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Show A 1Al ft A K T'C wr if v J-''-- ' ' r w , .ir " at w-- m mm tmmw '" "'e"""s :7''C '"'" Vol. 3 7 I. .S. . An Old Woiun of the Taet. I'ereonal 'Inr- Knnneline Ii. Welle Letter ...... ..;.Enuua Smith Johanna Epgertgen Teetirnony 'Pflegate from Utah at the Woman's CongreeP A . lU-autif- Ir. .Koumania'IL Penrose - Spciety lteunion Kt'lit'f Society Reports: (trbltuary . A...: ........ A m 'MAfflii.ter 7o?JT7 mm - mm . Bear Lake liighy ; Relief Society Nurse Class In Memoriam of Bishop William B. Kditoria): ; ' " " Preston Editorial Notes .."..;;;.;. 12 -- silver-threade- slow-time- d r ' fore-ordain- mm i TT v H,,t,l Ktim. No. 2. She was a woman" who believed in", the that at charity teaches.people, able all, to help themselves, and she would 'and did. furnish employment and food, - raiment and shelter for niuny homeless and friend.-lee- s ones, when other women perchance gitr uated as she was would have, asked for, and would have needed assistance. This alone gives a key to her. selfhelpfulness arid capability she possessed' of handling the energies and means, activities"of others; and when a woman can handle people and means so wisely, "and without capital, except such as accumulates through her own perseverance and enterprise, is it not positive proof of genuine business ability and of an excellent knowledge of controlling forces in life with uncommon skill and diplomacy? Sister Smith was not a woman who made a noise about what she had done, or was doing, but was very quiet and and in fact reticent, she did not ask favors, but was more ready to bestow them, than to receive. She was very exemplary in her tithing and donations, and in fact in all Church obligations. Her example is this respect is a very striking illustration of woman's independ ence and capability to stand alone, and maintain her position, as the" head of a household, when circumstances required it; and ia this respect she succeeded admirably with the help of the Lord- on whom she relied at all times and in all places. The one circumstance of her journey across the plains, which she undertook in face of almost superhuman obstacles is illustrative of the masterful character of this wonderful woman, and deserves to be engraved conspicuously where our dainty voting women of today could read it when they complain of daily tasks. In 1848, Sister Mary Fielding Smith determined to come with the Saints who ?vere ' leaving Winter Quarters on the Missouri river for the valley of the Great Salt Lake; after 'she had strained every nerve as it were to procure teams and means to go forward "with the company, and with such an experience, in dealing with cattle, steers, cows and calves as few women know anything of, her principal help being very young boys, Joseph F. now President of the Church was then not quite ten years old, his elder brother John now Patriarch of the Church not sixteen, Sister Mary Smith finally reached the Elk Horn river,' where the companies .were being organized for the plains, andie-porte- d to Heber C. Kimball as having started for the valley. He assigned" her to a Captain of 'Fifty who questioned her as to her , outfit, and learning just what nlimberof teams, cattle and so on, she .had, 'the Captain said, addressing her, Tt is folly for you to start in this manner; you never can make the journey, and if you try it ypu will be a burden upon the company the whole way. My advice to you is, to go back to Winter Quarters and wait until you can get help." Sister Mary Smith replied, complacency "Father I will beat, you to the valley, and will ask no .help from you to-wor- the-superi- and-directin- dis-cret- tered. The Spartan mothers so lauded in history could not have been more heroic 12 .The Century 9 than this mother in Israel, whose name Poetry.: Old 'Mothers with all propriety be emblazoned Love's Throne . ....Lydia D. Alder 11 might Julia Ward Howe...... Woman's Journal 11 in letters' of 'gold on the Smith scroll of fame. Under all circumstances in which she was placed however trying, she was equal to the OLD MOTHERS occasion and triumphed; she scarcely needed I love old mothers mothers with white hair, counsel for she was "ever instructed from ther And kindly eyes, and lips grown softly sweet One above, and yet she was obedient to With murmured blessings over sleeping fyabes. r proper authority. There js a something in their quiet grace Not only was she of a religious nature by That Fpeaks the calm of Sabbath afternoons; inheritance, but also by early home training, A knowledge in their deep, unfaltering eyes and discipline. It is well known that in That far outstretches all philosophy. that day young girls did not have the educaTime with caressing touch about them weaves tional advantages that are now accorded d Tfye fairy shawl of age. them, but the Fieldings were people of the While all the echoes of fcrgotten songs educational claBs, and the best opportunities Seem joined to lend a sweetness to their of advancement for girls were given them; and great pains was taken with young girls speech. Old mothers as they pass with step, at that period to acquire ease and grace of Their trembling hands cling gently to youths manner, and, proper deportment and politestrength;- ness, at all times. The cultivation of moral Siveet mothers, as they pass one sees again development and preparation for home life Old garden walks, old roses and old lanes. was a part' of every young girl's training,that The Century. she might be a model wife, and even if she remained a spinster know how to manage a household. In this respect most of the women of that PAST. OF THE WOMEN L. D. S. day and age excelled those of a later time, when more attention was given to the school PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS. and to music, especially the piano, and less BY EMMELINE B. WELLS. to the preparation for the home and family. The Gospel as we all know does inspire In continuing the personal impressions of women of renown in this dispensation pf an its devout followers, to bear all life's burenearly 71 ate in Kirtland Ohiorone -- cannot dens with greater humility, and power of durance, than any moral teaching however choose those more deserving of a conspicuous place on the roll of honor than the excellent; yet in the case of Mary Fielding she had this foundation to build upon, and "Fielding Sisters," Marjr and Mercy sometimes alluded to as the "Mary and Martha" who shall say that she was not better. prepared for the many vicissitudes of her late of this dispensation. the cultivation of those . Mary Smith and Mercy Thompson have years for having homely virtues' in her early career, so thorbeen spoken of in history as apostolic womoughly grounded as to be a part of her very so to speak, to become famen, ous in the annals of the Church with which selt. Be that as it may, all of us who have lived many long years, and have made good they were identified when young girls. touse af our opportunities of studying human Very few among the young' women of must acknowledge, that the founda day, who reverence President Joseph F. nature dominant and tion of a really Smith, know of his mother's; origin and relife. markable life. ' It is surprising considering masterful character is laid in early when I first how much good material for life incidents . Looking back upon the time I there is in her career, that more has not been heard of and met Sister Mary Smith, her the remarks of sisters, who knew, written concerning her; especially in this day women near her own when one hears so much of the mothers of much more intimately; age, while I was very young, and "the, impresgreat men of the world, past and present. them were those that Sister Mary Fielding Smith had passed sions I received from obtained with me when I met her again, and through many trying ordeals, in fact had in the valley, in the home been tried as gold in the furnace of fire seven more often here either.'' Kimball. times purified, before I had ever met: her, of Sister Vilate . mm letter the Home, ,h, and one could almost see sorrow stamped l.upon her countenance.- - Although outwardly she was cheerful and always strenuously oc'. . 11 cupied with absorbing work, 11 Strength" of character was written in every lineament of her face, and she had a com-- i 14 manding figure; a sort of martial bearing, the carriage of a woman who could lead .an 14 , 15 army to battle. Of all the sisters whose' severe trials and lr 1G hardships have been almost beyond human endurance, it seems to me Sister, Mary Pi Smith'? have been greatest. And yet her 12 faith never wavered, her courage never falI ;.. Ki-lie-f I. W. S; ' mm j .preFsions lllesfing Penned Long Ago V m SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, AUGUST, ..1008. CONTENTS. ). m 17 ed well-balanc- ed re-ca- ll self-ppssesse- d, - . . 4 . ' with-appar- ent - -i-'ryf--- -: ly |