Item Detail
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Stookey, Jemima Elizabeth Child
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1827-
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MSS SC 1126
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Autobiography
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Jemima Elizabeth Child Stookey was born 31 March 1827 in London, England to John and Eliza (Newport) Child. Her family immigrated to the United States when Jemima was an infant. They lived in Philadelphia for about five years where her father was a shoemaker. Being very poor, Jemima's father decided to move his family to Belleville, Illinois, in hopes of increasing his income; the family farmed and her father did shoemaking on the side. In 1843 Jemima's mother, Eliza, died which devastated the family both mentally and financially. Jemima became the housekeeper and mother to the other children. In her early twenties, Jemima became acquainted with Enos Stookey, son of a wealthy family, and they soon became engaged. While Enos and Jemima were engaged, Jemima was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Orson Pratt. She traveled to a relatives' house and secretly got baptized into the Church while there. Her family and fiance were both displeased when she joined the Church, but her family later accepted the gospel and Enos became more accepting of it as well. Jemima and Enos married on 25 March 1852. They had some disagreements with his family and so they decided to go west and settle in Utah, even though Enos was not a member of the LDS Church. Jemima's family had immigrated with the Saints to Utah shortly before this. Enos and Jemima arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the winter of 1855. They had two children who trekked west with them and had one more child in Utah who died in infancy. Jemima and Enos lived in Rush Valley, Utah, then they moved to Clover Creek, Utah, where they lived comfortably the remainder of their lives.
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Jemima 's autobiography was published by her descendants, Paul and Gwenevere Stookey, who also wrote a small introduction to it. The autobiography is twenty-six pages long and the writing style is generally clear and concise. She discusses her youth including the hardships of growing up very poor and also having disagreements with her father. Jemima discusses the difficulty of her mother's death and then her father's marriage to another woman and subsequent divorce. She goes on to describe her life giving details at certain points in her life that seemed more significant. Jemima elaborates on the difficulties she faced when she joined the LDS Church, especially with her family and fianc. After she married Enos, who was from a wealthy family, she was more comfortable throughout her life. She writes of the trek with the Saints to Utah and tribulations they encountered there such as Indian scares, the grasshopper plagues, and Pres. Buchanan's military order to clear Utah of the Mormons. However she and Enos were much better off than other pioneers because they had more money; she said they never went without bread and milk when many other pioneers were struggling. She does not detail much of her later life, but does mention their various moves in Utah. Jemima wrote this autobiography in 1891 from Logan, Utah, and then adds a page more in 1911 to explain some items she had included earlier. Jemima never discusses if her husband joined the Church, but they continued to live with the Latter-day Saints in Utah and must have gotten along peaceably. Jemima maintained strong values and beliefs which her writing reflects. She is a good source for understanding the deep religious convictions of many early converts. Trials, Faith.
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