Item Detail
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Taylor, Louisa R.
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MSS SC 23
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Records of the Female Relief Society
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This manuscript is under Louisa Taylor's name because she was the Relief Society Secretary and recorded most of the minutes.
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A short record book of the meetings of the Female Relief Society, with the first entry on January 24, 1854. The first meeting of the Society was held on February 9, 1854 in the home of one of the members in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. The book records the date of each meeting, whose home it was held at, those present, and who gave the opening and closing prayers. Meetings were held weekly, with an entry for each date. Almost every entry is made by Secretary Louisa R. Taylor, though a few are made by Secretary Amanda Smith. About ten members were accounted for at each meeting, with more members joining later on in the entries. The presidency of the society is named, Matilda Dudley acting as president and treasurer, but most of the other names are too difficult to read. These records are bound in a small paper- bound notebook in good condition. The entries are hand-written and somewhat difficult to decipher as they are faded and in cursive writing. The first entry tells of the four 'resolutions' of the society: 1- That each member should pay 25 cents for membership. 2- That each meeting should open and close with prayer. 3- That meetings will be held at certain times in members' homes. 4- That the members will raise money by making rag carpets to sell. The donations of the members and others are listed, as well as how the group will use funds to make clothing for Indian women and children. In the last entry, June 13, 1854, Secretary Louisa Taylor tells of how Brother Brigham Young had counseled every ward to have their own Relief Society, and so this first group which covered a multi-ward area was disbanded.
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1919-1921