The first and probably most well known of all of the Relief Society presidents was the wife of the Prophet, Emma Smith. Over the years, Emma has probably received more than her fair share of criticism for her decision not to journey west with the Saints following the martyrdom of her husband. However, I would speculate that few women have had to endure the trials that this “elect lady” bore in her lifetime, most of which began when she married her beloved Joseph.
Born near Harmony, Pennsylvania on July 10, 1804, Emma Smith was the seventh of nine children. She met Joseph Smith when he came boarded at her father’s inn. Her father, Isaac Hale, considered him disreputable, as he was helping Josiah Stowell search for treasure. Although no gold was discovered, Joseph found treasure in his developing relationship with Emma, and returned to the area several times to court her. Still her father disapproved. Emma showed herself to be firmly aligned with Joseph when they eloped and were married in New York in 1827. The couple moved in with Joseph’s parents. Said Emma’s mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith, “we were pleased with his choice, and not only consented to his marrying her, but requested him to bring her home with him, and live with us.” – Smith, Biographical Sketches, 93.
At the time that Martin Harris lost the first pages of the Book of Mormon, Emma and Joseph lost their first child. Emma herself lingered near death. She went on to lose three more children before she gave birth to their first son, Joseph Smith III, in November 1832. When Joseph was martyred in Carthage, Emma had four children at home and another on the way (the last was born four months after the death of his father). Of twelve children born and adopted, six had died at birth or shortly thereafter. As a mother, these losses alone tear apart my soul.
Emma endured trials from the very day she was baptized. A dam had been built to create a pool for her and others to receive the sacred ordinance; it was demolished by critics. After it had been rebuilt, and several had been baptized, a crowd came to mock and ridicule.
But mockery and ridicule were perhaps the easiest of trials Emma had to endure. Time and time again, she found herself torn away from her husband. Mobs, unjust lawsuits, and missionary work took him from her arms. She relied frequently upon the goodness of family and other Saints to provide a home for her, and in fact never knew a home of her own until coming to Nauvoo. While Joseph languished in jail, she sought to find ways to support her growing family. Many claiming to be Saints took advantage of her kindness and gentle nature. If you thought that a bishop or stake president’s wife need appear as a model of virtue, imagine how the young and struggling wife of the prophet received criticism in the early days of the church.
Emma was the first Relief Society president, ordained on March 17, 1842. She set the model for compassionate service and charity that the sisters quickly followed. She encouraged and inspired the sisters of Nauvoo to do good works.
One can only imagine the grief Emma suffered when an angry mob killed her husband on June 27, 1844. The Saints began to leave Nauvoo a year and a half later. Emma was supporting not only five children, from fourteen years to fifteen months, but her aged mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith, who could not make the journey.
Emma lived nearly 35 years after losing her husband, Joseph. She remarried in December of 1847 and remained in Nauvoo. A few months before her death, she bore her testimony of the divine inspiration of the Book of Mormon and of Mormonism. According to her son, Alexander, at the time of her death, she began to sink away, then rose up and called out Joseph’s name before falling back into her son’s arm and expiring.
Despite her trials and tribulations, despite the fact that she did not journey west with the body of the Saints, Emma maintained a testimony of the work she had supported Joseph through. Her faith and her strength surely make her an “elect lady” in all senses of the words. (D&C 25)
Said by her:
First president, Emma Smith, told the women, “We are going to do something extraordinary—when a boat is struck on the rapids, with a multitude … on board, we shall consider that a loud call for relief—we expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls.” (Minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, 17 Mar. 1842.)
Said of her:
“I have never seen a woman in my life, who would endure every species of fatigue and hardship, from month to month, and from year to year, with that unflinching courage, zeal, and patience, which she has ever done; for I know that which she has had to endure—she has been tossed upon the ocean of uncertainty—she has breasted the storms of persecution, and buffeted the rage of men and devils, which would have borne down almost any other woman.” – Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1958), pp. 190–91.
Related Articles:
Relief Society Presidents: An Introduction
LDS Vacations–Nauvoo, Illinois