A very beautiful incident is this latter—the memory of her early love, for whose sake she kept sacred her maiden life. The passage is exquisite in sentiment, although emanating from a heart that has known the joys and sorrows of nearly a hundred years.
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Lydia Partridge, the aged relict of the first bishop of the Mormon Church, may well accompany the venerable sister of Willard Richards.
She was born September 26, 1793, in the town of Marlboro, Mass., her parents' names being Joseph Clisbee and Merriam Howe. The course of events [finally?] brought her to Ohio, where she made the acquaintance of, and married, Edward Partridge. Her husband and herself were proselyted into the Campbellite persuasion by Sidney Rigdon; but they soon afterwards became converts to Mormonism, and Mr. Partridge thereupon commenced his career as a laborer in the ministry of the church. They were among the first families to locate in Missouri, and also among the first to feel the sting of persecution in that State. Removing finally to Nauvoo, her husband there died. In the after-wanderings of the saints in search of a home in the wilderness she accompanied them. It may be briefly said of her that now, after forty-five years in the church, she is as firm and steadfast as ever in her faith, and is one of the staunchest advocates of polygamy.
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Next comes Margaret T. M. Smoot, wife of Bishop Smoot, with the testimony of her life.
She was born in Chester District, South Carolina, April 16th, 1809. Her father, Anthony McMeans, was a Scotchman by birth, emigrating to America at an early age, and settling in South Carolina, where he resided at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. Fired with patriotic zeal, he immediately enlisted in the ranks, and continued fighting in the cause of liberty until the close of the war, when he returned to his home, where he remained until his death. Her mother was a Hunter, being of Irish extraction. Her grandfather Hunter also served in the Revolutionary war, being an intimate friend of Gen. Washington. For these reasons Mrs. Smoot is justly proud of her lineage. Her husband, the bishop, being also of revolutionary descent, they as a family well exemplify the claim made elsewhere, that the Mormons were originally of the most honored and patriotic extraction.
She embraced the Mormon faith in 1834, and was married to Mr. Smoot the following year, in the State of Kentucky. In 1837 they went to Far West, Mo., and their history thence to Utah is the oft-told story of outrage and persecution. It is proper to remark, however, that their son, William, was one of the original pioneers, and that their family was among the first company that entered the valley.
Sister Smoot is known in the church as one of the most illustrious examples of the "first wives" who accepted and gave a true Israelitish character and sanctity to the "patriarchal order of marriage;" while the long-sustained position of her husband as Mayor of Salt Lake City, enhances the effect of her social example.
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