Item Detail
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Coombs, Elizabeth Walker Rudd
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1833-1911
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MSS 8
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Biography
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Elizabeth Walker Rudd Coombs was born March 23, 1833 in Hemsley, Yorkshire, England in a family of fourteen. Her father died when she was young, and her mother struggled to support the family. At nine years of age, Elizabeth tended other children and ran errands to earn money. She received only two hours of schooling a day, and at age twelve, began work at a clothing factory. Originally Baptist, she later converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. March 23, 1857, she left her home and family. She sailed from Liverpool five days later under the direction of James T. Park with 817 other saints. She crossed the plains with the Israel Evans Handcart Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 12, 1857. There, it was difficult for Elizabeth to obtain work, and she finally accepted an offer of marriage as the second polygamous wife to Erastus Rudd of Farmington. They had two sons when it was decided that there was not enough money for him to support her. She went to the railroad station to wash clothes for food, and she gathered wheat and wild fruit with which to feed herself and two sons. Erastus died May 1862, and Elizabeth later met and married Frederick Coombs in 1864. Together, they had six children. Elizabeth was active in her ward choir for 45 years, as well as president of the YLMIA. She died January 1, 1911 at age 77.
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This four-page typescript biography from the Margaret Steed Hess collection was written by Mary Agnes Coombs Spackman and Myrtle Spackman Criddle. It roughly covers Elizabeth Coombs's life, with few personal details. When crossing the plains, the young people were cheerful and sang frequently. The manuscript describes Elizabeth making her own wedding dress before marrying Frederick, and it goes through the process of gathering the wool from sheep, spinning it, and weaving it into cloth. Elizabeth apparently helped aid in the formation of Old Folks' committees. She was also a good homemaker, and fond of quilting and rag bees. She served as the president of the YLMIA and also was a member of her ward choir. She made soap and baking powder from scratch, and she loved flowers.
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1842-1903