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Show WOMAN'S EXPONENT. 10 j "".:77;1"'7'y', ; she "Sent back andBUCceedea' m getting. by buying and hiring.on creuit,seve- ral yoke ..of oxen from brethren who were not able to emigrate that year, and when the companies were, ready to start she and her family were: better prepared for the journey." The writer knows, all the difiicultiei en countered of this tedious journey across the ' plains- - that year, when women were taken care of, and protected by men; and also by observation and acquaintance with women, who traveled depending upon their j) wn exertions and wa tch fulness of every detail, how strenuous ihercircum-stance- s .were through which these pioneer women had to pass, and how brave and. unflinching scores of them were in themidst of such scents as they must of necessity now .'Ater-thie- : . . ; .... '. , was her. dejignt to : talk of the Prophet Josepn ana niq oromer iiyrum anutne wonderful manifestations of their power-anauthorityrthat were quite familiar to her from association with Jthe.gifced Prophets, Tto save "lire puliation, the teams . were un hitched and wheels blocked; the tearasterB run to shelter, and the storm drove the cattle in every direction; after it Wis over it was a .day's work to find "the cattle and get them Meantime-Johhad come with together. we're - hi tched upr the stray cattle, the teams and Sister Mary Smith and her.family, with teams and wagons climbed the mountain, passed the company, rand came on, arriving of the in the valley twenty hours-aheathus was her prophecy fulfilled." This little narrative needs no comment it speak? for itself. Reminiscences of pioneer women of the Church would fill volumes. K is not only men who paved the. way to make Utah and the surrounding localities what it is,, but women have borne their share of the burdens arid hardships. We would not like But to continue the relation of Sister Mary .to' carry the impression that because Sister Smith's victory; without enumerating the Mary Smith was. "heroic arid manydisasters by the way, when cattle were and "business like in methods and achievelost and Indians and buffalo and other wild ment, that she was in the least degree mas creatures came down upon us 'like the wolf culine, such was not the case, she was "on the fold," "one day driving slowly through womanly to the heart's core, she loved her the sand and dust near the Sweetwater the husband with intense devotion, she suffered hot sun pouring down upon the poor ani- almost more than martyrdom in her feelings, mals hauling heavy loads, "one of Sister but she .rose to the occasion in every trial, MaryjSmith's besioxen laid down in the. and her prophetic nature ho doubt helped yokeTolIedveronhis side and stiffened her stand the test of adversity and to prosper out his legs spasmodically, evidently in the where many weaker ones signally failed. throes of death." These are but a small part of the personal All the teams behind were, stopped of impressions made upon me of this. sainted Her name must be handed do.wn course, and people came forward to know woman. "The Captain on in history, as one of the bravest heroines of what was the matter. ahead came back to know what was wrong. that period of the exodus from Nauvoo, and No one supposed the ox would recover, and the subsequent pioneer journey-tthe Great the Captain's first words were, "He is dead Salt Lake Valley. A' woman of mark. and there is'no use working with him; we'll (iave distinction, not only, in rare instances where to fix up some way to take the widow, along; great victories are to be wrought-out- , but in I told her she would be a burden .upon the the days' of the severest persecutions and company." mobbings of Ohi6 and Missouri. Through Meanwhile Sister Mary Smith wTas looking all these she came forth unscathed, a- con for a bottle of consecrated oil she had in one queror to succeed! a mother to the motherof the wagons, and just then came with it, less as well as her own! she kept, the home and asked her brother Joseph fielding and pure and bright and with her marvelous skill the other brethren to administer to the ox, and frugal management, plenty for her owh thinking thst the Lord would raise him up." and to spare for those in need of true chari'They did so pouring a portion of oil on, the ty. Sister Mary Smith lived a magnificent top of his. head, between and back of the and glorious life, there was much of shadow horns, and all laid hands upon him, admin- more than of sunshine in it, and many times istering the ordinance as they would have storms, tempests, and sometimes tragedies. done to a human being that was sick. In a Such lives are the grandest triumphs when moment he gathered up his legs, and arose all is over and even "Death is swallowed up to his feet,, and traveled right off as well as in victory." He was not even unyoked from his ever. It is not possible to write of such women without strong emotion, and a vivid apprecimate." September 22nd the company crossed over ation of the overwhelming conflicts of human "Big Mountain" near the.valley; the western nature, with the higher soulfulness that sufside of it was very steep and they had to fered and conquered. rough-locthe hind wheels, and the forward Our vision of the infinite; afar, cattle were turned loose and only the wheelIs quickened and we draw so near ers retained on the wagons; being anxious We almost see the gates of life ajar, ' to shorten the journey now: they were so - And angel voices s hoqting "praises hear; And we interpret in .our own poor way near, they drove on until late into the night, Some of the doubts and mysteries we've seen and camped near the foot of "Little ''Moun. But in the light of an eternal day tain."-' : During the night several of Sister Then we shall know why all these things have ' ". been. Mary .Smith's cow that had been turned loose were lost in the brush. The next morning John Smith went back to hunt for them. Mary Fielding Smith, born July 21, 1801, The Captain gave orders for starting earlier at Honidon, Bedfordshire, England, died in than usual, ' although he knew Sister Mary Salt Lake Cilty, Utah, September 21, 1852. Smith would be obliged to wait, till John :FieldlingThrmipson ' ercyJiae 1 1. v l auu ouo nas jiciii uiune, mm uer younger sister of Sister Mary Fielding Smith, ncui was long in returning and she was much' better known among the John Jamily. people could see the company ahead toiling far up here than her older sister, having lived in the mountain. At this time it seemed as this city fifty years and more after .the denth though her prediction would ingloriously of her sister Mary., fail. But as the company neared the sumSister Thompson was a woman of exceedmit of the mountain a cloud burst, and the ing great faith , one who loved to converse rain poured down in torrents, causing utter upon .spiritual subjects, was familiar with confusion. The cattle refused to pull, and the Bible and with all church' works. It . d . Seers and Revelators. ...... been 'had Sister Thompson connected from its Relief with the Society inception of woman and her and her estimate strength of mind'and active energies was of the very highest; and too, from believing that the Prophet Joseph Smith had conferred upon the sisterhood great blessings, that were to time to time, and that be unfoldmg-frowere in the process of development of great intellectual and spiritual progress. Sister Mercy Thompson, the. younger sister of Sister 'Mary Fielding Smith, of the famous; English Fielding Family, was in many respects very unlike her senior sis- ter, although she possessed some of the 6ame traits of character. Sister Thompson lived many years in this city and was very widely known, by her remarkable work among the sick and afflicted, which endeared her to many hearts, and like some other benevolent women of her time she was endowed as it were with the gift of healing, she went much among the Saints, and poor and lowly of the Latter-da- y in many homes, she was like a ministering angel; and in those early times in the valley, when all were comparatively ehort of provisions and meanp, she always seemed to have wherewith to help others. Sister Mercy Thompson was indeed a woman of mark. In studying her character one finds much that was unusual in her development. Certainly she had like her il: lustrious sister Mary the best education given to young women of that timeand the same sort of home training and discipline, but the writer believes that the training of a large family of children, such as Mary Smith had to rear, and being in the midst of such circumstances as the work necessitates, brings out and strengthens more powers of tbe soul and consciousness, than the quiet life of a. small household. At any rate its tendency is to round out one's character, in many diiections. Sister Thompson was of a distinctively religious nature, one who would make .air. most any sacrifice to assist in building temples and other charitable and philanthropic enterprises of a like nature. She was a woman who had made the most of her opportunities, she "had married vnnncrpr in lifp tnan nor aiafpr ATorw and hpr husband-waa man of literary attainments, and not having a large family to rear like v i V, 3 . ,1 1 i. iiei ciuer Biawjr, ane iiau more lime at nei cultivate her mind'and spiritual disposal-to We know moreover she was naturenergies. industrious and enterprisally ing, and possessed the quality of thrift and a sort of assertive independence: Our sisters familiar with the Relief Society work can remember how zealous Sister Thompson was in this field of labor, and ' -- able-bodie- d ap-tain.."A- nd d self-sustainin- g, . -- - -- - - , s k 1 r- 1 1 ZlL . ; -- -- 1 -- self-relian- t, . 1 ' m o : ' -- the untiring ministrations of charity that ex-- , tended in a" wider field than her own particular locality in the 16thward-and-it- sshTwas more, if I may. say so, vicinityrbut .' i r .' i i more oi a zealous of temple wont, devotee and sought by all the means in her power to promote it by giving liberally of her means and in various other ways. borne people wait for opportunities to come, but Sister Thompson sought for ways and means to carry out her desires concern ing work for the dead, and with this .end in view in the summer of 1871, she visited ' -- . . |