Item Detail
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Smith, Martha Eliza Bennett
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1850-1924
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MSS SC 324
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Autobiography
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Martha Eliza Bennett Smith was born 24 January 1850 in Karresville, Pottawattamie County, Iowa to Hiram Bell and Martha Smith Bennett a direct descendent of Pocahontas. Her family were school teachers and Martha was well educated and had a great love of learning. Marthas family moved to Utah around the year 1847 where they struggled with Indian relations for many years while living in the Fillmore fort. On 19 July 1865 Martha married Silas S. Smith and moved to Paragonah. Martha become the caregiver for Silas eight motherless children and for large stretches of time raised them on her own while her husband served in the Black Hawk War. In 1882 the family moved to Colorado were they had to rebuild their lives from the beginning again. During this time Martha served as the stake Relief Society president in the San Luis Stake for seven years, raised her own twelve children and the eight from Silas previous marriages. In 1900 they moved to Layton Utah, and then in 1910 following the death of her husband Martha moved to Roosevelt Utah to be close to family. Martha passed away on 6 May 1924 leaving behind her testimony of love and faith to all who knew her.
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This manuscript is 53 typewritten pages long. The first 31 pages are a general family history followed by two, one-page long, biographies of Silas Sandford Smiths previous wives and then this two-page autobiography of Martha with an additional paragraph added by one of her children. This autobiography briefly describes important events in her life including birth, places she lived and marriage. She closes her history with her testimony of her faith, imploring her children to follow the precepts she taught them. Her autobiography is then followed by other biographies of Smith family members and ends with an index of names mentioned in the Manuscript.
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1850-1924