Microfilm of manuscripts related to Mary E. Lightner, including a journal, miscellaneous writings, and letters. The first item on the reel is a journal kept by Mary while she was traveling by steamer to Omaha and overland to Utah from May to September 1863. The journal opens with Mary boarding the steamer Canada for St. Louis. Mary writes of a soldier who had lost his leg in battle during the Civil War, of a coffin containing another soldier, and of the difficult conditions on board with leaks, livestock, and disreputable passengers. She also writes of Mormons coming on board and that she had "not seen the face of a brother Mormon for 17 years." After landing at Omaha, Mary joined a camp with Mormons from England, Denmark, and Africa. She subsequently records her overland journey to Utah, and the journal ends with her arrival in Minersville. The miscellaneous writings include a speech made by Mary in 1889 (regarding her travels to Utah for her faith and the history of the Church), a short sketch of her marriage to Joseph Smith (1902), a sketch of the organization of the Minersville Relief Society (1914), and typed remarks given by Mary at B.Y.U. regarding Joseph Smith and the persecution of the Mormons (1905). The microfilm also contains 13 letters written to Mary, including one from Presendia L. Kimball (1890), three from Eliza Roxcy Snow (1865-1870, including mention of the Relief Society in Minersville), five from Emmeline B. Wills, the editor of the Woman's Exponent (1880-1889), 3 from Zina D.H. Young (1886-1887), and one from Brigham Young regarding Brother Henry, bishop at Minersville (1867). There is also one letter from Mary to Brother Henry and family (1895). The Mary Lightner manuscripts (frames 1-68) are on the same reel as MSS MFILM 137 and MSS MFILM 138. All inquiries about this item should be directed to the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Microfilm. San Marino, Calif. : Huntington Library Photographic Dept., 1949. 1 microfilm reel : negative 35 mm. Forms part of the Manuscripts Department's Mormon file, c.1805-1995. Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner (1818-1913) was born in Lima, New York. Following her father's death in 1821, Mary's family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, to be near family. It was there that Mary was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and her family soon moved to Jackson County, Missouri. After being expelled from Jackson, Mary moved to Liberty and married Adam Lightner, a non-Mormon supporter of her faith, in 1835. Following the Mormon War in Missouri the Lightners became destitute and ultimately ended up in Iowa. They then moved to Nauvoo and were acquainted with Joseph Smith (Mary was later sealed to him as a plural wife, although she remained married to Lightner). The Lightners spent sixteen years in Minnesota and Wisconsin before finally starting for Utah in 1863. Mary became the first president of the Minersville Relief Society in 1869. Following Adam's death in 1885, Mary lived in destitution, surviving on a small Church payment as a widow of Joseph Smith. She died in Minersville in 1913.
Lightner, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1818-1913 Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844 Relief Society (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Mormon Church--History--19th century Mormon families Mormon pioneers Mormon women Mormons--Persecutions Mormons--West (U.S.)--History Overland journeys to the Pacific Steamboats--Passenger accommodation Omaha (Neb.)--Description and travel Utah--History West (U.S.)--History--1860-1890 1863-1914 1914 Diaries United States 19th century. (aat) Essays Utah 20th century. (aat) Letters (correspondence) Utah 19th century. (aat)
Source
Mormon Manuscripts at the Huntington Library Mormonism and the West, Huntington Digital Library
Provenance
Microfilm of original loaned by Mrs. Fred Watts, December 7, 1948.
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