Eliza R. Snow
From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)
Eliza Roxcy Snow Smith (January 21, 1804 – December 5, 1887) was an American poet, lyricist, and author. She was a prominent and influential early Latter-day Saint leader, and a plural wife of both Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young.
Born in Becket, Massachusetts on January 21, 1804, a daughter of Oliver and Rosetta Snow. The family left New England to settle on a new and fertile farm in the Ohio valley, in Mantua. Despite the labor required on the farm, the Snow family valued learning and saw that each child had educational opportunities. Snow had gained renown for her poetry in her twenties, published in local magazines and newspapers and winning awards for her work.
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Early church involvement
In 1828, Snow joined Alexander Campbell’s Christian restorationist movement. However, when Joseph Smith, Jr., the Latter Day Saint leader, took up residence in Hiram, Ohio four miles from the Snow farm, the Snow family took a strong interest in the new religious movement. In 1835, Eliza was baptized a Mormon and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Upon her arrival, Eliza donated a large sum of money toward the building of the Kirtland Temple. In appreciation, the building committee provided her with title to “a very valuable [lot]-situated near the Temple, with a fruit tree-an excellent spring of water, and house that accommodated two families.”
Snow moved west with the body of the church, first to Far West, Missouri and then to Nauvoo, Illinois. In Nauvoo, Snow made her living as a school teacher and was influential in interesting her younger brother Lorenzo Snow and other family members in the young church. Lorenzo later became fifth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She married Joseph Smith, Jr., on June 29, 1842, as a plural wife. Eliza fondly wrote of Joseph, “my beloved husband, the choice of my heart and the crown of my life” (Derr, p. 87).
After Smith's assassination, Snow traveled west across the plains and settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. In October 1844, she married Brigham Young as a plural wife, "for time only", mostly as a matter of convenience. Snow's primary home for the rest of her life was an upper bedroom in Young's Salt Lake Residence, the "Lion House".
Relief Society service
Snow served as the first secretary of the women's Relief Society in 1842, under the presidency of Emma Smith. In 1866, when the society was reconstituted afer a 22 year lapse, Snow was appointed president of the Relief Society. Snow was assigned to assist local bishops in organizing permanent branches of the Relief Society in 1868. Using the minutes recorded in the early Nauvoo meetings, Snow created a Relief Society "Constitution", intending to unite the units in name, purpose, and organization. She and nine other sisters began visiting wards and settlements, and at the end of the year, Relief Societies existed in all twenty Salt Lake City wards, in nearly every county in Utah, and other nearby communities.
Snow’s presidency emphasized spirituality and self-sufficiency. The Relief Society sent women to medical school, trained nurses, opened the Deseret Hospital, operated cooperative stores, promoted silk manufacture, saved wheat, and built granaries. In 1872 Snow provided assistance and advice to Louisa L. Greene in the creation of a woman's publication loosely affiliated with the Relief Society - the Woman's Exponent. Snow's responsibilities also extended to young women and children within the Church. She was the primary organizer for the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association (1869) and the Primary Association (1884).
Snow served as president of the Society until her death in 1887. By 1888, the Relief Society had more than 22,000 members in 400 local wards and branches.
Poetry
A number of Snow's poems have been put to music and have become important Mormon hymns. One of her hymns, "Great is the Lord", was published in the first Latter-day Saint Hymnbook in 1835, the year of her baptism. Some of her most well-known poems are as follows:
- "How Great the Wisdom and the Love" (text)
- "Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother" (text)
- "Be Not Discouraged" (text)
- "My First View of a Western Prairie" (text)
- "Mental Gas" (text)
One of her best-known and personal favorite poems, "Invocation, or the Eternal Father and Mother", was published in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons at a time when she was heartbroken soon after the death of her first husband Joseph Smith. (Eliza R. Snow, "My Father in Heaven", Times and Seasons 6 (15 Nov. 1845) (see Derr, below). This poem, which has become the popular Mormon hymn "O My Father", is credited as helping popularize and establish the Mormon concept of a goddess, or Heavenly Mother.
Publications
- Snow, Eliza R. " Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Salt Lake City, Deseret News, 1884.
- --Reprinted 1999, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City.
External link
References
- Allen, James B. and Leonard, Glen M. The Story of the Latter-day Saints. Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1976. ISBN 0-87747-594-6.
- Beecher, Maureen Ursenbach, editor. "The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow." Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press, 1995.
- Derr, Jill Mulvay. "The Significance of 'O My Father' in the Personal Journey of Eliza R. Snow", BYU Studies 36, no. 1 (1996-97).
- Palmer, Spencer J., Editor. "Eliza R. Snow's 'Sketch of my Life': Reminiscences of One of Joseph Smith's Plural Wives." "BYU Studies" 12 (Autumn 1971).
- Peterson, Janet & Gaunt, LaRene Elect Ladies: Presidents of the Relief Society Deseret Book Co. 1990 ISBN 0-87579-416-5
--Angel 07:48, 23 May 2006 (CDT)
Categories: Latter Day Saint leaders | Mormon pioneers | American poets | American lyricists | 1804 births | 1887 deaths
