Journal: Women of history sought temple blessings from Wilford Woodruff
Jane Austen
Charlotte Bronte
Martha Washington
Abigail Adams
Marie Antoinette
Women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may never read Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” or Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s, Sonnet 43: “How Do I Love Thee,” or Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” the same way ever again.
These women, and as many as 67 other eminent women in history, appeared to then-temple president Wilford Woodruff in 1877 in the St. George Temple seeking their temple blessings, according to Woodruff’s journal.
Most members of the LDS Church are familiar with the account of Woodruff being visited by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, along with other founding fathers and notable men in history such as Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci, asking that their temple ordinances be completed.
What may be less known is that historically prominent women also appeared at the same time.
These were women who all made their own contributions to history and to their families. Some were queens, some were authors, some poets, some patriots, some wives of highly regarded authors, some wives of the founding fathers.
Women like Marie Antoinette, Abigail Adams, Charlotte Bronte, Martha Washington, and many wives, mothers and daughters of the men who appeared in the temple in 1877.
In his journals President Woodruff recorded the following:
“Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.
“I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McCallister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others.
“When Brother McAllister had baptized me for the 100 names I baptized him for 21, including General Washington and his forefathers and all the Presidents of the United States — except three.
“Sister Lucy Bigelow Young went forth into the font and was baptized for Martha Washington and her family and 70 of the ’eminent women’ of the world.”
The pioneer women who were proxies for the temple work have just as intriguing stories and strong connections to those women they represented.
Lucy Bigelow Young, a polygamous wife of Brigham Young and mother of three girls, was directed in 1870 by President Young to moved her family to St. George. She was described as a women of fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes, medium height and a stout body.
She was assigned to be a temple worker and had her own personal experience with the visitation of Martha Washington. In her later years Lucy Young traveled throughout the world, served a mission to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and eventually settled in Salt Lake City.
Susanna Keate, the polygamous wife of James Keate, was 64 years old when she helped do the temple work for Ann Fairfax Washington Lee, the wife of George Washington’s beloved half-brother.
Susanna taught school in St. George, but had been a friend of Woodruff’s since meeting him years earlier in London.
Anna Charlotte Eldridge Hinkle Chidester was a St. George Temple worker and did the endowment for Charlotte Corday and others. Known by Annie, she was married to William Hinkle and they had at least four children. They eventually separated and she never saw any of the children again. She eventually became the polygamous wife of John Chidester.
After John’s death in 1892, and at some point before 1900, it is reported that Annie ended up in the Utah Insane Asylum with dementia. She died in 1902 and is buried in the Provo City Cemetery.
The stories of those spirits of women who appeared to Woodruff seeking temple blessings, and the pioneer women who stood in proxy for them, are as intriguing as any novel or history book one could read.
1. Lady Sidney Morgan, Irish novelist
2. Mary Fairfax Summerville, Scottish mathematician
3. Letitia Elizabeth Landon, English poet
4. Emily Chubbuch Judson, New York author
5. Sarah Margaret Fuller, Massachusetts social reformer
6. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet
7. Francis Locke (Osgood), Massachusetts poet
8. Hannah Moore, English religious author
9. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France
10. Empress Marie Theresa, mother of Marie Antoinette
11. Frances Burney, English novelist
12. Mary Ball, mother of George Washington
13. Martha Dandridge, wife of George Washington
14. Charlotte Corday Normandy, French patriot
15. Mrs. John Washington
16. Mrs. Henry Washington
17. Mrs. Lawrence Washington
18. Jane Butler, wife of Augustine Washington
19. Mildred Warner, mother of Augustine Washington
20. Charlotte Margaret Carpenter, wife of Sir Walter Scott
21. Mary Ann Eden, wife of Henry Lord Brougham
22. Miss Wilbanke, wife of Lord Byron
23. Mary Hutchinson, wife of William Wordsworth
24. Lady Catherine Pakenham, wife of Duke of Wellington
25. Elizabeth Dykes, wife of Thomas Moore
26. Rachel Donelson, wife of Andrew Jackson
27. Mary O’Connell, wife of Daniel O’Connell
28. Miss Melbourne, wife of Lord Palmerston
29. Princess Charlotte of Wales
30. Abigail Eastman, Revolutionary War patriot
31. Grace Fletcher, wife of Daniel Webster
32. Sarah Barnard, wife of Michael Faraday.
33. Miss Shaw, wife of Thackary
34. Martha Caldwell, wife of Patrick Calhoun
35. Miss Judkin, wife of “Stonewall” Jackson
36. Elijah Gibbs
37. Catherine Maria Sedgwick, American novelist
38. Mary Russell Milford, English novelist and playwright
39. Ann Fairfax, wife of Lawrence Washington
40. Mary Philipse, Revolutionary War heroine
41. Martha Park Curtis, daughter of Martha Washington
42. Eleanor Calvert, wife of John Parke Custis
43. Maria Fackrell
44. Euphrosyne Parepa, Scottish opera singer
45. Countess Demetrius Parepa, mother of Euphrosyne
46. Sarah Ford, mother of Samuel Johnson
47. Abigail Smith, wife of John Adams
48. Maria Edgeworth, English novelist
49. Sarah van Bough Livingston, wife of John Jay
50. Jane Austen, English novelist
51. Sarah Kemble Siddon, Wales actress
52. Dorothy (Dolly) Payne, wife of James Madison
53. Elizabeth Gurney, English social reformer
54. Felecia Dorothea Browne, English poet
55. Lydia Huntley, American author
56. Anna Murphy, Irish archeologist, author
57. Charlotte Bronte, English novelist
58. Jean Armour, wife of Robert Burns
59. Christiania Elizabeth, wife of Frederick IV
60. Miss Creagh, wife of John Curran
61. Henrietta Fitzgerald, wife of Henry Grattan
62. Fanny Henderson, wife of George Stephenson
63. Miss Herbert, wife of Horatio Nelson
64. Mrs. John Philip Kemble, wife of John Philip Kemble
65. Eva Maria Veigel, wife of David Garrick
66. Charlotte von Lingefeld, wife of Fredrick Schiller
67. Christiane Vulpius, wife of Goethe
68. Martha Wayles, wife of Thomas Jefferson
69. Miss Hoffman, betrothed to Washington Irving
70. Miss Nugent, wife of Edmund Burke