection of nineteen letters of these women written between 1831 and 1843. Though the limited sample of nineteen letters cannot be considered a statistically verifiable sample, they are nevertheless representative of the letters written by Mormon females during the first decade of the Church collected in various historical repositories around the country. Though the Church in different areas experienced different problems and difficulties in growth, personally the women demonstrate a similarity in experience despite distinct geographical bases.

These letters capture insights into the lives of very distinct women. The letters demonstrate they were not extremists. They were satisfied with their circumstances as were many other women of their times and did not move to radically alter their female experience.¹³ But once they had felt of God’s love and the power of the restored gospel as preached by Mormon missionaries, they rejoiced and felt compelled to share it with others.¹⁴ The letters demonstrate they believed in modern-day revelation, Smith’s ^[5] authority to teach them the direct word of God, and their own ability to receive personal revelation to teach them the “truth of all things.”¹⁵ Their attraction to this authority introduced by Smith compelled them to join the Church of Christ and then to impart their experience to others.¹⁶ They were not slavish followers of their husbands but often led out in the conversion process.

Some American historians have used the perceived absence of information to indicate that the earliest Mormon women were short on number and influence or that LDS leaders were misogynists or any number of incorrect assumptions about Mormons. They suggest that women were generally dragged into Mormonism by their husbands because they would not unite with the Mormons of their own volition. In addition to the gap in women’s historical studies, which characterizes the research of early Mormon women, similar assumptions demand a more comprehensive examination of the existing records.

In 1991 Charles Sellers, a prominent Jacksonian historian, argued that unlike other religious movements of the time, males outnumbered women in Mormonism because of a “widespread female reluctance” to accept the faith.¹⁷ According to Sellers, this in fact, “revers[ed] the usual female preponderance in religious movements.” Sellers’s analysis of Mormonism is not positive nor is it well informed. For him Joseph ^[6] Smith was a “resourceful trickster” who utilized the Church he established for his needs. Sellers employed the example of Lucy Harris to demonstrate that women fought vigorously against Smith and his Church and erroneously averred that women could not be baptized unless related to a male Saint.¹⁸ He asserted, “The writings of the most loyal [Mormon women] convey an undertone of resentment.” His sole cited source for this analysis of Mormon women was an unpublished paper written by Carol McKibben, which incorrectly cited quotes from Elizabeth B. Tanner and Eliza M. Partridge in Our Pioneer Heritage written by Mormon community historian Kate B. Carter.¹⁹ Neither Tanner nor Partridge was included in that ten-volume set, and a cursory reading of other writings of both Tanner and Partridge do not appear to relay a tone of resentment.²⁰ Unlike Seller’s characterization, many Mormon women were the first in their families to join with Smith and endured harassment for their belief. Patty Bartlett Sessions was one such woman. In 1833 she first had contact with the missionaries; she desired to be baptized but waited for her husband to join with her. When he did not, Patty decided to join on her own. For more than a year she was taunted and tormented by family members and neighbors until other family members were baptized.^{21 [7]}

Similarly to Sellers’s analysis, Susan Juster, a historian at the University of Michigan, equated Joseph Smith with the Prophet Matthias, the alias of Robert Matthews, who preached that “woman is the capsheaf of the abomination of desolution—full of all deviltry.”²² Similar to many analyses, referring to the “intense misogyny displayed by many of these ‘Old Testament Patriarchs,’” Juster assumed that because an organization was patriarchal it was also misogynistic.²³ Through their writings Mormon women did not demonstrate that they felt like the object of male derision, nor is it found in Joseph Smith’s writings.²⁴ In contrast, Mormon women largely reveal an understanding of and a willing deference to men and their position in the Church. In addition, the teachings of Mormon leaders demonstrate a reverence toward women. There is not adequate analysis or sufficient evidence to support such negative assumptions. ^[8]

Although the number of males attracted to Mormonism was disproportionate to the number of males in other New England religions, the number of males who claimed Church membership was not disproportionate to the number of females.²⁵ According to Susan Easton Black’s record of early Church membership, 45.8 percent of converts were women and 54.2 percent were men.²⁶ To supplement this data, Bruce Lott utilized Black’s records to create a sample of American-born couples who joined with the Mormons after marriage and before the Saints’ move to Utah.²⁷ Of the ninety-two couples included in his sample, in 27 percent of the cases the wife was the first to accept baptism.²⁸ The husband was baptized first in 37 percent of the cases. In 36 percent of the cases both were baptized on the same day. While this sample shows that there were more male than female members during the period, out of the sixteen women examined in this study, one half came into the Church on their own or with women in their families. Four (25 percent) were led by their sons, husbands, or brothers and another four were baptized the same day as their husbands.²⁹ Although both ^[9] samples are extremely limited, neither sample indicates a preponderance of male Church membership.

The incompleteness of the documentation of these early women is due to several problems. In general, women’s nineteenth-century personal writings flourished; a high percentage of New England women were literate and utilized this expression through diary keeping and letters to family and friends. Though most Mormon women were from New England and New York, their case is unique. Their continual transitory mode made writing more difficult, and they often lacked the time and resources to commit their experiences to paper. As Hepzibah Richards, an 1838 Mormon convert, penned to a family member, “I must be brief for I expect both time and paper will fail me before I have said one half I wish.”³⁰ Pen, ink, and paper were precious. In letter writing every last centimeter of space was utilized. At times this meant writing both horizontally and vertically to maximize writing space. Dependent on both distance and size, postage was costly. Often letters would be scribbled with a moment’s notice to be delivered by a traveling missionary or worked on for weeks while waiting for a carrier to leave.^{31 [10]}

In addition, women’s Church organizations in the first half of the nineteenth century lacked both the tenure and continuity necessary to insure that the significant role women performed was not overlooked. And, it is only in the last decades that historical repositories have made an aggressive effort to acquire the documentation for women’s history. Letters must not only be written but, years later, collected. If the identity of the letter’s recipients is known, tracing them to retrieve the letters is often impossible, though through occasional serendipity correspondence can be retrieved. Letters are easily lost and destroyed, so their existence is particularly valuable.

While the Church History Library and other repositories with LDS collections throughout the country collectively possess hundreds of Mormon female reminiscences, there are remarkably few contemporary female accounts of the first decade of the Church.³² While women’s reminiscences are helpful in recreating life experiences, they often slight the candor and spontaneity encountered in letters. Through extensive research, I have located no more than forty letters written during the first decade of the Church by females; many of which detail little more than family news.³³ All of these letters indicate the immense value of contemporary documentation. And with so few ^[11] resources not influenced by the passage of time, the value of these letters in particular is immeasurable for studying early Mormonism.

Letter writing has been an important mode of communication since the advent of the written word. Correspondence flowered in the eighteenth century bringing what literary scholar Elizabeth Cook entitled an “emblem of the private” into the public sphere.³⁴ While the second half of the seventeenth century brought a “feminization” of letter writing, female letter writing exploded in the nineteenth century.³⁵ With the expansion of transoceanic shipping, which transported mail more quickly, and the creation of a middle class through industrialization, which allowed some women more time to write and the education to do so, the correspondence of women particularly expanded.

Letters are considered “windows into the soul of an author.”³⁶ Though letters do not retrieve the author wholly, they supply an intimate glimpse of the writer. Letters were long maligned because of the obscurity of the author’s identity combined with obtuse intent, but the advent of social history legitimized vernacular literature, which included the letters of the ordinary person.³⁷

As of late, letters have become not only legitimate but a significant historical source. The glimpses afforded the reader through correspondence show a distinctive depth of self-expression. In the early twentieth century letters were often utilized in ^[12] historical research, though heavily edited. The heavy editing often obfuscated any possibility to glimpse authentic self and intent. Historians in the latter part of the twentieth century justified authors speaking for themselves. The role of historians developed into providing a framework and background to understand the author with a light editorial hand.³⁸ Such an atmosphere allows the inherent value of such an intimate source as correspondence to shine and provide significant historical information.

These letters significantly and uniquely add to the body of women’s history as an important examination of contemporary sources to understand the religious experience of early Mormon women. From the eloquence of Lucy Mack Smith to the unpolished though poetic articulation of Melissa Morgan Dodge, besides providing important examples of women’s writings, these women convey insight into their religious experience as the focal point of their lives. They portray their everyday routine, such as requests for nutmeg and bonnet material and span the spectrum of sentiment as they include their most heartfelt emotions. While economics surely had a significant impact on their time, their hope for financial progress did not control their sentiments. As Melissa Dodge made clear, “We take the spoiling of our goods joyfully.”³⁹ Though some spent time making palm leaf hats to economically subsist, the hats did not imbue their lives with meaning.⁴⁰ The women consistently waded through waters of sacrifice to ^[13] reach their goal of salvation. As Hepzibah Richards penned in verse, these women believed that though they might have to pass through hell in this life, they would be richly rewarded in the life to come:

There is a rest in heaven for weary saints,
O, let this thought your spirits ever cheer;
May this fond hope a peaceful calm create,
And ever dry affliction’s parting tear.⁴¹

Rather than being merely followers of someone else’s conviction, through their writings these women demonstrate that they believed on their own—at times initiating their husbands and families to Mormonism.

Despite all being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the women examined in this study are a heterogeneous group. These letters introduce a wide sampling of women at different states and ages in life. Some are well-known members of the Church; others are little more than the “outline of a shadow.”⁴² These women do not illustrate perfection. They were not without complaints nor were they Pollyanna-ish. They experienced supreme hardships and the frustration of momentary loss of faith. But their overriding message remains. They were stalwart in their conviction and were all dedicated to the Latter-day Saint course during ordeals as refugees in exile and many other struggles throughout their lifetimes.⁴³ Despite the separation from loved ones, danger, and difficulties they would face as Church members, religion was the guiding ^[14] factor of their lives. These women testified of the value of their experiences and exhorted others to come to the fold regardless of the trials that were required of them.

Descriptions of the letters are found with the letters in chapter three. The originals of many of the letters still exist, while for others all that remains is a photocopy or a typescript. Most of the originals are in remarkably good condition. Along with a brief individual biographical sketch for each woman is the letter, lightly edited and annotated to enhance comprehension. These letters allow the women to recreate their world in their own words. As religious historian Marilyn Westerkamp explained, “The important question is . . . how women and the surrounding society judged the validity of their experiences and discovered the meanings of providence, visions, and voices that they knew to be the breath of God.”⁴⁴ Though the extant number of letters during this early time period is small, the letters provide an abundant glimpse into the faith of these women and a great aid to demonstrate the focus of their lives and actions. The letters have been minimally punctuated and paragraphed to augment readability while maintaining their spelling and style. Carets < > indicate insertions into the text by the authors themselves. Their strikeouts are shown by strikeouts. Brackets [ ] indicate textual clarifications. Vertical lines | | demonstrate indiscernible words. Not all individuals mentioned in the letters have been identified. Those who can be identified have been noted in footnotes.

The letters presented here augment the recent historical trend to acknowledge the value of women’s voices. They provide a glimpse into the central features of the religious experience of early Mormon women: testimony and belief. The women ^[15] considered here readily demonstrate their faith and conviction. They believed the Book of Mormon and the new revelations given through Joseph Smith to be the word of God. They felt similar to Lehi, a Book of Mormon prophet, who, after tasting the sweetness of God’s love, intensely desired to share it with others. They believed in their autonomous right to receive personal revelation and over and over again testified of their experience and had faith that their human testimony would awaken that same yearning in their friends and family. ^[16]